Fly SAT-HOU or drive?
Jan 15, 2019, 6:56 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: SJC/SFO
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Fly SAT-HOU or drive?
Howdy folks, I'd appreciate some advice. I've got a trip to Texas coming up in the spring where I'll be spending a few days in San Antonio followed by a few days in Houston. I'll be staying downtown in each city. I'm trying to decided whether I'd rather fly SAT-HOU or rent a car locally in San Antonio, drive it to Houston, and drop it off likely at HOU airport (rates are sky-high doing local-to-local rental). How's the road to Houston? I'd likely be leaving the San Antonio area around 1pm on a Friday... would there be slow traffic going inbound to Houston around 3:30 on a Friday afternoon?
Last edited by darthbimmer; Jan 16, 2019 at 10:59 am Reason: clarify traffic question
Jan 15, 2019, 8:48 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 19,506
The road is fine. It's about a three-hour drive on Interstate 10. It's mostly rural from San Antonio until you get to Katy - just west of Houston. Speed limit for most of the rural section is 75 mph. Expect to see faster traffic in the urbanized areas.
Jan 15, 2019, 10:22 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2002
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I prefer to fly, but the drive is not bad. As kale75 said, it’s about a three hour straight shot down I-10. I’ve flown it hundreds of times and driven it more than a hundred times.
You might consider leaving a little earlier and making a pit stop for lunch at City Market in Luling. It’s a very minor detour and the barbecue is excellent. I believe they only take cash.
I’d keep the rental car for the full duration of your time in both San Antonio and Houston. Public transportation is poor in the sprawl of Houston and even less useful in San Antonio.
You can probably find a rental car code that doesn’t penalize you for one-way rental. If you don’t know one already, you might try Autoslash.
Lastly, if you don’t want to fly and don’t want to drive yourself, Vonlane offers executive bus service (comfortable seats, free wifi) from downtown San Antonio to downtown Houston: https://www.vonlane.com/
You might consider leaving a little earlier and making a pit stop for lunch at City Market in Luling. It’s a very minor detour and the barbecue is excellent. I believe they only take cash.
I’d keep the rental car for the full duration of your time in both San Antonio and Houston. Public transportation is poor in the sprawl of Houston and even less useful in San Antonio.
You can probably find a rental car code that doesn’t penalize you for one-way rental. If you don’t know one already, you might try Autoslash.
Lastly, if you don’t want to fly and don’t want to drive yourself, Vonlane offers executive bus service (comfortable seats, free wifi) from downtown San Antonio to downtown Houston: https://www.vonlane.com/
Last edited by SAT Lawyer; Jan 15, 2019 at 10:30 pm
Jan 16, 2019, 10:56 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: SJC/SFO
Programs: WN A+ CP, UA 1MM/*A Gold, Mar LT Tit, IHG Plat, HH Dia
Posts: 6,284
Thanks for the tips, kale73 and SAT Lawyer. I'm leaning against renting a car for the full stretch because they're running about $50/day just at SAT, without paying to take it to Houston, plus I'd have to pay parking charges of $30-40/night at the downtown hotels I've chosen. Only one of the locations on my schedule is outside either city center so I'm thinking for local travel whatever I can't just walk to I'll use Lyft/Uber/local alternative and it'll come out cheaper than renting a car for the week. OTOH, I will keep looking for a cheaper rental alternative... I hear ya', it's a car culture.