Texas Airports – Which is The Most Expensive/Cheapest to Fly From?

Texas has just experienced a major travel holiday. Perhaps you were one of the tens of thousands who booked flights from Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Waco, Amarillo, or Lubbock over the Thanksgiving weekend. If you did, I am going to assume arrived safely and in a timely manner. But let me ask you this, did you research which airport you were going to depart from before you booked your fare?

Flying always presents a bit of a conundrum for Texas travelers. Especially those of us who live in a smaller community. When we make travel plans the choice of what city we want to fly from often comes down to how far we have to drive to get there or do we fly from closer to home and perhaps pay a higher price.

Which Texas Airport Has The Highest Average Fare?

If you've flown more than a few times you've probably debated which airport offers you the best travel arrangements.  Most of the time when we book flights our decision is based on availability and cost. Smaller airports generally have less of one of those and more of the other, if you know what I mean.

But do you really save more if you fly from IAH as opposed to flying out of College Station? What about flying from Tyler? Is it "cheaper" to fly from that city or make the drive to the larger DFW airport?  If you'd like to see some numbers we can show you the data from the United States Department of Transportation. But I will caution you, don't look at the "number" and think that's the cost.

According to the US DOT twenty-five airports in Texas had enough passenger volume to qualify for this report. The report lists the "average fare"  a passenger will pay to fly from that airport. You can see the list of Texas airports included in this report, here. 

According to the Department of Transportation, the cheapest average airfares in the state of Texas are those being sold at Love Field in Dallas  Yeah, those Southwest Fun Fares will keep your prices low, won't they? Houston Hobby also has some of the cheapest fares in Texas. Love Field was ranked 38th in the nation for "cheapest fares" while Hobby in Houston was ranked 49th.

Now that we know the cheapest, let's find out which flights are going to cost us the most, as far as booking a ticket is concerned. The distinction of the airport with the highest average fare goes to the facility in San Angelo.

The average fare out of that airport is listed at $774.38. When you compare that to the $332.53 at Dallas-Love and the $340.60 at Houston-Hobby you can instantly visualize the savings. But remember airfare is only a portion of your travel expenses.

There are other considerations you need to make before booking your flight. For example travel time to your departure airport. Parking at your departure airport. Do the flights match your travel schedule? And how much will I spend on fuel to get to an out-of-town airport?

When you put pencil to paper you can see some airports might have a higher "average fare" but because of the convenience, flight schedules, and proximity to your home, you might be money ahead flying from closer to home than you would be if you drove to a larger city. You might also ask yourself, "How much is my time worth"? Are you better served driving for hours or paying a few extra bucks for a flight to a closer airport?

Since I know you're wondering, the average fare out of IAH in Houston is $398.41 and $417.35 out of DFW in Dallas. If you'd like to see where your closest airport ranks, you can see the complete list from the Department of Transportation, here. 

The most expensive airport in the United States? That honor belongs to Unalakleet Alaska. The average fare from there is $1,405.50. In the "Lower 48" that distinction belongs to Dothan Alabama's airport. The average price to leave Dothan is $829.94 and from what I understand from people who live there, it's worth every penny.

Happy flying, fly local. Seriously, support your hometown airport whenever you can because if it goes away then we are all going to be looking a lot like Dothan, if you know what I mean.