Do it for the leg room

Green bus service rolls out $0.99 fares from Houston to top Texas cities

The German bus operator is offering affordable rides across Texas.

Photo courtesy of FlixBus

If driving for hours isn't your thing, an affordable new bus service connecting Texas' major cities might be the answer for your next cross-state trek.

German-based FlixBus recently launched a "Southern Network" of routes, with initial Texas service between Houston and San Antonio. Now, it's back with expanded travel options for the Lone Star State's major cities, including Austin, Dallas, and Fort Worth.

Riders can book tickets for just 99 cents between April 8-10 for travel taking place April 8-May 17. After the promotional period ends, fares will jump to $4.99 on average, depending on the season and demand, the company says.

From Houston, FlixBus offers routes to Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio, with pick-up and drop-off locations at airports and near public transportation stops. The bus operator also has routes to five locations outside of Texas: four in Louisiana (Shreveport, Alexandria, Baton Rouge, New Orleans) and one in Mississippi (Biloxi).

“We are eager to get more buses on the ground in Texas,” Pierre Gourdain, FlixBus USA managing director, said in a press release. “After the success of our initial launch, it’s clear to us that we’ve tapped into a real desire for an alternative mode of transportation in the south. Our goal now is to continue connecting more communities and get as many cars as we can off the road.”

The company seeks to be a sustainable alternative to a private car, boasting carbon-neutral and electric buses with Wi-Fi, entertainment, power outlets, and leg room. FlixBus has served more than 100 million passengers since launching in 2013, traveling to more than 2,000 destinations in 28 countries. Travelers can book their trips here.

FlixBus' current Texas routes are as follows:

Fort Worth to Dallas, Tyler, and Houston
Fort Worth to Dallas to Tyler
Dallas to Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Tyler, and Houston
Austin to San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston
San Antonio to Austin, Dallas, and Houston
San Antonio to Austin to Dallas
Houston to Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio

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holiday travel news

Houston's IAH flops in new ranking of least stressful U.S. airports

George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston

Photo by Jeswin Thomas on Unsplash

Flight delays and cancellations at George Bush Intercontinental Airport can be a stress-inducing experience for some travelers this holiday season.

Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) has some work to do to improve its stress-inducing environment during the peak holiday travel season, a new study has revealed.

European tour company Travel by Luxe compared 30 major airports across several stress-inducing flight factors, such as security wait times, flight delays, cancellation rates, passenger traffic, and average airfare prices to determine the least stressful departure points. The airports were then ranked based on which were the "best equipped to keep travelers calm rather than frazzled."

The No. 1 most stress-free U.S. airport to travel over the holidays is Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona, the report said.

George Bush Intercontinental was dubbed the 27th "least stressful" American airport with longer security wait times and more flight cancellations than most other major U.S. airports.

According to passenger traffic data from December 2024, more than 2.1 million travelers flew through IAH for the holidays last year. Nearly a quarter of all flights were delayed, and IAH had the fourth-highest rate of cancelled flights (1.18 percent) out of all 30 airports analyzed during the same period.

Average flight costs at IAH came out to $419.19 in the final quarter of 2024, which the report determined was the 11th most expensive airfare out of all 30 U.S. airports analyzed. However, the report states flight fares are not "the biggest drivers of airport stress," but flight delays and security wait times are.

Travelers heading out of Houston should always plan extra time to get through Transportation Security Administration (TSA) lines during peak travel times, as the report found travelers waited about 22 minutes on average to get through IAH security lines in December 2023 (where the latest data was available). That's the fourth-highest wait time nationwide.

The report's author says the 2025 holiday travel season is expected to be one of the busiest on record, and stresses that "choosing the right airport could make or break" a traveler's trip. Nearly 4.6 million travelers are expected to fly through IAH during the final two months of the year.

"Holiday travel is supposed to be joyful. [T]hink of all the twinkling lights, family reunions and much-needed downtime," the author wrote. "But anyone who has battled chaotic airport lines, last-minute cancellations or a departure board full of red delay warnings knows how quickly that festive spirit can evaporate."

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was ranked the 9th most stress-free airport in the U.S. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was deemed the worst of the airports studied; it ranked at the bottom of the list at No. 30.

The top 10 U.S. airports with the smoothest travel during the 2025 holiday season are:

No. 1 – Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
No. 2 – Salt Lake City International Airport
No. 3 – Washington Dulles International Airport
No. 4 – Tampa International Airport
No. 5 – Harry Reid International Airport
No. 6 – Chicago Midway International Airport
No. 7 – Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport
No. 8 – Philadelphia International Airport
No. 9 – Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
No. 10 – LaGuardia Airport

travel flights holiday travel houston george bush intercontinental airport