San Antonio & New Orleans

Hi everybody

We are hoping to book a cruise out of Houston/Galveston at some point and were wondering the best way to get to San Antonio and New Orleans for a few nights each prior to the cruise and the best way of arrranging it with them being either side of the cruiseport , I believe the best prices for flights is to fly into Houston from UK . Are there trains or buses to either or would it be best to fly , if so which airline would be the cheapest in your opinions ? Also are the prices like international flights ie. returns being cheaper or as cheap as buying a single flight ticket , all help gratefully received , thank you

Hi everybody

 

We are hoping to book a cruise out of Houston/Galveston at some point and were wondering the best way to get to San Antonio and New Orleans for a few nights each prior to the cruise and the best way of arrranging it with them being either side of the cruiseport , I believe the best prices for flights is to fly into Houston from UK . Are there trains or buses to either or would it be best to fly , if so which airline would be the cheapest in your opinions ? Also are the prices like international flights ie. returns being cheaper or as cheap as buying a single flight ticket , all help gratefully received , thank you

Fly into IAH (Houston) and rent a car. The drive to both New Orleans (@350 miles) and San Antonio (@200 miles) is nearly a straight shot from Houston via I10.

Barring incidents, You can average @ 60 moles an hour on I10. However, once in either town park the car and keep it parked until you're ready to leave, especially at San Antonio.

http://www.priceline.com/l/rental/cars.htm?airport=IAH&arc=Y&rtheme=rc_airport&refid=PLGOOGLECPC&refclickid=D%3AcRental-Car10732037480s28734823373&gclid=CI6BwPb07cECFWFgMgod7nMAVw&query=iah%20car%20rentals&kw=iah%20car%20rentals&match=e&adp=1t1

P.S - Trains are not an option.

http://www.mapquest.com/#f371912eceb135a67d87fd8b

http://www.mapquest.com/#c73223ba492484dfd0568ccc

Flights might also be and option, I'm thinking southwest, but they fly from Hobby, I believe and not IAH?

Flights might also be and option, I'm thinking Southwest, but they fly from Hobby, I believe and not IAH?

You are correct.

If you can't fly in/out of HOU, it's only about @30 mile cab ride from IAH to HOU.

Much better than driving 550 miles!:)

P.S - Trains are not an option.

Amtrak has the Sunset Limited route that hits all three cities. I've never done the trip but I know the station in San Antonio is right in the middle of everything. NOLA and Houston don't seem to be as convenient but they have plenty of cabs.

I'd consider taking a ship out of New Orleans btw, they are usually slightly cheaper and hit the same ports.

Thank you very much for your replies , all very helpful , we don't really want to drive as my husband gets too stressed when he doesn't know where he is going so Amtrak is certainly very interesting for us as we would get to see some of the countryside/scenery on the way , can't wait to start planning our trip now

Thank you very much for your replies , all very helpful , we don't really want to drive as my husband gets too stressed when he doesn't know where he is going so Amtrak is certainly very interesting for us as we would get to see some of the countryside/scenery on the way , can't wait to start planning our trip now

Just want to let you know that Amtrak is a option, although not a very convenient one. There is one train a day between Houston and San Antonio and New Orleans. The train to San Antonio leaves Houston at 6:55 PM and gets to San Antonio just after midnight. The train between Houston and New Orleans leaves right after noon and doesn't get to New Orleans until 9:40 PM.

The buses out of Houston are very regular to San Antonio. Done the Megabus a few times (what, I don't drive & I'm cheap) and to be honest, I'd never fly from San Antonio to Houston, it's not even a 4hr drive these days with the highway speeds in TX. We'll be driving to Houston the day before our Galveston cruise.

The buses out of Houston are very regular to San Antonio. Done the Megabus a few times (what, I don't drive & I'm cheap) and to be honest, I'd never fly from San Antonio to Houston, it's not even a 4hr drive these days with the highway speeds in TX. We'll be driving to Houston the day before our Galveston cruise.

Ive done Megabus also and definitely recommend

great price to get between major cities

Wifi could be a little more consistent thou

Ive done Megabus also and definitely recommend

great price to get between major cities

Wifi could be a little more consistent thou

I usually go in the evening so it's not as packed for wi-fi. I used to sit right at the top up the front so I have a table, but I-10 is a bit too bumpy for that these days.

If it is just two of you I would just fly into IAH. There are direct flights into IAH from both Paris and London on United, Air France and British Airways. If you buy early enough (usually at least a month ahead) you can grab a flight on United from Houston to San Antonio for about $200 rt or $100 ow(I just picked a random date in May 2015 to check this) the flight is about an hr and much better that messing around with trains, cars or busses (sadly Houston and Texas is so far behind Europe when it comes to public transportation it is not even funny). You can then grab a one way ticket from San Antonio to HOU on Southwest airlines (Hobby airport and closer to the port) for about $100, do your cruise, then grab a flight from Hobby to New Orleans again on southwest airlines (about $75 for a random date in May) and fly home from New Orleans. You will have to connect via another US city depending on which airline and city is your home destination but not really all that hard.

Hi everybody

 

We are hoping to book a cruise out of Houston/Galveston at some point and were wondering the best way to get to San Antonio and New Orleans for a few nights each prior to the cruise and the best way of arrranging it with them being either side of the cruiseport , I believe the best prices for flights is to fly into Houston from UK . Are there trains or buses to either or would it be best to fly , if so which airline would be the cheapest in your opinions ? Also are the prices like international flights ie. returns being cheaper or as cheap as buying a single flight ticket , all help gratefully received , thank you

Have you checked what the fare would be if you flew into San Antonio and returned from New Orleans (or vice versus)? Sometimes the fare is cheaper this way than going into Houston and then travelling to San Antonio and/or New Orleans. It would mean spending a few days pre in one city and the other city post cruise, but is a viable option as travelling from Houston to San Antonio, New Orleans and back to Houston is around 1100 miles, vice flying into San Antonio then travelling the 200 miles to Houston then after the cruise travelling the 350 miles to New Orleans.

As already mentioned public transportation (especially the train) is not like Europe (especially here in Texas we're were obsessed with car travel - this coming from an individual who commutes over 600 miles a week :eek: ) The train between San Antonio to New Orleans has limited service and is NEVER ON TIME (and yes I have first hand experience!). Megabus would be your best option, and if you buy your tickets prior you can get some great rates. The downside though is getting from the bus stations to/from the ports; however, you're going to have the same problem when travelling by plane.

Barbara

I love traveling by rail in Europe but I wouldn't even consider it in Texas. Rail just never really caught on in Texas.

As Girr said, Texans are car (or pickup) obsessed. :)

AMTRAK operates on freight tracks, and pay to use them... but the freight trains have a priority, hence AMTRAK is often late. Not like the efficient trains in Europe. :-(