Returning to the friendly skies

Low-cost airline relaunches nonstop flights from San Antonio to 2 major U.S. cities

The San Antonio airport's service to Atlanta and Philly starts this spring.

Photo courtesy of Frontier Airlines

Low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines is preparing to lift off with nonstop service from San Antonio to two major cities: Atlanta and Philadelphia.

The resurrected route to Atlanta, scheduled to take off May 26, will operate each Thursday and Friday. The returning route to Philadelphia, set to start June 15, will operate each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Frontier previously offered nonstop service from San Antonio to the two cities but subsequently dropped both routes.

“This gives leisure travelers an opportunity to visit some of the popular tourist destinations in the United States,” Brian Pratte, chief air service and marketing officer for the San Antonio Airport System, says in a news release.

Frontier’s nonstop flights between San Antonio International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport will be the only ones between the two cities. Frontier will join Delta and Southwest in flying nonstop between San Antonio and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Pratte says with the addition of Frontier’s nonstop San Antonio-Atlanta service, “the 297,000 annual passengers who fly between the two markets will have even more options.”

Frontier is offering special fares to celebrate the new service, with tickets starting as low as $79.

The airline, which is merging with Spirit Airlines, currently serves three nonstop routes from San Antonio: Denver, Las Vegas, and Orlando.

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Turkey Day news

San Antonio eats up top-10 rank on list of best cities for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving pumpkin pie at Kona Grill in San Antonio

Photo courtesy of Kona Grill

San Antonio is one of the best place to celebrate Thanksgiving in Texas in 2024.

San Antonio is sitting at the head of the table as one of the best places in the country to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, a new study has revealed.

San Antonio ranked No. 7 out of 100 of the largest U.S. cities in WalletHub's annual "Best Places to Go for Thanksgiving" report, published November 12. The city made a big leap over its 2023 ranking as No. 14, and remains the second highest-ranked city in Texas.

The study analyzed each city based on 18 metrics to determine the best places for Thanksgiving, such as the number of pumpkin patches per capita, the average cost of a Thanksgiving dinner, the number of volunteer opportunities, the average weather forecast, and more. The metrics were then organized into five overall categories to determine the rankings.

The categories that San Antonio ranked the highest in were the average weather forecast during the holiday period (No. 2), and affordability (No. 11), while the lowest-ranked category was for safety and accessibility (No. 90). Other categories that determined San Antonio's overall ranking were the number of celebrations and traditions (No. 14), and a "giving thanks" rank (No. 75).

"The best cities for celebrating Thanksgiving all have an abundance of high-quality restaurants and places to buy festive decorations, and their residents get very excited for the holiday based on their Google search history," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.

By Thanksgiving on November 28, San Antonio will be fully decked for the December holidays. San Antonians who will have extended family in town during Thanksgiving weekend can take in of all the marvelous Christmas lights brightening the city. The home of the Alamo certainly goes all out for the most wonderful time of year.

Elsewhere in Texas, Dallas ranked two spots above San Antonio as the fifth best city for Thanksgiving. Houston ranked No. 23, while Austin only came in at No. 39.

San Diego, California (No. 1) topped the overall list of best places to go for Thanksgiving this year, followed by its Golden State neighbors San Francisco (No. 3) and San Jose (No. 4). Atlanta, Georgia (No. 2) rounds out the top five.

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