I am going to a seminar in Houston and I need your help deciding which flight to take. The seminar begins at 9am and the flight I am considering comes into Hobby at 8:10. I will be taking a shuttle van to the seminar, which will be that the Hyatt on Louisiana Street. Can I get there by 9:00 in the morning rush? There is an earlier flight, but of course I would prefer this one if it will work. Thanks.

If the seminar begins at 9 a.m. I assume you'd want to be there about 8:45 a.m. IMO, a flight arriving at 8:10 a.m. would be too late, considering the flight could be delayed, you still might have baggage to collect, and you will have to get out of the airport and to a cab. There won't be too much traffic that time of morning, but there might be some.

Therefore, I would give myself one hour to arrive IAH, get a cab, and get to the location downtown before the seminar begins. Is there a a flight that arrives at around 7:30 a.m.? If not, then the 8:10 a.m. would work, but you might be rushed or a bit late for the seminar start. If that is no big deal, then I would go with the 8:10 a.m. arrival.

There is a flight that arrives around 7, I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and get up an hour earlier. I don't want to risk the embarassment of walking in late.

Thanks for the input.

Aren't Hobby and IAH (now called George Bush, I think) different airports?

Yes, they are different. George Bush International (aka "Inter-Galactic" ) is IAH. Hobby is HOU. My mistake for referring to IAH in the post. Sorry.

That's OK, Statia, I think from either airport it probably wouldn't work to arrive at 8:10.

If you can have a car ready for you right outside the terminal, and your WN flight arrives on-time (which it usually does), I think it's doable. Traffic shouldn't be too bad at that time, and it's a 20 minute drive.

But if you have to look for the driver, etc... and if the seminar is important, then probably better to take the earlier one.

I agree with everyone else. No need to risk it. Remember, it will take about 10 minutes to get from the gate to the van, and probably another 10 minutes to unload out of the van, walk into the hotel and check in. So, you are looking at 30 minutes to get from Hobby to the hotel downtown. Not a problem except for other factors. First, although WN tends to run on time, the shuttle vans don't. Second, you don't know if the Hyatt will be the first stop or, more likely if you have my luck, the last. All this leads to the point everyone else is making. Don't risk it. Worse comes to worse, take a nap on the flight.

Hi, Pam! I think a lot of the timing depends on wether you absolutely have to make the beginning of your seminar or not. I think it's doable from Hobby to the downtown Hyatt if you only have a carry-on. But I would recommend planning on taking a cab instead of the shuttle, as it cuts down on waiting time. Otherwise, you might have to bite the bullet and get the earlier flight.

Susan

Put in my vote for the earlier flight too!

Thanks to everyone for your replies. I decided to err on the side of caution and I booked the earlier flight. I will be cursing my own name when the alarm goes off so early, but maybe I will catch a short nap on the plane. I only hope that nap won't happen at the seminar. Petroleum accounting is such exciting stuff.

I appreciate everyone's help with this.

Do you need some suggestions for restaurants while you are here? You might check out www.citysearch.com as they are doing the voting for the best restaurants in town. From my quick peek, there are some great places in the running in many categories.

Thanks, m, I'll check that out.

Which seminar are you attending and whre are you flying from? Everyone I know went to NAPAC in Dallas last week.

Some people in our office went to NAPAC, but I didn't go this year. This is a class called Fundamentals of the Petroleum Industry, and not quite at grand as NAPAC. I'm coming from Austin.

If you are coming from Austin, you ought to think about driving. Even with rush hour traffic on 290, if you are on the road by 6:00 a.m., you would get here in plenty of time.

I gave some serious thought to driving, in fact the last time I went to a seminar in Houston I did drive. But on that trip I had a traveling companion to help keep me awake. This time I'll be traveling alone and I would feel better about flying at that hour than driving. But you are right, flying from Austin to Houston doesn't save time over driving.