Skip the Scenery and Fly to Big Bend

Starting in late February and early March, well-heeled Houstonians, Dallasites, and Austinites will be able to skip the road trip and just take a small executive jet to Big Bend National Park.

The Dallas-based Resort Air Services announced they will be ferrying customers on a thirty-passenger jet on weekend trips between the national park and three Texas cities. The flights will take off from Hobby Airport in Houston, Love Field in Dallas, and the Austin Executive Airport and take passengers to Lajitas Golf Resort in Big Bend, to which Resort Air Services has exclusive flight access. Round-trip adult tickets will cost $400.

Nevermind the fact that gas prices are so low right now, driving the distance between Houston or Austin and Big Bend is significantly cheaper than flying at $400 a seat, no matter what kind of huge SUV or four-wheel-drive truck you own. We get it—it’s a long drive!

Sure, skip out on the seven to nine hours of sitting in the car with family or friends. Spend $400 to sit in a jet with twenty or so strangers and fly over some of the best stuff this state has to offer. Just know that if you choose to take that, once again, $400 flight, you’ll miss out on taking a dip in the spring-fed pool at Balmorhea. You’ll miss driving through scenic Alpine, uber-hip Marfa, and taking in the ghost town of Terlingua. Skipping over half the state in order to save driving time is worth it, even without the promise of delicious road tacos from Stripes.

So go ahead! Buy the fancy plane tickets. Eat airplane food. Have fun at the luxurious resort and spa. Meanwhile, the rest of us Texans can be found driving 80 miles an hour on I-10, eating tacos, and enjoying the scenery between home and our camping sites.