Dallas vs Houston...for international flight options! (Austin, Fort Worth: 2015, prices)

[TXFutureWA]

Which offers better accessibility internationally. I would assume IAH wins in direct flights(oil/gas), but DFW in flights with a domestic stop? If you had to pick one to be your base for international trips, which is superior?

[War Beagle]

Kinda depends on your preferred airline as both cities are hubs.

[RooCeleste]

I vary between the two depending on where I'm going and where I can get the best deal. They're both about the same distance from Austin so it all comes down to cost/convenience of the flights.

[C24L]

Dallas/Fort Worth.

[BCLRRE]

Originally Posted by TXFutureWA

Which offers better accessibility internationally. I would assume IAH wins in direct flights(oil/gas), but DFW in flights with a domestic stop? If you had to pick one to be your base for international trips, which is superior?

Definitely Houston Intercontinental

[Mr. Clutch]

IAH has more international flights and more options than DFW. It's really pretty cut and dry, Houston has a much more interenationally-oriented economy than DFW. DFW skews far more domestic in terms of demand.

Unique int'l destinations from DFW not served from IAH (not counting seasonal routes):

Europe/Asia/Africa/Oceania
- Abu Dhabi
- Sydney
- Shanghai
- Hong Kong

North and South America + Caribbean
- Torreon

Unique int'l destinations from IAH not served from DFW (not counting seasonal routes):

Europe/Asia/Africa/Oceania
- Amsterdam (offered seasonally at DFW)
- Auckland
- Taipei
- Manchester
- Singapore (one-stop)
- Istanbul

North and South America + Caribbean
- Aruba
- Caracas
- Edmonton
- Grand Cayman (offered seasonally at DFW)
- San Pedro Sula
- Tegucigalpa
- Havana
- Merida (offered seasonally at DFW)
- Nassau (offered seasonally at DFW)
- Punta Cana (offered seasonally at DFW)
- Acapulco
- Ciudad del Carmen
- Huatulco
- Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo (offered seasonally at DFW)
- Manzanillo
- Oaxaca
- Tampico
- Veracruz
- Villahermosa

May have missed a couple here or there, but hope this helps!

[BobTex]

Iah

[davis449]

By the numbers from the USDOT, Houston shows more outbound international travel as of 2015 at ~10M. Dallas isn't too far off at ~7M. In terms of # of unique destinations, IAH wins. But based on your criteria with 1 domestic stop for the unique destinations, I would base my operations out of DFW. I, personally, think it's a nicer airport.

[Mr. Clutch]

Originally Posted by davis449

By the numbers from the USDOT, Houston shows more outbound international travel as of 2015 at ~10M. Dallas isn't too far off at ~7M. In terms of # of unique destinations, IAH wins. But based on your criteria with 1 domestic stop for the unique destinations, I would base my operations out of DFW. I, personally, think it's a nicer airport.

DFW is definitely a nicer airport. IAH is in the middle of basically rebuilding half the airport though so they'll be much more comparable once that's done.

They both will likely add more international options in the years to come, but I expect Houston to add more a bit sooner just due to market forces. Houston actually lost a couple of international destinations last year due to the energy bust. The exploration market is expected to pick up this year though, so over the next couple of years there will likely be some relatively brisk growth in terms of destinations and passengers.

DFW has added quite a few new international destinations over the last 4 years or so and grown significantly faster than Houston (and pretty much any other airport) has over that time. It looks to be in a place where the market is more absorbing all of the new capacity rather than focusing on new growth. With that said, I wouldn't be surprised if a new market or two is added over the next couple of years just given the rate of economic growth in that area in general. The market fundamentals are trending more international each year, though it is still a very domestic-focused airport and market.

If the OP is planning on doing a lot of international travel that can't be done nonstop from Texas but can be done with a domestic 1-stop, such as interior European or Asian routes that generally require a connection at places like LAX, SFO, EWR, or JFK, DFW offers the advantage of being a slightly shorter flight to New York and California.

If the OP is primarily traveling Europe or Asian trunk routes, or anywhere in North or South America (outside the US), he's probably better off at IAH. Just more options and likely more future options as well.

[lepoisson]

I always found the international options from DFW to be rather limited. For the 3rd or 4th busiest airport in the WORLD, they don't offer very many flights to Europe. They only have one non-stop flight per day to Paris.

The American Airlines monopoly at DFW is really detrimental. It also makes the prices VERY high. I flew from DFW to CDG in December and a round trip coach ticket was $1000. Similar flights from ORD were a few hundred less.