Originally Posted by Longhornmaniac8

AUS commuter here. For schedule flexibility, AA is a stronger bet. DFW is a bit farther, but AA typically has 13-15 flights a day to DFW, making commuting by plane substantially easier (that said I don't know what AA's reserve rules or commuter policy is). AA is also by far the #2 carrier in AUS. If you're the type of person to use your benefits a lot, AA seems to go just about everywhere out of AUS these days. UA has 6-8 flights a day to IAH. There are a couple of big gaps that make commuting by air less than ideal, but I still do it.

As some data, any trip that reports after 8:30 is commutable on the front end. Sure, you have to be on the 5:30 AM flight, but that's not bad. Usually if you end before 9 PM you'll get home that night, sometimes even as late as about 9:45. So the overwhelming majority of trips are commutable. Plenty of redeyes from the west coast that get you I will early enough to take the first flight back home.

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