All traffic pain is relative. I drive to/from LAX. There are days when I land at a crappy time (anytime in LA) and go less than 10 miles in my first hour. My personal record is 9 miles in my first hour once.

Scoop

That would be bad. Our traffic isn't as bad but if you've never driven far in ice and snow it's no picnic...

Yes - its bad enough when it rains out here, I couldn't imagine snow or ice with these drivers. On slow news days if rain is forecast that leads all the local news forecasts. For someone who grew up in the east coast this never ceases to crack me up.

Scoop

I commuted to NYC for 18 yrs, by car. (195 miles; 3-4 hrs)
Only spent the night in the NYC area maybe 1-2x ever.

I've commuted to DTW for 7 yrs, by plane. I've got 25-30 RON's there; 1/2 by choice, 1/2 bad luck, etc.

Give me a car in the parking lot and I'll never miss my flight home. And I never have to go up the night before. I'd rather wake at 2am and drive than pretend to 'sleep' in a crappy hotel bed.

BTW, as a father of 4, 3 or 4 hours alone in a car was never a bad thing.

Martial Dillon

That's the numbers that make driving to DTW sound better and better. I don't have kids yet but I feel you for sure. It's not all that bad listening to a podcast or audio as a little break.

Marshall Dillion??

Not in my experience. Airport employee parking lots are usually part of the airport authority, and they want to squeeze as much cash from parkers as possible. Now if you have a headquarters or training center there, you might have free parking for that company's employees, but those lots might not be convenient for getting to the terminals.

At Love Field, the parking authority did waive Daily parking fees to Texas-tagged cars bearing license plates reflecting award of certain combat or valor decorations, I think Air Medal or higher. Crews with duly-plated vehicles would skip the employee lots, and park close in, in the garage, and get validated as they drove out after their trips.

KSAT did NOT have a similar program.

KSAT, KAUS, KDFW, KDAL, KGRK (Killeen), KIAH, and KHOU all have a program where you can park for free with certain military license plates. They have the list of qualifying plates on their respective websites. This program is relatively new. Each airport has a different list of plates but I know Air Medal qualifies for KSAT, KAUS, and KDFW. Free parking only applies to certain lots at each airport. For example, in AUS, you can park unlimited in the economy parking lots or a max of 5 days in the garage.

Texas seems to really do a lot for veterans, which is one of the many reasons I live here. Also BBQ and fresh tortillas.

Hope this helps someone out.

-4fans