How bad are the roads into Dallas? Any updates? they are Dallas bound!

[lucyanna girl]

My daughter, her fiance, her best friend, and another friend are making their first trip to New York City. They have all traveled enough that I'm sure all will be fine on the trip. But - they are scheduled to fly out of Dallas early Sunday morning!

Getting to Dallas will mean a five hour drive on I-20 coming from the east. The weather here in NE LA is cold and wet but not icy. Just how bad a drive will it be? The plan is to drive there on Saturday and stay in a hotel overnight.

Doable? None of them are experienced at driving in winter weather. I'm trying very hard not to be a mama bear but I have to say I'm worried.

Penny

Update:

11 AM - They are as far as Longview with no problems. Stopping there now to pick up a friend and eat lunch. Keep your fingers crossed!

 

[JanaDee]

My daughter, her fiance, her best friend, and another friend are making their first trip to New York City. They have all traveled enough that I'm sure all will be fine on the trip. But - they are scheduled to fly out of Dallas early Sunday morning!

Getting to Dallas will mean a five hour drive on I-20 coming from the east. The weather here in NE LA is cold and wet but not icy. Just how bad a drive will it be? The plan is to drive there on Saturday and stay in a hotel overnight.

Doable? None of them are experienced at driving in winter weather. I'm trying very hard not to be a mama bear but I have to say I'm worried.

Penny

My cousin lives in Dallas. She posted this morning on FB that Dallas is basically shut down due to ice.

 

[lucyanna girl]

My cousin lives in Dallas. She posted this morning on FB that Dallas is basically shut down due to ice.

Oh wow - that is scary! They all saved their money - got plane tickets, a non-refundable hotel in New York, Wicked tickets, etc. Now this weather.

Penny

 

[malibuconlee]

Is there somewhere closer they can fly out of? May be worth calling the airline today and seeing if they will change the flights. From what I understand they are willing to do so in cases of weather issues (without fees). It certainly doesn't hurt to try!

 

[DebbieB]

I just heard on The Weather Channel that DFW should be up and running tomorrow.

 

[TXMouseketeer]

DH works at DFW airport, and he said the roads were bad going in (all schools are closed today). However the worst should be over tomorrow afternoon, so Sunday should be a go for air travel. It was close to 80 degrees on Wednesday, so this is typical Texas weather.

 

[lucyanna girl]

Thanks, they are flying out of Love Field (Southwest) but it is driving from LA to Dallas that has me concerned.

In the other direction from us Jackson, MS is the closest place to catch SW.


Penny

 

[ahutton]

It would be worth calling the airline to see if they could change the departure location, but if they go slow and stay on the interstate they should be fine on Sunday. If it were me I would probably drive on Saturday afternoon, it will be cold still but they can take their time, travel in daylight hours. Make sure to check the Dept of Transportation websites to make sure I20 is open before they go - the bridge at the border is a high one if I remember right?

 

[penn19]

Sort of bad now but by Sunday I think they will be ok.

 

[kacaju]

not to make you worry more...but we (I am in NJ) are supposed to be getting that weather Sunday. They may be OK flying out...but landing here can be another issue. Which airport are they flying into?

 

[Ruthiesmama]

There supposed to be another round of storms Sunday evening I think. Tonite the roads are bad and many are shut down- but during the day today, while the roads were bad and i didn't even try to venture out, they at least were mostly open. I would think they should probably try to come tomorrow and arrive before evening and stay close to love field. The roads are closing because all the slush is freezing back over making the roads just sheets of ice. Whatever he chooses just have him take his time!!! Safe travels!!!

 

[Ruthiesmama]

Oh and drivetexas.org is the dot's website that lists major road conditions. May be helpful.

 

[mommasita]

They should call the airline most definitely..

It may be ok that day, but the domino effect is what passengers forget... The flights that haven't got out, the passengers who already are re-booked, those flights have priority.

 

[lucyanna girl]

Thanks everyone,

Sarah and her friends plan to leave here by eight in the morning and drive to Dallas so they can make the drive during the warmest part of the day and get to their hotel close to Love Field early. There is a shuttle from the hotel to the airport.

They did call Southwest to ask about either catching a flight out of Jackson, MS (a feeder plane that would have actually put them on their original plane at Houston) or just driving to Houston and catching that same plane from there but were told they must fly out of Dallas or not at all.

I really don't see why that wouldn't have worked especially Houston but they said no. They could even have kept the original flight home. My husband and I would have driven them to Houston and picked them up in Dallas.

Please say a Prayer or send some Pixie Dust for safe travel, both on the rode and in the air for them and in New York City too!

Thanks again for your help,

Penny

 

[tcufrog]

I highly recommend checking out the website for AM 1080 KRLD before they get on the road. They have the best traffic reports and they have traffic reports on their station every 10 minutes on the 8. For example, 10:08, 10:18, 10:28, etc. http://dfw.cbslocal.com/station/krld/

 

[lucyanna girl]

As of eleven they have made it as far as Longview with no problems. They will stop to pick up a friend and eat lunch there and then try for their hotel in Dallas.

Penny

 

[kacaju]

did they make it to NY OK?? We are supposed to get snow tomorrow (Tuesday) how long are they here for?

 

[Planogirl]

Thanks everyone,

Sarah and her friends plan to leave here by eight in the morning and drive to Dallas so they can make the drive during the warmest part of the day and get to their hotel close to Love Field early. There is a shuttle from the hotel to the airport.

They did call Southwest to ask about either catching a flight out of Jackson, MS (a feeder plane that would have actually put them on their original plane at Houston) or just driving to Houston and catching that same plane from there but were told they must fly out of Dallas or not at all.

I really don't see why that wouldn't have worked especially Houston but they said no. They could even have kept the original flight home. My husband and I would have driven them to Houston and picked them up in Dallas.

Please say a Prayer or send some Pixie Dust for safe travel, both on the rode and in the air for them and in New York City too!

Thanks again for your help,

Penny

That is due to an antiquated law that will be thankfully going away next year. Southwest has to make a stop when they fly out of Dallas under certain conditions. We always have a long layover in Houston when we use Southwest.

How did it go for them? DFW seemed to be having much more trouble than Love Field and most of the bad roads were in the western part of the Metroplex so hopefully they did OK.

 

[lucyanna girl]

Thanks for asking. They drove out Saturday and made it to the hotel before dark. Had some drama Sunday morning - they checked at the desk on Saturday to be sure the shuttle would be running early Sunday morning and were assured it would. When they got up Sunday they checked with the desk again and were once again assured the shuttle would run on time at five AM.
Time passed and no shuttle, desk clerk is still telling them it will be there and they will make their 7 AM flight. Finally, he admits the shuttle will not be running! They tossed their luggage in their truck and made a mad dash for the airport. Thank goodness they made it in time.

We will see what happens when they get back. The desk clerk told them the hotel will repay them for the parking at the airport.

Penny

 

[kacaju]

When are they coming home? Airports are all canceling flights here and it will probably impact the flights for the next few days