State Guide

Most international visitors will fly to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, El Paso International Airport, Bush Intercontinental or William P. Hobby airports in Houston, or San Antonio International Airport. Major airlines offering flights to Texas include Air Canada (tel. 888/247-2262; www.aircanada.ca), American (tel. 800/433-7300; www.aa.com), America West (tel. 800/235-9292; www.americawest.com), Continental (tel. 800/525-0280; www.continental.com), Delta (tel. 800/221-1212; www.delta.com), Frontier (tel. 800/432-1359; www.frontierairlines.com), Northwest (tel. 800/225-2525; www.nwa.com), Southwest (tel. 800/435-9792; www.southwest.com), United (tel. 800/864-8331; www.united.com), and US Airways (tel. 800/428-4322; www.usairways.com). International travelers can also take flights to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and JFK International Airport in New York, and catch connecting flights to Texas.

British Airways (tel. 0845/773-3377 in London, or 800/247-9297 in the U.S.; www.britishairways.com) offers daily flights between London and both Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston. Travelers from the United Kingdom can also take British Airways flights to such cities as Philadelphia or Chicago and make connecting flights to Texas.

Airline Discounts -- The smart traveler can find numerable ways to reduce the price of a plane ticket simply by taking time to shop around. Take advantage of the APEX (Advance Purchase Excursion) reductions offered by all major U.S. and European carriers. For the best rates, be flexible with the dates and times of travel.

Immigration & Customs Clearance -- Visitors arriving by air, no matter what the port of entry, should cultivate patience and resignation before setting foot on U.S. soil. Getting through immigration control can take as long as 2 hours on some days, especially on summer weekends, so be sure to carry something to read. This is especially true in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks, as security clearances have been considerably beefed up at U.S. airports since then.

People traveling by air from Canada, Bermuda, and certain countries in the Caribbean can sometimes clear Customs and Immigration at the point of departure, which is much quicker.

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State Guide

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