Holiday News

Ride with Santa on the TRE train to the 2023 Dallas Holiday Parade

Santa and Mrs Claus will be on the TRE.

TRE

The Trinity Railway Express (TRE) is inviting North Texas residents to jump on the train with Santa.

The commuter rail service, which runs between Fort Worth and Dallas, is hosting two special train rides on Saturday, December 2, when both Santa and Mrs. Claus will be on board.

The occasion is the 2023 Dallas Holiday Parade, which takes place in downtown Dallas on December 2, starting at 9 am.

The idea is that you take the train to see the parade, and get to hang out with the Clauses along the way.

The TRE is getting into the holiday spirit by drafting Santa to ride along that morning and help get merry-makers to the starting line in time to see the parade begin.

There are two trips where Santa will be aboard. The schedules are as follows:

TRE TRE Holiday Train routesTRE

Both routes are designed to get riders to downtown Dallas in time to see the parade:

Train No. 3904 will be first, departing the T&P Station in downtown Fort Worth at 6:48 am, and arriving one hour later at Union Station in downtown Dallas at 7:50 am.
Train No. 3906 will be the second train, departing the T&P Station in downtown Fort Worth at 7:48 am, and arriving at Union Station at 8:50 am, just in time for the parade.

Santa and Mrs. Claus will be walking through the train from Fort Worth to Union Station, taking pictures with riders and passing out candy canes.

The route has stops at 10 stations between Fort Worth and Dallas, so anyone can board and get with the festivities, whether they're coming from North Richland Hills, Irving, or even the DFW Airport stop.

Each train ride will end at Union Station in downtown Dallas, with live musical performances and promotional giveaways, as well as photo opportunities with the Claus Family.

Santa will also be on hand at Union Station from 7:30 am– 9:30 am to give out hot chocolate to riders. Santa will magically be everywhere! (Truthfully, each train will have their own Santa and Mrs. Claus, as well as a separate Santa on the platform at Union Station passing out hot chocolate.)

This is the second year for the TRE “Ride with Santa” program.

holidays transportation

Holiday News

American Airlines anticipates record-setting Thanksgiving 2024 travel

Photo courtesy of American Airlines

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The holidays are looming and American Airlines is ramping up. Over the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend, the Fort Worth-based airline expects to welcome nearly 8.3 million customers across more than 77,000 flights.

According to a statement from American's COO David Seymour, the airline is having a good fall season and canceled fewer flights than its peers during October.

“Thanks to the hard work of our 130,000 team members, we canceled fewer flights than any of our major competitors this October and beat our own records for on-time departures and arrivals,” Seymour says.

This is encouraging news. One hates to rain on their parade, but in June 2024, the one flight I scheduled this year, my flight was canceled less than 24 hours before it was scheduled to take off. I had made hotel reservations, scheduled a pet sitter, planned events, and arranged for a friend to pick me up at the destination airport. One employee speculated that it may have been "insufficient crew." Their only option offered was: Feel free to reschedule your flight.

Thanksgiving facts and figures
American’s travel period runs from November 21 to December 3, and the airline expects to carry more than 500,000 more customers than it did last year.

The most-traveled day will be Sunday, December 1. The second most-traveled day will be Monday, December 2.

1,500 mainline and regional aircraft will travel nearly 65 million miles between November 21 and December 3.

The peak of peak: 1,035 mainline and regional aircraft will be enroute at 10:45 am on Sunday, December 1 — the highest number of flights handled at any given time during American’s travel period.

The airline expects to serve more than 6.8 million Biscoff cookies on board from November 21 to December 3.

Travel tips
Download the American Airlines app and check in for your flight, noting added any bags to your trip. This will save you time at the airport.

If traveling internationally, download the Mobile Passport Control app, which can speed up your entry into the U.S. Global Entry members can download the Global Entry app, which allows you to submit your entry and go straight to the officer.

Upon arrival at the airport lobby, scan your mobile boarding pass to print bag tags quickly at a kiosk. If you’re not checking bags, go straight to TSA security with your mobile boarding pass.

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