Well that's awkward. Despite that of San Antonio great review by WalletHub as a top destination for summer travel, a staycation may not be in the future for locals after all — at least according to a new report from Forbes AdvisorThis study seems more experiential than WalletHub's more economical calculations, indicating that you may be getting what you pay for. (At least road trips This still seems like a good idea.)
THE Forbes report listed The best and worst cities for summer travel, and San Antonio falls right in the middle of the worst list at No. 20. It's a bit surprising, but people may simply be saving their San Antonio trips for the much more hospitable spring and fall.
The study, released June 1, compared 43 of the most populous cities in the United States across 16 measures in three broad categories: city experience, air travel experience and driving experience.
Dallas earned an overall score of 43.45 out of a possible 100 points. At least it beat out Jacksonville, Florida, which scored a perfect (and abysmal) 100 points, allowing it to position itself as the worst vacation destination for summer travel.
This is how Forbes breaks down San Antonio's rankings into three key dimensions:
- 54.22 – City Experience Score
- 40.52 – Air Travel Experience Rating
- 33.73 – Driving experience rating
San Antonio has been declining because it has the fifth largest number of days of extreme temperatures across Texas in the summer, plus the ninth worst walking score. Nobody wants to carry that many changes of T-shirts.
Disappointing Destinations in Texas
Dallas is the worst-performing city in Texas, coming in at 13th, due to the city's extreme weather conditions (namely, the unforgiving Texas heat) combined with higher-than-normal claims at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field, according to the report. San Antonio, of course, shares the heat, but Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is quite popular —as much as a plane trip can be, anyway.
“Dallas' two major airports have the sixth-highest number of property loss and damage claims during the summer (1.3 per 100,000 domestic passengers),” the report said. “The city also has the seventh-highest number of extreme temperature days during the summer (76 on average).”
Austin (No. 24) was not analyzed in a press release that criticized Dallas, El Paso and San Antonio, and praised Houston. It seems that because Austin falls just outside the two extremes (either the worst 20 or the best 10), the report's author simply didn't provide details. Its results were similar to those in San Antonio.
Given that Austin and San Antonio fare better than Dallas in the overall rankings, it seems that Central Texas is a much better place to stay during the summer when it comes to statewide vacations.
Tragically, El Paso was just boring at No. 15: it had the second-highest tourist attraction with four or more stars on Tripadvisor. Parking was also lacking and summer flights were often disrupted.
Houston
While other Texas cities ranked among the worst summer travel destinations, Houston came in at No. 10. Forbes' ranking of the country's best summer travel destinations.
“Houston visitors enjoy the lowest median hotel rate during the summer ($122.33 per night), and the city's two major airports fully reimburse the second-highest percentage of property loss and damage claims in the summer (52.4 percent on average),” the report said.
Texas travelers may want to consider heading out of state to places like Minneapolis, Minnesota, which was ranked as the top summer travel destination in the United States.
The top 10 summer travel destinations in the United States are:
- No. 1 – Minneapolis, Minnesota
- #2 – Long Beach, California
- #3 – Washington, DC
- No. 4 – Seattle, Washington
- No. 5 – Omaha, Nebraska
- #6 – San Diego, California
- #7 – San Francisco, California
- No. 8 – Columbus, Ohio
- #9 – Chicago, Illinois
- No. 10 – Houston, Texas
Forbes Advisor Each city's ranking was determined based on travel experience data from Expedia, Tripadvisor, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, AAA, the US Census Bureau, and more. The metrics included a city's crime rate, median hotel price during the summer season, percentage of flights delayed, canceled or diverted during the summer, among others.
The full report can be viewed at forbes.com.
