Good news for travelers already tiring of darker days and fall foliage: In the coming weeks, more flights are taking off for Palm Springs, meaning it will soon be easier than ever to trade dipping temperatures for the desert.
Specifically, there will be new, nonstop flights from cities like Atlanta, Denver, and Portland, Oregon, to Palm Springs, which serves as a jumping-off point for other cities in the Greater Palm Springs area, including Desert Hot Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, and Coachella.
A look at some of the routes we’re most excited about:
- Oct. 3, 2019 – American Airlines returns with daily service from Chicago O’Hare
- Oct. 9, 2019 – JetBlue returns with service four times weekly from New York–JFK
- Nov. 5, 2019 – Alaska Airlines launches nonstop daily flights from Paine Field in Everett, Washington
- Nov. 14, 2019 – Frontier Airlines returns with two to three times weekly service from Denver International Airport
- Dec. 21, 2019 – Delta adds daily flights from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
- Jan. 6, 2020 – Delta adds a second flight from Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport
- Jan. 7, 2020 – Alaska Airlines adds a third flight from Portland International Airport
Palm Springs is also a destination in and of itself. Orient yourself at the city’s famous visitor center: Built in 1965 as a gas station, it’s both an architectural masterpiece and valuable source of information. Make time, too, for a visit to the Architecture and Design Center (part of the Palm Springs Art Museum), and take a trip on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway—the world’s “longest rotating tram car”—to get a bird’s-eye view of the Coachella Valley from San Jacinto Peak. Joshua Tree, where two deserts meet, is just 45 minutes by car.
Come 2020, there will be more reasons to fly into Palm Springs: Art Palm Springs and Palm Springs Modernism Week return in February, and March sees the American Documentary Film Festival and some of the world’s best tennis at the the BNP Paribas Open. You’ll even have another new place to stay: In early 2020, the Andaz Palm Springs will open in the Uptown Design District, only eight minutes by foot from the Palm Springs Art Museum.
