Houston Hobby (HOU): The Complete Layover Guide

Hobby is a one terminal airport with two airside concourses. The Central Concourse carries the domestic operation across 25 gates, numbered in the 20s through 51. The West Concourse holds 5 gates, numbered 1 to 5, and handles Southwest's international flights to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. A corridor with moving walkways connects the two inside security, so the worst case gate to gate walk runs 5 to 7 minutes. No trains, no buses, no second screening for domestic connections.

This is Southwest's house. The airline runs roughly 23 times more weekly departures here than the next carrier, with American, Delta and a rotating cast of low cost airlines filling out the schedule. Southwest check in occupies the west side of the ticketing hall, everyone else the east. For connections, Southwest's own guidance is to be at the airport 60 minutes before a domestic flight and 90 before international, and a gate to gate connection of 45 minutes is routine here when the inbound runs on time.

International arrivals are the one place Hobby slows down. There is no preclearance at the Latin American airports it serves, so every arriving international passenger clears immigration and customs at the West Concourse federal inspection facility, collects checked bags, rechecks them at the Southwest desks, and passes through security again. The facility has 14 passport kiosks and 6 Global Entry kiosks, which keep the line moving, but 2 hours is the honest budget for international to domestic.

Security hours matter more here than at the megahubs. The main checkpoint operates 3:45 am to 11 pm and the PreCheck lanes close at 8:45 pm. After the last departures the airside area empties and closes; the landside terminal stays open all night, but the seating is armrested and the lights stay on. Sleepers report long couches near gates 28 and 29 for daytime waits, and nothing good after the checkpoint shuts.

Food and services concentrate where the two concourses meet. There is no full service lounge anywhere in the building: no airline club, no Centurion, no Chase. Gameway near gate 1 is the only Priority Pass lounge, good for an hour of gaming, a snack and a drink per visit, and it accepts Priority Pass issued through some banks but not others, so check your card's terms before walking over. The USO near gate 44 serves military travelers and their families from 9 am to 9 pm.

The airport is mid expansion. A 470 million dollar West Concourse project is adding 7 gates, a new baggage system and a covered walkway from the Red Garage, with the structure topped out in fall 2025, new baggage claim devices due by June 2026 for the World Cup crowd, and full completion expected in 2027. The works mostly touch the curb and garages, not your gate.

Downtown Houston sits 7 miles north. The new METRO Route 500 Downtown Direct bus, running since February 2026, covers it for 4.50 dollars, while the local Route 40 does the same trip slower for 1.25 dollars in about an hour. A rideshare takes about 20 minutes for roughly 31 dollars, and the taxi flat rate lands near 30 dollars.