Cartagena Adds United and Frontier Nonstops After Four Seasons Opens
United from Houston and Dulles plus Frontier from Orlando join daily JetBlue service as Cartagena's new Four Seasons hotel draws more U.S. travelers.
Cartagena is stacking new U.S. nonstops on top of a fresh luxury hotel. United Airlines will start year-round flights from Houston and Washington Dulles on Dec. 17, 2026, while Frontier Airlines launches Orlando to Cartagena service on Dec. 19. Those routes arrive after JetBlue made Fort Lauderdale to Cartagena daily year-round in June, and after Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Cartagena opened in Getsemani this spring.
What the new flights change for a long weekend
United's Houston and Dulles routes are slated to run four times weekly each during the winter season, opening one-stop connections from a wide swath of the United States. Frontier's Orlando flight starts once weekly, with early promotional fares advertised around $129 each way. Combined with JetBlue's daily Fort Lauderdale schedule, Cartagena becomes much easier to treat as a three- or four-night city break instead of a connection-heavy itinerary.
That matters for guests who want Caribbean water and a walkable historic core on the same trip. You can leave Texas, the mid-Atlantic, or Florida in the morning and still have an evening in the Walled City.
Where guests actually stay and what they do
Four Seasons occupies restored historic buildings in Getsemani with 131 rooms, eight dining concepts, a spa, and two rooftop pools. Rates were reported near $700 a night around debut. The hotel sits just outside the Walled City, so guests can walk colonial streets by day, eat in courtyard restaurants, then use Cartagena as a base for Rosario Islands boat days on the Caribbean.
Unlike a single-site all-inclusive corridor, Cartagena is a walkable Caribbean city vacation: coffee and ceviche inside the walls, murals and nightlife in Getsemani, and beach time offshore. The Sofitel Legend Santa Clara remains a longtime luxury landmark inside the historic core. Four Seasons adds another globally recognized brand for travelers who want the same city fabric with a newer flag.
Why this winter matters
Airlift and lodging are moving together. More U.S. gateways land as the hotel inventory in Getsemani and the Old City deepens. For guests planning late 2026 and early 2027 travel, Cartagena now combines clearer nonstop options from Texas, the mid-Atlantic, South Florida, and Orlando with a Four Seasons stay that did not exist a year ago. Pack walking shoes first; the beach day can wait until the Rosario Islands boat leaves.