Frommer's San Francisco 2012 - Matthew Poole [250]
OAKLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT About 5 miles south of downtown Oakland, at the Hegenberger Road exit of Calif. 17 (U.S. 880; if coming from south, take 98th Ave.), Oakland International Airport ( 800/247-6255 or 510/563-3300; www.oaklandairport.com) primarily serves passengers with East Bay destinations. Some San Franciscans prefer this less-crowded, more accessible airport, although it takes about a half-hour to get there from downtown San Francisco (traffic permitting). The airport is also accessible by BART via a shuttle bus.
ARRIVING AT THE AIRPORT
IMMIGRATION & CUSTOMS CLEARANCE International visitors arriving by air, no matter what the port of entry, should cultivate patience and resignation before setting foot on U.S. soil. U.S. airports have considerably beefed up security clearances in the years since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and clearing Customs and Immigration can take as long as 2 hours.
GETTING INTO TOWN FROM THE AIRPORT
The fastest and cheapest way to get from SFO to the city is to take BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit; 415/989-2278; www.bart.gov), which offers numerous stops within downtown San Francisco. This route, which takes about 35 minutes, avoids traffic on the way and costs a heck of a lot less than taxis or shuttles. (A BART ticket is about $6 each way, depending on exactly where you’re going.) Just jump on the airport’s free shuttle bus to the International terminal, enter the BART station there, and you’re on your way to San Francisco. Trains leave approximately every 15 minutes.
A cab from the airport to downtown costs $35 to $40, plus tip, and takes about 30 minutes, traffic permitting.
SuperShuttle ( 800/BLUE-VAN [2583-826], or 415/558-8500; www.supershuttle.com) is a private shuttle company that offers door-to-door airport service, in which you share a van with a few other passengers. They will take you anywhere in the city, charging $15 per person to a residence or business. On the return trip, add $8 to $15 for each additional person depending on whether you’re traveling from a hotel or a residence. The shuttle stops at least every 20 minutes, sometimes sooner, and picks up passengers from the marked areas outside the terminals’ upper levels. Reservations are required for the return trip to the airport only and should be made 1 day before departure. These shuttles often demand they pick you up 2 hours before your domestic flight and 3 hours before international flights and during holidays. Keep in mind that you could be the first one on and the last one off, so this trip could take a while; you might want to ask before getting in. For $65, you can either charter the entire van for up to seven people or an Execucar private sedan for up to four people. For more info on the Execucar, call 800/410-4444.
The San Mateo County Transit system, SamTrans ( 800/660-4287 in Northern California, or 650/508-6200; www.samtrans.com), runs two buses between SFO and the Transbay Terminal at First and Mission streets. Bus no. 292 costs $2 and makes the trip in about 55 minutes. The KX bus costs $4 and takes just 35 minutes but permits only one carry-on bag. Both buses run daily. The no. 292 starts at 5:25am Monday through Friday and 5:30am on weekends; both run until 1am and run every half-hour until 7:30pm, when they run hourly. The KX starts at 5:53am and ends at 10:37pm Monday through Friday. On weekends, service runs from 7:19am to 9:30pm, runs every half-hour until 6:30pm, and then changes to an hourly schedule.
GETTING INTO TOWN FROM OAKLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Taxis from the Oakland Airport to downtown San Francisco are expensive—approximately $50, plus tip.
Bayporter Express ( 877/467-1800 in the Bay Area, or 415/467-1800 elsewhere; www.bayporter.com) is a shuttle service that charges $26 for the first person and $12 for each additional person for the ride from the Oakland Airport to downtown San Francisco. Children 11 and under pay $7. The fare for outer areas of San Francisco is higher. The service accepts