Flight Advice
Travel Tips: Bay Area Airports
In recent years, San Francisco International Airport (www.flysfo.com) has added a spacious new international terminal, a new rental car complex and improved ground transportation, including automated trains between terminals and direct access to the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) regional rail network. But before booking a flight to SFO, remember that two other major airports serve the greater Bay Area: Oakland International Airport (www.flyoakland.com) and Mineta San Jose International Airport (www.sjc.org). When choosing which airport will work best for you, consider the following:
--Location: In actual highway miles, Oakland International is not much farther from San Francisco than SFO, and in light traffic you can reach most downtown locations in about half an hour. At times, however, congestion on the Bay Bridge can lead to considerable delays, particularly during morning commute hours. If you're not renting a car, catch a shuttle to the nearby BART station and cross the Bay by rail. San Jose International is significantly farther from San Francisco, and, depending on traffic, the drive takes at least an hour; it can take much longer if traffic is heavy.
--Price and scheduling: Considering multiple airports can make a big difference when shopping for bargain airfares and convenient schedules. Most major online travel agencies include a "nearby airports" option for flight searches, making it easy to compare rates and schedules for all three Bay Area airports. Bear in mind, however, that some low-cost airlines cannot be booked through the online agencies. Southwest Airlines and JetBlue, for example, fly into Oakland and San Jose, but their flights are not listed on other travel sites.
--Air traffic delays: In good weather, the two parallel runways at SFO can handle about 60 aircraft arrivals per hour, but until recently, arriving flights were restricted to just one runway in times of limited visibility. Given the Bay Area's rainy winters and notoriously foggy summers, flight delays have long been common whenever the airport was only working at 50 percent capacity. With no room to build additional runways, SFO recently unveiled a $20 million navigational system that allows both runways to function on a limited basis during inclement weather. Even so, weather-related delays are probably less likely at Oakland and San Jose.
| 
)
