However, in October and November or any other day of the year, fog or clouds can prevent the use of both runways for simultaneous landings, resulting in delays.
D moves to WA end of this month and her first week of work is in San Francisco, the beginning of October. Hopefully SFO is a better place to be by then!
If the work location and hotel are BART accessible, consider flying into OAK if a non-stop is available. Even under normal conditions, SFO will have weather-based runway closures causing delays.
In an odd turnabout, I’m on the last direct flight home from SFO on Wednesday. But I’m going to be super-tight on time and actually hoping it gets delayed an hour or two!
D2’s bf flew out of SFO on United and left on time. Hopefully it will go as well on the return trip.
Be sure to check in by the normal check-in deadline based on the scheduled departure time (do this on the web or airline app the day before). Also, sometimes delayed flights may become less delayed.
Be aware that, when talking to airline people or travel agents, “direct flight” does not mean the same thing as “non-stop flight” in airline jargon. A “direct flight” is one where all segments have the same flight number; there may be intermediate stops or even (on some airlines) stops where you change planes (i.e. where there is a chance of missing the connection). So if you are rebooking after a cancelled flight, be sure to ask for a “non-stop flight” rather than a “direct flight” if you really want a non-stop flight.
DH went through SFO yesterday. First flight arrived 25 minutes early; second flight departed on time and arrived 20 minutes early. Thankful THAT is done!
“Even under normal conditions, SFO will have weather-based runway closures causing delays.”
They picked Millbrae to build SFO because it has the least weather related issues of all locations near San Francisco on the Peninsula. San Bruno, for example, has the foggiest street on the Peninsula, I know because my friend lived on that street. As far as I know, SFO is a very reliable airport that has the least weather related issues, much better than most major airports in the world.
I’m glad I found this thread. Heading out there next week. Avoiding SFO.
Unfortuntely @artloversplus, weather is a significant cause of flight delays into/out of SFO. This might help explain: https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/SFO-rain-delays-explained-13532128.php
Mr. flew out of SFO on Thursday. Last flight of the day… short straw for sure. The old Virgin airbus was falling apart… holey tire was suspected but thank goodness it was ok… several broken seats on the plane… the door got stuck but finally opened when they landed here. ?
I was not aware of the low ranking of SFO’s record against other major airports, so that was a miss statement in my previous posting.
However, it is not fair to compare SFO to OAK or SJC’s weather. San Francisco, need an airport, it cannot use OAK or SJC because they are either too far away from the city or had to cross the Bridge to East Bay, both are not acceptable. Not only they have to consider passengers, but also the cargos. The airport must be on the Peninsula or in the City. The choose of the current location is because:
- It is closest to the City of San Francisco and
- It has better weather than all the other locations in the search.
Redwood City would have better weather but it is too far from the city.
@artloversplus -Was simply providing an article that shows the high frequency of delays at SFO, as sadly SFO is not likely considered a “reliable airport” in terms of on time arrivals or departures.
The fact that the area has several airports that are accessible (so what if someone has to take BART or uber or what have you) is a bonus. Many of us who live in other areas do not have that luxury… My s’s will often fly out of SJC or OAK if the fare is better (older s lives closer to SFO, younger is slightly closer to SJC or maybe equidistant- not sure). The SFO flights are frequently, FREQUENTLY delayed due to weather. It matters not where they put the airports. The simple fact is that SFO has lots and lots of weather delays. The runway delay is an added PITA.
Airline passengers going to or from the downtown area of San Francisco may find OAK and SFO not too much different in access convenience by BART ride.
Agreed, @ucbalumnus . And, the metro area is pretty large - many are traveling from place in the SV/SF/East bay area, not just from downtown.
@jym626 Actually as it turns out, 90% for a given big city destination, SFO will always have the lowest fare. The only time I’ve consistently seen lower fares outside of SFO is the SJC to DEN segment when Frontier has a sale. Maybe OAK to Nashville when SWA flies there. Other than that, SFO usually has the lowest fares. And yes by far the most delays.
S was delayed 2 hours getting into SFO yesterday. Hopefully his return flight goes better. He’s taking an early morning flight, so maybe fewer delays. If he has a 2 hr delay on the return, then he’ll miss his connection in Chicago.
When he lived in the bay area, we flew into whichever airport had the cheapest fare. Initially, it was SFO, but the last 2 trips we took while he still lived there, the cheaper flights were into OAK on SWA.
@ProfessorPlum168 it may depend on the destination, convenient flight times and direct vs plane change. For instance, DS and family are flying in/out of SJC for trips to TUS and SLC. They had the best fares. DS#1 is a master st finding the best deals. DS #2 prefers convenience.
And as an aside. Flights today are currently showing an average of 2-3 hrs delay in and out of SFO
Our flight is delayed one hour.
Could be that the higher delay risk mean that many passengers consider flying out of SFO to be undesirable, so fares need to be lower to fill planes flying to or from SFO.
Even without delays, ground time at SFO tends to be longer (more time spent getting around the airport, security screening, aircraft taxiing on the ground before takeoff and after landing, baggage claim), so that adds another factor of undesirability there.