SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT  Passenger Reviews and Traveller Reports

SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT review :  19 January 2010 by Colin Shi   (USA)

Customer Rating :  4/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

The International Terminal is a beautiful structure that lets in plenty of natural light and a relaxing place to stay. Immigration and baggage claim take no longer than 45 minutes. Security checks are usually uncrowded, and staff are friendly. On the domestic side, the airport isn't that stunning - Terminal 1 is very outdated, but it's better than Terminal 6 at LAX. Terminal 2 is undergoing renovation. Terminal 3 is United domestic terminal - pretty modern and has great places to eat, even though they're overpriced. It's very friendly, however, I find queuing the longest in here. The terminal can get crowded at peak times.

SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT review :  8 November 2009 by K Kalimanis   (USA)

Customer Rating :  1/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

SFO is by far the worst airport for domestic travel. The only thing positive is that BART runs there. The food choices are limited. No services for the stranded traveller. Dirty and dark. As the gateway for tourists and business travellers alike, this is such a let down. Leaving, TSA reps are the rudest in the county.

SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT review :  13 October 2009  by John Duffus

Customer Rating : 5/5

Arrived by BA from London at around 1630. No other international flights had arrived around that time and, amazingly, I was through Immigration and Customs in less than 20 minutes from leaving the plane. The arrival procedure was vastly superior to my experience at several other US international gateways. Check-in for an early morning AA departure was fast and smooth and it was easy to get to the Gate. I will try and use SFO as my gateway of preference in future.

SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT review :  5 September 2009  by J Sabaduquia

Customer Rating : 5/5

Used the International Terminal for departure, check-in hall was huge, was airy, modern and clean. Security was fast with friendly staff. Departures with lots of shops and food. Bathrooms were clean. Easy to get around with, nice open windows. Best airport, I've been in the US.

SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT review :  23 April 2009  by J Drolet

Customer Rating : 4/5

On the domestic side, flying in from Vancouver, I was amazed how quickly I got my luggage & outside very fast. The international terminal is spacious, though the departure hall seems somewhat foreboding. Security was very smooth and efficient. There is no free wi-fi here, which is unfortunate. Otherwise I was impressed with the spaciousness of the Int'l Terminal, which lends a great view of the tarmac and hills surrounding the city. In the domestic terminal, checking in on United to fly back to Canada was a cattle call - crowded, inefficient, check-in area way too small and narrow. I rate the Int'l Terminal very highly, the domestic side departures not so highly.

SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT review :  26 March 2009  by Ned Hopkins

Customer Rating : 2/5

I've been flying in and out of SFO since 1953. The last year it was a relatively good experience was 1968. I know no other airport except Sheremeyevo in Moscow where it takes longer to get one's baggage -- to get from plane to sidewalk. On our recent return from Kona (Big Island, Hawaii) we waited 55 minutes for our bags to appear on the carousel.

SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT review :  2 February 2009  by P Hauser

Customer Rating : 4/5

Arriving in the USA via SFO is vastly superior to arriving at the God-forsaken hell-hole known as LAX. SFO is more organized, there are actually signs, and the DHS officers are actually polite and pleasant. It is par for the course to have to clear immigration, collect bags and then clear customs prior to heading to either a domestic or international connection. It has been this way for several years now, and I am perplexed by commentators who are surprised by this - perhaps they don't travel to the USA very often. In any case, SFO is delight compared to LAX. I would recommend anyone arriving in the USA via the West Coast do so at SFO or SEA, and forget all about LAX - it's horrible.

SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT review : 8 January 2009 : by M Miller

Customer Rating : 4/5

I have flown out of SFO many times and most of the time the experiences were pleasant. The latest renovations have made great improvements. International terminal full of good places to eat, although expensive. The only thing I don't like is that some of the gates are on the lower floors and are reached by elevators or escalators - it can be very confusing if you have never left from there, and you could miss your flight. The airport is clean, as are the restrooms. Security check is quick, leaving and entering the US.

SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT review : 24 December 2008 : by Alan Wan

Customer Rating : 4/5

Arrived at the International Terminal from LHR and was through immigration and collected our bags within 30 minutes very impressive for a US airport we then walked to domestic T3. The airport was light and had a decent selection of eating facilities although was quite pricey.

SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT review : 16 October 2008 : by Jan Willem Pronk

Customer Rating : 4/5

The immigration officer who processed me was very friendly. Lines were not that long although I always try to make a point of getting off the plane quickly and make my way to immigrations swiftly. A line was building up behind me. Leaving SFO was also a painless experience. Pleasant surroundings but lacking somewhat in facilities.

SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT review : 7 August 2008 : by Jonathan Liu

Customer Rating : 4/5

If US airports were to be avoided, this is an exception. Upon arrival, clean and tidy surroundings make people feel comfortable after flying. Only disappointment were the long lines at immigrations and the unfriendly and discriminative faces of the officers as well as the low ceiling at baggage reclaim. Otherwise, airy spaces and an overall good experience.

SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT review : 30 June 2008 : by P Chang

Customer Rating : 2/5

Flights are frequently delayed due to fog, smoke, ATC or other issues. Connecting between international and domestic terminals require passengers to exit the secure area and go back through the security checkpoint. Depending on arrival concourse, re-checking bags going from international to domestic requires a long walk with bags and oftentimes another wait in line. 4) Security checkpoints are poorly staffed. In general, not all metal detectors are being utilized resulting in long lines. On the good side: Immigration & customs process is very efficient and quick. Checked baggage retrieval time is reasonable ~15min. In the domestic terminal, good selection of restaurants and shops. If possible, avoid connecting through SFO.

San Francisco Airport review by Peter Harrison

12 November 2007   Customer Rating :

Arriving at San Francisco on a domestic flight from Honolulu was trouble free. However, on returning to departures for a flight to JFK there was a queue of 100's of people waiting to go through security. There is no way that passengers could be processed in the 1 hour check in time recommended by the airlines. Luckily I had used the kerbside check-in ($5 expected!) and saved a little time - but even so I reckon it took me the best part of an hour to get through the security area. But no problem my flight was delayed!!

San Francisco Airport review by E Mallari

26 October 2007   Customer Rating :

BART train to the airport highly recommended to avoid traffic and expensive airport parking. Flew out on Virgin America that use the international terminal. The terminal is very modern, airy, and built with future growth in mind so there's plenty of space. This is a big plus. There are many good food outlets, gift shops, and magazine and newspaper stores. Signs are plenty enough. Lavatories are clean. Being a local resident I know that there's plenty of parking most of the time. There is a museum inside the terminal and art displays on both ends of the huge international terminal. Security lines were short, breezed through security check in less than five minutes! Once beyond security, there are plenty of sitting areas, arrival and departure information are conveniently located, and p.a. announcements are clearly understood. Return flight, there is a separate area with a huge baggage carousel for the domestic flights that arrive in the international terminal. Baggage started to arrive about 25 minutes after we landed. Our son picked us up and luckily there was no airport traffic to speak of. Traffic on the freeway in front of SFO was light and arrived home in 20 minutes.

San Francisco Airport review by Gunther Arneson

23 October 2007   Customer Rating :

I use BART regularly and find the BART extension to SFO to be a godsend - who can beat 5 bucks to go from downtown to the airport? The only thing of course is that if your flight is early on weekends it could be hard to catch the flight because the BART starts later in the morning.

San Francisco Airport review by G Godall

11 September 2007   Customer Rating :

This was my first time at SFO and I was impressed with the airport - appreciated the clean, modern looking terminal. Public transport into the city was excellent; the BART station is practically inside the airport and so cheap. The check-in desks at the international terminal were clearly signposted and all the staff (except security) were charming. The museum was a refreshing and amusing diversion. There weren't many restaurants, but I guess the powers-that-be decided to focus on the quality rather than quantity of eateries.

San Francisco Airport review by S Golden

16 August 2007   Customer Rating :

If there is a modern, efficient and pleasant side to SFO I did not experience it on a recent flight from Newark on Continental. The passenger terminal facility seemed old, very poorly laid out, and under partial reconstruction in many places, with poor signage resulting in great confusion (e.g., large "Restrooms" signs leading only to facilities for women). Also much unavoidable traipsing up and down stairs. Worst of all, getting to the (far away) car rental center, especially with baggage, was an ordeal involving escalators, stairs, a journey to and through the parking garage, a lack of signage, and a slow multi-stop "train" to the far end of the airport, followed by more escalators, etc. I am informed that locals and frequent visitors have learned not to rent at the airport, if at all possible. And then what do you do when Hertz unexpectedly runs out of cars, and there are no taxis anywhere near the rental car area?

San Francisco Airport review by John Oram

6 June 2007   Customer Rating :

Arrived from JFK and needed to leave for PSP three hours later. This is not at all difficult at SFO where you can just walk through a horseshoe shape from one terminal to another. Closed Terminal 2 is a bit strange as its supposed refurbishment is presumably waiting for the completion of other work in Terminal 1. Nothing really to complain about in T1 as one can readily complain about TSA - or at least the regulations they have to enforce - anywhere. We ate in Go Bistro which offers interesting Asian food but I must say the product, although satisfactory, does not live up to the flowery words on the menu. At SFO as earlier at JFK they have decided, surprisingly for Americans - the world's leading proponents of shoe removal - that they no longer need to re-check photo ID at the gate.

San Francisco Airport review by James Faulkner

26 January 2007   Customer Rating : n/a

Arrival from Canada was very easy, though we had already passed customs in Canada. Got a cab in 5 minutes. Departures - customs fairly easy, and after customs, there were a few shops - though toilets dirty.

San Francisco Airport review by Peter Schweizer

9 January 2007

Arrived from SYD on UA and had to clear customs in SFO before continuing on to ORD. Very nice and wide open UA terminal with good variety of shops. Overall positive impression spoilt by extremely rude and arrogant immigration officer thinking he was god. He managed to intimidate various non-english speaking passengers. Certainly not a good first impression for people arriving in the US for the first time.

San Francisco Airport review by Ed Fry

21 November 2006

Simple, open plan layout - no long queues, friendly security, excellent shopping and eating facilities and finally a convenient hub on the west coast! BART system excellent! Would use it everyday. Check-in was a breeze with plenty of staff on hand to help.

San Francisco Airport review by Steve Fenton

12 October 2006

I arrived into SFO from TPE with China Airlines and they seem to allocated the first gate on the pier which meant we had a really short walk into passport control. To my amazement it was completely empty and I was the first passenger to enter it. I was cleared within seconds and to my further amazement about 4 minutes later my luggage appeared as well. I was outside in 12 minutes from getting off the plane. The guy who picks me up normally leaves his house 22 miles away when he sees the plane has landed on his computer giving me time to go through all the formality. He arrived and parked himself in front of the monitors to watch for me coming out but he did not know I was already out and we actually stood for 20 minutes within 5 metres of each other not realising the situation. This has to be a world record for SFO airport. The return flight was very fast for check in and security clearance, all of 5 minutes on a busy saturday night and my only dissapointment was the awful China Airlines lounge and the expensive wifi fees they rip you off for.

San Francisco Airport review by Jeff Pug

10 October 2006

Took BART to SFO. The BART ride was quick & easy. Transferred to Airtrain to get to Terminal 1 (flying CO). Transfer into ticketing lobby was a mess - down stairs, around a hall, up an elevator, across the street. etc. The skybridge can't open soon enough. Not enough CO desk clerks to help the hordes of tourist who had never seen an E-ticket kiosk before, as a result the line got very long very quick. Security line was long as many planes were scheduled for similar departure times. TSA did not have enough screeners in place (all it would take is for them to look at the airline schedule to determine proper staffing levels). Also TSA did not expedite those who had flights imminently. Didn't have time to look around concourses amenities as I had to rush to gate to make my flight which was already boarding due to delay at security.

San Francisco Airport review by James Kraus

11 July 2006

BART goes right to the I-terminal and drops you off about 200 feet from the first bank of Airline check in counters. Don't gripe about having to schlep to the train to D-terminal - don't take it. Walk right through the I-term, down the stairs, turn left, and there's the D-term. I've never waited more than 10 minutes to get through I-term security because you're not competing with domestic pax. Then, you don't have to hike forever to get to the farthest gate.

San Francisco Airport review by Richard Galarneau

10 June 2006

I can't think of an airport that better represents Silicon Valley than the new SFO. It's like being a part of a big technical machine. The new people mover and complex of concrete and technology that has swallowed the exterior finishes the effect. When picking up or dropping off the rental car, I feel like I’m driving down to some loading dock in the bad part of down. Welcome to San Francisco, let us show you our industrial underbelly first thing! While SFO is perfect at representing Silicon Valley, it, like the rest of the development there, ignores the natural wonder and weather that draws people to the bay area. Now I like Santa Barbara Airport. Not that it could support the volume of SFO but when you arrive there, you really feel like you are in California and you know why people come there. At SFO, you are totally divorced from the Bay Area and are part of the silicon dream, don’t smell the exhaust. The designers of SFO start by totally ignoring one of the natural wonders of the world. Next, they treat travelers like baggage in a dirty, exhaust-filled machine. They then reward you with a food court and a nice interior design. Bad trade off and a missed opportunity.

San Francisco Airport review by Jane Marfleet

20 January 2006

Flew through SFO recently and baggage never made connecting flight to YVR. Staff at YVR indicated "if baggage goes missing and you flew through SFO, you can bet that is where the problem is." Not exactly a glowing commentary on their baggage handling capabilities.

San Francisco Airport review by Richard Walder

5 December 2005

Having recently used SFO for the first time I was not impressed. We arrived from PHL having connected and flown from London Gatwick, so by the time we arrived in SFO we had been travelling for nearly 24 hours. We arrived at US Air terminal and followed poor signs for car rentals, which took us to an escalator. (no trolleys allowed, nor info for a lift or elevator ). We abandoned our trolley and went down the escalator and ended up in a multi storey car park. No signs where car rentals were there, and we were hand carrying heavy suitcases. Not the way to welcome someone to SFO. Eventually found a cleaner who told us to walk through the dimly red lit car park to the train!! After struggling with cases & hand luggage, got the train, to wait for many minutes for a train to the car rental building. There it was efficiency all the way and apologies for poor signs. On the return from holiday, with an early monday morning flight back via PHL to LGW we allowed two+ hours for car rental return & check-in, but it was pleasant to get to the terminal and check-in from leaving our car in only 30 minutes, BUT we knew where we were going and we were not tired. Self check-in was not that easy though as it did not seem to cope with two flights, one an international one, but help from ground staff eventually assisted. Usual comments about lack of seating and expensive food, but signage needs to be improved for poor long haul travellers trying to find their car rentals, please!!

San Francisco Airport review by Melissa Miller

13 September 2005

I have watched this airport go through several incarnations all in the name of improvement. The new people mover is a nice touch, although not very practical. Why have one train that has to go to all the terminals, when they could have a separate one for domestic flights and one for international. Plan on getting there several hours before your flight, to allow time to get off BART, wait for the train and then get to your gate. No luggage carts can be taken into the BART station, so be prepared to struggle with all your baggage onto the air train and vice versa. The restaurants are ok, very expensive of course, and the food, offered by Starbucks, and the other usual chains is ok. SFO is better, still has a long way to go.

San Francisco Airport review by Alan Wan

3 August 2005

Came through SFO twice in July. The baggage handling was a joke, the first time we arrived from Toronto with Air Canada and waited 40+ minutes for bags. A week later arrived with TED and waited over an hour. Yes I take on board the positive comments made about the airport. Its better than LHR for departing but at least with Heathrow they have efficient baggage handling

San Francisco Airport review by Andrew Mortimer

6 June 2005

Would echo Nick Way's comments below. Our flight had a medical diversion en route to SFO resulting in nearly 3 hour delay but clearance for onward flights etc. was extremely efficient. I even got a smile from the immigration officer - it must have been Friday 13th!