San Diego Airport

As others have commented SAN is a comfortably sized airport with a somewhat irritating need to go up over a bridge and down again to get from the baggage carousels to the shuttle buses. However a special warning to international travellers. We came in on the new Zoom service from London (8 hrs late but that's another story). The immigration staff at SAN have clearly not yet learned to handle the demands of diverse international passengers. We were on J-1 (exchange visitor) visas - not uncommon you would think for a city with a major international university and numerous high-tech research institutes. The officers appeared completely unfamiliar with this - we were asked if we were students (aged 60+!) sent off for secondary questioning returned waited while a second officer sought guidance from superiors on where to stamp the form.. at least 1/2 hour to our wait time. Another young man coming in on a student visa got similar treatment. I was also struck that the flight crew who have a dedicated desk and in my experience usually walk straight through immigration were waiting in line up to 40 minutes. Next time we'll return to the madhouse of LAX where at least they know what they're doing.

Arrived via AA. Terminal easy to negotiate but it would sure be nice if AA would advise its passengers as to which baggage carousel would be used. Because of SAN weather being pretty much VFR all the time flights are pretty much on time even though there is only one runway. Rental car shuttle vans are a bit of a walk but once you're in your car its a breeze getting into SAN downtown or onto I-5 or I-15 freeways. Great for cruise passengers as you can actually see the cruise ship (s) right outside baggage. AA has a small Admiral's Club with computer terminals and printers if needed.

Just travelled through SAN on my way to PHX. Terminal one must have been designed by a fool who has never been through an airport and has no regard for the needs of passengers. You have to use a sky bridge to get in and out and the terminal must still have the same look and design as when originally opened. Avoid this airport - at least terminal one - at all costs.

SAN is a hogde podge of up and down stairs evolutions. Access and egress with baggage is a pain. It has only one runway and is frequently affected by weather. The old style tunnel like concourses are cramped and the airside concessions are wedged in. Security is also wedged in forming narrow bottlenecks and is subject to frequent delays and back ups The airport authority and the city has resisted moving the airport for years and relied on a never ending series of short term fixes which make the facility ever the more dysfunctional. Not a bad connection if your destination is San Diego downtown but miserable if you are going anywhere else in the region. For one of the nations favorite tourist destinations and a tech hub to have such a poor airport is really a shame. Free wireless sound good though.

Travelled through SAN in September and contrary to the last post the airport does have Wifi and what's more it's free! A real bonus. This is a great airport and will be my preferred gateway into Southern California from now on. I previously used LAX which is dire. SAN is fairly small and clean with a good selection of shops and eateries. Parking is convenient and I found no problem using the car hire shuttles. What's more it has the bonus of being right in downtown.

I'm at SAN several times a year. My main issues are the fact that you have to upstairs for departures (a problem with heavy loads of luggage & the lack of elevators) or to get to any of the parking lots (doesn't make sense to go down to get luggage only to go back up to get to your car). Also the shuttle buses to the rental cars are a severe time- drain. The terminals are small enough that there should only be one pick-up point per terminal to speed things up (rather than 2 per terminal). Also for such a technologically advanced city like San Diego not having WiFi in the terminals is a major sin.

San Diego airport is a joy to look out the window and convenient only if you arrange for someone to pick you up. Off airport rental cars are an extreme time sink and on-airport (Hertz Avis National) not much better. Why someone would design an airport such that you have to go down the stairs to get your bags on arrival go back up the stairs and then back down the stairs to cross over to parking or shuttles is beyond me. Lindberg Field was great until redesigned. If the airport wishes international traffic I am not sure why downtown in the current spagetti configuration makes no sense. Current proposals include a tunnel to a remote runway across the bay! Why not just build a proper airport and keep Linberg local. A long runway invites noise and a hub temptation that will hopefully die with Delta and United.

Living in San Diego I constantly use SAN. While Terminal 2 (1998 Expansion) is beautiful and open. The more cramped Terminal 2 (1978) and Terminal 1(1967) are not a joy to go to. After the demise of TWA and the move of Continental and Aeromexico the first part of T1 is all Southwest which could use a face lift bigger areas and new lines. At the other end the virtually empty T1 is only UAL US Airways and Alaska is not to bad. The whole plan should be to make older T1 & T2 just like the new T2 with better Security Immigration and more gates. The commuter Terminal is now a desert and empty with most regional jets at the gates. The runway had a chance to be expanded but the city planners decided to put HOMES! at the end. We could of had an 1000 to 2000 feet of runway a new terminal possibly a expansion of the parking (a parking garage maybe) but we just had to have homes. We lost our only flight to Europe in October 2003 (Yup BA left taking its memories of BCAL's 747/DC-10 and the othe DC-10s744 and 777). But we have flights to Canada and Mexico even though Mexico is 20 minutes away with Tijuana's dirty crowded yet longer runway. But the idea to move it to a floating airport in Pacific Beaches or a military base of Miramar (since the Desert idea and BrownField (Dual National Mexico/US) are dumb ideas. We should just stay and renovate and revamp the area and airport.

Much like the city of San Diego the airport is small comfortable and intimate. I agree with the previous posts that the sights when arriving are rather unique and breathtaking- the crystal blue waters of the bay the sail boats the city park urban skyscrapers deserts and breaking surf. The airport is small which makes it very quick to get in and out of. There is no need (except for security) to arrive early you should be in and out in no time. The airport has two terminals- Terminal 1 is older and houses Southwest. Terminal 2 handles most of the international flights- there are non stops to London and other global destinations. Terminal 2 is much newer. It is beautiful. San Diego has done a great job with comfy chairs in waiting areas to dramatic public art. I especially like the sealife fountain in the dome. Dining in terminal 2 includes fabulous choices like Wolfgang Puck and Karl Straus. The old terminal has more limited options. San Diego is much nicer to fly into than crazy LAX or John Wayne. San Diego is also the perfect place for a Southern California vacation. I would recommend taking the Amtrak train from downtown or Solana Beach to Disneyland- the train runs along the beach for most of the ride.

I flew into and out of San Diego in the evening so I didn't see the throngs of people the previous chap mentioned. The food choices are limited and again which seems to be a habit at US airports were mostly closed at that time of the evening. It's extremely irritating to get to the airport and hope for a quick bite to eat and find everything closed. Terminal 2 is clean and comfortable but it's not that clear that you have to go upstairs for check in so navigating isn't that easy.