SFO 11:10 flight too early in October?

[laurieb]

not many choices for flights to TUS.  11:10 work?  Princess cruise

[CruiserBruce]

Going to be stressful. Can you be first off the ship, carrying your bags, and grab a cab?

[SelectSys]

2 hours ago, laurieb said:

not many choices for flights to TUS.  11:10 work?  Princess cruise

It's not really a long taxi ride to the airport.  Maybe 30 minutes from the port if traffic is light.  Maybe 45 minutes with heavier traffic. 

 

To better assess you chances, I have some questions for you to consider:

 

0) can you get early disembarkation from the ship?

1) do you have precheck?

2) do you have checked baggage?

3) do you have status on the airline you are flying to speed any baggage collection process if necessary?

4) what day of the week are you trying to get to the airport.

 

With precheck and airline status I would think this would be doable if you are off and clear of immigration - assuming the ship didn't get cleared in another US port - by 8 to 8:30.

 

Maybe a real SFO expert will chime in on this.

 

[CruiserBruce]

38 minutes ago, SelectSys said:

It's not really a long taxi ride to the airport.  Maybe 30 minutes from the port if traffic is light.  Maybe 45 minutes with heavier traffic. 

 

To better assess you chances, I have some questions for you to consider:

 

0) can you get early disembarkation from the ship?

1) do you have precheck?

2) do you have checked baggage?

3) do you have status on the airline you are flying to speed any baggage collection process if necessary?

4) what day of the week are you trying to get to the airport.

 

With precheck and airline status I would think this would be doable if you are off and clear of immigration - assuming the ship didn't get cleared in another US port - by 8 to 8:30.

 

Maybe a real SFO expert will chime in on this.

 

SFO is my home airport...done dozens, maybe over a hundred flights now, from SFO.

[SelectSys]

5 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

SFO is my home airport...done dozens, maybe over a hundred flights now, from SFO.

I am just thinking back on all my trips to the city for business - all pre pandemic.  I never found the drive to the airport from downtown all that bad.  Early on a weekend morning should be easy I would think. 

 

What I don't have a feel for is the lines for security without pre check or the airport counter lines for airlines like united or southwest.

 

BTW - I tended to avoid SFO for morning meetings and flew to OAK instead.   SFO is much more likely to have weather delays than OAK in my experience.  OAK got even better once the rail connection eliminated the need for the old BART bus which at times was very uncomfortable and crowded. 

[laurieb]

We do have global entry ( cruise starts in Vancouver BC).  Probably flying AA so OAK not an option there.  

[CruiserBruce]

12 minutes ago, laurieb said:

We do have global entry ( cruise starts in Vancouver BC).  Probably flying AA so OAK not an option there.  

Are you stopping in Victoria or other Canadian port? If not, you will clear US Immigration and Customs when you board in Vancouver. If you stop at another Canadian port, you will have Immigration procedures at SF.

 

My main concern is any sort of hiccup getting docked will hurt you. Fog, currents,  anything.  Otherwise,  if you walk off promptly,  and catch a cab, you will make your flight.

[laurieb]

It's a short 3 night so all sea days.  We've never ported in SFO before but I have heard of docking issues there before.  Perhaps I'd better just stick to the 12:30 flight.  Or is that still too early?

[CruiserBruce]

17 minutes ago, laurieb said:

It's a short 3 night so all sea days.  We've never ported in SFO before but I have heard of docking issues there before.  Perhaps I'd better just stick to the 12:30 flight.  Or is that still too early?

12:30 is fine.

[FlyerTalker]

All this angst for an hour and twenty minutes?  You made it seem like your choice was 11:10 or something many hours later.

 

Take the later flight.

[SelectSys]

On 7/25/2023 at 6:11 AM, laurieb said:

Probably flying AA so OAK not an option there

 

I really wouldn't recommend OAK for cruise passengers - especially those with luggage.  The airport is further away than SFO and BART probably takes an hour and you still have to get to a BART station from the cruise port.  Any cab or ride share service to OAK would likely be a lot more expensive too when compared against SFO as you need to cross the bridge.

 

I would only consider OAK for a SFO cruise if I was 1) travelling very lightly and 2) wanted to travel on WN.

[laurieb]

On 7/25/2023 at 7:01 AM, FlyerTalker said:

All this angst for an hour and twenty minutes?  You made it seem like your choice was 11:10 or something many hours later.

 

Take the later flight.

Huh?  I simply asked if 11:10 was too early.  Never said anything in my original post about later flights.  Angst?