San Francisco International Airport - International Terminal

The airport is good. Plenty of shops, restaurants, seats to relax with some of them having a plug for your device and water refilling stations.
There's even a museum at the International gate area.
What disappointments me is the lack of sign or direction for International gates.

My connecting flight was from here.
The gate I went out from Delta is gate C, there was no sign for International gates. I asked an employee and she said go to B - I asked where is the B is and she said it's in another concourse.

The employee wasn't clear with her directions. I just find my way around. I was able to find the International gate by taking a Red Line. I have to go to a No Entry zone to find it. The guard manning the area let's people in taking the international route.

What an experience. The good part I finished my steps early. Huh

The airport is fine but nothing special. I find the food pricier than some airports but then California is expensive to live in. The service charge already added on is not something I appreciate. If it was built into the price of food I'd be more receptive to it. I didn't see it and added a tip so I felt ripped off. The service wasn't great. The ground crew of United who handled the boarding of my international flight belittled my inability to follow the 'expected boarding process' in front of everyone. I felt that if that person wants to be treated inclusively and respectfully for the person's gender preference the person should treat others with the same understanding the person wants. I should have said something but I was flustered and simply wanted to escape.
There is not much choice in shopping in the terminals or diverse food options. To go convenience food costs the same as sit down entrees. Crazy. I did appreciate the shoe shine guy and the choice of gender neutral and male or female bathrooms. This way no one is forced to be uncomfortable. The walk is long to the terminals and security was cramped. Their configuration is not conducive to many people as it bottlenecks. But my friend lives here so we shall be back.

The airport is very organized and well run and the personnel very friendly. A few of the security agents along the scanners could use customer service training, some of them appear to have a chip on their shoulders or some type of complex. (Not helpful and rude) Also the conveyor racks at the scanner areas are not automatic which holds up lines and causes a bit of confusion. I would recommend an upgrade to help alleviate confusion. Other than that fiasco the airport if quite nice and clean.

Access to this area from the other side of the general domestic terminal is very odd, with a small opening to walk into, and a long hallway an escalator, you would think you're not walking the right way! Once you do arrive in here, it's not the most exciting terminal, but it has charging port cubicles and a good amount of seats. Unfortunately the seats are not that comfortable, especially the wooden ones in the cubicles.

The restaurants here are very pricey and the duty free shops aren't worth it--hardly anyone goes in there.

Restrooms are clean.

This terminal is a terrible layout. Connected to the main terminals with a mile walk. This terminal has very little to eat or shop at. Not many staff to help either. Hard pass.

I was really disappointed in the SFO international terminal. When people arrive in the United States all they see are white walls, there is no art or interesting things to look at. I had just traveled from Colombia and Panama where upon arrival you get a flavor for the country with murals, sculpture, water features and friendly welcome from the airport staff. Almost everything is in English and it is not very accommodating or welcoming. The United domestic terminal on the other hand is great! There is art and music profiles of people from California. It feels more representative of San Francisco. But the international terminal is boring and kind of depressing. People have to walk long distances to get to their luggage then go thru customs and immigration. I saw a woman who was really struggling with the length of the walk. She was older and obviously didn't think to ask for help before arriving. There was no one around to ask for a wheelchair or give her a ride. We also waited almost an hour for our bags to show up in baggage claim. In addition, The cost to leave the airport in a taxi is astronomical. I stayed at a hotel 1 mile from San Francisco airport and it cost $20 to go 1 mile. Everything at San Francisco airport is a rip off. Especially the taxis. They also make it very difficult for those of us who want to get a Lyft or Uber. The signage is terrible and not clear. People from other countries were asking me for help and I had no idea how to direct them because there were no signs helping people figure out how to get away from the airport. The lines were long everywhere. And the place was generally dirty. There was garbage on the seats crumbs on all of the flat surfaces when I tried to sit at a table. The entire airport is very understaffed and seems to not be well run at this time. Many of the staff working at SFO seem overworked and are not very friendly. If my first experience of the United States was that airport I would be very disappointed and feel ripped off the minute I arrived.

The woman taking our order her name is Sharot was very rude. She didn't even smile. A smile goes a long way. She had a bad attitude. I had eggs, potatoes and toast I asked for no meat. I asked for hot water instead of cold and she said she would have to charge us for the he water. So I declined on the water.

Why the low ratings? I haven't been to many international airports, relatively speaking. But I can't imagine it being much nicer than here. Singapore and Dubai notwithstanding.

Everything here is clean and functional. But you know what the best part is? The new men's rooms. Damn. Have you ever taken a deuce at Neiman Marcus. Well, this place ain't that far off.

When you're staring down a 10+ hour flight in a metal tube over the Pacific, it's nice to have some respite for when nature calls. The stalls are big (big enough to roll in your bag), the entire area is clean, the fixtures are new, all the amenities are fully stocked. And my top 2 public restroom requirements? Ample ambient noise (piped in music) and stall doors and sides that almost touch the ground.

Why can't all restrooms have doors that go all the way down like these? I once walked into a dept store men's room where I could almost see a dudes knees. smh

The International terminal of SFO is open, airy, contemporary modern, and well designed. What can I say, it works for me. I've been flying in and out monthly for business, and every time I come back home, I can't help it but feel excited to get back and humbly proud to call the Bay Area home.

The International terminal first opened in December of 2000. Do you remember the Y2K craze and fears that it couldn't have been handled by the old computer systems, which luckily never materialized, while an insane amounts of money were poured into "fixing" supposedly old hard-coded systems?

Once that milestone had been over, the new SFO International terminal had undergone its finishing touches before starting the operations. I remember it all vividly as if yesterday.

Now Lufthansa, Air France, British Airways, and Emirates all fly the Airbus A380 at SFO (as of April 2016), the largest commercial passenger jetliner. When it was built in 2000, SFO became one of the first airports in the world featuring gates designed for the Airbus A380.

The International Terminal includes boarding areas A and G. Each concourse has its own security checkpoint. All airlines from the Star Alliance group board at the G concourse (gates G91-G101).

Once you pass through security, there's retail shopping and some food joints, though it could definitely benefit passengers to have more places to choose from.

I haven't been stranded here for too long, I guess I always luck out, so this hasn't been an issue for me, but I can see how it might become problematic if you're stuck here.

The garage leading to the G concourse is adjacent to the BART station, providing for easy commute and access.

All terminals, garages, BART, and rental car center are connected by the automatically operated air train (free ridership).

I have been to this airport multiple times throughout my travels and without fail there is always an issue with leaving on time. I even had issues one time from an international flight back in 2011 where I had to recheck my bags. I almost missed my flight back to my final destination and had two hours layover where that shouldn't have been an issue.

The airport does have decent food and drink options but besides that, it is not a good airport in my opinion.