San Francisco International Airport - SFO

One of the best airports I've travelled through this past year.

- TSA Pre Check took less than 3 minutes on Saturday, May 4th at 2:15.

- Plenty of spots to sit in as I waited for my flight to board in the B gates area.

- Clean and wide spaces to navigate through groups of people.

- Bathroom had door stalls that swing out, which makes it super easy to get in with luggage in tow.

Overall, this airport checks all my must-have boxes. It'd be amazing if the terminal had another lounge option other than Admiral's Club, but that's it.

Hmm, what does one judge an airport for? My flights were delayed by several hours and every store and restaurant was super expensive but supposed that isn't really to the fault of the airport itself, no? Hmm... ok, let's judge the cleaniness? Idk. I guess so. It was clean. There were charging outlets but most didn't work. Womp womp.

Lots of walking.

We weren't really fans of this airport. This is mostly due to the very long walk we had, with luggage, to change planes, coming in from an international flight.

The airport is quite huge. Be prepared to walk! Also watch for delays out of here and runway closures and projects. They always have something going on here.

Fast efficient TSA pre/clear, easy to navigate, not crowded like most airports and plenty of comfortable seating

This is a fairly good airport, especially compared to other big city airports like LAX. It's pretty easy to navigate, especially when going from domestic to international terminals, and the staff is typically pretty helpful.
That being said, the pickup locations are pretty bad and the cleanliness outside the airport is pretty poor. TSA here is often really bad when compared to the experience at SJC airport.
Not the worst airport but could use some fixing up. I'd say a solid 3.7 stars.

As airport's go this one wasn't bad.

Asked a couple of people how to get to the shuttles and they both just pointed to the overhead signage.

It's the airport, figure it out as you go along.

I havent been to SFO in soooo long, but goodness! It's a busy airport and the security guards around the outside of SFO pushing the cars in/out is enough to make your head spin! Once we got to the correct section of the terminal, it was nice to see every section had charging ports, and a number of the restaurants were still open on a Wednesday night after 10p. So that was also nice to see .... I'm glad we were able to get a late flight out of SFO for Taiwan! That made the 12 hr time change A LOT more convent for us and transitioning! Hee

I fly to Asia once a year and Washington DC a few times a year to visit family, via mostly Star Alliance airlines, so have to be in SFO for that. I like the International Departures Area. It's right there when you get off BART, no need to take the AirTrain, and it's quiet and there is a lot of room to line up to check in. The restaurants in pre-security are just okay, so I would suggest you eat before you get to the airport. The EVA and ANA gates are always super crowded. We don't go down to the boarding gate until we absolutely have to since I always feel claustrophobic (despite the high ceilings) there with so many people around. We tend to stay upstairs near the escalators where we can get seats.

As for return flights, I have Global Entry, so it's always a breeze through Immigration, but getting your luggage is another issue. Flights from Asian are always so full of people of with boxes and lots of luggage, so it's always a wait. I have never been stopped by customs coz we mostly bring carry ons and never a box., so can't tell you about any experiences with that.

I mostly fly United domestically. The E Gates are nice and new. Wish they would update the F Gates as well.
The new Harvey Milk Terminal looks great from the outside.

I just wish SFO had less expensive flights to Asia and elsewhere. I always cringe when I see how much better prices and how many more direct flights are from LAX.

7/1/23 Landed at this beautiful & fancy looking airport in record time, LESSON #1 Leave (depart) EARLY!

There's more to explore because it's so brand new looking & the shops are amazing (eye catching designs). I wish I could've taken more pictures but we're on an itinerary that's got a jam packed agenda/list.

More to explore later....