Why do you still use sfo or oak airports? (Los Angeles: rental car, house)

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by aslowdodge

I have no dog in this fight, but the poll does seem very skewed and the op seems to insult the respondent if they aren't waving the sacto airport banner .

What would make it not skewed?

No banner waving with these choices:

"My preferred airline does not fly out of SMF", "I can save $100 on airfare...", "I am unaware... of SMF options...", "I stay with bay area friends or family"

"Seems" is a vague word.

"Insult", how is it an insult when you do have to deal with Bay Area traffic, you do have to pay more just to get to SFO, you do have to inconvenience yourself or someone else, you do have to pay a lot for parking, you do have to add 2-4 hours to your trip by driving to the bay area, these are facts not insults. These things are UNAVOIDABLE when you use a bay area airport.

It's not a fight, only if you make it one.

[Chimérique]

You can pick more than one option in the poll.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Chimérique

Did I add $280 to every SFO flight, no, I did not.

So you really would go the extra trouble to research "good deals" on car rentals so you could drive additional 100 miles or more to a more congested airport....just so you can "save" a few bucks on airfare.

I've always researched good deals on car rentals when I travel, and while I don't like SFO I have no issues at all with OAK, all things being equal I will fly out of SMF, why do you want to argue about that?

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

I've always researched good deals on car rentals when I travel, and while I don't like SFO I have no issues at all with OAK, all things being equal I will fly out of SMF, why do you want to argue about that?

It's not an argument. It's fact finding and research. So when are "all things equal"? Is it based mostly on airfare? Is it airfare that is the driving force, that makes one want to go out of their way to "find a good deal on a car rental just to get to an airport that is further away than the one closest to them?"

So SMF airfare has to be equal, even though there are added costs to flying from the Bay Area?

Airfare
$275 from SMF, nope forget it, I'm flying out of OAK even though it takes longer and I have to pay extra to get there.

$225 from SFO/OAK, I'll still inconvenience myself or others to get to the bay area because its $50 less.

$275 from SMF, nope i have to connect in DENVER so I'm not flying out of SMF, even though I have to connect in DENVER on the OAK flight as well.

$275 from SFO, only when SMF airfare is the same as SFO (or less) will I now start thinking about SMF.

Do you always check SFO or OAK when flying domestically? I am assuming you actually live in the Sacramento Area, not the Bay.

Do you realize that every time you fly out of the Bay, you make it harder for SMF to add flights, I know I do it to, sometimes.

[NinaN]

I always start with SMF, but honestly there is a lack of options, lack of direct flights, and often more expensive.

I don't have to rent a car, I would have to pay more for parking, but not THAT much more, and I drive a Hybrid so gas isn't that much. I do try to avoid going to SFO or Oakland just due to traffic. Ugh.

MUCH prefer SMF, I sure wish there were more direct US and more international options.

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by NinaN

I always start with SMF, but honestly there is a lack of options, lack of direct flights, and often more expensive.

I don't have to rent a car, I would have to pay more for parking, but not THAT much more, and I drive a Hybrid so gas isn't that much. I do try to avoid going to SFO or Oakland just due to traffic. Ugh.

MUCH prefer SMF, I sure wish there were more direct US and more international options.

I am assume you mean non-stops. Direct means that a flight can stop somewhere, but you do not have to change planes.

Non-stop means not only direct, it means non-stop, you don't stop until you get to your final destination.

I'll do a list of non-stops to all the major hubs domestically and how many times per day.

Do you realize that every time you fly out of the Bay, you make it harder for SMF to add flights, I know I do it to, sometimes.

Do you think someone in the Bay even considers SMF, so why do we make that extra effort to consider the Bay when in the end you save very little if at all and you always have to deal with the negatives of flying out of the Bay.

[phantompilot]

Im sure Sacramento is fine for Central Valley residents. But for Bay Area people, you do know its almost a two hour drive?

[phantompilot]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

I hate milk runs, I used to travel every week for my job when I lived in Reno and at least during that time most flights were craptastic regional jets that went to SFO or LAX where you had a lot of downtime changing planes. I only travel for pleasure now but I will do what I can to avoid regional jets or plane changes when flying, if I can accomplish that in Sacramento that's great, if not I will drive to Oakland which I don't consider a huge inconvenience.

And in your poll I can't imagine it costing me $100-$200 to get to SFO, I'm not going to take Uber there for heaven's sake I would drive.

You can Uber to SFO from pretty much anywhere in the Bay Area for under $100.

Less if you don't mind UberPool.

Heck, I usually don't bother with Uber on my departure trip - I just take a black car (town car limo service I've used for years). Its $90. The guy is always early to pick me up. Its a Town Car. Easy-peasy.

Sometimes I Uber the return trip because its cheaper and you can easily get an Uber pickup at SFO pretty much anytime night or day.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Chimérique

It's not an argument. It's fact finding and research. So when are "all things equal"? Is it based mostly on airfare? Is it airfare that is the driving force, that makes one want to go out of their way to "find a good deal on a car rental just to get to an airport that is further away than the one closest to them?"

So SMF airfare has to be equal, even though there are added costs to flying from the Bay Area?
Do you always check SFO or OAK when flying domestically? I am assuming you actually live in the Sacramento Area, not the Bay.
Do you realize that every time you fly out of the Bay, you make it harder for SMF to add flights, I know I do it to, sometimes.

Yes, I live in Sacramento & I always check OAK and SMF, and SFO for international travel. I go out of my way to avoid plane changes and long layovers, if that costs me a few hundred dollars in order to do so, that's fine. If I am going to Cancun I do not want to wander around the Houston airport for three hours. I want to get on a plane and land in Cancun, as far as I know the only direct to CUN is SFO. Convenience motivates me far more than money, particularly for international travel.

I hate SFO for many reasons, but I will fly out of SFO to get a direct international flight. Since I have family living in Contra Costa County and San Francisco it's never difficult for me to fly out of either SFO or OAK and when I go to France, Sweden or Norway to visit family the time difference between a flight with connections out of SMF vs direct at SFO is considerable as is the fare.

With all of that said, I love SMF, I'm glad we have it here but that does not mean that I am somehow disloyal because I occasionally use other airports. I am not going to spend 18 hours flying to Paris because the will supposedly enable SMF to add flights, and how would that work anyway? If airlines see sold out flights that involve several stops I'm sure they are delighted and will add more of the same, I don't see how that incentivizes them to add direct flights.

[ragnarkar]

Originally Posted by Chimérique

So why not fly SMF to LAX or SMF to SFO?

Do you actually drive to SFO?

Neither, I don't live in California anymore.

But if i lived in Sacramento and was flying to somwhere overseas that SFO has a direct flight to but not SMF, I'd surely use SFO. It's not fun having to squeeze picking up baggages, going thru customs And connecting to a new flight in a short window and SFO is 2 hours away in normal traffic.