SFO or OAK (San Francisco, Oakland: home, construction, taxi)

[pdxmilw]

I suspect this has been covered, but I didn't find it in a quick search.
I'm traveling from PDX to San Francisco this summer. I'll be staying in Pacific Heights. I'm not sure if I should fly into SFO or OAK? I'll BART in either way. Prices into SFO are a bit lower ($20-ish each way), but a google search suggests the chances of delayed flights are much higher at SFO. Back when Southwest only flew into OAK, the decision was made for me.

Any strong opinions?

[jk88cal]

I would go with SFO. If you decide to take taxi or uber/lyft, then SFO will be cheaper and there is no bridge toll.

[bmw335xi]

Def go with SFO, no question, enjoy your trip

On a side note, for restaurants use Yelp.com

[jade408]

Flight delays are no joke at SFO. If your flight is in the evening, it is probably better to fly OAK if it is a reasonable option. I find any flight landing in SFO after 6pm is delayed from fog or runway congestion. My last one was delayed 90 minutes. I then got doubly dissed because the baseball game ended and what should have been a 20 minute ride home for me to Oakland took 70 minutes, and 30+ of those was just going from the turn off where 280 splits off to the start of the Bridge - the same zone you'd take to get to Pac Heights

Check the baseball schedule too! You can get horribly dissed with SF traffic, even though on paper it is closer.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by jade408

Flight delays are no joke at SFO. If your flight is in the evening, it is probably better to fly OAK if it is a reasonable option. I find any flight landing in SFO after 6pm is delayed from fog or runway congestion. My last one was delayed 90 minutes. I then got doubly dissed because the baseball game ended and what should have been a 20 minute ride home for me to Oakland took 70 minutes, and 30+ of those was just going from the turn off where 280 splits off to the start of the Bridge - the same zone you'd take to get to Pac Heights

Check the baseball schedule too! You can get horribly dissed with SF traffic, even though on paper it is closer.

Nothing is worse than the traffic crossing the Bay Bridge, it can easily take up to an hour just to get through the toll during rush hour.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by jk88cal

I would go with SFO. If you decide to take taxi or uber/lyft, then SFO will be cheaper and there is no bridge toll.

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Nothing is worse than the traffic crossing the Bay Bridge, it can easily take up to an hour just to get through the toll during rush hour.

The OP said he is taking BART, so how are bridge tolls and traffic relevant?

[HockeyMac18]

Originally Posted by jade408

Flight delays are no joke at SFO. If your flight is in the evening, it is probably better to fly OAK if it is a reasonable option. I find any flight landing in SFO after 6pm is delayed from fog or runway congestion. My last one was delayed 90 minutes. I then got doubly dissed because the baseball game ended and what should have been a 20 minute ride home for me to Oakland took 70 minutes, and 30+ of those was just going from the turn off where 280 splits off to the start of the Bridge - the same zone you'd take to get to Pac Heights

Check the baseball schedule too! You can get horribly dissed with SF traffic, even though on paper it is closer.

There is also runway construction that is ongoing at SFO that has been making delays even worse, especially on the weekends when they're doing most of that work.

OAK has some convenience advantages being smaller than SFO - but if your destination is SF, SFO is just as good. Possibility of delays (greater at SFO) and cost (generally cheaper at SFO) are probably going to be your two main deciding factors.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Nothing is worse than the traffic crossing the Bay Bridge, it can easily take up to an hour just to get through the toll during rush hour.

No, the traffic in SF is much worse! It has taken me 45 minutes to get off the 2 miles of freeway in SOMA plenty of times! It is ridiculous! At least I generally know when the bridge will be a disaster. Getting into downtown SF sucks when you least expect it. Like 2pm on Tuesday.

If you are coming at an off-peak time from Oakland, it is pretty easy.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by jade408

No, the traffic in SF is much worse! It has taken me 45 minutes to get off the 2 miles of freeway in SOMA plenty of times! It is ridiculous! At least I generally know when the bridge will be a disaster. Getting into downtown SF sucks when you least expect it. Like 2pm on Tuesday.

If you are coming at an off-peak time from Oakland, it is pretty easy.

It's not lol

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

The OP said he is taking BART, so how are bridge tolls and traffic relevant?

Even by BART it's easier to go from SFO, plus there is always a chance you'll get robbed by a mob of teens passing through Oakland lol. On a serious note, it's much easier to go from SFO to SF with BART.