San Francisco, Oakland, or San Jose: Which Bay Area Airport to Fly Into

The short version

Three airports serve the Bay Area within an hour of each other. San Francisco (SFO) has the most flights and every international carrier. Oakland (OAK) and San Jose (SJC) are smaller, faster to get through, and often cheaper on domestic routes because Southwest and Alaska compete hard there. Agents quote all three on one call; the price gap on the same date can be $50 or more each way.

Fares and airlines

SFO is a United hub with Alaska, Delta, and American also strong, and it carries every long-haul flight. OAK is a Southwest stronghold with Alaska and Spirit. SJC is Southwest and Alaska with a few United and Delta flights. On a route like Bay Area to Las Vegas, Denver, or Seattle, OAK and SJC usually price lowest; on transcontinental and international routes, SFO has the nonstops and the competition.

Delays

SFO's parallel runways are too close for simultaneous landings in low cloud, so summer morning fog and winter storms cut arrival capacity and cause delays that OAK and SJC do not suffer. For a tight schedule, an early or late departure from SFO, or any departure from the other two, is safer.

Getting around

Ground transport decides the real cost of a cheap fare into the wrong airport.

• SFO: BART rail direct to downtown San Francisco, about 30 minutes.
• OAK: BART via a short automated connector, about 25 minutes to downtown San Francisco, closer to Berkeley and the East Bay.
• SJC: no rail link to San Francisco; best for Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz, and the Peninsula south of Palo Alto.

Ask for all three

Tell the agent at (708) 866-8751 where you are staying, and they will price SFO, OAK, and SJC together and recommend the one that is cheapest after the ground transfer.