Here’s a pretty exciting milestone for San Francisco International Airport (SFO), which should make some connections (and lounge hopping!) at the airport easier.
SFO now has airside walkways between all terminals
SFO’s terminal organization isn’t necessarily intuitive:
- There’s Terminal 1, Terminal 2, and Terminal 3, and each of those terminals has individual piers, with gates that have letters
- There’s also International Terminal A and International Terminal G, which don’t follow the terminal numbering system
For context, below is a map of SFO, which gives you a general sense of the layout. As you can see, the airport has a sort of circular layout for the central area, and then gates are largely located in piers that stick out.
Note that you can’t get directly from International Terminal A to International Terminal G, as you’d have to walk via all other terminals. So in that case, it’s probably faster to leave security and clear it once again at the other terminal.
Over the years, we’ve seen huge improvements to SFO. As part of this, we’ve seen increased opportunities to make airside connections at the airport. This has been a gradual process. With the opening of the final phase of Harvey Milk Terminal 1, all terminals and concourses at the airport are now connected airside. That’s right, you can walk between all terminals at the airport without leaving security.
The ability to get between terminals airside could be useful if you have a connecting flight, if you’re looking to visit a specific lounge or restaurant, or just if you’re looking to get as many steps in as possible.
Budget lots of time for getting between terminals
While it’s great to be able to walk between terminals airside, don’t necessarily expect that it will be quick. As you can see, SFO doesn’t have some central airside part of the airport, where you can then go directly to each terminal. Instead, you’ll in many cases have to walk quite a distance to get between some terminals, transiting several other concourses.
Now, for most connecting passengers, there’s not actually a need to travel that far. That’s because there’s some logic to the terminal organization for airlines. For example, United domestic flights depart from Terminal 3, while United and Star Alliance international flights depart from International Terminal G, so you just have to go through one connector.
However, if you’re connecting on separate tickets or have an itinerary that includes interline partners, it’s possible you may be arriving at and departing from opposite sides of the airport.
For example, several weeks ago I arrived on a United flight at International Terminal G, and then departed on a JetBlue flight from Terminal 1. I wanted to use the United Polaris Lounge first, so I stayed in International Terminal G for as long as possible. Then I had to get to Terminal 1 for my JetBlue flight, and at the time, it wasn’t possible to make that transfer airside. Fortunately that has now changed.
I imagine moving airside between terminals will be especially valuable for those looking to do some lounge hopping. Maybe you want to use the Amex Centurion Lounge in Terminal 3 when traveling out of Terminal 1, or maybe you want to use The Club in Terminal 1 when traveling out of Terminal 3.
Bottom line
For the first time ever, all terminals at SFO are connected airside, which is great for passengers. A lot of work has happened to get to this point, but the most recent thing that makes this possible is the completion of Harvey Milk Terminal 1, which included the introduction of the last connector.
While you can now travel airside between all terminals at SFO, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be a quick journey, so budget your time accordingly. California’s biggest airports sure are making some nice improvements — just last year, all LAX terminals finally became connected airside.
What do you make of this update to SFO connectivity?
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