I will be flying out of SJC (mileage runs) while staying at an area hotel that does not have a shuttle.

According to its web site, VTA (San Jose's light rail transit system) allows you to park at certain stations for up to 7 days for FREE, and take the rail from the station to the airport. This will save me from paying the $9-$15 per day at SJC public and private long term parking lots.

My question is this: is the VTA a hassle? Is it quick and convenient to get to/from the airport? Which VTA stations (that allow airport parking) are the safest or are in the best neighborhoods?

I will only have one peice of luggage to carry. (If I wind up with more luggage, I will go to the airport first, put them in a locker, and then drive the car at a VTA station.)

Using VTA to SJC is very easy. You simply take the light rail to the Metro/Airport station, then transfer to a shuttle bus that will take you to both terminals. The light rail drops you off on an island in the middle of the road. The airport shuttle waits on the southbound side of the street (the side with the tall office buildings and the VTA shelter). The airport shuttle runs every ten minutes on weekdays, every fifteen minutes on weekends, and takes no more than ten minutes to get from the light rail to the terminal.

The lots with available long-term Airport parking are Almaden, Blossom Hill, Branham, Capitol, Cottle, Curtner, Evelyn, Ohlone/Chynoweth, Santa Theresa, Snell, and Tamien. I don't have any information about which lots are safer, but I know that the Tamien station shares its parking lot with a child-care center. It appears to be pretty safe. Apparently, the Long-Term airport parking slots are specifically marked (though I have never seen them, personally). You may want to avoid the Almaden and Evelyn lots since they would require you to transfer from one light rail line to another to get to the airport. Generally, San Jose is one of the safer large cities in the US.

For more information, check out the VTA website at http://www.vta.org