Hey all,

I have a super early flight this wednesday, so early that the earliest BART wouldn't get me there until 45 minutes before my flight. Close, but no cigar. And upon checking, most shuttle services cost $80-90 (:td: !), and I know taxi service from here to there would be ludicrously expensive.

Is there another way? Or should I just ride a late night BART and sleep at the airport?

Thanks so much, and have a wonderful day! :D

--Lopamudra =o)

You'd do better to use Priceline to get an SFO hotel, than to pay $80 or $90 for a shuttle. I'd prefer that to sleeping in the airport!

Welcome to FlyerTalk lopamudra !

Hope you got a good price on that flight ;)

Um, let's see, I like WillTravel's hotel idea, and here's one more. How about a rental car? If one way rental is too expensive, you could always BART it to SFO the day before, drive home, and drop off the car before the flight @:-)

Of course this brings up the old time v. money thing. We've discussed that here in Budget Travel before, whether the $ saved is worth the time wasted. YMMV.

EmailKid

Thanks for your prompt replies. Yes, I did get a good price on that flight, especially for the holidays and just purchasing it 2 weeks ago.

What does YMMV mean?

Generally, I find that when I'm feeling flush, then less time expenditure is worth more money, but if I'm feeling pinched, money saved is worth the time expenditure. It's all very situational, moment to moment. I try not to make rules for myself or else I'm guaranteed to break them.

I think I'm going to see about bribing a roommate with a nice bottle of sake and a box of dark chocolates truffles...If that doesn't work, I'll just as soon sleep at the airport, because in truth, I don't mind it that much (it's kind of exciting and then I get an excuse to be sarcastic all day), I'm one of those people who can sleep just about anywhere (although the woman on the loudspeaker wakes me up every 5 minutes to remind me to "not leave luggage unattended, report suspicious activity, blah, blah, blah..."). Besides, it's hard to justify $90 when I could get there for $5. There are a whole slew of things I'd rather spend that $85 on. In this case, it's a matter of principle and I'm just being willingly stubborn.

Anywho, thanks again, and I'm really happy to have stumbled upon this site.

--Lopamudra =o)

regarding rental car: good idea, but I'm 24, and as far as I know you have to be 25 to rent a car.

Call East Bay Airporter 510 812 3564. Last time I went it was around 50, though it may have gone up. Tell Jeff that Jonathan sent you.

regarding rental car: good idea, but I'm 24, and as far as I know you have to be 25 to rent a car.

Well, do you have any friends that are 25, and willing to make a road trip to SFO (and trust you to drop off the car by yourself in the morning?).

Your Mileage May Vary ...

EmailKid

Unfortunately early Sat/Sun flights at SFO are before BART, so I've run into this problem.

I'd crash at SFO the night before.

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Other options: Priceline used to have $32+ rooms near the airport, but the last few months they've been running $45-53+ ($60-75 after-tax). See Biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com.

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There are some late-night buses which I've checked for SFO arrivals.
I've pasted the info below. Perhaps check the SamTrans & AC Transit website for mornings.

Last two SF BARTs on Sunday are 11:16 pm and 11:46 pm.
http://www.bart.gov/

---------------------------------------------------------
Buses: SamTrans & AC Transit TransBay
---------------------------------------------------------

SamTrans 292 leaves SFO for San Francisco. Here are the last 2 buses. Check on the last
a) 12:15 am to Mission/1st at 12:58 am
b) 1:15 am to Mission/1st at 1:58 am
http://www.samtrans.org/pdf/Schedules/Route_292_9_1_05.pdf

At the terminals, SamTrans buses stop at:
Terminal 2: Arrivals/Baggage Claim Level, Roadway Center Island
Terminal 3: Arrivals/Baggage Claim Level, curbside adjacent to Courtyard 4

Use transit.511.org to plan the AC Transit trip. I'm not sure your final destination in Oakland.
http://www.actransit.org/riderinfo/mapsandschedules.wu

Trip Itinerary for Monday, leaving at 02:00am.
From: San Francisco Terminal, 1st & Mission St (Location map)
Board: Ac Transbay N Line/San Leandro at 2:10 am (next bus at 3:10 am) (schedule detail)
Fare: Pay $3.75, Get Ac Transit Transfer
Get Off: 14th St. & Broadway at 2:30 am

Go to: N.E. Corner Of 14th St. & Broadway (Location map)
Board: AC Transit Bus #72m/Castro & Tewksbury at 2:35 am (next at 3:35 am) (schedule detail)
Fare: Show Transfer To Driver

Get Off: University Ave. & San Pablo Ave at 2:56 am

Here's the schedule for this TransBay bus (#72) from San Francisco to Berkeley
12:35 AM 12:56 AM
1:35 AM 1:56 AM
2:35 AM 2:56 AM
3:35 AM 3:56 AM

http://transit.511.org/

There is now all-nighter service which runs pretty much along the Bart
and caltrain lines. This is a great thing to prevent drunk driving and I
hope it is copied all over the country.

Check out transit.511.org.

It seems like you have to take the 800 all-nighter to the transbay
terminal and change to the Samtrans 397 to SFO. It will be a slog
but it can be done.

Good luck.

http://www.bayshuttle.com/rates.php

I've used them couple of times and they're cheap and very efficient!

Hope the OP worked everything out. For the future, some possible thoughts (as a relatively new Bay Area person, so take with grain of salt).

If you take the last BART from Berkeley, how much time would you really have to kill before an early am flight? It looks like the latest you'd get to Millbrae could be 1:16. If your flight is at 5 or 6am, I'd rather hang at the airport than have to deal with a hotel.

IIRC, there are lots of carpools from the East Bay to downtown. You know, the ride shares that go over the Bay Bridge, where the driver can use the carpool lane because of the extra "bodies" s/he picks up. I think the dropoffs are down around Howard Street and Spear. I don't know how early these start running, but that could be an option to keep in mind.