Starwood Preferred Guest - Getting to the airport from San Francisco

I'm going to be in San Francisco for 1 night later this month with a relatively early flight out the next day (~9:30). I've read through the various threads on Starwood hotels in town and think I've decided to give the W a chance this time.

My question is, how much of a nightmare is it to get to the airport from town on a Tuesday morning? Given that I'll be arriving around 5:00pm the previous evening, does it even make sense to try staying in town?

Thx,

Jenn

The City is much more interesting and
especially with todays rates. You will need
to get an early start for 9ish flight since
the security lines for such as UA at SFO
domestic can be very long. AA not as bad.
Intl. does not seem to be a problem.
Stay in the City you will enjoy
the W. On a Tuesday morning I would start
out about 7:00 for 9:30 domestic flight on
airline like UA.

Depending upon your personal budget, a taxi from the W will likely be the fastest way to get back out to the airport. At 6am, the traffic should be minimal, building towards normal tie-ups from 7am through 10ish. At the other end of the dollar spectrum, the regional public bus service to the airport is about $2, offers a half-hourly express, and does have a pick-up across from the Art Gallery, which is around the corner from the W. Similarly, at that early hour, there should be no traffic problems and you should make it to the terminal in plenty of time.

But as noted, it is worth you while getting into the city for the evening.

[You could stay at an airport hotel and go into the city for the evening, using taxi or public transit, returning to the airport and your hotel, but that's going to be quite time consuming.]

Last time I stayed at the W, I took the SFOAirporter shuttle from SFO. It's about $10 o/w. You don't need a reservation from SFO to the W and they have scheduled pickups at the W for the return to SFO. Their phone is 415-495-8404 although the area code may have changed. You can buy tix in baggage claim.

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Biggest Little 1K (in The Biggest Little City) In The World

Sometime soon you will be able to go via BART. Actually soon means sometime in my lifetime. That will be wonderful once completed.

ff

I stayed at the W San Francisco last week and took a cab from the airport since I didn't want to "tour the city" using the SuperShuttle as they dropped off other people. The fare was $30. On the way back, I booked the SuperShuttle since it has a policy of no more than 3 stops on the way to the airport. It cost me $12 and took about 20 minutes.

Lots of stuff to do at night in San Francisco. The W is close to the Sony Metreon which has restaurants, movie theatres and other fun things to do.

TF