jaesun

I have a flight in June, where I have to fly to SFO (from LAS) to catch my main international flight to korea. I am flying USAirways Express from LAS to SFO (10:20a), then Singapore Air to Incheon(ICN) at 2:10p. I am to fly into SF at 12p, leaving 2 hours of layover.

It seems like little time and little room for delays, but it was the earliest flight to SFO from vegas that they could book me on.

I checked the flight stats at the US BTS, and found my flight was delayed a whopping 43% (51 out of 120) of the flights in June (for all US Airways Express from LAS to SFO).

So I was wondering what the weather is like in june? does it fog alot that causes delays? checked online and it seemed that it doesn't rain much in SF during june. I am kinda worried that i may miss my flight out of SF due to a delay getting there.

nerd

Yep - fog season starts sometime at the beginning of the summer. I think it has something to do with cold ocean currents from the north, and warm, rising air in the central valley that sucks cold air into the city.

jaesun

ugh. well, maybe i can take heart that while USA had the worst % of late flights, it had the least delay time in minutes out of them all.

If I get delayed enough to where I miss my flight, Singapore Air will book me on the next flight out?

Ocn Vw 1K

As this involves mostly SFO weather and airport connections, I'll move this to the Travel->San Francisco forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

(p.s., if US has an earlier flight that morning LAS->SFO, could you stand by for it? As a long-time SFO user, I'd feel more comfortable with at least a 3-hr. connection time from domestic to an off-line trans-Pac. flight in the midday, esp. June. June can range the extreme at SFO from cloudy, foggy, drizzly with 30 min. to - 2 hour delays midday, to clear with absolutely no delays. It won't matter what the weather in the City is like, just at and leading up to the approach ends of the airport runways in use.)

dhuey

You can have weather delays any time of year at SFO, but I would think that the summer fog delays are somewhat infrequent. Right now is prime time for delays with the series of storms we've been having. Storms in June are very rare here.

goalie

Pretty much what Ocn Vw 1K said but (and I don't know how accurate this is* but it may help) it looks like there is an airside shuttle from US to the Star Alliance side of the International Terminal which eliminates the schlepp from Terminal 1 (US) to the I/T and also having to re-clear security.


*N.B.: The link is from the UA site and I did not see similar info on the US map of SFO so when you arrive at SFO, as someone from US about the airside shuttle.

jaesun

it looks to be the earliest arriving flight from las to SFO. 3 hours would be nice. I remember the last time i had a ~2 hr layover and my flight was > 1 hr late and i was running the marathon to make my flight. This time, I will be with my mother and 2 kids, so it won't be nearly as easy.

I will definitely have to look into that shuttle that goalie was referring to. if i could reskip security check, that would save alot of time. It may be from UA site, but it looks like USA is in the same terminal

goalie

Just to make sure.....

You're arriving SFO on US ex-LAS and the connecting to a Singapore Air flight, right?

US and UA are in separate terminals (T1 & T3 respectively), the International Terminal is separate from both US & UA and the shuttle runs from the US terminal to the international terminal and yes, you should be able to enter the I/T airside thus not having to re-clear security (but even if you do have to re-clear, the shuttle will save you time as otherwise you would have to exit the US terminal, go upstairs and take the Airtrain to the I/t with mom, the kids and luggage in tow)

jaesun

yeah, I am arriving to SFO on US Express from LAS, then connecting to Singapore Air to Korea. I fly into Terminal 1 (B Gates) into SFO.

So it looks like I can take that shuttle. Arriving, I will prob be pretty close to it. I just wondered if it was for UA fliers only, since it was only on the UA site (and can't seem to confirm it anywhere else).

From looking at the map, if not for shuttle, I would probably hoof it on foot rather than take AirTrain as it seemed to be somewhat faster than going upstairs to the AirTrain, wait for it, then take 4 stops on the way to G Gates, then getting off and going downstairs to security.

I keep hearing about security, especially in Int'l, that it is pretty good overall and pretty quick overall?

either way, just hope the flight isn't delayed in the first place hehe.

rjque

While this is generally true, it is not the summer fog that delays flights at SFO, but rather any storm that brings low clouds into the flight pattern of the airport. The typical on shore summer fog usually stops right around the airport, and rarely interferes with the flight paths. It's winter rain that causes most of SFO's delays, not fog. If the forecast is for rain, then I would advise the OP to try to get an earlier flight. If it's "partly cloudy" or anything similar, there is probably no need to worry.

goalie

I can't speak as to the shuttle being only for UA fliers as it leaves from the US terminal but prior to the airside walkway from UA domestic -> International terminal opening, UA had an airside shuttle and the little gatekeeper did check your BP to make sure that you were connecting to a UA/*A international flight and if that's the case over at US, you're good to go. Still on the shuttle-ask the gatekeeper how often it runs as if you just missed one and it takes say 30 minutes for it to come back to pick you up, depending on how much time you have, you might be better off exiting the terminal and taking the AirTrain (and the 4 stops you mention will take a total of maybe 6 minutes total once you board the train with about 3-5 minutes between trains).

Now if taking Airtrain and as noted upthread, you will have to re-clear security and that can be hit an miss in terms of lines and hassles by the TSA....

Your profile doesn't list any *A status so do you have any status and/or are you traveling in either business or first? If yes, there is a crew line (far right lane) which doubles as an elite line (unless it's changed since I was there last) which shortens your wait a bit. Also, the TSA "likes" to use the image scanners more and more at the the I/T so if you want to opt-out, allow a bit more time for the enhanced patdown and going back to the above, if it's at all possible, try and take the airside shuttle.

jaesun

alright, thanks for all the help and info.

I dont have any status. The last time I flew International was almost 10 years ago, and before that I used to fly every 4 years or so. But not so much anymore. Even flying domestic, I don't fly much and when I do, I just fly whatever the cheapest I can find. I am flying economy, so no Bus/FC lines for me.

again, thanks for all the help. will make my flight that much easier

dhuey

No worries. I've never had a particularly long wait at security in the international terminal. Sometimes the regular lines in T3 and T1 can be long, but still tolerable. I think this should all get better with the opening of T2 next month (Virgin America and American will move there).

jaesun

that is very true. I imagine that could lighten the line load a bit. good to know.

SFO777

I'm going to be the contrarian here. You are traveling with your mother and two kids. No way would I be comfortable with a two hour US to SQ connection. Although the serious SF fog doesn't show up until July, any low clouds or ceiling will cause delays, with the west coast short hauls the first to be held and delayed. What if your US flight is delayed or has a mechanical? S*** happens. You might want to check how US treated someone else when their inbound SFO flight was delayed. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/us-ai...d-my-trip.html

For peace of mind, I would fly LAS-SFO the night before and stay at an airport hotel.