Originally Posted by
MDtR-Chicago
Respecting that you seem to be the kind of traveler who makes detailed plans, here are my guesses at your highest risks:
SFO will have two runways closed thru September. There's a good chance your flight will be delayed. Long wait between trains. So late lunch could easily turn into early dinner.
I've read about the runway closure but I thought that it was based on weather and isn't the weather ok during the timeframe we'll be there?
I'm flying tpa>dfw>sfo AA due for arrival at 10:25am and she's UA jax>iah>sfo due for arrival at 11:34am. Even if she is delayed by an hour or so i built in enough of a cushion to account for the delay; i hope!
Originally Posted by
MDtR-Chicago
Book your tour as soon as you're certain on timing. They fill up fast, since there is only one company that actually stops on the island.
The tickets become available 3 months prior so my plan was to book online on May 31st.
Originally Posted by
MDtR-Chicago
This Avis location specializes in fleecing tourists. I've personally watched them spend 20+ minutes attempting to sell every option imaginable to unwitting Swedes. But that actually may have been just a stall tactic, as they had no cars available anyway and people were left waiting until someone returned a car. Since most people are looking for large vehicles, the smaller your reserved car type, the shorter the wait. Also, definitely sign up for Avis Preferred if you don't have it, since they have an express line.
We have and intermediate car booked & i'm avis preferred.
Originally Posted by
MDtR-Chicago
If you're going to keep the car overnight at all, pre-plan where you'll park it. Think about using
http://sanfrancisco.bestparking.com/ with your specific times and the address of the hotel. The best option will probably be the Ellis & O'Farrell garage near O'Farrell and Powell.
We've budgeted $63, per the hotel's website to park in the hotel's garage.
Originally Posted by
MDtR-Chicago
If you really want to do this, go as early as you can. The lines start around 9am and get very long. (It's really a tourist trap and it's $6 each way unless you look into a multi-day pass.)
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm planning to order the 7-day $29 Clipper Card online a couple of weeks prior to the trip. It'll allow us unlimited rides on all forms of Muni transport and per my budget I'll add $26.35 to the card for the BART rides when I purchase online.
As far as starting early on the cable car, I'm all about leaving early but she likes to sleep late while I like to wake up at 5:30am. I will make every effort to get her to leave earlier. But it is my preference to do it early.
Originally Posted by
MDtR-Chicago
This section of timing is probably too aggressive. Is there something in particular about Ghirardeli Square that interests you? It's mostly just an upscale outdoor shopping mall at this point. Also what's the transit plan? Golden Gate Bridge is hard to get to (taxi? uber?)
Um, nothing in particular about Ghirardeli; i just thought that it would be a nice pass-thru on our way to Blue Barn for lunch which is on our way to Golden Gate. We were going to take the Muni 28 and get off 3 stops later at GG at the GG pavilion. I want to save the Uber rides for the trips from dinner spots back to the hotel, but if ya'll think that it would be better to do Uber I'll look into it.
Originally Posted by
MDtR-Chicago
As much as I hate to say it, this map seems pretty accurate:
http://www.yelp.com/wordmap/sf/sketchy
If you really want to go to Dottie's, the F streetcar is a much better option than walking along Market Street.
Based on the feedback, I think that it's prolly best if i stick with Brenda's.