Originally Posted by
Kacee
I admire your tolerance for public transit transfers . . . Amtrak =>bus across Bridge=>BART
Can't you also take Amtrak to Richmond, where the Amtrak and BART stations are connected, and then take BART to SFO (changing lines at Embarcadero)? That eliminates the bus and the bridge.
Originally Posted by
Reindeerflame
However, the issue of a previous day flight SMF-SFO is a decent alternative that deserves consideration.
That would be my first choice. To re-iterate what others have said, on an international itinerary, it's a valid connection as long as it's less than 24 hours. So, you can leave as early as the prior afternoon and still have it be the same price (in miles) as your current flight, assuming availability is there. As to how to get it changed at this point, others have covered it: sympathetic agent (especially when pointing out you're not changing the long haul and that the only thing you're trying to do is avoid a misconnect), schedule change waiver, or pay the fee. Or, you can hope for an SDC. Note that despite its name, a Same Day Change can be any time within 24 hours of original flight, so you could move the first segment forward as soon as 24 hours prior to what you have scheduled now. That would be cheaper, but you won't know until that day if it can be done.