jdrtravel

Hi all. Might be relocating and be SFO based. I'm curious to know about peoples experiences being based in SFO as a DL medallion. Do you end up connecting all of the time? Do I need to switch to United (I don't want to!). My spouse is a DM and travels weekly and we really prefer DL.

I was trying to find a list of non-stops from SFO but could not. Aside from the major hubs, I know they fly to JFK, LAX and SEA (and maybe those are all considered hubs now).

Thanks for the insights.

SJC ORD LDR

Yep, DL goes every hub (including CVG) and HNL.

Upgrades aren't that easy out of SFO from my limited experience, and security at SFO is a bit slow to me. But, it's a great place to live.

If you live south of SFO, you can fly out of SJC. From there you can go to LAX, SEA, SLC (all on OO), MSP, or ATL (redeye only). But, at least at SJC, your flight will be on time. SFO, all bets are off once there is a cloud over the airport.

Additionally, there is AF to CDG, KL to AMS, VS to LHR, and options on the SkyTeam Asian carriers to Asia.

mAAine_flyer

Wikipedia is always your friend in these situations.

• Delta Air Lines: Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Honolulu, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-JFK, Salt Lake City
• Delta Connection: Salt Lake City, Seattle/Tacoma
• Delta Shuttle:Los Angeles

Hard to give advice on your likelihood of needing to connect without knowing where you'll be flying.

jdrtravel

Thanks! Did not think to check Wikipedia!

Mountain Explorer

In my experience, a connecting flight on DL is a better experience than a nonstop on UA, more often than not. (I'm SFO-based too)

mnredfox

Depends on your desired destinations. SFO has been good (not as good as LAX or SEA), but plenty of options. It's worked well for me. Love the DL SF folks esp the SC staff.

bgriff

Worth keeping in mind that SFO has an Amex Centurion lounge which you could access with your Amex Platinum card, but it is post-security in the United terminal. So if you fly Delta you will have to clear security twice (once in the United terminal, then again in the Delta terminal) to use it. SkyClub is also an option, and is or will soon be newly renovated in a new post-security location, but it's still not going to be as nice as the Centurion lounge.

That lounge by itself isn't necessarily a reason to suffer flying United, but the lounge plus the greater number of nonstop flights might be.


Also keep in mind that DL gives complimentary upgrades only to Diamond Medallions on SFO-JFK (and even that perk is an unpublished one so could be changed at any time), or you have to use scarce Global Upgrades. UA allows the use of Regional Upgrades on that route (and has more J seats on their planes on that route besides).

dundalk

It is also worth mentioning that if you will be in downtown San Francisco, you are just as close to OAK as SFO. That has a few additional flights to SLC and LAX each day which might be useful if you are going to either of those places or for making connections there at different times than the SFO flights.

MSPeconomist

However, BART doesn't go directly to OAK, so getting there by public transportation is a pain.

I'm surprised that DL doesn't fly to PDX (and maybe SAN too) from SFO. At various points, PDX was almost a hub from both PMNW and PMDL. It would be an added option from SFO for international flights.

dundalk

Actually, it more or less does. There is a monorail directly from the BART station at Coliseum directly into OAK. It is not significantly different than arriving at the SFO BART station and taking the Airtrain to one of the terminals.

javabytes

Even better than Wikipedia is Delta's route map: http://delta.innosked.com

SJC ORD LDR

The OAK monorail was opened last year. It's a bit expensive ($6 one way), but it's there.

It used to be DL would codeshare on AS to PDX. Now, it's via LAX, SLC, or SEA if you want full miles, MQM, and MQD. None of which are logical.

dundalk

The monorail is free if you have come in on BART.

SJC ORD LDR

No, they just put the $6 charge into the total cost. If you look up the cost from any station to the coliseum stop it's $X; to Oakland Airport, it's $X+6.

dundalk

That's true but the cost is still comparable to SFO which is also at a premium compared to the nearest stations.