Time through SFO Customs
 

I have my sister flying in from FRA Wed afternoon with a 5 hour layover to a domestic location. I was hoping to have enough time to meet her at SFO and bring her into the City for a quick dinner but I haven't flown into SFO from an International location in years and have no recent experience on time through customs. Does anyone have any input? Also where does someone exit from customs these days? I'm assuming the International terminal?

5 hours is fine, though with SFO traffic maybe the train to downtown would be quicker. I've never taken more than 30 minutes through SFO international, and that is with long immigration lines and being selected or random Customs inspection.

Customs if fairly quick, but I second taking BART if you are going to be doing this anywhere near rush hour, which I assume you will be if she is on 901.

That's the flight. Thanks for the input.

I do this every couple of weeks and delay depends on time of arrival. If she's on the UA 901 from FRA she should be out in less than 20 min. If she's coming on the later flight it could get a bit busy but I have never spent more than 20 min in passport control. Ask her to try sit closer to the door of the plane so she's relatively ahead in line. My personal record is 5 min from touchdown to customs (first out of the plane and no line at passport control).

Make sure to account for time taken to clear security when she returns. this is where a train would be a better option so you're not stuck in traffic.

Might try restaurants closer to SFO, like in Millbrae or Burlingame.

Yes, it's flight 901. If she is less than an hour through customs it'll work. I take BART often from SFO but sometimes if you just miss a departing train it takes longer. I can get from SFO into the City pretty quick even at rush hour. I take 101 to 280 and get off on 6th. Before 7 PM the two lane off ramp dumps into 3 lanes and it becomes a sport, a bit like skiing. Very important to know which lanes to be in and which ones not to be in at specific intersections. 6th turns into Taylor with nicely timed lights and then turn onto Pine which is also mostly timed and voila it's dinner time at the corner of Sacramento and Presidio. I have also found that when it is rush hour on the freeways downtown San Francisco along the 6th/Taylor route is pretty much free of heavy traffic.

Thank you for the information.

I would also drive rather than taking Bart. SFO to many parts of the city is 15-20 minutes with no traffic, and perhaps double that in traffic, which is sometimes non-existent even during the evening rush. Bart is 35 minutes plus a possible 20 minute wait time, takes you to very limited places in the city, and costs $8+ each way. It's no longer worth it.

Followup to my original question. How long through SFO customs:

Flight UA901 got in early at 5:14PM. My sister and her husband were out the door of customs at 5:35PM. Walked to Garage G and drove 101/280/6th st/Taylor/Pine/Presidio. We were at the restaurant at the corner of Sacramento and Presidio in San Francisco a little before 6:15PM.

(As another point of input the UA agent I asked, estimated it would be 45 minutes.)

Thank you all. Had a great dinner with plenty of time to spare and shoved them both back onto their connecting flight home at 10:45PM.

nicely done at that hour. I was going to suggest going down to burlingame and hitting up Kincaids for a casual dinner where you could watch planes land, and avoid the city traffic.

Good to hear. don't mean to brag but I did say it could be done it 20 min :D