JerryFF

I have been responsible for booking a significant number of people for a conference in Oakland next month and have suddenly realized the limited schedule for travelers coming from the east coast and many midwest cities. The problems can be traced to 3 issues - 1) the complete pullout of AA, 2) the elimination of service to ORD by UA, and 3) the absence of service to MSP or ATL on DL.

Of course, WN has lots of flights and if you are coming to OAK from a city served by WN, then it is not a problem. And there is little problem finding flights from west coast cities. But with DL connections limited to SLC, UA to DEN, and US to PHX, it can be difficult finding flights at times people wish to travel from many cities not served by WN and I have ended up having to book people into SFO from places like LEX, PWM, MDT, and MSN.

People complain a lot about the reduction in service at SJC, but none of the above bookings would have been a problem into SJC.

Meeting planners take note.

Eastbay1K

UA used to be one stop to the whole world - via IAD, ORD, LAX. I rarely fly OAK anymore because there aren't many places the non-WN flyer can go. If I do, it is usually AS via SEA. That's about it, save AS' new services to Hawaii.

cbn42

For LEX-OAK: LEX-LAS on G4, LAS-OAK on WN

For PWM-OAK: PWM-JFK-OAK on B6

For MDT-OAK: MDT-IAD on UA, IAD-OAK on B6

For MSN-OAK: MSN-DEN-OAK on UA

See, each one of those is possible with only one stop.

I haven't checked prices or connection times, so you'll have to look into that yourself. Some of them might be expensive and require inconvenient layovers. But they are all possible.

elCheapoDeluxe

Let's face it - OAK has become the "WN" airport. I'd say that compared to DAL or MDW it's got a pretty decent non-WN selection which seems to be matched well to the demand people have to fly out of OAK.

Nugget_Oz

I am guessing that most of the attendees he/she is booking for have corporate travel and are not considering B6 or WN. As for alternatives have you considered SJC which has all the connections you are looking for.

cbn42

Well, you can't really blame the airport for that. The attendees have a choice to make: if they are that adamant about sticking to their preferred airline/alliance, they can change planes twice, or fly to SFO/SJC and drive. You can't expect every city pair to have convenient service on the airline of your choice.

KathyWdrf

The OP told us that the conference is in Oakland. No doubt that was a major factor in the choice of airport.

He also said that "none of the above bookings would have been a problem into SJC" so obviously he HAS considered it and already knows it has the connections he is looking for. @:-)

JerryFF

KW is correct - this is corp travel to a conference with a variety of constraints - the issue is not whether they are theoretically possible but whether the timing or procedures are workable for people traveling to a meeting.

1) Connecting between different airlines not an acceptable option to many travelers, can be a big hassle or risky with checked bags or if 1st flight is late.

2) Some of your routings offer only 1 option per day, including a redeye on B6. Not an acceptable option.

Examples,

1) LEX - G4 only flies to LAS 2 days a week.

2) MSN - 3 people coming from MSN needed a late afternoon departure out of MSN on a Saturday. UA has only a single morning departure from MSN to DEN on Saturday, and even on other days only an additional early afternoon departure.

3) PWM - B6 has only a single late evening arrival going west and only a single redeye going east.

4) MDT - I do not see a nonstop on B6 between OAK and IAD, only a single morning connection through LGB. So that would be a double connection using two airlines.

lhrsfo

My office is very close to OAK but I find it an impossible airport to fly to - and a very unpleasant one to transit through.

I have found that going to SFO is massively easier for my travel needs. Depending upon where and when you are arriving at SFO take the San Mateo bridge rather than the Bay Bridge and the traffic will be significantly lighter. It will probably take only 45 minutes.

I would avoid SJC - traffic on I-880 between it and Oakland is horrible at any time, with accidents nearly every day clogging things up further. Also, whenever I have flown through it, there seems to be construction work slowing things down badly.

dhuey

OAK can be great for nonstops, but I can't for the life of me recall anytime I've had a connecting itinerary starting from OAK (and I've been out here 22 years). It really isn't set up for that. As others note above, the scheduling frequency isn't there, and if anything goes wrong with your ex-OAK flight, your alternatives will be limited.

If you're ever in Southern California during our rainy season (which is right about now through March), OAK can be a much better alternative than SFO. When SFO has to go from two to one runways, the flights most impacted are the short ones from SoCal. OAK has only one runway, so it's less affected by the weather.

mstraveler

Easy to take BART to many places in the East Bay/Berkeley/Oakland from SFO.

lhrsfo

Agreed, although since they changed the schedules about a year ago, you have to change if you are going to Oakland or parts south of there. In all, it takes a good hour to Oakland from SFO, including waiting time for trains.

dhuey

Unfortunately, that's right. BART between SFO and Oakland/Berkeley makes the most sense during rush hours and when you're staying near a station. Otherwise, I'd rent a car or take a shuttle van/taxi.

char777

I also miss the busier days of OAK. UA used to have six flights a day to DEN, and F9 also flew into OAK. Now it's just down to 2 on weekdays on UA, and they aren't at ideal times either. The airport itself is a pit (last I recall), but it's so much easier to get to if you're in the East Bay.

Eastbay1K

I've been out here 26 years and can recall many connecting itineraries starting from OAK (not counting an occasional WN trip). They were primarily UA @ IAD (Europe) or ORD (Europe or anywhere else in the US). Even an occasional LAX connection to somewhere. My favorite connection was OAK/SFO/PHX in the late 80s, when UA was offering 3x miles and 750 mi minimums (2250 for the OAK/SFO segment, which was a quite scenic 5 minutes). I did that a couple of times, and OAK/PHX priced lower than SFO/PHX, and I was a poor student. I'm sure I had a handful of DEN connections, too.

The current state of affairs @ OAK is pretty sorry unless you are a WN traveler, or want nonstop service to a Hawaiian island