Agree. Our flight (identical) was delayed an hour but still would have been plenty of time for the connection. Very safe.

SFO transit 2 hours for parents
 

Hi, my parents will be visiting US the first time where their port of entry is at the SFO. From SFO, they will be getting on their domestic flight by United airlines after 2 hours of transit. I am wondering if it is doable for them. I have seen in FLL, there is a jetblue counter for bag recheck-in just after getting out of the immigration, so I didn't have to walk very long with two heavy luggage. Is it the same for the SFO?

Our situation will be similar. We will travel from YVR to CNS via SFO with a stopover in MEL. I would be interested to know how the transfer at SFO from AC went. Because of impossible hurdles getting a business seat award ticket for the whole way from YVR to Cairns with a stopover in MEL, we opted for two award tickets: one for YVR-SFO economy on Westjet using Airmiles, and another for SFO-MEL(stopover)-CNS in business using Alaska miles. The Westjet flight is code-shared with Qantas so I have a have a very small hope we might be able to check bags through from YVR to MEL, but I think it unlikely, maybe because the Westjet arrival is treated as domestic because US preclearance will be done at YVR. What was your experience?

Depending on the time of day that's a connection that could take anywhere between about 30 minutes and 3+ hours. It all depends on what the line at immigration is like when they arrive, and to a lesser extent the line at security. (I'm presuming that they will have baggage, and are not coming in from somewhere like Canada with pre-clearance).

They will need to go through immigration (5 mins to 2+ hours), collect bags (most likely no wait, unless they got through immigration quickly) and drop them at the re-check (which is right outside the area where they collect them - maybe 150 yards from pickup to dropoff). They will then need to walk to the United Domestic terminal which is only a few minutes, go through security (5-15+ minutes), and then get to their gate at least ~20 minutes before departure time.

So yes, it's doable - but with a real chance they won't make it. Presuming it's all one ticket United will rebook them on a later flight if they miss their connection, but will not cover things like hotel if it's needed unless there was an (excessive) delay caused by United.

As it turns out, my YVR to SFO flight was delayed so that I would have missed my connection, so they rebooked me on YVR to SYD direct which departed later that evening so my arrival to SYD was only about an hour later than originally scheduled.

Hi all,

I am flying in/out SFO on DL Domestic so it's all at Terminal 1. Is it possible to walk/AirTrain while at airside to International A/G since I want to meet a friend who is flying out of the country? I do have a same-day departure boarding pass if I have to get to landside, can I use it to clear International terminal security? Will security say no since it's a Domestic pass? Thank you all in advance!

No airside connection between T1 and INTL terminal. INTL terminal concourses A and G are not even connected airside.

Airtrain is landside.

You can use your boarding pass to clear INTL, but plan accordingly, as you will have to reclear T1.

Would anyone give this a go given the runway construction:
- Arriving on AC (G terminal) @ 21:15
- Departing on QF (A terminal) @ 22:25

Carry-on only

I would not do that even without construction and with precheck. The walk is not bad but You will have to clear security. Any delays and you miss the only flight of the day to Australia?? Or is there a backup option.

One ticket or separate tickets?

I am guessing separate. Any slight delay you would miss your QF flight. QF has no responsibility to re-accommodate you.

While G and A concourses are both in the INTL terminal, they are not connected airside. As explained, you would need to reclear security.

So is it doable within 70 minutes?

It's actually less than 70 minutes, given QF will close boarding door prior to scheduled departure time.

Is it doable? Sure, if everything lines up in your favor. Is it sensible? Absolutely not, especially if AC and QF are separate tickets.

Hello, just wanted some advice on whether or not connection is possible.
My flight times keep changing and I only have 1 hour and 20 minutes to make my connecting flight.
Flight is from SNA-SFO-HND booked through JAL, but SNA-SFO will be through Alaska Airlines. It is on 1 itinerary.

I will be arriving at SFO at 12:55 PM and my flight to HND is at 2:15 PM

From looking through flight history the SNA-SFO flight usually lands in Terminal 2 for Alaska Airlines (JL5459)
and the SFO-HND flight usually leaves at international for JAL (JL1)

From what I understand I will have to go from Terminal 2 (through Terminal 3) to International and head towards A gates as that is where JAL usually leaves from. I also have to go through security again.

I have TSA PreCheck/Global Entry. Is this cutting it too close or am I being overly cautious. Thank you for any insight.

80 minutes is fine if your first flight is on time - otherwise you are pushing your luck. Assume 10 minutes to get off the plane, 15 minutes to walk through the terminal and around to the International terminal. 5-10 minutes to clear security with pre-check. So that's at least 30 minutes which gets you to the gate when the plane is boarding (50 minutes before pushoff).

Did you check the Alaska flight arrival record for the past 2 weeks? If it is consistently delayed then obviously this won't work. Things should be better in 2 weeks (by end of Sept) when the runway construction is done, but it is still a tight connection. On the plus side, 12:55 is a good time to arrive, delays tend to cascade in the afternoon and evening.