GUWonder

Credit card annual fee = points for a free night or more. That’s routinely available for under $100/night.

The average cost of my Choice point purchases in recent years have been below .75 cents per point. Even when excluding the credit card costs.

Wyndham also has Go Fast Rewards which are essentially 3k points plus a cash co-pay.

Even as I’m not heavy into the credit card game, the card annual fees are more or less the equivalent of buying points/award nights routinely for under $100/night this way. And that’s what plenty of people do.

lsquare

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll give Travelodge a try despite the presence of drug dealers. I'll let you know if I make it back alive or not. $87/night is heck of a deal for San Francisco. I'll be arriving at SFO at roughly 2:00 PM local time. You got any advice on how to quickly get there and when walking back to my room at night, how to best stay safe?

dhuey

Uber/Lyft should be pretty quick that time of day and at a reasonable price. As for walking back at night, there's significant crime in that part of Market Street, but it's not crazy dangerous. I (male, 50) would be okay with walking around that area at night, but I'd be more on-guard than usual. I would worry a bit for a woman walking alone. When you're on Market itself, it helps that there is always lots of vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

nomad420

Agree with the above, the Lombard strip is always OK but not always convenient depending on what you are doing in town. You can usually score a good deal on the Lombard strip. Just had a friend (female) stay at one of the hotels at the "civic center" locations against my urging and it was horrible.

returnoftheyeti

Take Bart from SFO to 16th Mission station and walk to your Hotel. Cost is $9.50 or so. 16th Mission station is crazy, but the crazy keeps to its self. Walk up Valencia to your hotel.

https://www.propositionchicken.com/

Proposition Chicken is right at the corner of Valencia and Market, make sure you stop in and get a sandwich, its the best chicken sandwiches in the city.

https://www.propositionchicken.com/

As for at night, you can take the F Market historic street cars to your hotel. Muni is great.
Use public transportation. Google maps is good, and I really like the app Citimapper.
https://citymapper.com/sf-bay-area

Muni has a 3 day pass for transit:
https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around...sitor-passport

Your Stop is Market and Gough on the F.
https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around...market-wharves

Your question about staying safe? Its hard to describe Market street to out of towners. Its sad, depressing, smelly, and I seriously feel bad for the addicts. That being said, its not OK how the city lets these people hang out, sleep in tents on the sidewalk, and sell and use drugs at the public transit stops. BUT, and here is the BIG BUT, its safe. Its shocking as hell to people that dont live here, and its sad as hell that I am so numb to it, but again, its safe. The people dont bother you if you dont bother them. Dont act scared, just ignore them. If you see a large group of people and you dont want towalk around them, just cross the street. Its not dangerous, its just stoned and crazy.

This is not Detroit, Compton, or Allepo. You are not going to get shot, no gang bangers will bother you. Just mind your business, have situational awareness and have fun. Its ok to just ignore people if they talk to you. Just hold your head up, look forward and keep walking and they will not bother you.

Visconti

Lodging on a budge in SF, especially for those unfamiliar with the city's areas, usually leads to a terrible experience. I second the Lombard strip, one of the few areas on SF where visitors can probably find budget lodging in an area that is relatively safe. Unless and until one becomes familiar with the different areas, I'd stay away from Market/Mission Streets.

As reiterated above, just ignore and walk briskly pass the litany of unsavory elements that are far too prevalent in all except the nicest parts of the city. And, contrary to whatever advice is given, do not take BART (especially to and fro the East Bay) late at night -- not worth the risk, especially for tourists. Most importantly, don't be PC and just avoid people who are obviously bad news by walking the other way or on the other side of the street. In SF, don't ever worry about hurting anyone's feelings; we're all numb to all this stuff.

dhuey

I wholeheartedly disagree with this, and I think the crime statistics support my view. BART is relatively safe, throughout the system and at all times. Of course there is crime on BART. Millions of people ride BART, so there will be crime. But if you look at the serious crime numbers on trains and in stations, it's not worrisome. If you think you should avoid BART because of the risk of crime, then you should probably avoid the entire SF Bay Area.

lsquare

Thank you so much for the information. I've already made the reservation and it is refundable. I just started browsing through AirBnB and I have to admit, it have my attention, but I don't really know SFO all that well. If you were to use AirBnB, which neighbourhood would you book in?

returnoftheyeti

I honestly have never used Air BnB so I cant comment much and I have no ideas of its price range. . It really depends on what you want to do and where you want to be. If you can get a “Luxery Apertment” in SOMA in your price range thats good, but make sure its a new building. Sunset and Richmond districts will be cheap, but a long public transit ride into the city. Glen Park and Balboa park are good options, as long as you are walking distance to BART. Othewise, basically look at a map, and anything inside Van Ness, Market and the Embarcadero

ucdtim17

I would also consider this abnormal advice. As long as you aren't a total newbie to urban transit systems, BART is usually going to be a piece of cake and a normal experience similar to what you'll find in other large metros. It'd be a pretty narrow slice of people for which BART is too risky but walking around San Francisco (especially at night) isn't.

Visconti

All things equal, during the late night hours, certain stations from the East Bay should be avoided, unless absolutely necessary. I find other urban transit systems (NY, London, Tokyo, HK) much safer than the aforementioned particular East Bay stations during the late evenings.

tassojunior

The 4* Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf is usually on Hotwire for $100. Just stayed there last week. Safeway and Trader Joes are just behind it.

Hotwire tacks on a 10% fee for booking but the killer is parking is $60.

You can find it by using Hotwire on Windows which shows what you're probably getting. Get a room close to the entrance as it covers two city blocks.

You may find something on Lombard, which is all cheaper motels, with free parking if you're driving. But they're 2* and far from the Fisherman Wharf attractions.

HSaxa

Probably too late for OP, but I would definitely do a a sub-$100 airbnb over a sub-$100 hotel room. You can find some decent places in less touristy, but safe, neighborhoods for under $100/night.

MarcJ55

Both Hotwire and Priceline are great for what you're looking for. If you're not looking for any particular hotel, these sites can save you a decent amount of money. Also figure out what hotel you're going to get from Priceline Bidding, Hotwire Hotel Lists and Hotels Revealed. I used to trave to SFO every month or so and have stayed at some of the best hotels for between $80 to $150/night.