taxi van availability SFO
 

We'll be coming back as a family of four to SFO (arriving Terminal 1) with a fair bit of luggage, so we'll need to either book an Uber/Lyft XL or get a taxi van. The XL option still involves a schlep to the garage, whereas the taxi van would be easier (also with smaller kid in tow, late evening).

Never taken a taxi van from SFO: does anyone know how long the wait would be? And any idea of the relative cost compared with regular cab?

Presumably prebooked car transfers would also involve going to the parking garage? If not, that may be the best option?

thanks,

tb

A couple of answers
 

If you book Uber or Lyft black or black SUV, you can be picked up at the terminal.
Level:

Lyft: Black, Black SUV
Uber: Black, Black SUV, Assist
The above limousine services will continue curbside pickup at the Departures Level as usual at the following locations:

Terminal 1: Door 9
Terminal 2: Door 5
Terminal 3: Door 13
Or if it’s easier to get to the international terminal, you can get an Uber from there.
International Terminal Pick-ups

International Terminal guests should proceed to the Departures/Ticketing Level center island Lyft, Uber, Wingz and YRide Pick-Up/Drop-Off zones 14-17 for both pick ups and drop offs.


I haven’t taken a taxi from SFO in forever, but I remember they used to be lined up at arrivals. That may have changed.

Last time with that we arranged with a car service they just waited in the cell phone lot and then picked us up at departure level.

That's helpful. A decent-sized SUV should be fine too and may be preferable to a cab. Car service is actually cheapest I think, but I may need to confirm with them about pickup point.

tb

I have not used Wingz from the airport in a while but I am pretty sure they still pick up curbside on the departures level and both the SFO and Wingz websites still say they do. You request a large car in advance by indicating how many people and how much luggage and make sure you get something that works for you. I generally end up with a minivan or large SUV. If it's not what you want after you match with a driver, you can cancel it.

from https://www.flysfo.com/passengers/gr...yft-uber-rides
Wingz pick-up is located at the Departures level of the Domestic Terminals:

• Terminal 1, Door 4
• Terminal 2, Door 4 and 5
• Terminal 3, Door 13

from https://help.wingz.me/hc/en-us/artic...al-Airport-SFO
Wingz Drivers are to pick up riders from the designated rideshare pick-up area, which is curbside at the following locations:
* Terminal 1, Departure Level, Door 4
* Terminal 2, Departure Level, Door 4 and 5
* Terminal 3, Departure Level, Door 11 and 12

For international pick-ups, the designated rideshare pick-up area is the departure level outside at the center island, zones 14-17.


Either way you are going to have to collect your luggage and go upstairs so it's the option of going up one level to departures for Wingz/UBER Black/Lyft Black, or two and walking over the bridge to the garage for regular Lyft/Uber. I gave up on SFO taxis a long time ago. If you are going more than 15 miles from the airport they get incredibly expensive.

We only use a taxi at sfo. When our baby was younger, we’d have 3 full suitcases plus stroller etc. we just told the sfo staffer that we needed a van or big suv. Always a success. So fun outside baggage claim.

Just as a quick update...we decided to risk getting a taxi van from SFO. We got a large SUV with no line at all, and the price, including tip, was less than an Uber/Lyft XL (I checked the price on the app at the same time as going for the cab), probably because we didn't have much traffic.

tb

Thanks for reporting back. I’m sure this will be helpful to a lot of people.

On a few occasions over the years, we've needed a minivan or large SUV at SFO or OAK. It's always been okay to move down the line of taxis waiting for a large one. Drivers in smaller cars in front never mind.

Indeed on Friday night, my family of 3 had 6 suitcases (3 checked & 3 carryon) and the taxi queue matron had us in a big suv without delay!