Excellent clarification! I've updated my post above.

bump.
I'm contemplating this as a way to reach the Claremont next month. I read a suggestion to take the Pittsburgh/Bay Point line and get off at Rockridge. does anyone know whether this is the best way to go?

It appears that Rockridge is the closest BART station to the Claremont, about one mile away. Not sure if the Claremont has shuttle service to Rockridge, but AC Transit probably offers connecting svc.

You can get off at Ashby BART Station and take AC Transit #9 to the Claremont terminus. (IMHO, easiest way to get up there)

Or, you can get off at Rockridge BART or Berkeley Downtown BART Station and take AC Transit #7

During peak hours there is a line that goes from Richmond to SF directly, in addition to the Richmond/Fremont line. At other times there is only Richmond/Fremont, so you have to change to a SF train in Oakland between Berkeley and SF.

A mile doesn't sound like a bad walk, as long as the luggage is light.

Hmmm...it's actually about 1.5 miles, a bit uphill. It's not a very scenic walk, either. I know there's a taxi stand at the MacArthur station, but I'm not sure about Rockridge.

Picking up where EastBay1k left off, I'm actually a member of the Club at the Claremont. That would mean a whopping 10% discount should we put together a little Berkeley Do.

By the way, I don't mean to discourage walking. You'll be a short walk from the UC-Berkeley campus. It's quite beautiful and worth a stroll through.

Taxis from Rockridge
 

There is a taxi stand at the Rockridge station, and it's not at all unusual for there to be a taxi or sometimes even two waiting there during the day. The ride would probably be about 1.5-2 miles, which is to say, under $10.

Of course, if you don't see a taxi, you might take a few minutes to enjoy some of the stores along College Avenue, such as the Rockridge Market Hall (good bakery, coffee, and gourmet foods), Pendragon books or Diesel books, Bittersweet (a chocolate cafe), or Rockridge Home (good furniture, home decor, and gift-related items). The proprietor, Jennifer Kaplan, is great with advice if you have an idea of what you might want, and has selected items that are at once practical, interesting, and often by Bay Area designers and artists!).

-Hayden

Don't leave out Zachary's Pizza on College Ave. :)
http://www.zacharys.com/

Great idea! It's only a few blocks north of Rockridge BART on College. A slice and a couple of pints might make that walk to the Claremont a little more doable. You could walk all the way north on College to Ashby, then a few blocks to the east and you'll see the hotel.

Taking Claremont Avenue is (no surprise) more direct to the Claremont, but you'll miss out on all of the interesting stores, shops, restaurants and pubs.

:) Zachary's was on my list, and since my flight arrives at 11 it will be right at luncthime.

I have done Berkeley-SFO and SFO-Berkeley numerous times. In fact just did Berkeley-SFO last Friday for my 7:55AM flight. Its my preferred method to and from SFO if I'm traveling anytime around rush hours.

The other posters have covered the routing and appropriate transfers well. I will just throw in some more info based on my experiences.

The transfers for what you are doing will be very easy as you won't need to change platforms (except for AirTran transfer) and some you don't even have to go across the platform (a whole 30 feet or so) to the other track. There may also be an additional transfer once you reach the SFO BART station. BART brings you to the International terminal so if you are going to a domestic flight you might transfer to the free AirTran (or whatever it is called). I think you can also walk from the international terminal to the domestic terminals but I haven't tried since BART got extended to airport.

Also, the waiting time for the transfers is usually very small. For the timed transfer at MacArthur when going Berkeley-SFO changing from Fremont train to SF train when the system is ontime the trains arrive at almost the exact same time your transfer time will be very minimal. The change at Balboa Park for the SFO train can take 5-10 minutes in my experience and the transfer to the AirTran has always been less than 2-3 minutes

I walk over to the UA/AA terminals all the time. When you get off the train, just walk to the end of the platform, out the fare gates, and work your way over. It will take all of about 10 minutes.

I'm up for a Berkeley DO (or smaller event). tfmpa and Wharvey let us know if you want us to plan a little FT welcome for you when you are in town :D

If there is enough interest I will gladly post on Community for a general Berkeley DO also. Just an FYI, I'm OVERWHELMINGLY biased towards either the Gourmet Ghetto or Downtown Berkeley. :D