880 used to be a bit better than the 101, especially during the lull after the dot com's died off and they widened 880 north of the 101. But now it's back to it's old tricks, and I think both are equally bad. If I have to get from the East Bay to SJ and points south during the commute hours I actually go over the Bay Bridge to get to the 280. If I have to pick up casual carpoolers I will, it's a quick jump back onto the freeway and worth avoiding the toll queue.

880 and 101 are both miserable during commute hours. Personally, I take Caltrain. But then again, I only go to SF to grab the Hwy 17 bus to Santa Cruz at Diridon...

Traffic will not be a concern at 4:00 a.m. San Francisco traffic lights will, however, so I think the 580-80-880 suggestion is ideal. I wouldn't attempt that much after 5:30 a.m., though.

My guess is that it's a weekend flight. (Most MRs are, aren't they?) So, any route should be fine.

Actually they are tues and wed flts, I'm retired so I catch whatever and whenever flts are available. So I had better make tracks as early as posible, I figure I have to be on the road by 2:30-3:00am to be safe, yawn, now I need to figure out the parking.

Overnight in Albany? Sounds like outbound Tues and return Wed?

If you don't mind parking on the street, PM me. If not De La Cruz Parking is good or the Hyatt Regency is pretty cheap.

Nope. It's same day return (or at least can be - I'm doing this run (maybe different days) as well, there and back Tues, there and back Wed. 10,000 EQM, $300).

Frink
if you are on the 4-24 or 5-2 or 5-8, lets hook up somewhere along the line, if I remember your pm right, you are on the 4-24.

Back to back. Those are killer! Have fun. :)

I just had a look at "My Itineraries" for the first time in a while - yikes! There are a lot of entries thanks to these low ALB fares. Is there a FT expression for that sort of "looking off of a cliff" feeling before you start doing a string of MRs?

Also, my fingers are crossed that we don't get stuck somewhere on Tuesday missing out on Wednesday. :(

How do you explain that to United anyway? "Uh, I missed the 6a flight out of SJC to ORD because I missed the 8p ORD to SJC the night before"?

NB: I wish there were a *wood property near SJC so I could get a mattress run in Tues night. Hehe. Then again that sort of defeats the coolness of a same day run to Albany.

I knew exactly what you meant jsgoldbe ;)

There is A W Hotel silicon valley that looks like about a 20-30 minute
drive of the SJC airport. Stayed one night in December for about 120.00
Cheap for a W. and a heated pool.

I meant something like "Airport Westin" with a free shuttle to/from the airport. :)

How on earth did you get it for $120? I check prices every week or so and all of the SV *wood places seem to start at 220 (for the Sheraton!) and 320 for the Westin Sunnyvale. Stupid local economy doing well. (Ok, part of it seems to be that they're calling Fremont SV. Ha ha. I'm pretty amused that a "W" costs about half of a Four Points Sheraton.)

There is essentially no traffic at 4:00a on 101. It is the fastest way to SJC. There is essentially no traffic at anytime on 280 but the distance is longer. Only problem with 101 is accident issues. If there is an accident you could get stuck and be late for your flight.

At 4:00 A.M., take 101 to SJC, shorter distance, and traffic won't be a factor. I believe the #1 & #2 lanes were closed around midnight between Oregon Expressway/Embarcadero (Palo Alto) and Rengstorff Ave. (Mountain View) earlier in the month though, but that still left two lanes for cars to travel at the speed limit or higher.

Allow some time to get from the long-term parking lot at SJC to what I call the third-world terminal. The ticket dispensing machines for L/T parking is a half-mile before the actual parking lot and there are numerous bus stops within the parking lot. L/T parking is $15/day at SJC.