When will be the least awful dates to fly NYC-SFO?
August 18, 2022 1:09 PM Subscribe
I'd like to fly roundtrip from NYC to San Francisco for a week or two, some time before the end of the year. I've heard that air travel is more than usually unpleasant this year. My timing is flexible - is there any time period that is predictably likely to be less awful? Or is it just unknowable?
I would aim for September or October rather than later. September is also generally a very nice time to be in SF, barring possible wildfire smoke.
posted by pinochiette at 1:40 PM on August 18, 2022
posted by pinochiette at 1:40 PM on August 18, 2022
Mid-October is usually pretty good. I was similarly looking for time to head back to NY from SF to visit family and settled on Oct. 19th-20th as a sweet spot. I usually fly United and always fly direct. Repeat that: always fly direct if you can, especially on this route. FWIW I flew from SFO into & out of Newark in Mid-July and it was fine, no issues. I might have been lucky, anything can (and does) happen.
Leaving SFO I always get an early flight (7am departure or similar) so I land in New York in the afternoon, and leaving NY try for a mid-afternoon flight to get me back to SFO after dark, but not too late.
posted by niicholas at 1:44 PM on August 18, 2022
Leaving SFO I always get an early flight (7am departure or similar) so I land in New York in the afternoon, and leaving NY try for a mid-afternoon flight to get me back to SFO after dark, but not too late.
posted by niicholas at 1:44 PM on August 18, 2022
As someone who flies from the Eastern time zone to the Bay fairly often, I usually fly to Oakland. Part of that is because of my work location, but you may be surprised at the versatility of that airport. BART is very convenient from either SFO or OAK.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 1:46 PM on August 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Lawn Beaver at 1:46 PM on August 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thank you for the answers so far! I pretty strongly favor JetBlue for this route, because I've had almost entirely good experiences with them, which would limit me to JFK and SFO (rather than EWR or OAK). Also my parents live 20 minutes from SFO, which is a strong incentive to fly there!
However, it's been a year since I last flew JetBlue (or anyone). If you've heard bad things about JetBlue this year in particular, please let me know.
Years ago I used to get advice to fly on Tuesdays or Wednesdays because those were the least crowded days, but I don't know if that was ever true or if it still applies. Is there any weekday effect worth thinking about?
As long as I'm here, I would like to ask the same question about NYC to Amsterdam - what would be the least bad dates for such a trip?
posted by moonmilk at 1:59 PM on August 18, 2022
However, it's been a year since I last flew JetBlue (or anyone). If you've heard bad things about JetBlue this year in particular, please let me know.
Years ago I used to get advice to fly on Tuesdays or Wednesdays because those were the least crowded days, but I don't know if that was ever true or if it still applies. Is there any weekday effect worth thinking about?
As long as I'm here, I would like to ask the same question about NYC to Amsterdam - what would be the least bad dates for such a trip?
posted by moonmilk at 1:59 PM on August 18, 2022
Years ago I used to get advice to fly on Tuesdays or Wednesdays because those were the least crowded days, but I don't know if that was ever true or if it still applies. Is there any weekday effect worth thinking about?
I fly 2-3 trips per month (any day of the week) and it’s really busy now. Used to be all the business travelers flew Monday and Thursday but there’s enough leisure travelers right now that every single plane I’ve been on since last fall has been 100% full on United, and I suspect most other carriers. The less full flights tend to be very early in the morning (like 6am) or red eyes (12-1am). I agree with September-October being better times to go than closer to the holidays. I keep wondering if inflation is going to stop this boom in travel spending, but not so far.
The least full flights will probably be the cheapest to buy, but assume that your plane will be fully booked no matter what. Sometimes when I’m thinking of an “anytime” flexible trip I put an alert in Google flights or kayak to email me when that route is especially cheap.
posted by Bunglegirl at 3:03 PM on August 18, 2022
I fly 2-3 trips per month (any day of the week) and it’s really busy now. Used to be all the business travelers flew Monday and Thursday but there’s enough leisure travelers right now that every single plane I’ve been on since last fall has been 100% full on United, and I suspect most other carriers. The less full flights tend to be very early in the morning (like 6am) or red eyes (12-1am). I agree with September-October being better times to go than closer to the holidays. I keep wondering if inflation is going to stop this boom in travel spending, but not so far.
The least full flights will probably be the cheapest to buy, but assume that your plane will be fully booked no matter what. Sometimes when I’m thinking of an “anytime” flexible trip I put an alert in Google flights or kayak to email me when that route is especially cheap.
posted by Bunglegirl at 3:03 PM on August 18, 2022
My rule of thumb is to never fly out of any NYC airport on a Friday, unless it's one of the first few flights of the day.
posted by unknowncommand at 3:22 PM on August 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by unknowncommand at 3:22 PM on August 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
SF-specific heads up: DO NOT PLAN TO COME TO SAN FRANCISCO THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 19. Dreamforce is apparently back in person at full capacity this year, judging by the hotel prices that week. 175,000 attendees in 2019, in a city that only has 34,000 hotel rooms. People get stuck 30 miles away or more and have to commute in anyway. Avoid SF that week entirely, possibly the weekends before and after.
As for flying in general Right Now, I love JetBlue (they were our default airline out of Boston) but haven't flown them since pre-pandemonium. My only flight since then was a few weeks ago on Delta. We were unable to secure a direct or even one-stop flight to Knoxville from either SFO or OAK for less than $3000 for the two of us. We did get the first flight of the morning out, but cascading delays and missed connections turned our first visit to the in-laws in over 2.5 years into a Southern Road Trip Odyssey via Atlanta and Nashville; it took us 15 hours door to door and that only because we said "screw it, we're renting a car and driving four hours rather than having you split us across different flights or forced overnight" for the final rescheduled leg. After that experience, I flat out will not go anywhere by plane this year if we cannot get a direct flight.
I would not expect a direct NYC-SFO flight to run into that level of complex annoyance, especially because there simply are more of those flights. But I would plan plenty of time padding to address every possible hiccup, cancellation for weather, crew timeout, staff shortage, etc.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 3:35 PM on August 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
As for flying in general Right Now, I love JetBlue (they were our default airline out of Boston) but haven't flown them since pre-pandemonium. My only flight since then was a few weeks ago on Delta. We were unable to secure a direct or even one-stop flight to Knoxville from either SFO or OAK for less than $3000 for the two of us. We did get the first flight of the morning out, but cascading delays and missed connections turned our first visit to the in-laws in over 2.5 years into a Southern Road Trip Odyssey via Atlanta and Nashville; it took us 15 hours door to door and that only because we said "screw it, we're renting a car and driving four hours rather than having you split us across different flights or forced overnight" for the final rescheduled leg. After that experience, I flat out will not go anywhere by plane this year if we cannot get a direct flight.
I would not expect a direct NYC-SFO flight to run into that level of complex annoyance, especially because there simply are more of those flights. But I would plan plenty of time padding to address every possible hiccup, cancellation for weather, crew timeout, staff shortage, etc.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 3:35 PM on August 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
Oh, yeah, and to not abuse the edit window, if you have PreCheck you're golden, if you don't you're in security lines stretching outside the airport based on our recent SFO experience. Seconding that advice to get Pre before you go if you can and don't already have it, and also emphatically seconding carry-on luggage only.
Also even if you do book early flights out of SFO, they're frequently delayed for morning fog, so build that into your planning. Still book that first flight, but just know you're likely to get back to NYC a bit later than the schedule says.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 3:41 PM on August 18, 2022
Also even if you do book early flights out of SFO, they're frequently delayed for morning fog, so build that into your planning. Still book that first flight, but just know you're likely to get back to NYC a bit later than the schedule says.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 3:41 PM on August 18, 2022
JetBlue does also fly to SJC- if your parents are south of SFO or if it's not hugely out of the way, my experience there has been that it's usually pretty quiet. It's such a small airport that it helps.
posted by pinochiette at 3:48 PM on August 18, 2022
posted by pinochiette at 3:48 PM on August 18, 2022
I've had several flights lately out of SFO and things honestly haven't been too bad so far. Mainly you want to avoid the peak times of year/week/day. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are definitely the slowest on most routes, and shoulder season is definitely still a thing. Being on the last flight of the day is always a bad thing for delays. SFO is the single slowest west coast airport for security (statistically, though it feels that way too), and can be delayed when things are foggy since it doesn't have enough runway separation for instrument operation. I do hear horror stories from frequent travelers, but I've had 12 segments since June and the longest delay was 90 minutes.
posted by wnissen at 3:57 PM on August 18, 2022
posted by wnissen at 3:57 PM on August 18, 2022
Generally speaking, departing in the morning, as early as possible, is often best, due to the way airlines organize... if one stop is delayed, it has a cascade effect on subsequent flights. So the earlier in the chain you get on the plane, the less likely you'll be delayed.
Anecdotally... SFO is an airport that sometimes gets fogged in but usually in the afternoon or evenings. This doesn't mean planes can't land, just that they are restricted to single runway only, which halves the throughput. So generally speaking, you want the plane to arrive in the early afternoon (or earlier) if possible.
I am not talking about stops as you seem to be booking a non-stop flight. But the fewer stops, the less likely you'll be affected by delays.
NYC to SFO is roughly a 6.5 hour flight direct, but you're also looking at 3 hours clock difference. So you can depart 9AM and get here 12:30PM, which should be fine. American seems to have 2 morning departures daily, and there's a flight even earlier if you want to hop the 0630 departure, nap on the plane and be here 10AM.
If you can, carry-on only. But that's not always practical. Hide an Apple AirTag in the luggage to track it, as many wished they did this miserable travel summer. Lots of stories going viral about luggage taking a trip more than the owner, or how AirTag helped nab a luggage thief.
EDIT: Jetblue seems to have a 0835 flight from JFK, landing noon-ish at SFO.
posted by kschang at 4:51 PM on August 18, 2022
Anecdotally... SFO is an airport that sometimes gets fogged in but usually in the afternoon or evenings. This doesn't mean planes can't land, just that they are restricted to single runway only, which halves the throughput. So generally speaking, you want the plane to arrive in the early afternoon (or earlier) if possible.
I am not talking about stops as you seem to be booking a non-stop flight. But the fewer stops, the less likely you'll be affected by delays.
NYC to SFO is roughly a 6.5 hour flight direct, but you're also looking at 3 hours clock difference. So you can depart 9AM and get here 12:30PM, which should be fine. American seems to have 2 morning departures daily, and there's a flight even earlier if you want to hop the 0630 departure, nap on the plane and be here 10AM.
If you can, carry-on only. But that's not always practical. Hide an Apple AirTag in the luggage to track it, as many wished they did this miserable travel summer. Lots of stories going viral about luggage taking a trip more than the owner, or how AirTag helped nab a luggage thief.
EDIT: Jetblue seems to have a 0835 flight from JFK, landing noon-ish at SFO.
posted by kschang at 4:51 PM on August 18, 2022
However, it's been a year since I last flew JetBlue (or anyone). If you've heard bad things about JetBlue this year in particular, please let me know.
I guess this is quite... hearsay-ish, but one of my besties is a flight attendant for Delta and he said a few weeks ago that there has been a noticeable influx of FAs to Delta from Jet Blue bc morale there is so low. Not sure how that translates to the customer experience right now, but...?
posted by gaspode at 4:53 PM on August 18, 2022
I guess this is quite... hearsay-ish, but one of my besties is a flight attendant for Delta and he said a few weeks ago that there has been a noticeable influx of FAs to Delta from Jet Blue bc morale there is so low. Not sure how that translates to the customer experience right now, but...?
posted by gaspode at 4:53 PM on August 18, 2022
Just came in to say my sister recently flew on JetBlue 1st class or business? and said it was amazing, so much better than American or United which she usually flies.
posted by j810c at 5:51 PM on August 18, 2022
posted by j810c at 5:51 PM on August 18, 2022
I feel like the world, especially the traveling, has been non-stationary for a few years now, so it's hard to make predictions. The only thing I can suggest is that, while traveling AROUND holidays is a pure, distilled hellscape made of nightmares, traveling ON holidays can be a quite different story. One time my work schedule was bonkers and I literally flew home for Christmas on Christmas. It was the only time in my life that I was the only traveler in the security checkpoint and the plane was not sardines in a tin like it normally is.
posted by adekllny at 5:56 PM on August 18, 2022
posted by adekllny at 5:56 PM on August 18, 2022
I flew using JetBlue (SFO to MCO round trip) and found the experience ok. I much prefer Alaska nowadays. I've also flown United recently and found it to be on par with JetBlue (ok, nothing to write home about). Not sure if any of this translates to coming from JFK/EWR/LGA. Am surprised to hear SFO is the slowest west coast airport security as I've always found it to be really quick and efficient, but maybe that's because I'm comparing to the horror show that is Orlando TSA.
posted by flamk at 6:12 PM on August 18, 2022
posted by flamk at 6:12 PM on August 18, 2022
Just did JFK-SFO on Alaska, which I liked quite a bit and had zero problems. I hadn't flown "Alaska" before but I had flown Virgin America before Alaska bought it and liked it then, too.
One thing I can add to the conversation is that the terminal Alaska flies out of at SFO is much nicer than the one JetBlue flies out of. On the flipside, the reverse is true at JFK.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 8:25 AM on August 19, 2022
One thing I can add to the conversation is that the terminal Alaska flies out of at SFO is much nicer than the one JetBlue flies out of. On the flipside, the reverse is true at JFK.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 8:25 AM on August 19, 2022
(Disclaimer: I volunteer at Travelers Information at SFO.)
TSA precheck and carry on luggage are the biggest ways to be satisfied with a flight right now.
September and October usually have very little fog. Fog starts up in November along with the slight chance of rainy season (we're in a drought.) Summer has a fair amount of fog (gloom June, no-sky July, Fogust.)
Leaving SFO, Terminal 2 (Alaska, Delta, Air Canada) is insane. TSA precheck lines are the usual quick lines. Normal lines are three times longer than usual, or more (!!!) Terminal 3 (United) is just as bad. You can try the security entrance at International G gates; they have a corridor inside security which connects International G, Terminal 3 (F, E Gates) and Terminal 2 (D, C gates.)
Terminal 1 (JetBlue, Southwest, American) and International A gates are connected in a similar way. There is a corridor inside security to go from A gates to B gates.
You will be walking inside the airport more than you expected, but it isn't that bad unless you have lots of luggage.
Terminal 1 has some good unique food. (Goldilock's Philipino food, Amy's Drive Through vegetarian/vegan.) Terminal A is starting to get restaurants back again.
Terminal 2, 3 and G have lots of options. Use the flysfo.com website for details on any given restaurant.
posted by blob at 5:46 PM on August 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
TSA precheck and carry on luggage are the biggest ways to be satisfied with a flight right now.
September and October usually have very little fog. Fog starts up in November along with the slight chance of rainy season (we're in a drought.) Summer has a fair amount of fog (gloom June, no-sky July, Fogust.)
Leaving SFO, Terminal 2 (Alaska, Delta, Air Canada) is insane. TSA precheck lines are the usual quick lines. Normal lines are three times longer than usual, or more (!!!) Terminal 3 (United) is just as bad. You can try the security entrance at International G gates; they have a corridor inside security which connects International G, Terminal 3 (F, E Gates) and Terminal 2 (D, C gates.)
Terminal 1 (JetBlue, Southwest, American) and International A gates are connected in a similar way. There is a corridor inside security to go from A gates to B gates.
You will be walking inside the airport more than you expected, but it isn't that bad unless you have lots of luggage.
Terminal 1 has some good unique food. (Goldilock's Philipino food, Amy's Drive Through vegetarian/vegan.) Terminal A is starting to get restaurants back again.
Terminal 2, 3 and G have lots of options. Use the flysfo.com website for details on any given restaurant.
posted by blob at 5:46 PM on August 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you for all the great answers! If I book a trip this Sept / Oct, I'll report back on how it went.
posted by moonmilk at 7:34 AM on August 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by moonmilk at 7:34 AM on August 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Reporting how my air travel went:
JetBlue JFK to SEA on a Sunday morning: long regular security lines, but TSA PRE went quickly. No delays, plane was full but I still found overhead space for my bag.
Alaska SEA to SFO on a Monday afternoon: almost no wait for security, regular or PRE, but the flight was delayed several hours for no obvious reason. Plane was full again.
JetBlue SFO to JFK on a Sunday morning: no wait for security, regular or PRE, but at the last minute the flight was delayed several hours due to storms in NYC. The flight wasn't quite full - I had an empty seat next to me.
posted by moonmilk at 12:39 PM on September 26, 2022
JetBlue JFK to SEA on a Sunday morning: long regular security lines, but TSA PRE went quickly. No delays, plane was full but I still found overhead space for my bag.
Alaska SEA to SFO on a Monday afternoon: almost no wait for security, regular or PRE, but the flight was delayed several hours for no obvious reason. Plane was full again.
JetBlue SFO to JFK on a Sunday morning: no wait for security, regular or PRE, but at the last minute the flight was delayed several hours due to storms in NYC. The flight wasn't quite full - I had an empty seat next to me.
posted by moonmilk at 12:39 PM on September 26, 2022
Response by poster: Also: even booking just a few weeks in advance, the flights were surprisingly cheap, under about $600 total if I hadn't used miles for the JetBlue flights. I'd expected to pay a lot more for booking so late.
posted by moonmilk at 12:43 PM on September 26, 2022
posted by moonmilk at 12:43 PM on September 26, 2022
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Book a morning flight, so that if something happens (like the flight getting canceled due to understaffing) you can get rebooked on a same-day flight.
Book with a big carrier (United, Delta, American, Southwest) rather than a cheap no-frills carrier (Frontier, Spirit). The big carriers have much better protections in case something goes wrong, including rebooking you on another airline they have a codeshare agreement with. The medium carriers (JetBlue, Alaska) could go either way. Honestly I would stick to the big ones.
Word on the street is, just don't fly into Newark. The understaffing problems are particularly bad there right now. Flights get canceled just because there are no crews to receive them on the ground. Might be better in a month or two, but maybe not.
Consider getting TSA Pre-Check. It turns security into a 5-minute walk in the park, and many credit cards will cover your application fee.
Consider taking carry-ons only, to have one less variable in play.
I have flown a moderate amount this summer using the above strategies, SFO to Boston and back several times, and have not had any problems.
posted by danceswithlight at 1:34 PM on August 18, 2022 [6 favorites]