11 hour layover in San Fran airport. Where can dad (84) & I rest?

July 20, 2024 2:22 PM

My dad (84) and my son (20) and I (54) are returning from NZ in a few days. Just realized we have an 11 hr layover in San Francisco. Can we pay for a few hours in an airline lounge that has beds, showers, etc? Is this still a thing?
posted by chr1sb0y to Travel & Transportation around San Francisco, CA (9 answers total)

Response by poster: Forgot to add - connecting from Air New Zealand to United.
posted by chr1sb0y at 2:36 PM on July 20, 2024

Are you willing to go outside of security? The Grand Hyatt at SFO is very nice and new and very accommodating to travelers and wonky schedules -- they have a huge pilot/FA customer base. They allow day rates (meaning, they allow you to book a room for 10am-4pm or something like that rather than requiring an overnight stay and kicking you out at 11am). You'll want to call them to inquire about day rates and the possibility of making a reservation, although I've never had any issues with them having room and have stayed there multiple times. They are also very close to SFO and it's a snap to get between the hotel and the airport.

It also looks like you can book The Club outside of security which has showers (that can't be prebooked), but it looks a bit hard to book time there and it's not clear to me what the policy is for people arriving vs. departing or how long you can stay there. Given the price ($75/person, extra $25 for shower) I would think the Grand Hyatt might be a better deal for three people who all want a shower, depending on what you want for food/drinks.

Finally, do you have status with any credit cards or airlines that might allow you entry to a lounge? I will warn you that many such lounges are crowded, have long lines to get in, and otherwise might not be available (or pleasant). Worth reading reviews and having a plan B.
posted by knobknosher at 2:52 PM on July 20, 2024 [7 favorites]

Also, wanted to note that most (probably all) lounges that you could get access to as a normal person flying on a standard ticket will not have beds or sleeping areas, so on that point, the Grand Hyatt would likely have a significant advantage.
posted by knobknosher at 2:55 PM on July 20, 2024 [1 favorite]

Best answer: You can buy a united club day pass, but I think that at SFO the united club doesn't have showers - only the Polaris Lounge does, and you can't buy access to that.

For that duration of layover I might checkout dayuse and check out hotels with shuttles to SFO. For ~140 (my test booking) you could get a room from 9-6 with beds, shower, etc.
posted by true at 2:55 PM on July 20, 2024

I agree that especially with three of you you might be better off trying to book a room at a hotel rather than airline lounge passes - the cost might not be that different. There is at least one pay-as-you-go lounge at SFO that has beds - Freshen Up - but it's not terribly inspiring-looking and even besides they Hyatt there are a lot of hotels that you could reach via a 5 minute cab ride.

Whether other lounges are available is also going to depend on when your layover is - they're mostly not open 24 hours. Also some of them have e.g. a 3 hours limit.

Lounge Buddy is very handy for knowing what lounges are available; Priority Pass will give you access to several lounges at SFO but it would cost you like $200 ($99 subscription + $35/visitor) for three people to visit a lounge, and as knobknosher says those lounges can be crowded.
posted by mskyle at 2:56 PM on July 20, 2024 [2 favorites]

Seconding the Grand Hyatt SFO - it's at the airport - a stop on the airtrain terminal shuttle. Very nice place to stay - I've used it myself after arriving in the wee hours of the morning returning from Europe.
posted by niicholas at 7:20 PM on July 20, 2024

Best answer: I'll second the dayuse app, I've used it a few times with no issues at all.
posted by bashos_frog at 8:36 PM on July 20, 2024

Correction to knobknosher's excellent post. The Club is inside security, in Terminal 1, across from Mills Cargo, next to the Johnson Murphy clothing store. Open from 4:00 am-11:00 pm. Since you are going through customs at SFO, you'll be exiting the security area and will need to re-enter based on a valid boarding pass.

The Grand Hyatt at SFO is an excellent, pricy, choice. There are several good, less expensive hotels nearby with free shuttle service to/from SFO. The SFO website has a list.
posted by blob at 8:50 PM on July 20, 2024 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: We went with the Hampton Inn Airport via dayuse.com, which was perfectly adequate. They also were not bothered by us arriving 2 hrs before the time slot we chose. But we later realized that the cost savings over the more expensive Hyatt (which is on the Airtrain line) were cancelled out by having to Uber back and forth to the airport. (We didn’t notice the free shuttle hotel list posted here until too late.)
posted by chr1sb0y at 5:16 AM on July 25, 2024 [1 favorite]