Planning The Family Adventure To SFO

Thanksgiving in my mind is early this year, especially since we usually take the entire week off to visit family. That means this year we depart on Saturday, November 17th out of San Francisco International Airport (SFO). My dilemma is the adventure of getting my family, two young children and one husband, to the airport with all our luggage, car seats, double stroller, flight activities and diaper bag stress free. Planning the transporation to the terminal is the key component to starting the trip off right. Here are my various options.

BART- Bay Area Rapid Transit - I like this option as a distraction for the kids as we begin our journey East. The cost would be $13.50 per person round-trip which would be a slim $54 for "parking" for the week. The challenges with BART begins with all the items we would be lugging. There are several elevators available at the stations, but the actual moving from the platform on to the train concerns me. I have visions of pushing the stroller and luggage onto the train and then going back to grab the car seats, only to have the doors closed and we zoom off without them. Or worse yet, having the kids not understand our flurry of boarding activity and have them at that moment decide not to cooperate. Another challenge is that we would have to transfer once, so we would have to board and get off two trains which defeats the purpose of a stress free adventure to the airport. The final challenge is that once we are delivered to SFO, we still have to take an airport tram to the American terminal. The same challenges apply to boarding this train as the BART, so that makes a total of three trains we would have to maneuver before checking our luggage. Finally, our return flight gets in after 9 pm, so late night on the BART does not thrill me, especially since we will be tired, distracted by the kids and would want a quicker method of getting home. The price is right, but not worth the stress involved. Perhaps when the children are older and can help carry their own luggage this might be the right thing to do. Or if we have a shorter trip and not as much luggage.

Driving and Parking - This is the conventional option where we just drive to the airport, find a parking lot and take a bus to the terminal. Parking costs vary between $13.00 a day at the Long Term SFO Lot to $7.95 a day at Park'N Fly. The Park 'N Fly has great potential since you can reserve your spot, pay upfront and have 24/7 shuttle and luggage assistance. I looked up the rate during Thanksgiving and we would get a $12.78 rate per day in uncovered parking. The small shuttle ride to the terminal would certainly entertain the kids and to have a little bit of help without the stress of a train leaving something behind might be worth the price. We also can drop off one parent with all the items before we go to the parking lot and then circle around and have a "fun ride" shuttle with just transporting the rest of the family and car seats to the terminal. Or we skycap the major pieces and stay together as a family with only our carry on items to be shuttled.

Hotel and Shuttle - A great friend offered this option that I had never considered. Stay at a hotel near the airport that offers free parking and get shuttled over the day of your flight and get another shuttle when you return. Our flight is an early afternoon flight, so it works out perfectly for the standard 11:00 am check-out time at hotels. The DoubleTree in Burlingame, CA offers a $119.00 park and fly rate for free parking for 14 days. The only downside is packing for an additional night for everyone and not getting a guarantee of a good night's sleep before a long travel day. Not that anything is guaranteed with two toddlers even at home, but odds are better on your home turf.

After running through this exercise, I think the traditional driving and parking is our best bet with our family dynamic as it is today. We certainly won't forget any car seats, build in lots of extra time to keep things as stress free as possible and have a quick return home from the airport.