Some context
I live in Los Angeles, but in order to get myself a free business class flight to Tokyo, I needed to fly out of San Francisco (SFO). I was keeping an eye out for award availability on seats.areo, and a flight to HND popped up that was 75,000 points. Lately, it’s been tough to find any business or first-class flights under 100,000 points, so I jumped on the opportunity.
Can’t tell if Japan is popular or award availability is just scarce, either way, I had to take a flight that wasn’t directly from LAX or ONT and I didn’t want to go through security to take that SFO to HND flight.
I only had carry-on luggage, but got asked to check it
I ended up getting a ticket to fly from BUR to SFO with a carry-on and personal item. The flight was on a Embraer E75L and the crew knew it was going to run out of overhead space. Passengers were asked to volunteer to check their luggage in exchange for early boarding. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to check my luggage as I didn’t want to go through security a second time.
Turns out there were not enough volunteers and I was asked to check my luggage. I let the gate agent know that I had a connecting international flight, and luckily let me know that she could mark my luggage so that I could pick it up right on the jet bridge. I would just have to wait a few minutes after we landed and someone to retrieve it for me. It worked out amazingly and I was able to land at SFO and go from Gate C1 to the International Terminal Gate G7 without having to exit and deal with going through security a second time. Really felt like getting special treatment and I very much appreciated Alaska Airline’s effort on that.
How long does it take to get from a domestic terminal to the international terminal in SFO?
- Give yourself about 30 minutes to get from the domestic Harvey Milk Terminal 1, Gate B21 to International Terminal, Gate G1 and beyond. This is assuming you are walking airside and do not need to go pick-up any luggage and therefore go through security screening again. You could always go back landside and skip the long walk, but it’s unclear how long the security screening would be. It may be a 10 minute wait, or if it gets busy, around 45 minutes. You can see historical wait times on the CBP site. It took me about 25 minutes and that walk may be worth it for you in order to skip security, but you do have to walk past all the other gates.
- Getting from Terminal 1 to Terminal A is a bit quicker as you don’t have to walk through the maze of hallways that have been put up do to construction. It will take you about 15 minutes. See the video below to follow along the walk.
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As of today, May 15, 2025, there is still construction at the San Francisco airport, going from International Terminal A to International Terminal G requires going the long way, past most the other terminals, if you want to stay airside. The construction is slated to be completed in Fall of 2027.
It could possibly faster to exit, go landside, and re-enter after clearing security once again at the other terminal, but I’m not experienced enough with the volume of passengers at SFO to make that guess. There is a benefit to staying airside though, you can visit all the restaurants and lounges that you might miss if you go straight from Terminal A to Terminal G. SFO does have some of the best airport meals in the world as rated by Business Power Travelers and Food & Wine.