Holiday air travel is notoriously hellish, plagued by steep ticket prices and jam-packed security lines. While there’s no easy fix for fighting through the cranky hordes to make your flight, SFO has rolled out a baggage program intended to make the experience less taxing.
If your first stop at the airport is the long-term parking garage or the rental car center — regardless of whether you’re returning a vehicle or being dropped off at the Kiss & Fly area — you can check your bags before heading to the terminal. The new service (imaginatively called Bags) lets you check into your flight and ditch your luggage early, without an added fee for the drop-off. No more hauling your luggage on the AirTrain or standing in line at an airline service counter in the terminal.
The eight-month pilot program has been a hit since it launched last week, according to SFO parking manager Adam Gubser.
“One of the takeaways that I had was watching people immediately relax when they saw it as an option,” Gubser said. He highlighted one instance of parents expressing relief when they realized they could cast off their massive suitcases and focus on wrangling their two rambunctious kids.
“It’s a bit more direct, it’s faster, and it definitely checks one of the boxes for relieving stress,” Gubser said of the program. “It enhances the overall travel experience.”
SFO isn’t charging for the service, because it sees it as an “investment in the guest experience,” he added. Plus, if people spend less time waiting in airline lines, they might spend more time eating or drinking near the gate. (Go ahead and chug that extra martini or stress-eat a burger to gird yourself for awkward Thanksgiving conversations with your extended family.)
Here’s the quick-and-dirty on the Bags program:
When and where can you drop off bags?
The service is available between 4 a.m. and 8 p.m. at the long-term parking lot (near the walkway to the AirTrain station) and on Level 1 of the rental car center. You need to arrive at the counter 90 minutes before your flight for your bags to be whisked onto the plane for you.
So this is free?
You’ll have to pay whatever fee the airline normally charges to check luggage, but there’s no additional charge to drop off your luggage early through the Bags service.
Can the service be used for every flight?
Not quite. It doesn’t work for international flights and on certain airlines. For now, it’s offered for domestic flights on Delta, Alaska, American, and JetBlue, with United and Frontier coming soon, according to Gubser.
Anything else?
You’ll want to book long-term parking in advance for the holidays, as the lot fills up during peak travel seasons. If you have to park in the overflow lot, you won’t have easy access to the Bags service.