Airlines
I don't fly as much as most people, but I do fly quite a bit, so here's my opinion about the airlines I've flown.
Where I Fly Out Of
The airports I typically fly out or into are on the West Coast:
- SFO - San Francisco
- HNL - Honolulu
- SEA - Seattle
- LAX - Los Angeles
- BUR - Burbank
Of these, SFO is my favourite. This is partly because this is home, and partly for a bunch of other reasons.
SFO
Overall recommendation: Fly United out of Terminal 3 for domestic flights, arriving early since you won't lose time due to the Centurion Lounge. When arriving, use curbside pickup from Uber/Lyft Comfort.
SFO, San Francisco International Airport, has three domestic terminals: Terminal 2 and 3 which are connected to each other, and Terminal 1 which is brand spanking new. It's also got two international terminals, A and G.
While T1 has all the nicest facilities and is super-fancy, it's also got a lot of walking to do and it doesn't have the nice lounges. From landing at the gate to getting to your door at Arrivals will take about 15 minutes walking at a moderate pace, and 8 minutes or so if you're trying to walk fast. Southwest flies here, which is usually the only reason I end up here on a domestic flight.
T3 is the United Terminal and its best attribute is that it has the Centurion Lounge opposite the F2 gate. F1-F3 are off by themselves and then you have to walk about 5 minutes to get to the remaining F gates, which is perfect since you can wait till United starts boarding and then walk there.
T2 is where the remainder of airlines fly to, and it's all right because it has access to the Centurion Lounge post-security. It's about an 12 minute walk from the Centurion Lounge to the D-gates, so you can usually wait till boarding and then walk comfortably.
If I'm being honest, a big part of why I like to fly United is that the Centurion Lounge is so close to their gates. This isn't the fanciest Centurion Lounge but it suffices and there's usually room to get a seat. Sometimes, it does get crowded and then you'll have to wait, but I've never waited more than 5 min to be let in. That's because I have a Platinum card, of course. Centurion cardholders don't wait, and always have seating.
Arriving
Being picked up at SFO is quite straightforward. People picking you up can either park in hourly parking and then walk to you, or circle around and come find you. This last bit is quite easy because if you look at the sliding doors as you exit the terminal concourse to the curbside, you'll see that they have a Terminal number and Door number on them. These are unique and will suffice to find you.
It's quite easy to get to the parking garage's to catch an Uber or Lyft, but if you order an Uber Comfort or the Lyft equivalent, they'll pick you up curbside. This is a much better option because you can order one as soon as you exit the aircraft into the terminal and your wait will be in the 3-5 min range by the time you arrive at the airport.
SEA
Overall recommendation: Use security checkpoint 4 for TSA Pre + Clear. Use Hertz for rentals.
SEA Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is an airport I used to fly to frequently, but haven't been to in a while.
Security
SEA has 5 security checkpoints, and most have Clear, but only checkpoint 4 has Pre + Clear. It's about a 5 minute walk from checkpoint 1 to checkpoint 4, and then about 3 minutes from there to the Centurion Lounge in the food court (just before where the A gates start).
They do have some kind of appointment-based skip-the-line security but when I checked you didn't get Pre through that so you have to go through the whole "take your laptop and electronics out" rigmarole which honestly doesn't seem worth it.
Rental Cars
The Hertz setup at Seattle is really nice. If you have an Amex Platinum or higher, one of the perks is that you get Hertz Gold for free. When you're booking the car, make sure to use the CDP code (which is currently 70550).
The rental car centre is about a 10 min shuttle ride away, and when you're there you can skip the counters and go right down to the Hertz area, look up your name on the Hertz Gold list, and go to your car (the stall number of which will be on the big screen).
Returning is similarly simple. Just drop the car off and leave the keys inside.
