I'm in the architectural / engineering space. I've done a number of projects for SFO. To me, the difference comes from the top. When we work for SFO, their instruction to their consultant is always, "Bring your 'A' game!" The management there genuinely cares about building and maintaining an airport that can best serve the passengers. Even though they are government employees, they have none of the typical DMV vibe.
The 2 airports on top of my list are Dubai and the new Istanbul airport, so much spaces. The Dubai airport has comfy long lounge chairs for long layover, there's even a sleeping section with deem lights. Even Paris CDG offered a long layover section with lots of comfy sofa with charging station, a paid shower service at the airport hotel. They finally had English speaking volunteers to guide visitors while I stopover for 10 hours in June 2019.
@@___beyondhorizon4664 thanks for sharing about the airports in Dubai and Istanbul! I have not been to either. Of course, they are oranges compared to SFO's apple; i.e. it's difficult to compare American public facilities (and public works projects that build these public facilities) to those in countries like Dubai and Turkey (and Communist China, for example). In those places, the government can nearly do whatever they want with no political obstacles.
Specifically they are San Francisco civil service employees. My ex worked in Noise Abatement at SFO and I worked at Port of SF. These are two of the three City departments that generate a profit for the City and County of San Francisco.
The avg ticket prices are higher because there are way more long distance flights from SFO than Oakland/San Jose. Southwest operates about 70% of OAK, and they are majority nonstop /shorter flights
@@hiiipowerbootylicker7790but you also have to consider that many non budget airlines fly out of sfo. southwest flying at oak basically makes the mean way lower regardless of distance
Went there two months ago. It was indeed surprisingly nice for a US airport! The bathroom was very clean, modern, and enormous. No gap between stalls, too! Finally we have 21st century public bathroom in the US lol
SFO is ideal size for me. Big enough to attract major airlines to generate competitive fare (at least for international flights). But not too big like ATL and ORD, too busy like JFK and NEW, too spread out like DAL, too cramped like CLT, or too worn out like DTW (don't know if it got renovated but I remember buckets around the waiting area to catch rainwater). That said, when I go overseas, I avoid connecting within the US. It is not a pleasant experience to fly within the US or be sitting in a US airport.
@@zukacs don’t you already have the boarding time printed on your pass? And on top of that there are screens displaying boarding times for all flights literally everywhere you eyes can see
@@flugoaway3398 i was not even 18 and it was the old ata turk airport not the new one)) i knew my time but was waiting for announcment while reading a book
Quiet airport is such a brilliant feature. Feels like fewer and fewer people rely on announcements to get to where they should be going anyway nowadays.
90% of the time I couldn't even understand what the announcement is saying. Not to mention most people have earphone/headphone all all the time nowadays.
I just wanna say, I just been in this airport last december and the experience were amazing, so clean, big, comfy , quiet and in order a beautiful airport
Was just in SFO the other week, looked great! Not that it affects me regularly but having the terminals connected will be a huge plus. Impressive baggage and security systems, hope this comes to EWR soon.
Funny, I fly out of SFO, particularly Terminal 1, during and after remodeling. I always loved it but now I really am thankful my home airport is my favorite and the smoothest
Never going to happen. U.S cities are built around highways. There are no cities other than New York where there is a train station within the city. In Europe, the cities were built around train tracks. Every major city have a train station near by. They're not going to pour money into trains when the stations are just as far away as airports.
When I came back from Asia in September 2022, unfortunately I still had to exit the international terminal to go though security again for my domestic connection. I will really look forward to the day when that won’t be necessary.
At Bangkok airport, to fly to many destinations, the crews will make passengers pour away any water they have before entering the gate lounge, including water bought after the security (which is very stupid.) Therefore, the airport has to provides water fountains/refillers at every gate.
The US is horrible for connecting international flights. Fly from country "A" to USA to get a connecting flight to country "B" means having to collect checked luggage, go through customs and immigration then go to the counter to recheck bags and go through security again then to the gate. Most countries allow going from one plane to the other without the hassle and wasting tons of time in lines.
Airports are only starting to implement the idea of planning foot traffic to reduce congestion. The reduced noise and encouragement to use earphones is a great idea. I wished that when it came to boarding, that airlines board in a more orderly fashion and have passenger sat in sections prior to boarding so there isn't a mad rush and eliminates the delay on the airplane when putting luggage in the overhead compartments.
Depends what you think defines best..Also doesn’t really matter though most U.S airports get the job done quite well and many are being upgraded….Remember we built our nice airports way back before those poor nations finally got money and coped by building fancy advanced beautiful airports.
Well that's because our airports are for getting people from point A to point B. There's no good reason and it's a waste of money to spend like Singapore or Dubai. Those cities are more focused on gaining international relevance by building super extravagant projects
If you have travelled beyond USA, or regularly within USA and Europe, you’ll see how miserable US airports are. SFO is the only USA airport that felt I was in Europe or anywhere else in the the developed world.
It seems like the price comparison is not a fair comparison. I would want to see the equivalent route from the competing airports to a destination compared to SFO. otherwise comparing regional flights to international flights provides no relevant information.
Traveling with a kid as a single military parent is hard. I try to make notes on which airport facility is better. I prefer SFO, just because it’s easy to navigate around, it’s innovative, it’s clean and it is quiet.
You’re giving a skewed view of SFO. It’s helpful Terminal 1 has been upgraded, but when I recently flew out of the Delta Terminal the infrastructure (power plugs, USB charge ports) looked like they haven’t been upgraded in at least 15 years. Quite surprised SFO was able to capture #1 in your rankings.
Worked on ramp in that terminal, and the bag belt was the WORST! We always wondered why it cost so much money, but it was the slowest and jammed up every time. 😬
As a visually impaired person, I have to say that “quiet airports” are really tough. Especially because the font on gate/boarding displays is often quite small. I’m sure some announcements are unnecessary but at least one or two boarding calls would be much appreciated
I love most everything about the new Terminal 1, except for the automatic x-ray machines. These automatic x-ray machines operate way too slowly and completely slow down the line.
*SFO sign:* Speakers OFF, Earbuds ON. Your music, Your video, Your phone calls are for *YOUR* ears only! To all coffee shop owners: *Please check out this sign.* 👆
As an employee The bag system is the worse Just ask the passengers. It’s takes the passengers an hour and 15 mins to get their bag once the plane is parked. The baggage system is always jammed. The baggage system is the worse at Harvey terminal This video or the directors are a lie LoL
To be honest if you are going to make a list of Best Airports of 2022 but only include US, then name the list Best US Airports of 2022. World is not just USA.
00:12 WSJ must have not been to SFO during heavy traffic. The roadway is built like a horseshoe (one way in one way out) where everyone has to drive by each terminal before exiting (unlike LAX). I have to say Harvey Milk terminal is nice, it could use more restaurants, it is nice though, but can’t match Changi Airport in Singapore.
I don't know, I felt like Oakland was way more reliable and a quicker experience altogether. Ghetto for sure, but when you want the airport to be a minimal part of your travels, I always picked OAK.
One big advantage OAK has over SFO is the weather. Fog is a major contributor to delay at SFO. That said, OAK is likely stain by the troublesome city. Otherwise, it's quite a convenient airport to travel through.
Average ticket prices are higher...... whatever. I only go to Japan, so no need of San Jose or Oakland. LAX is cheaper in that sense, but I dislike LAX for so many crazy travelers and lack of decent restaurants.
Isn’t $2.5B without adding any extra runways extremely expensive for an amenities and logistics upgrade? For reference the Golden Gate Bridge took $530M in 2020 dollars to build. The cost of this upgrade could have funded 4-5x Golden Gate Bridges. How did they fund this upgrade?
3:33 what kind of silly commercial is this? they are providing water which is cool but it is portrayed like satire. like, what? thats water bro. simple water. 80% of your body is made of that.
