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New options for Delta flyers at SFO

Delta flyers can now enjoy the mod design and amenities of SFO's Terminal 2 (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Delta flyers can now enjoy the mod design and amenities of SFO’s Terminal 2 (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Delta flyers at SFO can now take a yoga break, partake of local organic food and wine or check out a cool museum space at SFO.

That’s because there’s a brand new airside (behind security) connector between Terminal 1, Boarding Area C or “T1C” (used by Delta) and the world famous Terminal 2, designed by the San Francisco design firm Gensler, where Virgin America and American are located. Starting in January, US Airways flyers can join the fun when its SFO operations move alongside Delta’s in T1C.

So next time you are stuck at SFO’s rather prosaic Terminal 1 due to fog…or maybe if you arrive a bit early, take a 10-minute stroll through this new 500-foot, glassed-in, “sterile connector” to Terminal 2 and you can enjoy what many people think is the best airport terminal in America.

Here's a rendering of the new connector viewed from the ramp (Fentress Architects)

Here’s a rendering of the new connector viewed from the ramp with T1 to the left and T2 to the right (Fentress Architects)

(See airport map here to get your bearings)

What’s so cool about it? Well, for one, there’s a new yoga room. I’m not sure how many travelers actually use it for yoga (the original one has been empty every time I’ve peered in) but it can also be used for naps, prayers or quiet time. To make room for the new connector entrance, SFO relocated the original yoga room from T2 to the connector.

Scroll to the bottom for a photo from INSIDE the connector.

SFO's famous yoga room has moved to the new corridor. (Photo: SFO)

SFO’s famous yoga room has moved to the new corridor. (Photo: SFO)

What else is great about T2? Well, the food! About the only decent place to get a meal in Delta’s T1C space is Perry’s, a sit down restaurant. In T2, options multiply– there are 11 outlets and the food is outstanding… there are Burritos (Andale), Tapas & cocktails (Cat Cora), sushi & noodles (Wakaba), fresh healthy soups, salads and sandwiches (Pinkberry/The Plant), a wine bar (Vino Volo) and even rotisserie chicken (Napa Farms) or steak/seafood (Lark Creek). There’s a Kiehl’s store, too.

On of my favorite stops at T2 is the excellent maps exhibit. Endlessly fascinating to see maps old and new depicting the growth of San Francisco over the last 150 or so years. In addition, T2 is one of the best perches at the airport for plane spotting. Just go sit a big red egg chair facing out to the runways and gaze. T1 does not offer views like these!

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T1 redevelopment

Some other important points about what’s going on at SFO:

>Frontier Airlines, which used to operate out of T1C, has moved into Boarding Area B in T1, which does not have access to the new sterile connector.

>Airport spokesman Doug Yakel said that plans for a similar sterile connector between T2 and T3 (United) are in discussion, but “no schedule has been established for this as of yet.”

>Alaska Airlines has moved from T1 to the International Terminal Boarding Area A. Lucky Alaska Boardroom members now get to use Cathay Pacific’s outstanding business/first class lounge nearby.

>SFO’s iconic new 220-foot control tower, which is rising between T1 and T2 should be completed by mid-2015. The new tower is built to withstand an 8.0 earthquake with 215 piers embedded in bedrock 140 feet deep and anchored by 2,700 cubic yards of concrete, according the Fentress Architects which designed the tower and the new connector.

>A complete re-do of SFO’s Terminal 1 is already in the works and should be complete by 2024.

Here's a look down the new sterile corridor connecting T1 and T2 (Fentress Architects)

Here’s a look down the new sterile corridor connecting T1 and T2 (Fentress Architects)

–Chris McGinnis

New extra bonus offer: Get a whopping 50,000 Rapid Rewards points by signing up for Southwest’s Premier card – that’s enough for TWO free tickets. 

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Comments

  2. Chris, try to get your hands on BBC’s infamous documentary “San Francisco: The City that Waits to Die” (circa 1970). That will liven your day.

    The three airports LastTechnocrat mentioned very much seem to sit on the same type of man-made land that the Marina and financial districts of San Francisco do.

    http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/sfgeo/liquefaction/image_pages/fill1906.html

    This inherently unstable soil in areas that once were underwater magnifies the impact of earthquakes, as seen by the damage of the 1986 Loma Prieta earthquake that was especially severe in low lying areas such as the Marina district and near the Oakland waterfront.

    Nevertheless, as San Francisco mayor Joseph Alioto once told the BBC, if I remember correctly, “I rather live one day in San Francisco than a thousand days in San Jose.” I like his attitude.

    Please no nasty comments from San Jose residents. I like your city. I’d live with you a thousand days. 🙂

  4. They really can’t do better at an affordable price due to the geology of the earth under the airport. It is regularly assumed that if an earthquake greater that 8.0 hit the SF bay area, San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland airport will have so much runway damage the airports will be unusable for months. Moffet Field (google/nasa airport on the old Navy base) will be the only SF area airport that can receive heavy air lifts of emergency supplies.

  6. will they ever connect the terminals at sfo so we can enjoy the centurion lounge?/.when we are just flying domestic and have to use the lounge before security for DL I keep asking them toput a CCTV in the lounge so u can look atthe lines forming below and gauge ur time to get thru…or give time updates on waittime to get thru TSA???

  8. “The new tower is built to withstand an 8.0 earthquake . . ..”

    8.0? Note to self: Don’t stand near. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake may have hit a magnitude of 8.25; the 1964 Alaska one shook in a 9.2.

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