East Bay travelers can now use GIG Care Share for trips to SFO Airport. (Image: GIG)
In airport news, a Bay Area car-sharing service has added a presence at San Francisco International; six airlines relocated operations at New York LaGuardia; Oakland cuts the ribbon on an expanded international arrivals area; Chicago may add express trains from downtown to O’Hare; and Air Canada opens a new lounge at Toronto.
East Bay travelers have a new option for trips between San Francisco International and Oakland/Berkeley. GIG Car Share, a one-way rental service sponsored by AAA of Northern California, Nevada and Utah, has added a parking zone at the SFO Park ‘N Fly lot at 160 Produce Ave., South San Francisco, with shuttle service to and from the terminals. Those who download the app from GIG can pick up a car at the lot for trips to the East Bay, leaving the vehicle anywhere in the GIG “Home Zone,” or from Oakland/Berkeley to SFO. There’s no sign-up fee. GIG rates for a Toyota Prius C trip are $2.50 a mile or $15 an hour, including gas, insurance and parking. Click on the above GIG link for all the details. GIG already had parking at Oakland International’s Park ‘N Fly.
This past weekend was moving time for several airlines at New York LaGuardia, who relocated some or all of their operations to accommodate the ongoing massive reconstruction of the airport. By all accounts, the moves went smoothly, with new signs installed and employees on hand to direct passengers. Delta consolidated its operations in Terminals C and D, with Delta Shuttle flights to Chicago and Washington relocated from Terminal A (the Marine Air Terminal) to Terminal C. American Airlines and its Shuttle moved from Terminal C to Terminal B (the Main Terminal), while Alaska and JetBlue moved from Terminal B to Terminal A. Spirit and Frontier, formerly in Terminal B, now use Terminal C for departures and Terminal D for arrivals.
The new terminal locations at LaGuardia. (Image: Port Authority of New York/New Jersey)
Oakland International Airport this week will celebrate a ribbon-cutting for its International Arrivals Building following the end of work on a major expansion that doubled its capacity by adding 13,000 square feet of additional space. The final phase included replacing the old baggage carousel with a pair of new ones, completing renovation work, and renovating U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities. The first phase of the project, completed last summer, gave OAK eight more Automated Passport Control kiosks, for a total of 16; four more passenger processing booths, for a total of 14; and a pair of Global Entry kiosks. The airport has added a number of international flights in the past year and a half, now offering 32 weekly departures to Europe (mostly from Norwegian).
Ever take the Blue Line trains to or from Chicago O’Hare? They have a lot of stops between the airport and downtown. But now Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago Infrastructure Trust has started taking proposals from companies that want to work with the city in creating express train service between the airport and downtown, cutting the trip time from 40 minutes to 20. The project is looking at three possible routes using existing rail lines, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The city wants the trains to run at least every 15 minutes at a fare that’s well below the cost of a taxi or Uber. City officials suggested that one possible partner might be Elon Musk’s futuristic, high-speed Hyperloop.
Air Canada’s new Signature Suite at Toronto Pearson. (Image: Air Canada)
The latest luxurious airport lounge facility for premium international travelers is the newly opened Air Canada Signature Suite at Toronto Pearson. The 6,400-square-foot facility, near Air Canada’s Terminal 1 international departure gates, is open to full-fare international business class customers (not including upgrades or reward travel). With space for 160 passengers, the suite has a sit-down restaurant with free a la carte dining, a full bar with snacks, a sitting area, and a concierge service.
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The only good thing about going from NYC to Chicago or DC was using DL and the Marine Terminal. I think DL will regret this. It was wonderful!! The hassle factor was practically non-existent if one can ever say that about NYC and especially LGA.
This is kind of unrelated, but your headline made me think of it. I just did an end-of-year mileage run on Saturday (LAX-LAS-LAX), and I used a new service/app called Valeet. It’s available in Madrid and Barcelona, and more recently at LAX and SFO. You basically schedule a drop off, then someone meets you curbside in front of the terminal. You get out, they take pictures of your car, and then whisk it away until your return. The rate at LAX is $20 (though it gets cheaper the longer the reservation), which is lower than parking in the central on-site LAX structures (which are I think $30/day). Your specific driver communicates with you directly via text, and when you’re back they bring your car around to the arrivals curb, again take pictures, and hand your car back. There’s no mention of tipping, but since it’s the holidays I gave the guy $10 and he was happy about it. There are options to have them top up your gas tank and wash your car once they take possession of your vehicle (they pop up on the app). It really was a fabulous experience (promo/referral code 85QQKR7 if you wanna try hee hee–I don’t work for them btw).