
New T3E facing toward the main terminal building. This is what you’ll see when deplaning (Chris McGinnis)
United and SFO invited TravelSkills out to the new T3E Boarding Area on Friday for a look-see at the shiny new terminal.
Most of what you read here last month when I wrote about my hardhat tour of T3E still stands, but I’ve added a few more interesting nuggets of interest to TravelSkills Readers, BATs!
Some snippets:
>The first flight out of T3E on Tuesday, Jan 28 will be United flight 286, departing SFO at 7.05 am to New York Kennedy Airport.
>”You’ll find luxury perks in T3E that you’d normally see in a four or five star hotel like lounge seating and a living room feel,” said airport director John Martin
>There are more than 375 power outlets in T3E.
>The women’s bathroom at T3E has a whopping 26 toilets and its own lounge area bathed in natural light from floor to ceiling windows that are (regrettably) frosted. (But you can peer out around the outer edges!)
>The gates in T3E are numbers 60-69.
>A “temporary” United Club is current under construction in the mezzanine area of Terminal 3.
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>The far end of T3E is closer to SFO runways than any other part of the airport. You can definitely feel the thunder of those jumbos out there!
>”Our new facilities are made for those who want to power up…or power down.” United CEO Jeff Smisek commenting on the abundance of power plugs and the terminal’s yoga room. (T2 also has a yoga room.)

Best seat in the house lies between Gate 65 and 66. Love that view! Feel the rumble of 747’s! (Chris McGinnis)
>The best seat in the house is out by Gate 66. You can sit at a table and look out and watch 747’s roar by as they take off for Asia. Best time: around 2pm.
>”We designed the space so arriving passengers would immediately feel like they are in San Francisco as soon as they get off the plane.” Architect Art Gensler (Gensler’s firm also designed SFO’s T2 which has a similar impact on arriving passengers.)
>For now, you cannot enter T3E from the curb. Passengers departing from T3E will enter at current security checkpoints, the proceed down a long corridor to T3E. However, arriving passengers may exit T3E at the curb (upstairs) or take escalators down to baggage claim exits.
And just in case you missed it, here’s what else you need to know about Bay Area Travel over the last month:
American & US Airways at T2 + Sonoma airport expands + UberX + Delta/Virgin + EVA expands
United transcon bonus + United 787 domestic + Fewer 747s + Delta vs Alaska
The BEST credit cards for TravelSkills Readers
Anticipating T3E + Google Int’l + New Virgin Visa + More Southwest nonstops
United: T3E & UA500 & 49ers-Seahawks Game fares
What to do if pulled over by the police [Infographic]
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