we arrive at SFO at 10am and our flight onto Kona (same airline) leaves at 1pm. family members in SF suggested that they come to the airport to see us and wondered how much "actual time" we'd have to hang out factoring in having to be back at the gate for the flight to Kona in a reasonable amount of time, go back through security etc. i honestly don't know what to tell them. maybe two hours at the very most (and that's assuming the plane to SF lands on time)? thanks for any advice you have. usually our plane changes involve running through the terminal with minutes to spare! a time lapse of this length is a first!!

Hi stellaluna, that is a hard one! You probably prefer to stay within the gate area so you do not have to go through security again I would imagine.

SFO planes seem to be often late. Security lines can sometimes be long. Will you have to go through security in any case?

I guess if it was me I would probably prefer to not have to hassle this but than again it would depend how often all of you have a chance to get together. I assume they live near SFO?

We did this once with family members coming in from Europe who had to change planes to get to Portland OR but they had a lot longer between planes. Think we had about two hours with them. You would probably have about 90 minutes together I would imagine.

Best wishes on your decision.

thanks loveitaly!
i agree that we probably won't have as much time as we think we will.
since we live on the East Coast and most of my family live in or around SF i figured this would be a good opportunity to get together. but it might be more stressful than anything else!

Go for it! You're so close, it'd be a shame not to connect. Maybe you could have lunch together at one of the airport restaurants--they're not all the fast food variety. If you have time walk over to the international terminal for lunch.

I think if you Google SFO, you'll find a map of the airport and a list of restaurants. Maybe you could pick one and meet your family members there.

I always love it when our East Coast family and friends layover at SFO.

Hi stellaluna, the website for SFO is: www.flysfo.com.

You are not going to have a lot of time even if your flight is on time. And once you go landside all bets are off. Sometimes security lines are really short - but other times it can take you 45+ minutes to clear TSA.

Unfortunately you won't know which it is on your travel day until after you have already left airside - and then it it too late.

So you do have a dilemma - I wouldn't want to be the one to tell my SF relatives not to come to the airport . . .

Is the timing better on your return flight?

Could you coordinate it last minute on cell phones? Have the San Fran people call to see if your flight lands on time? How early does the airline require you to be checked in for your continuation flight? At best it seems like you'd probably have 1 hour to spare.

Suze, that is a great idea, having the family call to get expected arrival times would be wise, that way if they are really late, the family will know to not come, and maybe a cell call could suffice upon landing for an update.

Also, Stellaluna, I would recommend if you do decide to meet them, bringing limited carry-on luggage, no belts with metal, the 'right' shoes, etc. It might get you through security faster.

Enjoy Hawaii! Tiff

thanks so much everyone! we decided that it was worth it to meet up, if only for a short while. since my brother lives close by he can change his plans if he needs to without it being a huge inconvenience.
we will definitely stay within the United terminal. and i am determined to travel light!!!

I know this is controversial, but one way for family members to go into the security side is to buy refundable full-fare tickets for fligths on the same day; and then get a refund.

I'm not suggesting that they do that, but it's possible...

This week, USA Today had an article on SFO screening: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/fligh...ide-usat_x.htm .

In a nutshell, SFO screening is hugely efficient. Yes, disaster could always happen. But it sounds like the airport is about the best place around for quick screening.

When we went through a couple of weeks ago, while we were in a relatively-short line, they opened up a new screening position to expedite things.