Question about San Francisco Airport
 

I'm flying to SF on United and will meeting friends who will be coming in on American. We want to meet at the airport. Are the two terminals/arrival gate areas near each other? Can someone suggest a place for us to meet? Thanks.

Howard, both United and American use the North Terminal at SFO, though usually in different gate "areas" (North Terminal is areas E and F, which only matters if you're parking). Inside the terminal are the usual little concession stands, along with some restaurants. One is called North Beach Deli, and could provide a meeting place. However, note that this is within the terminal, so prior to baggage claim. The security is such that they usually only let ticketed passengers into the terminal itself, not people meeting other passengers. If there's a delay between your arrivals and one of you will want to retrieve luggage before meeting the other, I suggest meeting outside the security point for the North Terminal (gates 60-90 or something like that). There is a food court and shops not far from the security entrance if you need to while away some time and then go to the security exit point near when the other person's flight is due in. Regardless, you won't have to traipse all over the airport to meet.

Caitlin, thanks. Your input helps. Just knowing that we're all arriving at the same terminal is a good start!

Howard, that whole terminal is pretty large, so you'll definitely want to work out a specific place to meet up. Unfortunately, I've never encountered a web site for SFO that has actual terminal maps. I happen to be familiar with this area since I usually am flying one of those airlines into SFO.

Caitlin, it's all very frustrating. I've flown into SF many times, but since I was never meeting anyone there, I never really paid much attention landmarks and the like!

Okay, I'm sure it'll still be frustrating, but this should help somewhat. Turns out I was wrong, and there are cafes and such *outsid* security checkpoints but *within* North Terminal. and I found you a map. Go to www.sfoairport.com, and click on airport guide along the top. You'll see a color-soded map on the right, and on the left you can choose categories like airlines, gates, baggage claim, food and drink, and so on. a listing will pop up with color codes to tell you where things are in the terminals, with more specific info (sometimes) if you click on the listing itself. Unfortunately, it's all small and not easy to read. Good luck!

Not sure if you saw my last post with the maps.

Caitlin, bless you for service above and beyond! I really do appreciate you help. I'll check out the website.