We are arriving in SF from the UK in September and have 4 nights in SF and then off on our travels, picking up a car and taking in some of the following: Monteray, Carmel, Big Sur, Cambria, hopefully gold country, i.e. Jackson, Murphy, may be Napa Valley depending on time - we don't want to spend all our time in the car. After 2 weeks we fly to LV for 3 nights before heading home. Would it be better to come back to SF or leave from San Jose to fly to Vegas?

It will depend upon where you are last on your list. If you are in Napa last before you jet off to Vegas then I'd fly out of Oakland. I know Aloha & Southwest airlines have cheapy flights.

If you are in Murphys or Jackson you should fly out of Sacramento airport. It's over an hour closer to Jackson than any other airport (SF, SJ or OAK)

San Jose is only about an hour outside of San Francisco (south, so it's closer to your Monterey, Carmel, etc. destinations) - but it's not that much of an inconvenience to drive to SFO.

My advice would be to see where you could get the cheaper flight.

It's kind of like the difference between Heathrow and Gatwick - they're really not too far apart.

Hello Rosieuk, if you do decide to fly out of Oakland Airport to LasVegas check out JetBlue's prices and schedule. I had friends from Italy use them last year (NewYork to LasVegas and then LasVegas to Oakland with a stop in LongBeach CA) and they were very pleased with them.

Sacramento is a small easy to use airport too so I agree with Suzie about flying to LasVegas from there if you are in Murphys or Jackson.

Do have a beautiful trip!

No question, Oakland or San Jose are far better than SFO for flights to LV. Southwest Airlines flys that route with 5 or 6 non-stops a day from both airports, with fares as low as $59 each way (www.iflyswa.com). You can't buy Southwest tickets through the travel websites like Orbitz or Expedia, but you can get them right from the SWA website. I don't like to use SWA with a connection myself but for a short non-stop flight they can't be beat.

If you can find an America West or United flight (both fly SFO to LAS non-stop) for the same fare then of course, SFO would be fine.

As the others say it really depends on where you are before you go to Las Vegas.

If you are in the foothills along hwy 49 then Sacramento is by far the easiest/best. (it is not a small airport anymore but it is very easy to get to and has great fares to LV on Southwest)

If you are in Napa - then either Oakland or Sacramento. It is farther to SMF but the traffic is not as bad as into OAK.

If in the Monterey area - then San Jose would be best, followed by SFO or OAK.

Hi Janis, not to argue, but compared to most airports Sacramento is a small airport. I have been there twice within the last two weeks. It has grown for sure, the multi-tierd parking garagage etc. but it is small and relaxing compared to the BayArea airports.

Don't want to be a spoil sport but you will be in your car a lot if you plan on doing all these things. I would sugget you narrow this list down as it is spread out quite a bit. If you are stopping is SF first than SFO is much closer and you don't have to deal with the horrible traffic out of San Jose to get to SF. However, San Jose flights are sometimes cheaper and the flights leave on time!