San Francisco: My Second Home… Should I Ever Win $1 Million Dollars!

One of my most favorite places to visit is San Francisco, California. The first time I ever went, I immediately fell in love.  The hustle and bustle of a big city, the endless opportunities for people watching, the food, the arts, the wharf! Really, there is so much to do and see in San Francisco that I would not dare try and fit it all into one blog entry.  Instead, I will tell you the best way to get there on a budget and things you can do to save some money yourselves. 

 

 

First of all, I am from Phoenix, Arizona.  The mileage between San Francisco and Phoenix is approximately 751 miles, which translates into what could be an 11 hour car ride.  Now, unless you are really, really, really fond of car rides… I don’t know who in their right minds wants to sit in a car for that long.  Your best bet for anything over six hours is a nice, quick plane ride.  I’ve flown on two different airlines the few times I visited San Fran, (that’s what I’ll be calling San Francisco from here on out), Southwest Airlines and US Airways. I have always personally had a better experience on Southwest.  You never have to pay for your checked luggage, unless you have more than two bags, not including your carryon. The flight connects straight thru so there is no stopping in any other city.  And bonus, Southwest sometimes offers some pretty cheap fares! If you are able to plan for it, they usually have a semi-yearly sale based on the amount of miles to travel between the two cities you are departing from and arriving at.  I was able to get tickets at one time from Phoenix to San Fran for a total of $198, round trip, for coach seats. Pretty cheap considering some airlines charge a lot more, and then you have to pay to check your bags on top of that.  Another airline I have used to fly into San Fran was US Airways.  I was actually booked by Priceline with them as it was a total package deal, the flight plus the hotel.  Although I can’t remember exactly what I paid for that package, I can remember that my flight was horrible! We had to sit at the very last row in the coach cabin, the seats did not recline and it was terribly loud.  We had an hour layover in Los Angeles and then finally we landed in San Fran.  It was the worst flight I’d ever been on, and I am only basing that on our seats.  There are a lot of price comparison sites out there for airlines, I suggest you shop around and plan.  Pay attention to Southwest Airlines though, it could be your cheapest option considering you’ll more than likely be taking some luggage with you.

For a place to stay, I always use Priceline’s Name Your Own Price tool. You can save quite a bit of money using this tool, especially if you know what kind of hotels you like and around how much they can cost.  The only bad thing about naming your own price is you never know what hotel you are going to end up in until the end, when a hotel actually accepts the offer that you’ve named.  If you’re o.k. with that, then you’ll be fine using that tool.   What I like to do is first pull up all the hotels that are listed in San Fran on Priceline.  Then I’ll sort by either price or rating to get an idea of what the “normal price” is for each room.  Look at the star rating.  Are you going to be o.k. in a 3 star hotel?  Is a 2 star hotel too shady for you?  Go read reviews and even look in Google Maps to see where they are located.  I do all of that.  Researching where you are going to be is very important as there are a few sketchy areas in San Fran. I would suggest anywhere in the Financial District, the Fisherman’s Wharf area, Nob Hill, or the Embarcadero area.  Your hotel is what you are going to be spending the most amount of money on, so plan wisely. Name your own price, you should be able to find somewhere decent for about $150 a night. Otherwise, you’ll be staying in San Mateo or somewhere further out and you really don’t want to have to rent a car.  Especially with all the public transportation available in San Fran.

Speaking of public transportation, there is plenty in San Francisco.  You have the BART, light rails/street cars, buses and cable cars.  There are also taxi cabs everywhere and if you really need to get out of the city, there are spots where you can rent a Zipcar.  Although, if you are thinking of renting a Zipcar on vacation, you’ll have to make sure you apply for a membership before you actually get to San Fran and make sure you have a driver’s license and credit card ready.  Keep some cash on you for cab fare and tips.  Remember that San Francisco is only 46.87 square miles so nothing is too far and should be terribly expensive if you are staying within city limits.  The most expensive cab ride will probably end up being from the airport to your hotel and back.
 

Ahhh… Now breathe, you’ve come to the end of this blog entry and I promise you that once you land at SFO there will be so much to do and see you will be happy that you took the opportunity to visit.

• Remember to do your research on flights. Watch out for Southwest Airlines’ semi-annual sales.  As they let you check in two bags free, where other airlines will charge you for checking one.
• Figure out what sites in San Francisco you’d most like to see.  Look around hotel review sites like Yelp and read what customers have said about the different hotels in the area.  Know the star rating of the hotels your most comfortable at and then search on Priceline to see what you find there.  If you are o.k. with letting Priceline pick your hotel for you, based on star rating, use the Name Your Own Price tool.  I’ve gotten pretty lucky a few times with some really nice hotels.
• Don’t worry about renting a vehicle in San Francisco unless you absolutely hate walking and public transportation or you plan on traveling outside of San Francisco’s city limits.  Carry some tip money and don’t forget to take some comfortable walking shoes and hand sanitizer.

I hope you are moved to visit soon; it really is just a beautiful city! 

 

 

In the future, I will post more on different things to do in San Francisco.  I wouldn't do the city justice trying to fit it all into one blog!

Until next time!