Showing 15 American Flights from San Francisco - Starting at Just ₹11,724

  About San Francisco

Located on the coast of Northern California is the culturally rich city of San Francisco. The city has been christened with an array of colloquial names such as SF, The City, San Fran and Frisco. The city is a cultural haven and also the commercial and financial hub of Northern California. With attractions such as Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, and the Golden Gate Bridge, the city of San Francisco is one of the best in the United States as a tourist destination.

Best time to visit San Francisco

March through May can be quite the time to visit San Francisco if you wish to avoid the tourist rush. The temperatures are quite comfortable as they range between 10 degree Celsius to 17 degree Celsius. With the temperatures slowly inching towards summer, it is definitely an excellent time to visit San Francisco. This doesn't mean you will get to take a dip in the Pacific. However, you can still take lovely strolls within the city and savour all the beautiful locales of San Francisco. Plus, these months come with exciting festivals such as San Francisco International Film Festival, Carnaval San Francisco, Bay to Breakers, International Beer Festival and St. Patrick's Day Parade and Festival.

Summers start from June through August. Tourism is at its peak with many folks flocking over to the city from various parts of the country and worldwide. The summer temperatures range from 11 degree Celsius to 20 degree Celsius. It is perfect to put on your swimming trunks and head straight to the ocean. The hotel rates do get high in San Francisco as it is peak season. For budget-travellers, this might not be the best time to visit the port city. To ensure that you do find a decent accommodation, you can make prior hotel bookings in San Francisco and let the rest follow. Even the flight tickets to San Francisco sees a surge. Not to mention how the city beams with joy to be entertained by a bevy of festivals such as North Beach Festival, Outside Land Music Festival, San Francisco Pride and more.

Fall is undoubtedly the perfect time to visit if you want to enjoy the warm temperatures and to get a good flight and hotel deals in San Francisco. The fall is warmer than summer, and the temperature is comfortably ranging from 12 degree Celsius to 21 degree Celsius. The sunny skies do feel good on the skin, and the brisk breeze is perfect to have a good time. Plus, the flight tickets and hotel bookings in San Francisco are also cheap and easy on the pockets. You will thoroughly have a good time during your trip to the city. Not to mention how there are some festivals too hosted by the city such as the San Francisco Fringe Festival, Castro Street Fair and Treasure Island Music Festival. You will have to pack your clothes that fit the weather's features. A little layer in terms of clothing would do you good. Try to avoid winters in San Francisco. Even though the hotel prices in San Francisco are cheap, the weather might be unfavourable for tourist activities.

Places to see in San Francisco

San Francisco might be a small city in terms of area, but with the packed tourist attractions, food and living culture and much more, it's tourism easily skyrockets. The assortment of outdoor activities that the city has to offer is mind-blowing. The first thing for you to do in San Francisco as part of your tourist endeavour would be to visit the Golden Gate Bridge. The legendary bridge cannot be missed for the view it offers as it faces the San Francisco Bay. The structure was originally constructed to bridge the gap between San Francisco and Marin County. Of course, Alcatraz Island is also a trip that you shouldn't miss. You will need to take a ferry ride to reach the island of Alcatraz, known for its reputation as a federal prison which housed some of the biggest offenders in the US history. They also had mob boss Al Capone in custody at Alcatraz.

Fisherman's Wharf is another lovely place that would be a fun expedition. The pier is often crowded with tourists as it has a slew of interesting attractions such as San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park as well as the Maritime Museum. More places that should be on your list include Lands End, Muir Woods National Monument, Ferry Building Marketplace, The Castro, Yerba Buena Gardens and more.

Things to do in San Francisco

The best part about a trip to San Francisco is the covey of cool activities that can be undertaken. Right from climbing the popular Twin Peaks to riding the cable cars, you have a lot of interesting things you can take up. In fact, divulging in their food culture would be the best of things to do when in San Francisco.

Food and Restaurants in San Francisco

San Francisco's casual lifestyle brings forth a lovely melange of cuisines and flavours that range from budget to upscale. Thanks to the perfect balance of cuisines and Michelin-starred food establishments, the city has easily turned into one of the best food destinations of the US. It is easily one of the most recognised cities in the country with exquisite food. There are quaint coffee shops, steakhouses, Italian trattorias and of course, Chinatown too. You name a cuisine, and San Francisco has it for you. Their commitment towards encouraging diversity in international cuisine is what makes their food culture so popular. You will be surprised to know that the Bay Area alone has over 50 farmers market experiences in store for you. You should definitely visit the farm-to-table styled food establishment called Chez Panisse. The place brings out flavours with fresh ingredients that would certainly go down well with your system. You should also check out the Ferry Building Marketplace. There are many culinary treats that you will be able to find here.

It will take you more than one trip to San Francisco to cover up all the food establishments in the city. Some of the classics include Boudin's, which has clam chowder as its big seller. You should also visit Tartine Bakery to relish some sweet treats. Speaking of the same, you should also check out Bi-Rite Creamery. The ice cream parlour manages to bring forth some exquisite sweet flavours in a cup with sprinklers and other fun toppings. Golden Gate Bakery is another good establishment for sweet and savoury food. They are known for their egg tarts in the city. Geoff of Ichido is also a good place where you can indulge in some Japanese and Asian seafood. Know that the city is on the Pacific coast and hence, has seafood as its top big seller. At the cafe De Casa, you can revel in some exquisite Brazillian cuisine. At Tacorea, you can find a good array of Mexican dishes. As stated, the city has an array of international cuisine, including Greek and Mediterranean. You can actually find this at the Kokkari Estiatorio. Of course, do not miss their breweries and roasteries at Anchor Brewing Company and Philz Coffee respectively.

How to reach San Francisco (Transportation)

San Francisco has brilliant flight connectivity. In fact, the city does see a lot of demand from Indians as it does have some of the finest universities, including UC Berkeley. Flight connectivity to San Francisco from major Indian metropolitan cities is immaculate. Although there are no direct flights to San Francisco from India, they usually have layovers in international cities. Airlines such as Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Emirates, Lufthansa, Swiss, to name a few, have dedicated flights flying to San Francisco. The most popular route chosen to fly to San Francisco from India is from cities such as Singapore and Hong Kong. In fact, Cathay Pacific is the most popular airline to take this international route to San Francisco. The flight is perfectly connected to San Francisco and reaches the city in close to 21 hours. Singapore Airlines also has excellent connectivity and stops at Singapore to reach San Francisco. For this route though, you will need a transit visa.

With Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines, you wouldn't have to worry about changing flights in international cities. In fact, the flight simply has layovers in these cities before reaching the destination. Other airlines mentioned also have flights that directly connect to San Francisco with layovers in their respective cities. The flight tickets to San Francisco are quite reasonable. If you do make prior flight bookings to San Francisco, you might be able to get some discounts. There are innumerable online flight deals to San Francisco that you might be able to avail. Depending on the airlines you choose, the ticket price to San Francisco might vary. It would be best to book your flight and hotels in advance. Often it is recommended that you book your flight and hotels in San Francisco together. When you combine the two bookings, you might be in for some fantastic online deals. Even airlines have their own flight deals to San Francisco that you can avail.

  About American Airlines

American Airlines Inc. is one of the major American airlines with its headquarters located in Fort Worth, Texas. It is within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. It is recognised to be the world's largest airline with respect to fleet size. Passengers carried on scheduled, revenge earned on passenger mile, to name a few. American Airlines, along with its regional partners, have been documented to operate about 6,800 flights per day on domestic and international routes. They have reached 350 destinations in more than 50 countries around the world. The airline is one of the founding members of the Oneworld alliance, which is the third-largest airline alliance recognised in the world. Some of the regional services operated under the subsidiary carriers, go by the brand name American Eagle. It is an independent carrier and reaches some of the cities of North America. Dallas/Fort Worth is the largest hub for both, American Airlines and American Eagle for operations. Aside from the Texas city, there are ten more hubs for the airlines to operate from.

Dallas/Fort Worth has the capacity to handle about 200 million passengers in a year. The average passenger traffic on a daily basis is recorded to be more than 500,000. Further, the company is also known to employ over 130,000 staff, as recorded in 2019. American Airlines' AA logo was curated by Goodrich Murphy in 1931. Decades later, the logo was redesigned in 1967 by Massimo Vignelli. American Airlines' earlier liveries were widely diverse. However, a common livery was adopted in the 1930s. The livery featured an eagle painted on the fuselage with the eagle becoming a symbol that further inspired the subsidiary's name, American Eagle Airlines. Eventually, the airlines rebranded and let the employees decide the design for the new livery. Two options were posted by the American Airlines' employees on their website, one with the old one and the other with a modified version of the same. All the American Airlines Group employees were allowed to vote to pick the livery. Eventually, the airlines decided to keep the new look for the livery. The latest design features an abstract American flag painted on the tail with a silver-painted fuselage that is a throwback to the old livery.

In 2019, American Airlines turned into a heritage aircraft with US Airways, Piedmont, Reno Air, TWA, AirCal, America West, as part of their fleet. American Airlines is listed through the parent company, American Airlines Group Inc., under NASDAQ. The company's market capitalisation stands at USD12 billion, as of 2019.

Fleet size of American Airlines

According to 2020's records, American Airlines is known to operate the largest commercial fleet comprising of 870 aircraft. They mainly have Boeing and Airbus. The airline has over 80 per cent of narrow-body aircraft. The fleet mainly comprises of Airbus A320 series as well as Boeing 737-800. American Airlines is the largest A320 series aircraft operator in the world. It is also the largest operator with respect to A319 and A321 variant aircraft. Further on the same, it is the fourth-largest operator of the Boeing 737 family aircraft as well as the second-largest operator of the 737-800 variant. In terms of wide-body aircraft, American Airlines' fleet has an amalgam of Boeing and Airbus airliners. American Airlines is known to be the third-largest operator of the Boeing 787 series as well as sixth-largest operator in the world for the Boeing 777 series. Out of all the aircraft that are operated under American Airlines, Airbus A330 aircraft has retired. Along with the same, Boeing 787 aircraft is also inching towards retirement.

In the 2000s, American Airlines continued to order Boeing aircraft exclusively. However, from 2011, the airlines changed its strategy of ordering Boeing aircraft. Instead, they started combining their aircraft order with 460 narrow-body jets that included 260 Airbus 320 series. Additionally, the airlines also brought Airbus to join the fleet in 2013, following the merger with US Airways. It is known that US Airways exclusively operated Airbus aircraft. However, with the merger, American Airlines also received rights to add Airbus to their fleet and enable operations of the flight under their banner.

American Airline's Baggage Allowance

First-class - American Airline's baggage allowance policy is quite strict, but depending on the cabin type, the rules change. Passengers travelling in first-class have the luxury of carrying three check-in bags in the aircraft. Out of these, two cabin bags are allowed while a complimentary third is a handbag that could either be a laptop bag or a handbag. There are certain restrictions with respect to the contents of the bag. Some items have been disallowed from being carried in the cabin and should be adhered to.

Business-class - The business class allows two complimentary bags for check-in. For cabin baggage, the passengers are allowed to carry a handbag too, which should not exceed a certain dimension as set by American Airlines' standards. These are mostly allowed on long-haul flights taking international routes. The weight of the check-in bags cannot exceed 32kgs. Additional charges will be levied if the weight is over what has been allowed by the airlines. There are certain items that cannot be carried with you in the check-in as well as cabin baggage. Ensure to read about the same on American Airlines' website.

Premium Economy - For Premium Economy class, the airlines allows two complimentary bags for check-in. However, this rule is excluded for flights going to and from Alaska and Hawaii. International routes and long-haul flights of American Airlines offer baggage deals that can be availed on the airlines' website. You can exceed the weight and number of bags but provided you pay an additional sum.

Main Cabin - Two check-in bags are allowed for Main Cabin with additional carryon baggage for the cabin. The weight is the same with first class and business class, with the option of altering their baggage weight and other features. Along with the baggage, the airlines also allows passengers to carry special equipment baggage, including the ones with sports and musical instruments as well as assistive devices for mobility disabled passengers.

American Airline's In-flight services

Flagship first - Flagship first is American Airlines' international First Class cabin. The in-flight services offered in the cabin are exceptional as they offer seats that can be converted to fully flat-beds. There is direct aisle access with a herringbone configuration of 1-2-1. Other premium benefits of American Airline's in-flight services are wider options with respect to food and beverages, larger seats, amenities such as WiFi, power plug points and more. You can ask for blankets and enjoy the magnificent hospitality that is available in the cabin. The crew is also quite friendly and accommodating with special reservations for privacy.

Flagship business - Flagship business is the airline's premium business class cabin that is available on all Airbus A330-200s, Boeing 787-8s, Boeing 777-200ERs, Boeing 787-9s and Boeing 777-300ERs. The seats are comfortable and can be extended to fully lie-flat. The food and beverages are complimentary with an array of options. You can also request for pillows and blankets while you enjoy the cabin's privacy. Plus, they have personalised entertainment decks also for the passengers.

Premium economy - Earlier in 2015, the airlines announced Premium Economy as part of its long-haul wide-body aircraft. The cabin sees an upgrade from the main cabin and is available on most of the Boeing flights that function under the American Airlines wing. The cabin is available on Boeing 777-200s, Boeing 787-9s, Boeing 787-8s, Boeing 777-300s and also Airbus A330-200s. The seats in the premium economy are wider in comparison to the ones in the main cabin. Along with this, the cabin also has several interesting facilities. American Airlines' in-flight services in Premium Economy include enhanced good and drink services. This also includes free alcohol services. There are extensive power supply plugs for laptops, mobile phones, tablets and more.

Main cabin - The main cabin in American Airlines is the economy class. The cabin is available on all mainline as well as regional aircraft of American Airlines' fleets. The economy class boasts increased legroom with less ticket prices. The in-flight services include recliner seats that have about 30 inches of legroom. Long-haul flights also have complimentary food and beverages. You can request for a blanket, pillow, headphones and more.

Popular routes and top cities for American Airlines

Over the years, American Airlines has expanded its horizons to not just cater to domestic routes but also international routes. As of 2020, the airline accommodates flights to connect to about 95 domestic destinations, 95 international destinations in 55 countries sprawled across five continents. Further, on the same, the airline plans to launch flights to Casablanca from Philadelphia. Cities such as New York-JFK, London, Sydney, Vancouver, Toronto, Beijing, Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Delhi, Dublin, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Auckland, Seoul, Los Angeles and San Francisco, are well-connected, thanks to American Airlines.

Why travel by American Airlines?

American Airlines has an up-to-date website with all the necessary information regarding flights schedules, web check-ins, flight status, etc. You can also book an American Airlines flight online and upgrade the ticket to premium economy or business class. The airline has the best in-flight services plus impeccable connectivity and hence, should be considered.

  About San Francisco Airport

San Francisco International Airport is located in the San Mateo County of California. It is 21 km away from downtown San Francisco and is located close to San Bruno. The international airport is one of the major getaways for airlines connecting Europe and Asia. After Los Angeles International Airport, San Francisco International Airport is the second busiest airport in California. The airport is also recognised to be the largest in the Bay Area. It stands at the 24th level on the global list of busiest airports. San Francisco International Airport is also the fifth-largest hub for United Airlines. It operates as a transpacific getaway to the country. The second big airlines that it serves base to is Alaska Airlines. Much recently, the airport started serving Virgin America airlines as the base for operations. The airport has four runways made of asphalt and is arranged in parallel intersections. It has been recorded that SFO witnesses about 1,287 flight operations in a day with approximately 470,164 taking place in a year.

About Airport Terminals

San Francisco International Airport has four functioning terminals namely, 1, 2, 3 and international. These are followed by seven concourses of boarding areas and has 115 gates in total. Terminal 1 caters to boarding areas arranged in alphabetical orders of B and D. Terminal 2 accommodates boarding area D and Terminal 3 takes care of boarding areas E and F. This terminal also handles operations of domestic flights. Meanwhile, the international terminal has boarding A and G with the majority of international flight operations along with a handful of domestic flights. Terminal 1 is also referred to as Harvey Milk Terminal 1 which works predominantly for domestic flight operations. Terminal 2 also caters to domestic flights and hosts airlines such as Virgin America and American Airlines. Terminal 2 has been constructed to cater to sustainability. It is considered to be eco-friendly with respect to paper ticketing and parking bays. Level 2 is reserved for domestic boarding and is in area D. Terminal 3 is also domestic but is directly connected to the International Terminal. It has exclusive functions of inbound and outbound flights by United Airlines and flies within the US. International Terminal is divided into level 2 for arrival and baggage claim and level 3 for departures. Level 2 also has check-in and boarding area.

About Airport Authority

Despite its location in the San Mateo County, San Francisco International Airport is owned and managed by the City and County of San Francisco. The airport is an enterprise that falls under the wing of City and County of San Francisco which strives to bring about a safe and secure travel expedition. The management is responsible for the expansion and infrastructural design and development of San Francisco International Airport. The airport authority recently announced plans to switch to sustainable fuels and have already signed agreements with agencies, fuel suppliers and airlines to enable the same. Following the same, the agreement brought together Shell and NkyNGR to supply sustainable fuels for aviation to KLM, Finnair and SAS flights that operate out of San Francisco International Airport. The airport's body has also been working on enhancing the runway structures' sturdiness as well as that of the terminals and buildings to withstand natural calamities, following an earthquake that took place in the county. Plans to expand Terminal 1 is also being conducted and is scheduled to complete by 2024.

Top airlines flying from San Francisco International Airport

San Francisco International Airport has only one Indian airline that operates from the city, Air India. Besides this, the rest of the airlines that operate from the airport are mostly international airlines. The airlines are well-connected to Europe and Asian continents. The domestic connectivity of SFO Airport is also quite good as it reaches almost all cities of the United States. The international airlines operating from San Francisco International Airport are Air Canada, Air China, Air France, Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, Alitalia, All Nippon Airways, American Airlines, Asiana Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Emirates, Fiji Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Lufthansa, LOT Polish Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. The airport also accommodates a decent number of cargo planes to operate from the vicinity. Carriers such as Asiana Cargo, DHL Aviation, FedEx Express, Korean Air Cargo, Nippon Cargo Airlines are some of the few prominent ones.

Facilities at the San Francisco International Airport

Airport Butler - Airport Butler is a customised concierge service that is available at the airport. You can avail these services as they include assistance with respect to check-in, personal shopping, translations for non-English speaking travellers, lounge reservations, business services and more. You can make prior bookings and customise the necessities that you might need.

In-transit hotel - The airport actually has a luxury hotel present in the proximity of the airport's terminals. With the views of the Bay, the rooms at SFO's Grand Hyatt are beautiful and accessible. You can take the AirTrain to reach the hotel from the airport. The features of the hotel cater to upscaled hospitality.

Medical services - There are dedicated pharmacies and medical rooms at the San Francisco International Airport. The medical rooms with professionals are stationed for emergency cases that would happen at the terminals. You can also make last-minute medical purchases at the airport pharmacy.

Pets and service animals - Travellers who are travelling with pets can avail some services as well. There are reserved areas where the pet can do their business. There are some experts at the airport too who can help you with your pet.

Spas and showers - There is accommodation for luxury services such as spas and showers. You might have to pay some nominal fee before you can get hold of the services. You can use the showers to refresh yourself if you need to go for a professional meeting. There are spas too where you can get a good massage.

A travel agency - There are specific travel agency booths that are present at the San Francisco International Airport. In case there are any last-minute bookings that you need to make, you can directly head to the airport. You can get your complete travel itinerary sorted along with accommodation bookings.

Yoga Room - San Francisco International Airport is the first airport in the world to have a Yoga Room. The room is located in terminal 2, and you can indulge in yoga while you wait for the connecting flight or for the layover period to be over.

SFO museum - The San Francisco International Airport has a museum and a few galleries installed for travellers' entertainment. There are public art, photography exhibits, student art and video arts that can be found at the San Francisco Museum.

AMTs and currency exchange - The airport has ATM kiosks located at convenient spots. The terminals also have a foreign exchange booth at the departure zones and arrivals. It would be very convenient for international travellers.

Airport lounges – The airport also caters to a slew of lounges located at various departure zones of all the terminals. There are first-class and business-class lounges for travellers holding the respective flight tickets. The airport also has a VIP lounge, meeting rooms and other spaces where one can avail luxury services and hospitality.

WiFi and internet – The airport provides free WiFi services for travellers. You can visit the information desk to get more details on how you can procure the service. Not to mention how the airport also has internet cafes where you can get your work done.

How to reach San Francisco International Airport

Bus

SamTrans, a transit agency of San Mateo County, has dedicated buses that connect to the San Francisco International Airport. You will have to check out their schedules and the routes to know which ones would reach you to the SFO Airport. They can be accessed from the arrivals or baggage counter of the airport.

Car and rentals

The airport sees good connectivity by road, and you can always use rentals or taxis to reach the San Francisco International Airport. You can actually find booths and counters to book transport from the airport itself. Apps such as Lyft and Uber are also available and would be perfect to use when at the airport terminal's arrival section. If you are driving down to SFO Airport, you should opt for the short freeway that links the US 101 with Interstate 280. As the airport is on the US Route 101, this is the most favourable route to reach the San Francisco International Airport. The airport also has short term and long term parking facilities available, in case you plan to do on a day tour.

Ferry

A favourable way to reach the San Francisco International Airport is to take the ferry. From the San Francisco Bay, there are ferry services that go to Oakland and Alameda. You can reach the ferry by taking SFO Airport's shuttle bus services. This can be found at the South San Francisco Ferry Terminal.