How early should I get to SFO?
Be at SFO two hours before a domestic departure and three before an international one.
Be at SFO two hours before a domestic departure and three before an international one.
Want this on your phone? Ready Time sends an alert when it’s time to start each step.
Ready Time
You know what you need to do. Ready Time helps you know when to start.
A maps app covers the drive to SFO. Bag drop, security, and the walk to your gate usually take longer, and they are the steps people misjudge.
Here is the same plan drawn to scale. The first block is travel; the next two are the airport. A checked bag grows one, a far gate grows the other.
Front door to boarding: 2hr 35min
Be at SFO two hours before a domestic departure and three before an international one. That is a solid default here. Trim it only on routes and hours you already know well.
US-101 through the city and down the Peninsula is the big variable: 25 minutes midday is 50 in the commute crush. I-280 is the quieter approach from San Francisco and often the better bet at rush hour, even though it looks longer on the map. From the North Bay, add the bridge to whatever the map tells you.
Checkpoints are per-terminal. The International Terminal's gates sprawl, so the walk after security can be the longest leg. Terminals connect airside, so the wrong terminal costs a walk rather than a second checkpoint, though Boarding Area A to G is most of the airport on foot. Summer fog delays mornings often; leave cushion on connections.
The plan allows 25 minutes for a standard lane on a busy but normal morning. With TSA PreCheck, that drops to 15 minutes. A checked bag lengthens the one before it.
BART runs into the International Terminal; AirTrain links terminals and long-term lots (free, frequent, around the clock). Long-term parking adds that ride. Curbside drop-off is on the departures level; Terminal 3 curb is rerouted while that building rebuilds.
For live waits, parking, and terminal maps, check the official SFO site.
Terminals, checkpoints and transit change; the official SFO site is the live source.
Be at SFO two hours before a domestic departure and three before an international one. That is a solid default here. Trim it only on routes and hours you already know well. The plan above works back from there through security, bag drop, parking and the drive to a leave-by time.
The plan allows 25 minutes for a busy-but-normal standard lane. With TSA PreCheck it drops to 15 minutes, and you can edit either one to what you actually see. A checked bag lengthens the step before it. Checkpoint detail for SFO is under Security at SFO above.
Earlier than for a domestic one. International boarding starts 45 minutes before departure instead of 30, which pulls every step earlier. Use the airline desk for bags: documents get checked and counters often close an hour out. That also covers lap infants, unaccompanied minors, and oversized bags. If your boarding pass names a boarding time, match that.
Work backward from departure: boarding, time at the gate, the walk, security, bag drop, parking, then the drive (30 minutes in the default plan). Replace the drive with your own route. The leave-by moment is the first travel row, "Drive to SFO" by default.
Taking the train instead? The Amtrak station pages use the same kind of plan without security. Flying from somewhere not listed? The airport leave time calculator has the same rows with your own numbers, and the wake-up time calculator runs it back to the alarm.
Start the plan in the app, and the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island show the time left, with a bar that fills as each step passes.
Glance at it in the terminal without opening the app.
Every step also gets its own alert, and sharing the plan gives whoever is driving the same leave time, with alerts on their phone.
Live Activities are part of Premium, a one-time unlock.
Ready Time
You know what you need to do. Ready Time helps you know when to start.
Plans for the rest of the trip
More on being ready on time