Sacramento International Airport

     (Redirected from SMF)
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Airport Codes
IATA: SMF, ICAO: KSMF, FAA LID: SMF
Address
6900 Airport Boulevard
Sacramento, CA 95837-1109
Phone
(916) 929-5411
Website
[WWW]http://www.sacairports.org/int/
NOAA Weather
[WWW]http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/KSMF.html

baggage.jpgBaggage Pillars

Sacramento International Airport is a public airport located 10 miles (16 km) northwest of downtown. It is run by Sacramento County.

The airport first opened on October 21, 1967 as Sacramento Metropolitan Airport. It's the primary choice of jet-setters who want to save money—and a great deal of time—by avoiding the Bay Area airports. SMF has its own exit from Interstate 5 (Exit 528) & has free wifi connections throughout all the terminals and boarding gates. The parking, rental car returns, and passenger pickup and drop-off are much more accessible than the airports in Oakland, San Jose, or (worst of all) San Francisco.

In 1996, coinciding with the opening of a new terminal building, Terminal A is gorgeous by airport standards. The usual services of shopping, ticketing, and baggage check are present, but the building is easy to navigate. Plus, the baggage claim has gigantic pillars that look like they're made of baggage! These pillars are titled "Samson" and are by artist Brian Goggin. It was renamed Sacramento International Airport; though it didn't receive its first international flights until 2002 when Mexicana initiated nonstop service to Guadalajara. The airport was officially designated a port of entry on October 5, 2006.

theterms.jpgThe first thing you'll see (outdated)

termbnew.jpgTerminal B at night Additionally, fares to or from Sacramento are usually less expensive than their Bay Area competition. Several carriers are noticing the increase in passenger traffic; it is now possible to fly nonstop from Sacramento to Hawaii, unlike Oakland which now has no non-stop flights to Hawaii, with the ending of Aloha and ATA. On their "About" page, they boast that "Sacramento International has set itself apart from other airports by adding four new air carriers to its rosters after September 11, 2001."

Hourly parking is free for the first 30 minutes. Parked for 4 hours or less, you'll pay about $3 in Hourly B. If you're parked there for more than 4 hours, you will pay the daily limit of $27 in Hourly B and $29 in hourly A. There are also two daily lots, which are cheaper: Daily B parking is $13/day, while Daily A parking is $15/day. (Note: as of Summer 2009, the Daily B lot is under construction so there is less Daily B parking available than usual.) The two daily lots are further away from the airport than the hourly lots, and are serviced with shuttle busses that run every 10-15 minutes. Economy parking is also available, at $9/day. It's even further away from the terminals, but serviced continuously with shuttle busses. Be sure to leave lots of time to catch your flight if you intend to park in economy, however; it can sometimes take up to 30-40 minutes to get from the parking lot to the airport, since the shuttle busses tend to get out of sync and pile up behind each other, especially at the end of the day. When it is busy an attendant will tell you where to park in the economy lot — if you listen to them and drive straight to the row at the end of the lot that they indicate it saves time. Another tip for the economy lot is to write down the row number that you are in on your ticket. It's a huge lot, all the rows look alike, and invariably there is some person on the late-night shuttle bus who can't remember where they left their car because they were too stressed out when leaving to write down their row number.

It [WWW]appears that materials abandoned at the security checkpoints in SMF may be donated to a local Goodwill store. Exact one yet to be determined. To keep up with what is and isn't allowed in carry-on or checked baggage, visit [WWW]TSA's [WWW]Prohibited Items page.

af1.jpgpresidental preferred parking (2006-4-22)

In the next couple of decades, SMF hopes to become HUGE! Check out [WWW]their website for all the juicy details. The video is neat, but takes a few minutes to download. Somewhere out there is a map/blueprint type picture, that shows what the B Terminal looks like now, and what it's going to look like, (which is a HUGE BOX over a tiny looking two-concourse building.) The airport will surely be amazing in the future. More information can be found on the project's website: [WWW]TheBigBuild.org.


Terminals, airlines, and destinations

The following airlines fly to Sacramento International Airport:

Terminal A

Terminal B
Concourse B1

Concourse B2


Transportation to and from

Comments:

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2005-02-05 13:44:09   I've not only found good fares from SMF, security is also much less painful than other airports (LAX, cough cough). If you are preprinting your boarding pass and not checking bags, life is even easier. —ArlenAbraham

2005-02-05 20:25:46   What's the difference between Sacramento International Airport and Sacramento Executive Airport? I believe the latter has airport code SAC. —KenBloom

2005-02-06 23:34:21   Are SAC and SMF in different geographical locations? —ArlenAbraham

2005-02-18 18:43:03   The cheaper flights to Sac vs. SF are very interesting... I was once looking at two itineraries to Detriot; one direct from SF the other from Sac -> SF -> Detriot. Both itineraries had the same exact flight from SF -> Detriot, but the one starting from Sac (with the extra flight) was cheaper. —JevanGray

2006-02-22 22:56:07   I recently took the Yolo Bus; it took a while, but the lady didn't charge me. She asked "... you a student?" then just let me ride for free. I wonder if I'll be so lucky when I come back. —SS

2006-04-10 08:27:50   If anyone is interested to know...there are at least two play areas for kids in the airport. We have found it very useful from the time our little girl was 8 months old and even now at 18 months. Makes the whole experience of travelling with a child that much easier! —RoyWright's wife

2006-04-23 01:55:24   I am a Sacramento Airport worker, and I have been so for many years, so I will happily answer any and all your questions regarding my SAC. Just ask. —WayneSchiller

2007-01-11 20:44:58   I've been taken to the airport by Supershuttle I think 3 times and brought home many more times and not once have been taken to Sacramento before going to my destination. —JimEvans

2007-05-05 23:50:15   A flight or two to mexico doesn't an internation airport make. But it lets them sound super snazy —StevenDaubert

2007-10-24 18:40:35   Davis Airporter is preferable over superShuttle; you won't have to detour through Sacramento & spend an additional hour waiting to get dropped off. Plus they're local. DA rocks. Lastly, I am not affiliated in any way with DA, just trying to help... —bartbart

2007-12-25 13:31:34   I am sitting in the airport, waiting for a SuperShuttle. They promise pickup within 15 minutes, but it's been 45. Most vans are leaving with only one passenger, and the SuperShuttle representative on the phone said to me, and I'm quoting here, "You can complain all you want, it's called van availability." —PleaseDoNotUseANickname

2009-01-04 17:58:29   I have used Yolo Airporter both to Sac and to SFO and their rates were reasonable. Sac $20 and SFO $80 I thought this was decent pricing. They also pick you up on time and they do not charge for luggage like other airporters do. I highly recommend them. —manlike

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