Offering Car Washes, PreCheck, Therapy Dogs, Parking Options, SFO Aims To Please Holiday Travelers

BAY AREA, CA – Officials with San Francisco International Airport are highlighting travel tips, amenities and the holiday experience as the holiday travel season begins Friday.

Airport officials expect 6.5 million passengers to pass through the airport between Friday and Jan. 2.

That's up 5.7 percent from last year. The busiest day is expected to be Nov. 27, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, as more than 160,000 people go through airport gates, according to airport officials.

"The holiday travel season is about connecting people: bringing friends and family together to celebrate traditions and create new memories," airport director Ivar Satero said in a statement. "We're committed to make the airport experience an enjoyable part of this process."

Airport officials encourage travelers destined for international locations to arrive three hours before departure and those bound for domestic locations to arrive two hours ahead of time.

The amount of liquid or gels that a passenger can carry onto a plane is limited to three ounces per item and all must be placed in a quart-size re-sealable plastic bag.

More information about the latest security rules can be found at www.tas.gov.

Travelers can save time at security checkpoints in a number of ways. The CLEAR product is available at the airport. CLEAR offers a membership program, which provides expedited screenings. More information can
be found at www.clearme.com.

The PreCheck program is also available at the airport. The PreCheck program is another membership program that provides an expedited screening process.

The enrollment center for PreCheck is located in the International Terminal near the BART station. More information can be found at http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck.

Airport officials are also recommending holiday travelers take transit or a ride-booking service to the airport because of the expected high amount of traffic.

Travelers who drive are urged to allow extra time for parking or have someone drop them off. Parking availability on Thanksgiving and the day after is expected to be tight. When traffic is at or near its peak, airport officials suggest travelers drop off their loved ones at the Kiss-and-Fly curb at the rental car center. From there, passengers can get aboard the AirTrain and get to the airport in minutes, airport officials said.

A free cellphone waiting lot is available to loved ones picking up passengers. The lot is adjacent to the long-term parking surface lot, which is just five minutes from the terminals.

Short-term parking is available for loved ones who want to help their family or friends collect their baggage.

The holidays may be incomplete without a holiday event at the airport, so this year airport officials decided again to light up the airport's exterior with lights.

More than 3.3 million LED lights will be connected by over 150 miles of wiring. A public lighting ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. Nov. 29 on the connecting bridge between garages A and G.

Trained therapy dogs will also be making the holidays a little brighter for travelers this year. The SFO Wag Brigade will be bringing the dogs to terminals and on Dec. 5 the first non-canine member of the brigade
will be unveiled.

And if your vehicle needs a wash, parking lots at SFO feature an innovative mobile car-washing service, which allows customers to park in any of the airport’s parking lots, keep their keys and return to a freshly-cleaned vehicle. Customers can visit www.BuyMyWash.com to schedule the service. Washing is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All reservations must be made at least one day in advance. Prices start at $19.95 for a standard passenger vehicle.

• ALSO SEE: How to Have Stress-Free, TRULY Happy Thanksgiving: Family Tips from Bay Area Expert

--Bay City News contributed to this report/File image courtesy of San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on Facebook