Most airports have some form of this, it’s just not public or promoted and is sort of an if you know you know thing for special cases.
For example the airline can give you a “gate only” pass. Essentially you need somebody to sponsor you to be on the other side of the security gates. In this case the airport itself is openly offering to sponsor folks.
>With SFO Gate Explorer, you can bring or meet friends and family at the gate, check out the latest exhibits and art pieces from the award-winning SFO Museum, and take in SFO’s world-class shopping and dining.
I haven't been to SFO recently. Does anyone know if they genuinely have good art or good dining?
Sometimes they have artifacts -perhaps on loan, other times it’s what you can expect for a non serious museum where it seems stilted.
The food is better than most airports and often they are outposts of known restaurants though not as good as the actual main restaurants that have locations in the area.
It’s still an airport and most people are just transiting and not too interested in the exhibits. They might as well have community college students put up their work there and few would be the wiser.
San Francisco is notable for being one of the very few airports to use a third-party contractor instead of the TSA for security [0], so this might have something to do with it.
I fly to or through there 2-3 times a year, tiny sample size and I’m only flying through there to go back home in the evening. But it seems to be a consistently good experience. It’s a well run airport.
I fly out of JFK and a smaller city airport in the northeast mostly. JFK is crazy. The smaller one is excellent, except like 20% of their flights leave at 6AM and TSA starts at 4, so the lines can be awful during peak events (like winter breaks when half the population to going to Florida via low cost airline).
No, it feels the same as any other airport. It’s like hiring roofing contractors. Either one you choose the experience is going to be pretty similar regardless of choice.
Most airports have some form of this, it’s just not public or promoted and is sort of an if you know you know thing for special cases.
For example the airline can give you a “gate only” pass. Essentially you need somebody to sponsor you to be on the other side of the security gates. In this case the airport itself is openly offering to sponsor folks.
>With SFO Gate Explorer, you can bring or meet friends and family at the gate, check out the latest exhibits and art pieces from the award-winning SFO Museum, and take in SFO’s world-class shopping and dining.
I haven't been to SFO recently. Does anyone know if they genuinely have good art or good dining?
It's typical airport food and """art""". I've seen more fancier airports in Asia and Middle east
I've seen families tag along all the way to the security to say goodbyes... This seems like a great way to spend some more time right until the flight
Sometimes they have artifacts -perhaps on loan, other times it’s what you can expect for a non serious museum where it seems stilted.
The food is better than most airports and often they are outposts of known restaurants though not as good as the actual main restaurants that have locations in the area.
It’s still an airport and most people are just transiting and not too interested in the exhibits. They might as well have community college students put up their work there and few would be the wiser.
Pretty cool program. Would be slightly annoying if you wanted to get the pass with any regularity, but I love that it’s being offered.
San Diego has SAN Pass, which is essentially the same program with the same rationale for existence.
Pittsburgh International Airport had a program like this for a few years, but it was suspended during Covid and never came back.
Neat idea. I do wonder how they managed to convince the TSA to allow this.
San Francisco is notable for being one of the very few airports to use a third-party contractor instead of the TSA for security [0], so this might have something to do with it.
[0]: https://www.flysfo.com/flight-info/alerts-advisories/tsa-lin...
Very interesting. Is it a noticeably different experience? I've only gone through SFO twice years ago and I don't recall a distinct experience.
I fly to or through there 2-3 times a year, tiny sample size and I’m only flying through there to go back home in the evening. But it seems to be a consistently good experience. It’s a well run airport.
I fly out of JFK and a smaller city airport in the northeast mostly. JFK is crazy. The smaller one is excellent, except like 20% of their flights leave at 6AM and TSA starts at 4, so the lines can be awful during peak events (like winter breaks when half the population to going to Florida via low cost airline).
No, it feels the same as any other airport. It’s like hiring roofing contractors. Either one you choose the experience is going to be pretty similar regardless of choice.