Three airports, three terminal connections
Write the whole transit chain beside each airport. These connections are useful starting points, but they do not establish a complete itinerary from your address.
San Francisco International Airport — SFO
SFO has a BART station at the International Terminal. AirTrain connects the airport’s terminals with the Garage G/BART station stop. If using Caltrain, account for the transfer through Millbrae as well as your terminal connection.
SFO official public-transit informationOakland San Francisco Bay Airport — OAK
OAK’s airport BART station is across from the terminals. The airport connection runs to Coliseum, where passengers transfer to the wider BART network. Include that change rather than treating a regional train arrival at Coliseum as arrival at the terminal.
OAK official public-transport informationSan José Mineta International Airport — SJC
VTA’s Route 60 Airport Flyer links SJC with light rail, Santa Clara Caltrain Station and Milpitas Transit Center. Compare the bus connection and any rail transfer together instead of budgeting only for the regional train.
SJC official public-transport informationStart from your address, not an airport label
Use the place you will actually leave from: home, a hotel or another address. A familiar regional name does not tell you which airport has the most practical journey from that location.
For each candidate, identify the access mode, interchange points and final movement to the correct terminal. If driving, check the real road route and parking transfer. If using transit, count the changes you would make with your luggage. Decide which of those journeys you would accept before comparing ticket prices.
Read the airport distances as geography
FliteMaster’s catalog places SFO and OAK approximately 10.9 straight-line miles apart, SFO and SJC 30.2 miles apart, and OAK and SJC 29.4 miles apart.
These figures do not describe road routes, transit journeys or travel times. A home-airport reference helps you explore geographic alternatives; it does not replace directions from your actual starting point. Check the complete route before interpreting a small map distance as an easy airport change.
Calculated with FliteMaster’s distance function from its OurAirports coordinate snapshot, retrieved October 18, 2026. Distances are rounded to one decimal place; the snapshot date is not a transport-service update.
Test the return journey before choosing
A workable outbound connection does not settle the trip home. Check the full sequence again for your expected return date and time, including the airport connector, regional service and final journey from the station.
Review current schedules, service notices, walking and accessibility with the operators. If a connection is unavailable when you need it, establish a practical alternative and its cost before keeping that airport on your shortlist. Allow separately for terminal access, check-in and security.
Compare whole-party costs and usable flights
Record each airport’s total ground cost for your party and both journeys. Count shared parking, fuel and tolls once for the vehicle; count per-person transport charges for everyone who pays them. Leave unverified costs marked as unknown.
SFO, OAK and SJC are eligible catalog airports, not promises of provider coverage or available fares. When comparable flight quotes are available, use the same destination, dates, cabin and traveler count, then review schedules, connections and selected extras. Keep ground convenience and total cost visible rather than declaring a winner from the airfare alone.