Sacramento International Airport (SMF) in north-central California provides access to the state’s capital city. But I’ve also found it to be an effective alternate airport to the sometimes expensive and overcrowded San Francisco Bay Area airports of San Francisco (SFO), Oakland (OAK) and San Jose (SJC).
Sacramento Airport has long been a good smaller, efficient airport compared to those in the Bay Area. Now with recent expansions and ongoing improvements, I think it’s an even better airport option for those planning northern California visits beyond Sacramento itself—including wine tasting trips to Napa Valley, and outdoors destinations like Yosemite or Lake Tahoe.
How to get to and from Sacramento Airport
Sacramento International Airport is conveniently located in central California with easy highway access.
Sacramento airport location
Sacramento Airport sits right about in the middle of California, about 12 miles from downtown Sacramento and a little over 100 miles from both the Pacific Ocean and the Nevada border. Interstate 5 (which bisects the state north-south) directly accesses it, with connections to Highway 80 (which bisects the state east-west).
Having done a ton of California road-trips myself, I consider Sacramento Airport a good base where you can arrive to start a state tour. That central location means you can explore the state from a key access point.
Surprisingly, Sacramento Airport is about equidistant to Napa Valley wineries as is San Francisco Airport. So for travelers looking to skip the congestion of San Francisco and go straight for the wine, I’d recommend considering flying in to SMF on your next inbound winetasting trip. I’ve had friends arriving for wine trips rave about how easy SMF makes wine country access compared to SFO.
I’d also recommend SMF as a better option than SFO for those planning to travel to eastern California tourist destinations like Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park since the airport is closer and offers more convenient driving access.
Shuttle services at SMF
Sacramento Airport provides convenient shuttle pickup areas just outside Terminal A (on the West Curb) and B (on the West Commercial Curb). Hotel shuttles arrive regularly to take passengers to nearby airport hotels, while the SuperShuttle service offers shared van rides to Sacramento-area destinations. I’d recommend shuttles over individual ride share services only if you’re going somewhere pretty far or on a tight budget.
Taxis and rideshare services at SMF
Taxis and rideshare services are available at SMF at designated areas outside of Terminal A and B. The Terminal A rideshare area is at the West Curb, north of the terminal, while the Terminal B rideshare pickup is at the Lindbergh Drive Curb, which requires walking across Airport Blvd and past the Short Term parking lot.
Pro tip: if you don’t have any checked bags, you can walk the skyway bridge over the street direct to the Terminal B rideshare area without having to make the outdoor walk.
Uber and Lyft rideshare drop-offs are simple at the curb. Easy highway accessibility to the airport and smooth traffic flows means you can save time on transport here compared to other larger airports.
Rental cars at Sacramento Airport
The on-airport rental car terminal houses rental cars at SMF and requires a shuttle bus to access. The ride is fairly short with shuttles running about every 10 minutes, but sometimes the wait for the shuttle at the terminal can take extra time on crowded travel days.
Budget Tip: When returning a car to SMF, the nearby ARCO gas station used to be a good deal for refueling, but under new ownership it now has some of the highest prices in the region. While the ARCO is still cheaper than paying the rental company to refill the car, I recommend filling up at a gas station closer to Sacramento.
Parking at Sacramento Airport
Sacramento Airport provides parking options at five distinct locations: a Parking Garage, a Daily Lot, and three Economy Lots (East, South, and West), with all three economy lots requiring a short shuttle bus ride.
I’d recommend the economy lots as good deals for long-term airport parking, but you need to have the time to wait for the shuttle buses that run every 25–30 minutes.
The Daily Lot at Sacramento Airport located prior to the Parking Garage entrance on Airport Boulevard is a good deal and walkable to the terminals. Only the Parking Garage directly across from the terminals has premium prices.
Time-saving Tip: To save some valuable minutes if you’re in a rush to catch your plane, park your car on the 5th floor of the Parking Garage which has a skybridge direct to Terminal B (for Southwest flights), and the 3rd floor to get direct bridge access to Terminal A.
Note that an ongoing multi-year parking construction project may temporarily modify access to SMF garages, but in the long-term will improve size and access to parking. Check ahead to see if construction has temporarily closed garages or redirected traffic.
Airline service from Sacramento Airport
Sacramento Airport currently offers direct flights to 51 nonstop destinations including US cities, a few cities in Mexico, as well as Vancouver, Canada. Some of these direct flights are only seasonal, so I’d recommend checking far in advance when travel planning.
If you’re a frequent Southwest Airlines flier like myself, Sacramento is the airport for you. Southwest operates many flights from SMF with access to many cities and frequent flights, so even if you miss yours, rescheduling is easy.
The good coverage of Western US cities from Sacramento means you can use the airport as a base for short-hop flights. SMF’s cross-country flight availability also means it can provide a national alternative for the San Francisco Bay Area arrivals. When living in the Bay Area, I would typically price Hawaii flights in the high season from Sacramento in search of fares sometimes good enough to be worth the drive out there. Discount airline fares to Mexico also can make Sacramento a worthwhile departure airport.
Navigating SMF terminal
I like Sacramento Airport’s simple division between two terminals, with the “Big Three” airlines of American, Delta and United in Terminal A, while Alaska, JetBlue, Southwest and a few others are based in the usually busier Terminal B.
Given that Southwest operates many flights from SMF, and the Terminal B gate arrangement is spread over a longer concourse, I’d advise allocating a little extra time to get to your gate if you’re flying Southwest. Terminal A gates and concourse area are more bunched up, with a larger central hall for food, beverage and shopping.
The two terminals are separated, but not too far apart. While Terminal B has an internal Automated People Mover (APM) connecting the landside terminal to the airside concourse, walking between Terminal A and Terminal B is straightforward. It’s about a ten-minute stroll with signs clearly marking directions.
Sacramento Airport dining recommendations
If you’re looking for a meal at Sacramento Airport, check out the dining options in both terminals. Terminal B has several restaurant choices for both breakfast and dinner.
The newer local favorite Squeeze Burger is in Terminal A. I’d recommend their juicy burger with the extended “cheese skirt” of crispy melted cheese, or the breakfast burrito.
Coffee-lover tip: Crowds usually mob the Starbucks in Terminal B early in the day with long lines. Even if your gate is to the left after exiting TSA, turn right instead for a short walk to hit the Peet’s Coffee stand, great coffee with a fraction of the Starbucks line.
Lounges at SMF
Sacramento Airport provides passengers with a single location of an Escape-branded lounge in each of the terminals. You get free drinks and free food, which staff freshly prepare and share on a small buffet.
Like most Escape Lounges across the country, the SMF locations are nice enough, but I don’t consider them anything special.
If you have free access via an Amex Platinum card or Delta SkyMiles Reserve card (when flying Delta), or are a Priority Pass card holder for Terminal B (and have time), then you should definitely stop at a lounge. Booking in advance is helpful, as even in comparatively lightly traveled Sacramento, these lounges fill up fast.
I’d recommend against paying for daily access to the Escape lounges, your money is better spent at airport concessions. And regular airport WiFi is good enough to not need access to the dedicated lounge routers.
Security and customs at SMF
Sacramento Airport’s TSA stations in both terminals handle the flow of passengers smoothly, without the extended wait at a larger airport like SFO. Except for “rush hours” of business commuter flights on Monday mornings, you won’t need to allocate much extra time for security.
While SMF has TSA PreCheck and CLEAR lanes available in both terminals, I haven’t seen much of an advantage to using them, given the usually short security lines. Sacramento Airport does have Global Entry Enrollment on Arrival for arriving international passengers, but because of the small volume of international flights, I don’t think it’s a critical time-saver.
This KAYAK-commissioned article is presented as-is, for general informational purposes only, and may not be up-to-date. The opinions contained in the article are original to the author and reflect their authentic experience, which may vary significantly from the experience of others.
