Sacramento Intl Airport (SMF) Flights & Flight Status

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 sometime expensive and overcrowded San Francisco Bay Area airports of San Francisco (SFO) Oakland (OAK) and San Jose (SJC). Occasionally, cheaper fares or better availability on flights from SMF make it worthwhile to do the 90-mile drive between Sacramento and the Bay Area.

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 is located right about in the middle of California, about 10 miles north of downtown Sacramento, and a little over 100 miles from both the Pacific Ocean and the Nevada border.

The airport’s location just off of Highway 5 (which bisects the state north-south), and Highway 80 (which bisects the state east-west) means it’s a key central location from which you could choose to explore the state. Having done a ton of California road-trips myself, I consider Sacramento Airport a great base where you can arrive to start a state tour.

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 SMF’s ease of wine country access versus 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 to take advantage of airport’s closer location and 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). It’s pretty easy to find the pickup spots in signed curbside areas, a short walk from baggage claim.

Free 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 directly outside of baggage claim, while Terminal B’s rideshare pickup is a bit of a walk across two streets.

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 of the departures level. 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

Rental cars at SMF are located at a dedicated rental car terminal requiring a shuttle bus to access. The ride is fairly short, 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 great 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 Airports provides parking space at five separate lots, with two economy lots requiring a short shuttle bus ride. I’d recommend the economy lots as very good deals for long-term airport parking, but you need to have the time to wait for the shuttle buses that run only once every half hour.

Sacramento Airport’s two daily lots across from the terminals are pretty good deals and walkable to the terminals. Only the hourly lot #3 across from Terminal B 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 level 3 of lot #3 which has a skybridge direct to Terminal B (for Southwest flights), and level 5 of Lot #1 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 greatly improve size and access to parking. Check ahead to see if construction has temporarily closed garages or redirected traffic.

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 SMF is a hub airport for Southwest Airlines, and Terminal B’s gate arrangement is spread over a longer concourse, I would 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 the Automated People Mover (APM) shuttle is available between the terminals, I’d recommend just walking as the faster option unless you’re burdened with heavy luggage. 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, I’d say one of your best options is the Esquire Grille, a Sacramento classic in Terminal B, with tasty (but expensive) eggs benedict for breakfast and ribeye steak for a full 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: The Starbucks in Terminal B is usually mobbed 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. Like most Escape Lounges across the country, SMF’s locations are nice enough, but I don’t consider them anything special. You get free drinks and free food, which is freshly prepared and shared on a small buffet.

If you have free access via an Amex Platinum card or Delta SkyMiles Reserve card, or are a Priority Pass card holder (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.

Airline service from Sacramento Airport

Sacramento Airport currently offers direct flights to more than 45 US destinations, 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. It’s a major hub for the airline, with access to many cities and frequent flights, so even if you miss yours, rescheduling is easy.

Sacramento’s great coverage of Western US cities 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.

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, I haven’t seen much of an advantage to using them, given the usually short security lines. Sacramento Airport does have Global Entry for arriving international passengers, but because of the small volume of international flights, I don’t think it’s a critical time-saver.