--- title: "Experiencing the new Waymo airport service in San Francisco" site: "The Quiet Vacationer" site_url: https://quietvacationer.com/ url: https://quietvacationer.com/2026/06/25/experiencing-the-new-waymo-airport-service-in-san-francisco/ date_published: 2026-06-25 date_modified: 2026-06-29 author: "The Quiet Vacationer" categories: - "Stories" tags: - "United States" --- # Experiencing the new Waymo airport service in San Francisco I was in San Francisco in early January 2026, right around the time Waymo was quietly building up to something. By late January 2026, Waymo had launched rides to San Francisco International Airport, initially dropping passengers at the Rental Car Centre, which requires a short AirTrain ride to the main terminals. I was driving on that particular trip and missed the debut entirely. By May 2026, when I had a flight to catch at SFO, I figured why not try Waymo? TL;DR: it’s an experience worth having, but go in with realistic expectations. ## Is it actually cheaper? It’s not always cheaper. On the day I took it, Waymo quoted me US$48 for the ride. Lyft was showing US$37 at exactly the same time, from the same pickup spot at the [FOUND Hotel, San Francisco](https://quietvacationer.com/2026/06/18/review-found-hotel-san-francisco/). I took the Waymo anyway, because I was curious and the cost difference wasn’t going to ruin my day, or at least I thought it wouldn’t. If you’re choosing Waymo because you think it’ll save you money, that’s not really the story here. There’s also the BART question. From much of the city, BART to SFO is both cheaper and, on a good day, faster than any car. The Waymo doesn’t change that equation. ## How the route went This is where things got interesting, and not always in the fun way. The car took me through Turk Street, which cuts through the heart of the Tenderloin. Mid-morning, there were people lying on the pavement outside shuttered storefronts. It wasn’t dangerous, but it was jarring. A human Lyft driver would likely have taken a different line through the city; the Waymo just routes where it routes. ![Waymo through the streets of Tenderloin](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/waymo-sfo-1.jpg) *Waymo through the streets of Tenderloin* Then, somewhere near Balboa Park BART, the car stopped unexpectedly. A Waymo ahead of us had also stopped, apparently having hit some kind of sensor issue. We sat there for a bit. The driver in the car behind eventually ran out of patience and expressed his displeasure by giving the finger. I’m fairly confident the gesture was aimed at the Waymo, not me, but the incident was a decent illustration of how SF drivers feel about Waymos in general. The scepticism is understandable given the history. ![Pissed driver who gave my Waymo the finger](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/waymo-sfo-2.jpg) *Pissed driver who gave my Waymo the finger* The bigger issue, though, was the freeway. On 21 May 2026, Waymo suspended all freeway operations across San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Miami after its vehicles were found to be entering active construction zones on highways. The suspension was triggered by an incident the previous day where a Waymo blasted through construction cones on a freeway and was subsequently pursued by police, with the footage going viral almost immediately. Waymo [later filed a voluntary recall](https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/waymo-suspends-freeway-rides-pauses-atlanta-operations-amid-safety-fixes-6135046) with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covering nearly 3,900 vehicles, acknowledging that under certain conditions the system was “failing to recognise the construction zone”. My ride happened to be few days after that incident. No freeway access meant city streets the whole way, which obviously added significant time. The route that might have been a brisk 25 minutes via the US Route 101 or the Interstate 280, but became an hour long as we wound through the city grid and suburban roads. If you’re timing your airport run tightly, this matters. ![Gas station that we saw along El Camino Real](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/waymo-sfo-3.jpg) *Gas station that we saw along El Camino Real* ## The dropoff point By the time I took the ride, Waymo had added the Grand Hyatt SFO option. I chose the Grand Hyatt SFO, partly because it’s a shorter AirTrain ride from there to Terminal G, and partly because the Grand Hyatt SFO sits on the red AirTrain line, which is considerably closer to the main terminal cluster than the Rental Car Centre’s connection. ![Approaching Grand Hyatt SFO](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/waymo-sfo-4.jpg) *Approaching Grand Hyatt SFO* ![Approaching Grand Hyatt SFO](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/waymo-sfo-5.jpg) *Approaching Grand Hyatt SFO* The dropoff itself was quiet and orderly. A few other Waymos were pulling in and out as I arrived. Passengers were getting off, others were waiting to board for the return leg into the city. ![Arrival at Grand Hyatt SFO](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/waymo-sfo-6.jpg) *Arrival at Grand Hyatt SFO* From the dropoff, it’s a short walk inside to the lifts up to Level 4, then through the hotel’s lobby-level corridor and out to the AirTrain platform. Everything is signposted. It took me under five minutes. ![Grand Hyatt SFO reception](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/waymo-sfo-7.jpg) *Grand Hyatt SFO reception* ![Grand Hyatt SFO reception](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/waymo-sfo-8.jpg) *Grand Hyatt SFO reception* ![Grand Hyatt SFO reception](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/waymo-sfo-9.jpg) *Grand Hyatt SFO reception* ![Grand Hyatt SFO with signs to the Waymo pickup point](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/waymo-sfo-10.jpg) *Grand Hyatt SFO with signs to the Waymo pickup point* The logic of using a hotel rather than a terminal is fairly obvious once you’re there. Terminal drop-off zones at busy airports are chaotic, space-constrained, and policed closely. Delegating dropoffs to the Grand Hyatt SFO is probably an initial trial. Whether Waymo eventually gets direct terminal access remains to be seen, but for Terminal G specifically, the Grand Hyatt SFO option is genuinely convenient. ![On the AirTrain to SFO Terminal G](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/waymo-sfo-11.jpg) *On the AirTrain to SFO Terminal G* ## Would I do it again? In its current state, probably not as my primary airport transfer. The freeway suspension is the main issue. City-only routing adds too much time, and SFO is far enough from downtown San Francisco that the additional time required could be an impact. Once freeway operations resume and a software fix is confirmed, maybe it would be better. The experience is otherwise smooth. You get in, you watch the car make its decisions, and you arrive where you asked to go. The Tenderloin routing was unpleasant to observe, and the unexpected stop near Balboa Park was a reminder that the technology is still finding its edges, but neither was that big of a safety issue. It cost US$48, took longer than it should have and more expensive than a regular human-driven Lyft. On a day with freeway access and no sensor hiccups, I think it would have been a pretty good airport transfer. --- *Originally published on [The Quiet Vacationer](https://quietvacationer.com/2026/06/25/experiencing-the-new-waymo-airport-service-in-san-francisco/)*