Seth A.
Yelp
Hi everyone, you may find this weird...it has been a long time goal of mine to fly into SAN - San Diego International Airport!
Honestly, lol, like a Bucket List item for me. But why? Why Seth? Who cares about SAN? It's just an airport. No one gives 5 stars to an airport, right? Alright, let's dig in to the explanation before I drag on the unnecessary suspense and people move to the next review, hehehe.
Finally, I was flying from FLL (Ft. Lauderdale) nonstop to SAN with JetBlue. Got a roundtrip ticket for $250. It was the perfect setup. Couldn't have asked for better. Btw...love JetBlue, my favorite domestic carrier.
Now...did you know that SAN is considered to be one of the MOST EXTREME AIRPORTS in the world??? Yes, lol, in the WORLD! If you're an aviation enthusiast or someone who loves planes, you may be very intrigued by this knowledge. And here's why...
It's the arrivals. When you fly into SAN, you pass right over and beside the downtown San Diego skyscrapers. It's a totally surreal experience. If you watch YouTube clips of passengers flying into SAN, you'll understand. And so I wouldn't say landing in SAN is dangerous, but for pilots, they need to be on their "A+" game because of how close the city is to the airport.
Finally, I was getting my chance to live in the moment flying right over San Diego. I was excited and you can be certain I had a window seat with my camera out for the special arrival, lol.
I'd like to point out that I think I got lucky too...
I chose a Window Seat on the left hand side of the plane, Seat 24A, for JetBlue's Airbus A321 Aircraft. I believe I picked the correct seat.
Finally, flying right past downtown San Diego, I captured perfect images of the city skyline, just how I had envisioned.
It was totally thrilling! The skyscrapers were in clear, plain sight and because I sat towards the rear of the plane, I avoided the wing of the aircraft when filming and taking photos.
Btw...you think I shared the window view with the stranger sitting next to me in the middle seat? No way, Jose! Hehe. I admit I was selfish. It's not often I'll be returning to SAN, so I had to relish everything. I think it's simply an aviation, nerd thing, lol.
But...(and I could be wrong about this)...if you pick the right hand side of the aircraft, just say, sitting in Seat24F, in a 3x3 seating arrangement, you may not get the magical views because the way planes fly into SAN, I think they continuously use the same route towards the runway. Reflecting back on the arrival, I'd suggest NOT sitting on the right hand side of the plane.
Finally, and when departing out of SAN, takeoffs are always away from the city skyscrapers for obvious safety reasons, and so planes fly over the Pacific Ocean and make a u-turn if you're destination is heading back east.
Extras about SAN Airport...
- I didn't even need to rent a car. My hotel was 3.5 miles from the airport and instead of taking an Uber/Lyft, I walked on a paved pathway through a charming waterfront park beside the airport.
- Compared to LAX, SAN is a quiet, under the radar, dream come true. 1000x less passengers! Going through security was a breeze. Plenty of eateries and fast food spots. I even purchased quality San Diego souvenirs from the CNBC Store.
- Like I mentioned, getting a cheap, NONSTOP flight from Florida to here was incredibly efficient.
- There are large viewing windows of the tarmac for passengers to enjoy the scenery. Terminal 2 had a terrific little lounge area to watch planes make their way to and from the runway.
I also appreciated how in the distance you could see residential homes built along the San Diego cliffside. It had a very California type appearance to it.
Overall, SAN is an absolute gem of an airport to fly in and out of. No hassles, no congestions and still a big enough airport to transport you anywhere around the world. And of course...getting to fly right beside downtown San Diego while landing was worth every penny of admission.