🛫 Terminal 1 (New, Phase 1A — Sept 2025)

The new T1 replaced the original 1967 building. 19 new gates, a 13-lane security checkpoint, seven high-capacity baggage carousels, a 50-foot-high ticketing hall.

Phase 1B adds three more gates in Spring 2026 (verify exact date); the final eight gates and the new arrivals roadway are due early 2028, for a total of 30 gates.

📍 Terminal 2 (East + West)

T2 East handles international arrivals and the CBP / Federal Inspection Service. T2 West handles domestic departures for the T2-based carriers.

Airlines: American, Delta, Delta Connection (SkyWest), JetBlue, Frontier, Spirit, Allegiant, Sun Country, Hawaiian, plus the international carriers — Air Canada, British Airways, Lufthansa (seasonal), JAL.

ESTA — $21, Two-Year Validity

Visa Waiver Program travellers (UK, most EU, Australia, NZ, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Chile, Brunei, and other VWP countries) must hold a valid Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) — $21, valid 2 years or until passport expiry. Apply at esta.cbp.dhs.gov at least 72 hours before flight. Beware of look-alike scam sites charging $80-100 for the same form.

CBP Kiosks & Mobile Passport Control

All international arrivals at SAN clear CBP in T2 East. Global Entry members have dedicated kiosks. Mobile Passport Control (MPC) is the free app that handles the declaration in advance — strongly recommended for visa-waiver travellers who lack Global Entry. APC kiosks for non-MPC travellers.

Tijuana & the CBX Cross-Border Bridge

Tijuana International Airport (TIJ) sits directly south of SAN across the border. The Cross Border Xpress (CBX) pedestrian bridge connects a US-side terminal in Otay Mesa to the TIJ terminal — a ticketed crossing typically $25-35 each way that lets you fly from Tijuana without driving through the San Ysidro land port. Mexican carriers (Volaris, Viva Aerobus, Aeromexico) often beat SAN domestic-Mexico fares.

⭐ MTS Route 992 “The Flyer” — The Default

• Direct from both terminals to Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego — 15 minutes.
• Every 15 minutes, 7 days a week, from 4:15 a.m. to midnight (last pickup 12:30 a.m.).
• Single fare $2.50 adult, $1.25 senior/disabled/Medicare/youth. Buy on board with exact change, on the PRONTO mobile app, or with a contactless tap card.
• Stops on the elevated platform at both T1 and T2. From the Santa Fe Depot you can walk into the Gaslamp Quarter in 10-15 minutes.
• Schedule is timed to connect with the first and last Trolley, COASTER and Amtrak departures.

🚕 Rideshare, Taxi & the Curb

• Uber and Lyft — pickup at the designated Transportation Plaza across the road from each terminal (a short walk via the marked pedestrian crossings). Typical fare $18-25 to downtown, 10-15 minutes.
• Taxi — metered, typically $25-35 to downtown, 10-15 minutes. Curb-line at both terminals.
• Avoid the unmarked drivers hanging around the arrivals curb pitching $30-50 “limo” rides downtown — California has strict licensing rules and the airport authority actively removes them, but they reappear.

🚲 Walking + Old Town Trolley

• SAN is one of the few major US airports where walking out is theoretically possible — the runway-end is about 3 miles from the Gaslamp Quarter. The actual walk is on Harbor Drive, which is reasonably pedestrian-friendly. 50-60 minutes one-way.
• The Old Town Trolley hop-on-hop-off sightseeing service has a SAN airport stop and runs to Old Town, the Gaslamp Quarter and Coronado — $50+ for the day, useful for first-timers but not for direct transfers.

🚗 Rental Cars & the Consolidated Rental Car Center

All major brands (Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Fox, Hertz, National, Sixt, Thrifty) operate from the Consolidated Rental Car Center, a single facility about 1.5 miles east of the terminals. Free dedicated shuttle buses run continuously between both terminals and the center, 24/7. Pickup time from curb to driving away is 30-45 minutes including shuttle. Returns drop off at the same building.

🛋️ Aspire Lounge — Priority Pass

Location: Terminal 2.

Access: Priority Pass, DragonPass, Dreamfolks. Also the contract lounge for international first/business on Alaska, American, British Airways and JAL.

What’s inside: standard third-party-lounge food, full bar, work zones, runway view. Hours typically 5 a.m. – 10 p.m. — verify before travel.

💳 Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club

Location: Terminal 2 — opened 2023, one of the higher-design lounges at SAN.

Access: Chase Sapphire Reserve, J.P. Morgan Reserve cardholders, plus guests; Priority Pass holders may also have limited access depending on their card. Strong food and bar offering — better than Aspire if your card gives you access.

✈️ Delta Sky Club + United Club

Delta Sky Club — Terminal 2, mezzanine between gates 47-48. Open 4:45 a.m. – 10:15 p.m. daily.

United Club — Terminal 2, mezzanine between gates 47-48. Open 5:15 a.m. – 10 p.m. daily.

Both require airline-specific access — Delta One / Diamond / Platinum + AMEX Platinum (Delta); United Polaris / 1K / Premier Gold + United Club membership (United).

🚧 Coming in 2027 — T1 Lounges

Alaska Lounge (13,000 sq ft) — the largest planned lounge at SAN, opening in the new Terminal 1 in 2027 to serve Alaska’s growing SAN presence.

Escape Lounge — The Centurion Studio Partner (10,000 sq ft, T1, 2027) — rooftop outdoor space, showers, Priority Pass + day-pass access.

Battered white-fish (usually mahi or rockfish), shredded cabbage, white sauce, lime — the recipe that crossed up from Ensenada in the late 1970s and made San Diego its US home. Oscar’s Mexican Seafood (multiple locations including Hillcrest and Pacific Beach) and City Tacos (North Park, Encinitas) are the credible chain stops; the original tradition lives at the Roberto’s-family taquerías scattered across the metro. $5-10 for a fish taco, $12-18 for a plate.

Carne asada, french fries, cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream or guacamole, all wrapped in a flour tortilla. San Diego invented the California burrito in the 1980s, traditionally credited to Roberto’s restaurants in San Diego. Most credible at Lolita’s Taco Shop, the various Roberto’s, Aliberto’s, Adalberto’s locations (the “ertos”) across town. $9-13. The airport version exists but it’s not the real article.

San Diego County has 150+ craft breweries and is the spiritual home of the West Coast IPA style — hop-forward, dry, citrus-pine. Stone Brewing (Escondido, with airport taproom at T1), Ballast Point, Modern Times, AleSmith, Mikkeller, Pizza Port, Karl Strauss are the credible local names. Most have downtown taprooms in East Village or the Gaslamp Quarter. The Stone Brewing taproom at T1 is the best airport beer in the Western US.

The downtown waterfront historically hosted the Anthony’s seafood chain — recently closed and replaced by a series of new operators. The Brigantine (Coronado and downtown) and Top of the Market still serve the proper San Diego seafood plate — albacore tuna sandwich, cioppino, Ensenada-style ceviche. Pricier than the taco shops but distinctive.

🍺 San Diego Craft Beer 4-Pack

$15-25 per 4-pack. Stone IPA, Ballast Point Sculpin, AleSmith Speedway Stout, Modern Times Blazing World — the airside Stone Brewing taproom carries multi-brewery takeaway packs. Travels well; the rest of the country can’t reliably get these on tap.

🥃 California Spirits

$30-80 per 750ml. The duty-free at T2 East (the only one with airside international departures) carries Cutwater Spirits (the San Diego distillery), plus the broader California craft category — Hanson of Sonoma, St. George Spirits. Not as iconic as Kentucky bourbon but distinctively West Coast.

🏖️ Padres & Charger Apparel

$25-70 per hat or shirt. Padres caps from the official airport team store (when the Padres are in the playoffs the prices stay high; outside that, reasonable). The Chargers left San Diego for Los Angeles in 2017, but vintage SD Chargers gear is still sold airport-side as a city-loyalty item.

🥑 Avocados & Local Citrus

$5-15 per bag. California Hass avocados from Fallbrook + Pauma Valley (just north of San Diego, the avocado capital of the US). The airside markets carry travel-safe bags. Note: TSA allows fruit in carry-on for domestic flights but it’s confiscated on international arrival into most countries.

Balboa Park is the 1,200-acre cultural park north of downtown — 17 museums, the Spanish Colonial Revival architecture built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition (Bertram Goodhue, architect), the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, and the San Diego Zoo. Park admission to the gardens and exterior architecture is free; museums are $10-20 each, the Zoo is roughly $74 adult. From SAN: MTS 992 to Santa Fe Depot, transfer to Bus 7 or rideshare ($12-18, 15 min).

The USS Midway Museum on the Embarcadero (Navy Pier) is a decommissioned aircraft carrier — the longest-serving US Navy carrier of the 20th century, in service 1945-1992. Self-guided tour with audio guide, $34 adult, $24 youth. Walking-distance from SAN via Harbor Drive (50 min), or a 5-minute Bus 992 + 10-minute walk from Santa Fe Depot.

Coronado is the peninsula across San Diego Bay — accessible by the Coronado Bridge (driving), the Coronado Ferry from the Broadway Pier (15 min, $6 round trip), or via the Silver Strand from the south. The Hotel del Coronado (opened 1888, the Victorian-shingled landmark used as the setting for Some Like It Hot 1959) is the icon — afternoon tea $75, room rates seasonal. Coronado Beach is the broad Pacific beach with the city skyline view back across the bay.

The San Ysidro Land Port is the busiest land border crossing in the western hemisphere — roughly 90,000 northbound crossings daily. Pedestrian crossing to Tijuana is straightforward: take the MTS Blue Line Trolley from Santa Fe Depot to the San Ysidro Transit Center (45 min, $2.50), walk through the PedWest crossing. The return wait can be 1-3 hours. For a quick Tijuana lunch (Avenida Revolución, the Mercado El Popo for street food), allow 5-6 hours round-trip from SAN. Bring your passport (required even for US citizens since 2007 WHTI rules).

For early flights: there’s no in-terminal hotel at SAN. The closest options are the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina and the Hilton San Diego Airport / Harbor Island — both 5-min shuttle from the terminals. $200-360 per night. For a real San Diego overnight: the Pendry San Diego or U.S. Grant Hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter (downtown, walkable to bars and restaurants), the Hotel del Coronado for the splurge. 992 bus or a 10-15 min taxi back to SAN.

US networks (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, plus the prepaid brands Mint Mobile, Cricket, US Mobile, Visible) sell SIMs and eSIMs at retail outside the airport. EU/UK visitors: Roam-Like-At-Home does NOT extend to the US — buy a Mint Mobile or US Mobile eSIM before flying for $20-40/month, or use a travel eSIM (Airalo, Holafly, GigSky). 5G covers all of San Diego including the airport.

SAN is one of the best US airports for short-layover city pickups because Santa Fe Depot is 15 minutes away on a $2.50 bus. 3-hour layover: MTS 992 to Santa Fe Depot, walk into the Gaslamp Quarter for a fish taco at City Tacos or beer at Stone Brewing’s downtown taproom, return — 90 min round-trip transit + 60-90 min in town. 4-5 hours: add USS Midway (Embarcadero, walking distance from Santa Fe Depot) or Balboa Park. 6+ hours: Coronado Ferry + Hotel del Coronado tour becomes feasible. Under 3 hours, stay airside — security lines at SAN can spike unexpectedly. Allow 45-60 minutes for return.