Sacramento International Airport – SMF

Every member of the staff I have spoken to has been kind and has done everything to avoid compounding my nerves. I haven’t flown in a long time and was very nervous. They have made this a pleasant experience; well, as pleasant as flying can be. Thank you!

I think Sacramento international airport had always been one the cleanest and easiest to navigate, and ever since the latest remodel, it’s now one of the most modern and esthetically pleasing airports around. It’s bright and airy with artwork abound. There are numerous hand sanitizer stations around, tons of bathrooms, great local restaurants in both terminals. This place makes traveling not so bad. Will be visiting here again soon. :)

This airport is great. Very clean and very easy to get around. Their shuttles to the car rentals are every 10 minutes and they are always on time

This seemed to be a clean, efficient, well-​run airport. It is a smaller airport, which has its pros and cons. But it is nice to breeze through security, walk right to the gate, and have a number of refreshment options nearby. It was more than a little difficult to arrange a cross-​country flight to another airport of a similar size (Birmingham), but I don’t suppose that’s the airport’s fault.

The long security line would not be nearly as annoying if there weren’t TSA agents standing around doing nothing.
Seriously instead of standing there and yelling what to put in the bins, pick up a pen and sign my boarding pass so I can get a cup of coffee!
This is why TSA gets a bad wrap. There is absolutely no common sense. There are literally agents standing there doing absolutely nothing with one person signing boarding passes.
Get it together!

I love how they have free wifi – even all the way out in the free waiting parking lot. A few nitpicks: in Terminal B you have to take a tram to the security checkpoint. There is occasionally a line to get on it – make sure you add 5 minutes to account for it.
They also need to make closer longer-​term parking for Terminal B. In Terminal A there is a lot behind the parking garage that is $ 12/​day. In B, the only option that is walking distance is over $ 20/​day. The economy lot shuttles are unpredictable – and if you are running late expect to have overcrowded shuttles that stop at each and every stop. One time that ride took over 20 minutes to get me to the airport.

Would be 5 stars if only they had fast food… The people mover is a big waste of money. Sometimes the rental car shuttle can take forever, but they seem to be working that out. I do believe their parking shuttles are a bit over-​engineered. Pro-​tip, don’t bother with the «Daily Lot» since there’s no pedestrian access to the terminal and the bus is actually much less frequent than economy parking. They ought to do away with the Daily Lot altogether, and lastly, Hourly is really only an option if you’re using the new terminal B.
Oh, and in terminal B, if you had to check bags, it takes a longer than average time for them to come out on the carousels.

As a frequent flyer of Sacramento International Airport it has always been a fast and great experience while waiting for flights. I usually fly out of SMF once a month for trips to LAX and SFO with connecting flights to LAS. Usually I visit the airport around 5:30PM on Friday afternoons to depart for these flights. The best part so far about this airport is the short to no lines at TSA. So far they have been consistently having very small lines prior to my departure. This has allowed me to get to flights departing around 6:15PM and 6:30PM with ease.
SMF is also very clean and has a free WIFI while waiting of our to board, they also have multiple restaurants within a short walking distance of the gates. As of the past seven months living in Sacramento, I totally love the experience flying out and flying into SMF.

Beautiful airport, huge bunny, easy check in process, take the tram to your gate and bam your gone.
Lot of space, lot of room to study, move around and plenty of restaurants, eatieries.

Crazy busy. Holiday travel.
The airport personnel and TSA people are so organized and efficient. Now, sitting and waiting for my boarding time. I’m watching the cross of people arrive. Interestingly, the place is calm and the airline personnel behind their counters are also courteous and efficient.
Coming back to Sacramento on a Sunday early morning and the place is like a ghost town. Still organized and efficient. People in Northern California are frighteningly friendly. I can get used to this. They have only 2 terminals, A and B. When you arrive, you take this mini– monorail, and in 2 seconds, your in the main terminal to get your baggage and 2 main doors to get out. Really super simple.

I love airports, but they really are confusing… I wish there was more signs up signaling where it’s okay to have short term and long term parking for both Terminal A and B. I fortunately was with my hubby who flies frequently, so he helped navigate me through the quick changing lanes, and overwhelming process of choosing a main lane to drive on.
After finding our parking spot so that I could see him off up to the ticketed passengers sign, I felt a sense of loss not seeing the rocking chairs there anymore. What!!! Say it isn’t so!!! Just felt like the only thing that our small town International Airport had going for it was gone. It was so fun waiting to see someone off or pick someone up while rocking on those. Someone must have rocked too hard and caused an accident. And now, no one gets to rock in the chairs anymore. :(Please, please bring them back! It’s a part of adding local charm to the airport. Or at least consider adding a kid area for the lobby area before the gate area. It would make bringing families to drop off and pick up a more memorable experience.

Decent airport to fly in and out of when it’s a necessary part of your travel plans. Just two terminals; security lines can get kinda long tho, so be prepared to arrive a minimum of an hour early for a pretty painless travel experience.
Haven’t experienced any delays throughout my 10 – 15 trips out here. So nice job SMF =)
Gotta take a monorail to get to the southwest terminal gates but that’s only like a minute. Gates and restrooms are nice and clean, never had any issues with cleanliness here.
Staff around the place are generally friendly and helpful.
Rental car is a 5 min shuttle away, not to hard to find when returning your car and there’s an Arco right at the entrance of the airport so if you need to refuel your rental, it’s a pretty convenient option; of course a little more expensive, but if you’re in a bind, at least it’s there for you.

When traveling this place makes it smooth and easy. It’s a small airport so checking in, tsa, and dining always seems peaceful and easy.
Being a now local I like this airport. Close and easy.

The Sacramento International Airport looks amazing. So clean and modern. Getting through security was quick and painless and they have plenty of shops if you need to wait for your flight.
I only have one issue with the airport. In order to get to the car rentals you have to take a short tram ride, then a long walk to a shuttle and then take a 5 minute ride to the car rentals. I spent 25 minutes getting to the car rental and this killed my available time to meet with my client. That’s a total of 50 minutes taken away from my schedule.

Really easy airport to use. Timing of flights and the ease thru security has been great. Probably because it’s an airport in Sacramento. But the number of flights that go thru It have significantly increased.
There’s plenty of outlets for charging your media devices. I can never seem to access the supposedly free wifi here, that seems to be extremely slow.
The air train is super easy and straight forward to use. Runs frequently at short distances. Baggage claim is also straight forward. Mellow airport so carousel is easy to find. Exits are numbered so people know where you’re waiting.
Airport personnel has always been friendly.

Sacramento airport is a medium-​sized airport, pretty non-​descript. Easy access to the gates and a decent selection of sundries for the size of the airport.
TSA were very friendly, even at 4:30 am! :)
Unfortunately I can’t really say much more about SMF as this was a very quick in-​and-​out trip for me, but I will absolutely update this review when I actually experience baggage, rental cars and ticketing the next time I come through.

Boooooo! Was hoping they had a military personal office for the Armed Forces, but this particular airport does not have it. So lame! Was told, it’s so small of an airport to have it…
I was so looking forward to go for my second experience to seat on their comfy seats, watch movies/​take a nap on a personal twin size bed/​indulge in free snacks, but no! This airport does not have it like San Francisco Airport does, or any other major airports in general.
Overall experience, total 3, prices to dine in are EXPENSIVE, it’s like paying Disneyland priZed food & drinks! Restrooms are ok, I guess, some are hit or miss where it doesn’t have proper ventilation, some smells like urine.
And ‘Free Wifi’ is total false advertisement! The first 45min is free, then after that, you have to buy wifi. LAME!

Such an easy airport to navigate, lots of screens for connecting flights and signs to know where you are going. Seems like a smaller airport.
Arrived in terminal B lots of stores, bathrooms and restaurant, very clean and bight.
Baggage claim was super fast, no issues and friendly staff.
What sets them apart is all the cool art work through out the airport, love the luggage display. big tourist attraction.

I love small airports. They always quiet, easy to navigate, there is no craziness or long lines…
Sacramento International is one of those airports.
I really dig the artwork here — sandblasted art on the glass if you care to look up; piles of luggage by the carousels — those are really cool (wait, may be it is actual luggage??? jk, of course) — I spend good amount of time looking around each one; bird/​airplane sculptures sticking from building across the way — if you walk along the road when you get off rental car shuttle, you’ll see all of them; and ceiling structured made of colorful glass.
Easy check-​in, quick security check — and to Vino Volo to enjoy glass of wine before the flight. Cheers!

This airport is nice and easy to navigate.
From all terminals, you have to take an air train to the other section (which looks newer and more modern) which is where baggage claim and check ins are.
There are 2 sides you can exit from. One is for public shuttles I believe, the other one for the one shuttle bus that takes you to all car rental agencies which is just a few minutes away.
There are nice local restaurant options by the terminals, some were very modern and inviting.
Safe travels!