Timing Airport Pick-Ups Correctly

My wife wanted to spend the weekend in San Francisco and so instead of flying home at the end of a week, I just stayed in the Bay Area and used frequent flyer miles to bring her out. Waiting for her to arrive on Friday felt strange as normally I am not in the office. When it came time to pick my wife up at the San Francisco airport, I had to figure out how to get the timing correct. Airports don't like it when you pull up to the curb and wait for an hour or two for a flight to land.

Fortunately my boat that I stay on in the Bay Area sits at the end of the San Francisco airport runway. I decided to try something new just to see if the timing worked out. My wife gave me her estimated arrival time as the plane took off and then I hung out on the boat waiting for her to land. As the time got close for her arrival, I sat out in the cockpit of my boat playing my guitar, and watching planes land. I saw my wife's aircraft fly by and had that confirmed when she texted me immediately upon touchdown. Then I carefully put my guitar away, closed up the boat, and started the short drive to airport.

I pulled into SFO just as my wife called from the curb. Timing worked out perfectly. I pulled up and my wife immediately got into the car without either of us having to wait more than 15 seconds.

There are a number of smartphone apps that show when flights arrive. You can also use the phone to tell your ride when you are leaving. Unfortunately neither of these take airport congestion into account. Nothing beats sitting at the end of the runway on your sailboat watching planes land.