Oakland International Airport (OAK) is also nearby, generally costs less, and connects to downtown San Francisco by public rail (BART). Unlike SFO, which has just a handful of Southwest Airlines flights, OAK is a major Southwest Airlines hub. If you rent a car at OAK, it requires driving across the Bay Bridge, so bring $4 for the bridge toll.

Mineta San Jose International Airport also serves the San Francisco Bay Area, but it's over an hour drive away, and will require a car rental.

Would you like to stay in the downtown area?

Staying in downtown allows you to take public transit to/from the airport (BART), to/from the restaurant (BART), and to/from our apartment (MUNI). It also gives you more of the city-living experience. Renting a car, however, becomes expensive, as most downtown hotels will charge about $25-35 / night to park your car.

By contrast, staying near the airport generally costs a little less and lowers the cost of a car rental because parking is generally free. Of course, driving into San Francisco proper is difficult, and costs money anyway.

To use Priceline's "Name Your Own Price" feature:
1) Go to Priceline's website.
2) Enter the dates you're planning to stay.
3) Click on "Name Your Own Price".
4) Choose either "Union Square East - Embarcadero" if you're staying in downtown (the other areas are too far from public transit, or are not in good neighborhoods), or "San Francisco Airport (SFO)" if you're staying near the airport.
5) We recommend choosing 3 stars or better to ensure you get a nice place.
6) Name your own price! To get a sense of what you can offer to have a realistic shot at getting your price, reduce Priceline's "median retail price" by 40%, or look at hotels.com or expedia.com and reduce the price of comparable star levels by about 30%.