San Francisco Travel Guide

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San Francisco's Ritz-Carlton Will Haul You Off to Alcatraz for Free

April 1, 2013 at 1:27 PM | by | Comments (0)

The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco is teaming up with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy this spring for a new Give Back Getaways program that includes voluntourism excursions to Alcatraz Island and the Presidio Nursery.

The program will give hotel guests the chance to help preserve the Golden Gate National Parks, which stretch 70 miles north and south of the Golden Gate Bridge, by spending a half-day volunteering, cleaning, pruning, weeding, and planting in the parklands.

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Why George Lucas Wants to Open a Movie Art Museum in San Francisco

March 7, 2013 at 2:52 PM | by | Comments (0)

George Lucas might have sold Lucasfilm to Disney, but that doesn't mean he's ready to ride off into the sunset.

The Star Wars Guru recently submitted a proposal to The Presidio Trust to build an art museum on a commissary site at Crissy Field in San Francisco.

Lucas is an avid art collector who currently owns more than 1,000 works of art, enough to rotate a gallery collection every six months for six years.

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Skip Long-term Parking to Rent Out Your Ride via FlightCar

February 13, 2013 at 8:47 AM | by | Comments (0)

It’s been a few months since we introduced you to the newest idea in airport parking and rental cars—FlightCar. Just in case you need a brief refresher, basically FlightCar offers the opportunity for those parking at the airport to rent out their cars while they’re not using them. Seems like a clever idea if you ask us, and now it looks like the first cars are available to rent.

Up first is San Francisco International Airport, and they’ve got room for those looking to rent out their cars and for those looking to rent cars. Rates are supposed to be competitive with what’s offered from the big boys, though FlightCar is so far claiming they'll have 50% cheaper rates than the usual rental car companies. Free insurance, free GPS, and pick-up right from the terminal look to set FlightCar apart from the usual suspects in the rental car garage.

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All the Details on the San Francisco Giants' World Series Victory Parade

October 31, 2012 at 9:56 AM | by | Comments (0)

While things on the east coast are hardly going well it pretty much is the opposite over on the west coast, as the San Francisco Giants became World Series champions earlier in the week. They easily took care of the Detroit Tigers in four games, and now it’s time to celebrate with the hometown crowd. If you’re already in the office it might be time to start faking a cough, because the victory parade is going down today.

With black and orange colors on their hats and uniforms it’s only fitting to hold the party on Halloween, and we’re sure that the fans will be fully prepared to get into the victory—and holiday—spirit. This is the second time in just three years that San Francisco residents will be saluting their hometown team with a ticker tape parade, but things are taking a slightly different route for 2012.

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The Adventures of Travel Cat: San Francisco

October 10, 2012 at 3:43 PM | by | Comments (0)

Kitty cats. They rule the internet and, whether we realize it or not, pretty much the world too. Ever noticed how cats sometimes stake out the coolest spots in a city? This new feature—Travel Cat—focuses on exactly that. Submit a photo to be featured by tweeting or Instagramming it to us (details below).

Travel Cat spotted in: San Francisco, CA.

This week's Travel Cat comes from Instagrammer @bohemianbackpacker, who spotted this window cat chillin on one of those typical SF streets, probably wishing for more sun.

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At the SF Giants' 'Virgin America Day': Free Flights and a Fastest First Pitch

August 13, 2012 at 10:32 AM | by | Comments (0)

This weekend, Virgin America decided to celebrate turning five years old just as I'm sure most of us celebrated our fifth birthdays: by parking a giant float outside of a baseball stadium, giving away lots of free swag, and blasting dance music. I mean, at least that's how I remember my fifth birthday party.

As we recently found out on Virgin's inaugural flight from San Francisco to Portland, the airline does know how to throw a party. We arrived to San Francisco's AT&T Park just as the "Virgin America Day" festivities were beginning. The DJ was playing the hits, lots of Virgin America employees were hanging out showing off their new Banana Republic uniforms, and Giants fans were climbing over each other to catch a free t-shirt.

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Will Woody Allen Make Us Fall in Love with San Francisco Next?

August 3, 2012 at 2:16 PM | by | Comment (1)

Woody Allen's most recent movies, including Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Midnight in Paris, and To Rome with Love, have focused as much on their location as the character's relationships. And now, as Allen begins filming his next romantic comedy in San Francisco, we wonder if he'll be able to capture the beauty of San Francisco the same way he has these European cities.

Though little is known about the movie, starring Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Peter Sarsgaard and Louis C.K., it is said to be about a woman trying to make it on a budget so she moves to San Francisco from New York City and has to now except the new city as her home.

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How's About Alcatraz for a Private Island Experience?

July 27, 2012 at 11:29 AM | by | Comments (2)

Ain't no party like a private island party...and that's even truer when we're talking about a special private island with a dark history. Like, say, Alcatraz.

Believe it or not, the entire island of Alcatraz is available for nightly private stays through the "experience service," Vayable. It's $600 for up to 20 people or $5,500 for up to 350 people and though the cost may be high, that money goes to the park service, not to ensure you're having a 5-star stay:

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A 6 Hour Layover in San Francisco, Viewed Through Instagram

July 17, 2012 at 11:14 AM | by | Comments (0)

When life hands you long layovers, go explore! That's just what we did on a long layover in San Francisco. At first, when we were stuck with the itinerary including SFO (on a transpacific long-haul), we weren't very happy. But then we had a think and a few friends sent along their recommendations to make a painful layover a bit more interesting.

We were flying internationally and our connecting flight put us in to SFO about 7 hours before we were scheduled to depart overseas. Our options were catching some z's in the lounge or partaking in some duty free shopping. Neither of those appealed so we decided to go on a mini adventure with our Instagram app ready to snap!

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The Ultimate Geek Road Trip: Lucasfilm & Rancho Obi-Wan

May 31, 2012 at 2:22 PM | by | Comments (0)

This summer geeks from around the world will make a pilgrimage to the headquarters of Lucasfilm in California. But, other than the famed Yoda Fountain at Lucasfilm's Presidio campus in San Francisco, the ultimate Star Wars Mecca offers little for visitors.

That doesn't mean it isn't worth the trip though, especially considering the next best thing to hanging out with George Lucas himself—Rancho Obi Wan—is located just north of San Francisco in Sonoma County.

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Get Inside Cathay Pacific's New SFO Lounge, No Matter Your Airline, with a Little 'Klout'

Where: San Francisco International [map], San Francisco, CA, United States
May 10, 2012 at 10:22 AM | by | Comments (2)

What's your Klout score? Wait—don't groan at the question, because finally Klout—the social media influence measurement index or whatever—is useful for something other than sounding super douchey when talking about your "online presence."

You see, Klout just launched an iPhone app. It's free to download and you can do so here, straight from the iTunes store. With this app, you can gain access to Cathay Pacific's new SFO First & Business Class lounge, no matter what airline you're flying or class you're traveling.. The only catch? You've got to have at least a Klout score of 40, and you've got to be traveling from the "A" boarding gates at SFO (list of airlines below).

Not only is this a freaking brilliant idea, but it's going to spoil whoever opts to check it out, since the SFO lounge (Cathay's only lounge in the entire United States), has computer workstations, three shower suites, a noodle bar (featuring the famous Dan dan mien), a booze bar, modern seating areas and free WiFi.

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Why You'll Want to Check In at Cathay Pacific's SFO Lounge...on Foursquare

April 6, 2012 at 2:52 PM | by | Comments (0)

Flying out of San Francisco International anytime soon? You're going to wish you were on the other side of the sliding glass doors that lead into Cathay Pacific's brand new Business/First Class lounge, and not just because airline lounges are awesome, but because Cathay is running a Foursquare special this month for flyers who check in to the lounge using the location-based social networking app.

If you're a flyer with access to the lounge, be sure to fire up Foursquare on your phone and show your checkin to the lounge receptionist. For that, you'll receive a free Cathay Pacific "keepsake," as well as be entered to score an upgrade on your next flight if you leave a business card.

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