Bay Bridge Closure

By Kevin on October 27th, 2009
Posted in Travel | Comments Off on Bay Bridge Closure

The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge that connects those two cities has been indefinitely closed due to the failure of an earlier repair to the bridge. As of tonight, nobody knows when the bridge will reopen. This should not directly affect most people coming to San Jose for WFC. San Jose is fifty miles south of San Francisco and Oakland, and the Bay Bridge is not in the direct line of travel for most people that might be driving to the convention.

Do be aware that if your travel plans involve tourism before or after the convention and driving in the San Francisco-Oakland area, you may be affected by this closure on account of it is the main highway link between the two cities and you may want to revisit your planned routes to avoid the closure. However, if you are coming only to San Jose and do not plan to drive in the San Francisco and/or Oakland areas, we do not expect the Bay Bridge closure to have a significant impact on your travel plans.

Getting from SJC to the Hotel

By Kevin on October 27th, 2009
Posted in Hotels, Travel | 4 Comments »

We’ve fielded a number of questions recently in the form of “How do I get from San Jose Airport [SJC] to the Fairmont?” and “Is there a hotel shuttle?”

There is no hotel-airport shuttle, and no free transportation between the airport and the Fairmont. The least-expensive way to get to the hotel is to take the free #10 bus (headsign “LIGHT RAIL”) from the airport to the Metro/Airport light rail station, then board a light rail train ($2 fare) heading downtown, getting off at Paseo de San Antonio station outside the hotel’s back entrance. There are also taxis and shared-ride shuttle services that will cost more but will not require changing buses or riding trains.

For our full story on getting to the Fairmont Hotel, see our Travel Information Page. This also includes information about getting to the hotel from the other Bay Area airports, and also by car and by train.

The Weather

By Cheryl on October 22nd, 2009
Posted in Tourism, Travel | Comments Off on The Weather

OK, so there’s a week to go before the convention, but those of us coming from overseas are wondering what to pack.

The forecast for the coming week in San José is warm and dry with temperatures in the region of 70 F (21 C). However, there’s a possibility of showers on the Saturday of the convention. That’s right at the limit of the long range forecast, so we’ll keep an eye on that for you.

Please note that if you or your family is planning to go touristing in San Francisco the weather there will be several degrees colder. The City is on the waterfront and also more windy than San José. Take a jacket and an umbrella, just in case.

Visiting from Outside the USA?

By admin on September 24th, 2009
Posted in Travel | Comments Off on Visiting from Outside the USA?

If you are coming to our convention from outside of the USA, and you will be traveling on the Visa Waiver scheme, you now need an additional travel authorization. Basically you need to register your intention to travel with US Customs & Border Protection. The idea is to cut down on the number of false positives when they get name matches with the no-fly list. This way they can check who you are in advance. Note that this does not give you permission to enter the USA. You still have to go through the usual immigration checks. But without this “ESTA” authorization you may be told you cannot board the aircraft.

If you Google ESTA you will find several companies offering to handle the process for you for a fee. These are scams. You can get the authorization for free from this US government web site. The application process is very simple and you should an answer back within a few days at most.