San Francisco Transportation

>>1140358
Pretty simple math. If you'll be here for seven days and ride the bus or streetcars ($2.25 each) three times each day, you'll save a little over $7 by buying the unlimited 7-day pass for $40. If you ride the bus or the streetcars three times a day and a cable car ($7 a pop) once, you'll save ~$14.

If you don't expect to ride more than once or twice daily, and don't plan on a cable car trip (cable cars are mostly just a tourist attraction, but the California St line is also a semi-practical way to ascend Nob Hill, or to get between the Financial District and parts East) paying as you go is a better deal.

But getting the stored-value version of the Clipper card is more convenient than paying cash whenever you get on, so you may want a card whether or not you buy a pass. I don't personally like to fumble with money on the bus. The big disadvantage of the card (along with buying the card itself for... think they're $3? I've been carrying the same one for years) is that you'll get exactly 90 minutes per transfer/round trip, as opposed to the paper transfer you get when paying a cash fare, which will be valid for as long as the strip of paper the individual driver rips off. Officially it's supposed to be 90 minutes, but it's usually longer, so you can often get several hours' transit time out of a single $2.25 fare.

>tldr--pass is worth it if you want cable cars or 3x+ rides/day
>card is easier than cash but cash may be slightly better deal

I would get the clipper card. It's really not that expensive and pretty damn handy.

>>1140422
didn't know there was one for just a week! Thank you a lot.

If you're a local, is there any hotel you could recommend? Im staying with my boyfriend and we already looked at Booking and AirBNB but they are too expensive for what they offer.

Maybe by living there you know more about hiddens nice cozy hotels. We're planning to spend 80-100$ per night (max) since we just want somewhere to sleep at night.

>>1140593
Hotels in San Francisco are ferociously expensive, as you will already have noticed. But we have a few smaller guesthouses that offer interesting digs for somewhat more affordable rates.

I like to recommend the Metro Hotel, on Divisadero just off of Haight--(small) rooms start just over $100. It's a cool, neighborhoody area, in between the Haight-Ashbury tourist/shopping district and the funky/artsy/slightly gritty Lower Haight (occasionally called the Haight-Fillmore, after its main intersection--good, mostly cheap restaurants, bars, and galleries/cool design shops). Divisadero is also an increasingly nice corridor, with plenty of local-favorite places to eat and drink.

It's a pretty central location, too, so other interesting neighborhoods are easy to reach.

There are places with similar design and size in the Castro [gay party spot]--Twin Peaks Hotel, on Market St; and Hayes Valley [high-end yuppy-artsy]--Hayes Valley Inn. But I don't know about prices, and think the Metro is a better location.

For less than $100, you probably either need to get out of the city, use a hostel, or get lucky with one of the large strip of motels on Lombard St. in the OK-but-charmless neighborhood of Cow Hollow (rich, white, boring... only nice thing is proximity to water views).

Good luck and welcome!

Get a card. You can put a set amount of money on anyways but the 7-day unlimited pass for only $40 is a good deal too. Also reminder that cable cars don't have clipper card machines. The operators will probably let you on if you just show them the card, essentially for free. Also Clipper can be used on pretty much anything, such as Bart or ferries or Golden Gate Transit (if you want to go north of SF, which would be definitely worth it to go somewhere such as Sausalito.)

It was a pain in the ass when I was there. No locations to add money instantaneously via cash like in NYC, if you add money online you have to go to certain stations to "pick it up".

Also, like >>1140422 said, most MUNI drivers didn't seem to give a fuck if your paper transfer expired and just wanted to see if you had one on hand. Shit, I even saw people straight up getting on the buses/trains without one and they didn't care, among other things like smoking weed and playing loud music (SF is weird as hell). But, I guess none of this matters if you get the unlimited pass.

>>1140803
>Also reminder that cable cars don't have clipper card machines.
Yes they do--the operators carry a thing they tag your card with.

>>1140814
>most MUNI drivers didn't seem to give a fuck if your paper transfer expired and just wanted to see if you had one on hand. Shit, I even saw people straight up getting on the buses/trains without one and they didn't care
It is true that fare-dodging on the buses and streetcars (if you get on at street level--to enter an underground station without a transfer or card you'd have to jump a turnstile, and there's nothing a MUNI station agent enjoys more than yelling through the loudspeakers to alert authorities when someone jumps a turnstile) is pervasive and quite easy. But on the off-chance that you get caught, I believe the ticket is $100. Inspectors walk through the trains or wait at stops a few times a month, usually starting on the fourth or fifth, after monthly passes expire (there's a grace period for the first three days of a new month). Probably not worth it. But an expired transfer will just get you waved through nine times out of ten.

>>1140814
>No locations to add money instantaneously via cash like in NYC, if you add money online you have to go to certain stations to "pick it up".
Oh, and forgot to mention that you can add cash at machines in any of the underground stations; I guess they're not everywhere, but it's a pretty small system.

They're piloting a mobile phone-based system now, too, finally (google MUNI Mobile), but it's not fully rolled out yet.

>>1140826
Only a degenerate would break the law on vacation by dodging fares. Seriously stupid and unclassy both. Keep your upbringing and amoral nonsense to yourself.

>>1140828
>Only a degenerate would break the law on vacation by dodging fares. Seriously stupid and unclassy both. Keep your upbringing and amoral nonsense to yourself.
Did you read my post? I did mention that I didn't think it would be worth it; I've never been more than an accidental fare-dodger myself.

And I'm not sure how my upbringing is relevant at all, especially since I didn't mention it.

OP here

Thanks everyone, I think im staying at an airbnb in Mission district

About the transportation stuff, think im taking a Citypass. Not sure yet if the Blue&Gold Fleet, the Exploraturium and the California Academy of Sciences are worth it.

For those who dont know, it includes unlimited muni for a week and the aquarium though

Or should I just take those two that I really want?

Btw is it actually possible that I get tickets for Alcatraz the same day? I just saw the website and there aren't anymore, but my bf says he read in a web that you could probably get some if you go very early.

All advices are welcome, thanks.