Important information for your upcoming travel to the GREPSEC II Workshop
The workshop will cover two nights at The Sainte Claire Hotel in San Jose; Friday, 5/15 and Saturday, 5/16. Everyone must checkout on Sunday no later than noon, so plan to take care of this before the first session at 9 am or at the break. The conference runs until 3 p.m. on Sunday, so we will work to make arrangements for the hotel concierge to hold bags.
Hotel check-in time when you arrive on Friday is no earlier than 3:00 PM.
If you are an IEEE S&P Attendee, keep in mind that those arrangements are separate from the GREPSEC II Workshop. IEEE S&P has a different, nearby, designated host hotel. For questions/concerns regarding IEEE S&P travel contact: oakland15-studenttravel@ieee-security.org or see the website at http://ieee-security.org/TC/SP2015.
There will be cases where a third night at The Sainte Claire Hotel is necessary on Sunday, 5/17. This allowance is only for those participants NOT attending the IEEE S&P Symposium and who cannot catch a flight home after the conclusion of the GREPSEC workshop without hardship (e.g., a "red-eye" flight is a hardship). Request approval for a third night hotel by sending email to: binkley@isi.edu. You will get reply within 24 hours.
Instead of individually reimbursing you for travel to/from the airport and other such incidentals, each GREPSEC attendee receive a $100 Gift Card at registration sign-in for GREPSEC II on Saturday morning. You will need to pay for incidentals yourself and consider the $100 gift card as the reimbursement.
Be prepared with cash on-hand and/or credit card to cover the following types of travel costs:
- Transportation to/from your domicile to the departure airport.
- Airline checked baggage fees that can average $25 for the 1st checked bag. Keep in mind both outbound and return baggage costs.
- Transportation to/from your destination airport (for GREPSEC II) to/from The Sainte Claire Hotel. There is no shuttle service provided by the hotel. The best way to travel from SJC (San Jose) airport is via taxi. The approximate taxi rate from SJC to the hotel is $25-$35 and from the hotel to SJC, $15-$25. NOTE: There is a tax that is charged for pick-ups from SJC that increases that particular route fare. The taxi ride will be a quick 10-15 minute drive. Mobile car service apps, such as Uber or Lyft, are also options and their rates can be about 20-30% lower than taxi fares.
- Meals purchased en route.
Upon check-in to The Sainte Claire, each person will need to provide either a credit card or a cash deposit to secure against any hotel incidentals that might accrue during your stay (phone calls, room service, etc.). Hotel incidentals will NOT be covered by the workshop; they are your responsibility. The hotel requires either a credit card (they will put a $50/night hold on the card) or a $250 cash deposit upon check-in. Another option is to contact the hotel in advance of your stay to have a credit card authorization form completed by a parent or guardian who would guarantee incidentals on your behalf.
Keep in mind that you will be sharing a room with another person, and you will need to handle any incidental charges in a fair and appropriate manner before departing.
Public transportation details
The cheapest way to get from SFO to San Jose is to use BART and Caltrain. BART is Bay Area Rapid Transit, and somewhat like a subway; CalTrain is a train. You will need separate tickets for each, which you can buy from the stations.
From the SFO airport terminal take AirTrain, a free service between terminals, to the BART Station. (Note that if you fly into the International Terminal, you can just walk to the BART station).
Take BART to the Millbrae stop. See https://www.bart.gov/schedules/bystation: Monday-Friday before 8 you have to take the Pittsburg/Bay Point line to San Bruno, then switch to the Millbrae line to Millbrae; on Mondays-Fridays after 8 pm, and on Saturday-Sunday (e.g., when returning), you can actually the Millbrae line direct from the San Francisco BART stop. At Millbrae, exit BART and go to CalTrain; buy a ticket and take CalTrain to San Jose. The schedule for CalTrain can be found at: http://www.caltrain.com/schedules.html.
If you get to San Jose before 9pm, you can either take the free downtown shuttle to the hotel or a taxi. For the shuttle, find the DASH schedule, route 201, under http://www.vta.org/routes/rt201. The hotel is at the corner of Market and San Carlos; it might be useful to make a copy of the map for the DASH (http://www.vta.org/routes/rt201). Or you can take a taxi; it's one mile from the station and should cost around $10 plus tip.
Light rail operates from the San Jose Airport to downtown. Take the #10 Metro bus from Terminal A to the lightrail station. The lightrail route is known as 901. The downtown stop is the McEnery convention center. See http://www.vta.org or use Google maps. Taxis from the San Jose airport to the hotel should be $20 plus tip.
Finally a warning: there are a variety of light rails, CalTrain, etc. -- don't confuse them!