Connecting at San Diego: two terminals, and a shuttle between them

Last checked 30 September 2026

A connection is when your trip has two flights and you change planes in between. San Diego has two terminals: Terminal 1 (Southwest, JetBlue, Frontier) and Terminal 2 (Alaska, American, Delta, United). You can't walk between them at the moment; the airport's free shuttle runs from 4 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Two words used below. Security (also called TSA screening) is the checkpoint where your bags go through a scanner and you walk through a body scanner. Once you're through it, you're in the secure area, the part of the airport with the gates. If you leave the secure area you have to go through security again to get back in.

At a glance

• Two terminals, each with its own security checkpoints. The airport says each terminal has "its own ticketing, baggage claim, concessions, gates, and TSA checkpoints".
• Your airline decides your terminal. For example, Southwest, JetBlue, Frontier, Breeze and Sun Country are in Terminal 1; Alaska, American, Delta and United are in Terminal 2. Full list below.
• Changing from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 (or back). You can't walk. The airport tells pedestrians the best way is its free shuttle, which runs from 4 a.m. to 2 a.m. Each terminal has its own checkpoints, so expect to go through security again at the other terminal. The airport doesn't say so in words.
• Within Terminal 1, or within one side of Terminal 2 (East or West): you stay inside security and walk to your next gate. Each of those has its own checkpoint.
• Landing from another country: passport control is in Terminal 2. The typical wait over the last year was about 20 minutes, and one passenger in ten waited about 40 minutes or more.

Which terminal is my airline in?

This comes from the airport's own list (dated October 2025) and is the terminal where you check in and collect bags. Look up both airlines.

• Terminal 1: Air Canada, Breeze, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, Sun Country, WestJet.
• Terminal 2, East side: Alaska, American.
• Terminal 2, West side: British Airways, Copa, Delta, Hawaiian, Japan Airlines, KLM, United.

The airport announced in October 2025 that Air Canada and WestJet would move to Terminal 1 on 14 January 2026. Airlines do move. A flight run for one of these airlines by a smaller partner airline can also be somewhere else. Your boarding pass or your airline's app is the final word.

Changing between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2

The airport says the road and sidewalk that connect the two terminals are closed for construction, and that this will last until the new Terminal 1 building is finished in 2028. Its advice is: "Pedestrians trying to get from T1 to T2, your best bet is the Inter-Terminal Shuttle."

• The shuttle is free and runs every day from 4 a.m. to 2 a.m. The airport has a live tracker for it on its website. We couldn't find how often it runs.
• What that means for security. Each terminal has its own checkpoints, you can't walk between them, and the shuttle picks up outside the terminals, so assume you leave the secure area at one terminal and go through security at the other. The airport doesn't say so in so many words. If your connection is short, ask your airline before you leave the secure area.
• Outside those hours. The shuttle doesn't run between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. The airport doesn't say what to do then. Ask your airline.

Inside Terminal 2

Terminal 2 has two sides, East and West, each with its own security checkpoint. The airport describes the checkpoints as West (number 6) and East (number 5), "based on airline location". The airport doesn't say whether you can walk between the two sides after security, so if your two flights are on different sides, ask your airline.

Landing from another country

Passport control is the desk where an officer from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) checks your passport. At San Diego, CBP works in the glass building at the far end of Terminal 2, marked "International Arrivals". CBP lists its hours there as 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week.

If you flew in from a preclearance airport: CBP checks passengers at 16 airports abroad before they board (the list includes Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, Dublin and Abu Dhabi). If you flew from one of them, you skip passport control and the second security check when you land, so those steps don't apply to you. Ask your airline whether your bags go through to your next flight.

How long passport control takes. Over the year to 23 September 2026, about 409,000 passengers came through. Half of them waited 20 minutes or less. One in ten waited about 40 minutes or longer. Fewer than 1 in 100 waited over an hour. About 1 in 5 arriving passengers were members of Global Entry, a paid programme that gives faster passport control. CBP says its times don't include collecting your bags or finding your way around the airport.

The steps, in order:

1. Everyone arriving from another country, including US citizens: go through passport control in the International Arrivals building at Terminal 2.
2. Everyone: collect your checked bags and take them through Customs. CBP says you must collect them and bring them through.
3. Passengers connecting to another flight: check your bags in again with your airline for your next flight. We couldn't find where the drop-off is, so follow the signs for connecting flights or ask staff.
4. Passengers whose next flight is in Terminal 1: take the free Inter-Terminal Shuttle, which runs from 4 a.m. to 2 a.m. You are outside security on the way.
5. Passengers connecting to another flight: go through security again at the checkpoint for your next flight: Terminal 2 West (number 6), Terminal 2 East (number 5) or Terminal 1's one checkpoint.

Going through security again after an international arrival is the normal routine at US airports. A trial scheme lets some passengers skip it. TSA's announcement of it names two flights, both from London, to Atlanta and Dallas. San Diego is not one of them. On a few routes, eligible connecting passengers don't collect and recheck their bags, but still go through security again. Check with your airline.

If your flights are on separate tickets

If you booked two flights separately, you collect your bags, check in again with the second airline at its terminal, and go through security again. If the two airlines are in different terminals, that means the shuttle in between. Add the time to collect your bags, check in again and go through security.

Tips

• Look up both of your airlines on the list above before you travel. If they're in different terminals, plan on the shuttle and a second security line.
• The shuttle doesn't run from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. A very late arrival with an early departure in the other terminal is a connection to check with your airline before you book.
• Coming from another country, the passport-control building is in Terminal 2, so plan your route from there to your next terminal.

GateCast grades your connection from A to F on how likely you are to make it. The grade is an estimate. GateCast knows which airlines you're flying but has no gate information, so at an airport with two terminals like this one, check your boarding pass and add time for any second security check.

Checked 30 September 2026. Terminals, gates and airlines change, so confirm with the airport and your airline before you travel.