I fly out of SFO on Sunday, should I skip the Burn?

ddol · Post by **ddol** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 4:29 pm

Hey all, first burn, will be with a camp, but have a question.

The burn happens at 9:30pm on Saturday. I need to be in SFO at noon on Sunday (flight is at 4PM to London). Assuming it takes 6hours with no traffic to get to SFO from BRC, how long will it take directly after the burn?

Has anyone experience with leaving BRC at (say) 2am Sunday morning? How long does it take to get to Reno at that hour?

Many thanks, see ye there!

Dr. Pyro · Post by **Dr. Pyro** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 4:53 pm

Yes.

In fact, you might want to consider not even showing up.

MoonSplash · Post by **MoonSplash** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 5:23 pm

In 08 we left the playa at midnight Saturday and arrived into Reno at 3ish am Sunday. Figure on at least 4 hours straight driving to get to the SFO airport - 7 am. If your flight is at 4 pm, you need to check in by 1 pm, so that gives you a couple of hours to stop to dust off your luggage, change clothes, get something to eat, take care of anything that comes up as an emergency....

Let me tell you - I left Reno and had to fly thru Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami and then on to Brazil for a work trip. It was HARD - they weren't kidding about decompressing and as a first timer back then, I had no idea how hard it would hit me. I sat in the LAX airport bawling my eyes out.

Post by **Eric** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 5:27 pm

ddol- I would leave Saturday by early afternoon. That will have you back to SF probably by midnight in the worst case, and give you time to shower & sleep before catching your flight.

There isn't a chance in hell of getting to SF in time if you leave the playa 2am Sunday- you'd probably just be hitting the California/ Nevada boarder by then. A huge volume of people leave right after the Burn- it could take you 2+ hours to even hit blacktop, and then another 3-4 hours to hit Reno.

If you leave before the Burn- almost zero Exodus traffic, clear sailing to Reno, fairly easy drive to SF. I'd say 8-10 hours based on past experience if you have minimal stops.

And, yes, I have actually left before the Burn before- we were Exodus, and I don't think I've ever seen Gate look so surprised.

Rice · Post by **Rice** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 5:29 pm

ddol wrote:Hey all, first burn, will be with a camp, but have a question.

The burn happens at 9:30pm on Saturday. I need to be in SFO at noon on Sunday (flight is at 4PM to London). Assuming it takes 6hours with no traffic to get to SFO from BRC, how long will it take directly after the burn?

Has anyone experience with leaving BRC at (say) 2am Sunday morning? How long does it take to get to Reno at that hour?

Many thanks, see ye there!

Welcome to the eplaya...

The man does not always burn when it's supposed to (dust storms, rain, etc) so that could affect when things to start.

There is always a wait to get out of the city after the Man burns. I think that a couple hours minimum wait is likely. Somehow I remember hearing it was longer but I cannot back that up.

It might make more sense to skip the Man burn and head out early. ??

If the exodus line moves smoothly and there are not accidents and you don't need to sleep on the way to SFO and nothing goes wrong, sure, you can make it no problem... (maybe)

I hope this was a snark-lite response

Rice

some seeing eye · Post by **some seeing eye** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 5:56 pm

I wouldn't skip the burn first year. If you had planned earlier, you could have booked Advantage Air from the playa to Reno. What happens if you miss your flight? They put you on the next one, right?

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Thu Aug 19, 2010 10:17 am

Um. Maybe he has to pay for two flights? Maybe he has to wait a day or two for a suitable flight?
I think there's a burn on Friday. Go to that, and if you return to the event you can organize things so that you don't miss the burn.

(I watched it from A street last year. I don't do well at the big burns.)

dinks · Post by **dinks** » Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:43 am

1) Get a good nap on saturday.
2) Pack up a few hours before the burn.
3) Watch and enjoy the burn.
4) Hit the road around 12-1am sunday

You should be fine.

phil · Post by **phil** » Thu Aug 19, 2010 12:44 pm

> The burn happens at 9:30pm on Saturday.

Nothing ever happens on time. Read all the posts here. Put off your decision till the last minute on Saturday. Based on your judgment at the time, leave before the Burn or leave after. But remember, nothing ever happens on time. Plan on that. :->

Post by **Eric** » Thu Aug 19, 2010 12:47 pm

theCryptofishist wrote:(I watched it from A street last year. I don't do well at the big burns.)

Come up to Esplanade & 3:30 (Fandango) this year. You can watch with me. I never go closer than Esplanade. Hate the crowds.

ddol · Post by **ddol** » Thu Aug 19, 2010 2:20 pm

Hey, thanks for all the responses.

I booked my flights back in April, before I had even though about coming to BM. If I'm coming next year I'll arrange to fly back at a later date.

I have a connection to make in London, so if I miss this flight I'll probably have to wait a few days and pay up to $600 for my two new flights. That's a route I plan on avoiding.

I can't really leave it until the last minute as I can't find any rideshares to get back to SF on Saturday before the burn. I have a car booked, but I would cancel it if I could:

Definatly get back before noon
Get a rideshare just after the burn.

Getting the next flight is not a risk I can afford to take, so I think I'll give the Burn a miss this year.

lightgraywolf · Post by **lightgraywolf** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 2:27 pm

I'm in a similar situation to the OP.... but leaving out of Reno at noon. So what I gather from the responses is that the mass exodus (with 3-4 hour traffic jams) starts as soon as the burn ends Saturday night?

Say I needed to get to Reno Sunday at 9am (absolute latest) to return car and check in for the flight. Leaving at midnight should pretty much guarantee I'd make it, right?

Is there just a mass exodus at the end of the Burn, and does it slack off at all at some godawful hour of the morning like 4am ?

Just trying to weigh options w/o having to miss the burn..... thanks!

I fly out of SFO on Sunday, should I skip the Burn?

I fly out of SFO on Sunday, should I skip the Burn?

Re: I fly out of SFO on Sunday, should I skip the Burn?