
We support the following browsers:

Luggage relatively "safe" in mini van?

Which San Francisco hotels are on sale?
mm/dd/yyyy mm/dd/yyyy
See hotels
Columbus, Ohio
posts: 102
reviews: 1
Luggage relatively "safe" in mini van?

We are a family of five who will be flying into SFO in December and have an afternoon/evening. We plan to go to the Golden Gate Bridge, ride a cable car, and to Fisherman's Wharf. We fly out early the next morning, from OAK so can't drop luggage off at hotel. I thought about taking a dark sheet to cover it up. Any recommendations?

Thank you!

San Francisco Bay
posts: 2,287
reviews: 13
1. Re: Luggage relatively "safe" in mini van?

Well, make it black. You can always ditch it in SF and give it to a bum. And buy nice warm San Francisco sweat shirts to fill your suiycases back up. Or sourdough French bread.

I think you'll be OK

Too bad about not spending more time, though; there's so much more to SF than Fisherman's Wharf...it's pretty much just for tourists.

posts: 3,718
reviews: 2
2. Re: Luggage relatively "safe" in mini van?

If you have a five-person pile of luggage and you throw a sheet of any color over it, do you really think it's going to conceal it? At best it might serve as a deterrent to the most casual of thieves, but to anyone with a bit more gumption all you're doing is telegraphing "hey, I'm trying to conceal a big pile of stuff here".

1. If you're planning to use a car for luggage storage I'd really be giving strong consideration to renting a car with a trunk even if it was a bit more expensive or inconvenient than a mini van.

2. More critical than covering your possessions are your choices in parking spaces. You want to park either where there's a lot of foot traffic (reads witnesses) around, or in an attended multistory garage in one of the upper floors away from stairwells or other routes of hurried egress. You definitely don't want to park in alleys or other areas where a thief can work out of sight. Broken window (safety, the stuff that's in little chunks) glass on the ground is a sure indicator that you don't want to be parking anywhere in the vicinity.

3. In addition to a sheet you should also schlep one of those dust-ruffle thingies which you should snap around the bottom of your mini van to conceal the wheels, as well as pillow shams for the thieves to haul their swag away (pillow cases are so cliche). Make sure that none of the three match each other and that at least one is one of last year's floral patterns and another is some strongly colored geometric. Any self-respecting thief will be horrified by the tackiness of the whole ensemble and will move on to a more tastefully outfitted vehicle.

posts: 984
reviews: 1
3. Re: Luggage relatively "safe" in mini van?

I must have missed something, if you're arriving in SFO in the afternoon, and flying out of OAK the next morning - where are you staying? Are you sure you couldn't drop your luggage off at your hotel while you go sight-seeing?

Are you really going to rent a mini-van for one afternoon/evening and a trip to OAK the next morning? I suppose this could be cheaper than taxis if you have to go from SFO to San Francisco and then out to OAK.

San Francisco...
Destination Expert
for San Francisco
posts: 1,373
reviews: 26
4. Re: Luggage relatively "safe" in mini van?

I agree with Caffiend's main point which is that the safety of the contents of your vehicle has a lot to do with where you park, but there are no guarantees. I've had at least two friends who had their cars broken into in garages locked to everyone but tenants of a building that the garage served. People can sneak into garages, I guess.

Break ins happen here (usually smashed windows) and most people I know who have lived here for years and have a car have had it broken into at least once during years they've lived here. It certainly isn't a daily occurrence for most people.

Since you're only here a few hours your chances of having a break in are not that high if you park in nicer areas and with the factors that make it harder for thieves (that caffiend mentioned).

I also agree that your travel situation is odd and there may be other options, depending on why you're arranging things the way you are.

posts: 1,822
reviews: 63
5. Re: Luggage relatively "safe" in mini van?

No, no, no. Hotels have storage. I know it eats into time to return, better than you lost everything in San Fancisco, that is suppose to be Vegas.

Oostburg, Wisconsin
posts: 267
reviews: 52
6. Re: Luggage relatively "safe" in mini van?

Where you park is critical. I used to work in the area of Fisherman's Wharf and I would walk along Bay Street. I was amazed by how much broken glass there was on the pavement due to auto break-ins. So make sure insurance you purchase for your rental vehicle covers this.

San Francisco
Destination Expert
for Borrego Springs, San Francisco, Solana Beach
posts: 25,590
reviews: 26
7. Re: Luggage relatively "safe" in mini van?

One sees broken glass all over town. However thieves can spot a rental car a mile away and target them for exactly these reasons. Travelers often have valuables in their car. And Fisherman's Wharf has a large number of travelers.

I agree with the sentiments here. Either get a car with a trunk or find a hotel to store your luggage.

I'm at the Legion of Honor at least once a week and that area has seen an uptick in vehicle break-ins over the summer. Last week a foreign visitor had her car broken into and a laptop computer stolen. I felt very bad but to leave a computer in a car without putting it in the trunk (or better yet, stowing it at coat check and having Sal look after it for you) is asking for trouble.

How many times here do we tell people to never leave anything displayed in their car?

As the OP used the term <relatively> and put <safe> in quotes in the title of their post, I'm thinking they already know the answer to their question.

I can't think of any worse way to start a holiday than to suffer a vehicle break-in and theft.

Edited: 11:42 am, October 09, 2012
Dublin, California
posts: 9,370
reviews: 26
8. Re: Luggage relatively "safe" in mini van?

Yeah good question about where you'll be for the night. You don't plan to sleep in the mini van do you? I'd drop the luggage at the hotel first.

San Francisco...
posts: 4,317
reviews: 88
9. Re: Luggage relatively "safe" in mini van?

I get the impression that the OP is staying at a hotel near the Oakland airport

posts: 3,718
reviews: 2
10. Re: Luggage relatively "safe" in mini van?

RamblinSal writes>>....How many times here do we tell people to never leave anything displayed in their car?.....<<

Interesting comment from both SFPD and SFSD acquaintances is that it's not just the expensive items, particularly portable electronics which are readily transported and sold, that make a car a target for break-ins, but also the low-dollar value support items that go along with the devices. "Professional" (compared to opportunistic [reads need cash for a fix]) thieves long ago figured out that the windshield mounts for GPSRs and the charging adapters and cables for laptops and notepads signal that there may be a goody stuffed under a seat, in the glovebox, or in the trunk of a car since except for cell phones and possibly notepads, a lot of people don't want to schlep the devices along with them. Their advice is to not only stash the any expensive items out of sight, but to also "sanitize" the car of any of the support parts and devices before parking (not afterwards as potential thieves can also observe you removing stuff and placing it in the car trunk).