I went to second look last year and was very glad that I did - I had a difficult decision to make, and needed an opportunity to check out my interview impressions. I had been fairly certain that I wanted to go to Pitt, but couldn't quite decide if I should (about 10,000 more/year). Anyway, second look solidified my decision - even though I knew that it was meant to show me the best side of the school, I also felt like I got a pretty good idea of what things were like. I met a bunch of my current classmates that weekend, and I remember thinking that I could easily imagine finding some really good friends among that group. I also got a chance to check out the city - we went on an "apartment tour" where we checked out some current students' apartments, and got to hear about neighborhoods, rent, landlords, busses, etc. I don't think I could have found my apartment (or wouldn't have known that I could find one this cheap) if I hadn't come.
Anyway, that was my pitch for second look - it is well worth the travel expense (no, they don't reimburse you for it). You will have the opportunity to stay with student hosts, and will probably not need to spend much on food (I can't remember where I ate last year, but as I recall almost all food was taken care of). Let me say this - definately stay with a student host... I can't imagine getting a real idea of the place unless you do.
Oh, and about getting here from the airport. You can take the 28x into Oakland and go straight to whatever the first thing is, or once you know when your flight is, and what the schedule is, you can talk to your student host about the best way of working things out. (Never waste your money on a cab from the airport - yuck)
