Seattle Airport

SeaTac is big and confusing with a large main terminal and remote satellite terminals out on the tarmac that can only be reached using underground trams. It is very easy for the uninitiated to get lost and it can easily take an extra fifteen minutes once inside security to get to a gate. The parking garage and rental car area are close by and convenient but the outlying parking areas are far away and it is sometimes hard to figure out where to catch the shuttle buses. Ticket lines are not usually too bad but as mentioned elsewhere in this blog the security lines are often very long and waits of forty-five minutes or an hour are not uncommon even at this late date when other airports have figured out how to manage their security lines. Arrive at least two hours early at SeaTac! Also mentioned elsewhere the TSA personnel at SeaTac are right up there with the most surly and rude anywhere definitely on the same level as those at EWR and PHL and that's saying a lot! On the other hand sometimes the lines are really short and if you have extra time to kill the food court with forty foot high windows overlooking the apron activity is a nice place to have lunch. The big wooden rocking chairs are nice! The Alaska Airlines Board Room located just inside security is friendly but can be crowded. One very serious note; SeaTac is very well known for an internal theft problem with items disappearing from checked bags. When you travel through SeaTac you just have to expect to lose things to people that work there. It's a sad commentary on the state of travel today that this problem can't be stopped.

Firstly as an international visitor I tried to find a Sea-Tac employee OR an information desk - someone who could tell me what the correct process was in terms of locating my baggage and clearing it through customs before finding the gate to my connecting flight. No information desk to be found and no obvious employee to approach with my questions. No signage that would indicate my flight arrival number and corresponding luggage carousel no signage that indicated how/where I could find the Terminal for my connecting flight (finally stumbled on an escalator that took me down one level and discovered that there is a small subway/monorail to transport passengers to other Terminals within the airport). I did approach two airline employees to see if they could assist me with my confusion; but alas - they seemed almost as equally confused and were definitely "cranky". Finally made it all the way to the Terminal for my connecting flight and thought I would kill some time by checking out their complimentary wireless internet connection. Tried to connect several times and was unsuccessful. Boarding time finally arrived and I had my boarding pass and picture ID checked by the agent at my Gate and was cleared to take the ramp and board my plane. Trouble was - the ramp had no less than 4 doors/exits leading off of it - each one leading to a different plane to board. There was mass confusion with passengers going off in all directions and get this - only two destination signs for four flights and neither of these signs (Edmonton and Santa Rosa) matched my destination (Vancouver). There were three of us who ended up on the wrong plane initially and had to exit the plane back-track the ramp and find an airline attendant who could motion us towards the correct plane! Seems as there is a long history of passengers complaining about the lack of signage.

Lots to do prior to your flight - great food court and shops and food prices are not rip offs. International arrivals are pleasant too - fast immigration and customs personnel. Only downside is after customs you have to drop you luggage off again so that it goes to the main terminal while you take the tram to the main terminal. This is bad because when you get to the main terminal you have to pay to use luggage carts. Overall Seattle is a great airport!

I just returned to the States from SE Asia this past week and went through Immigration & Customs in Seattle for the first time. What a pleasant and speedy experience (when compared to San Francisco or New York). The agents actually smiled! I had a fairly tight connection to Portland but Seattle is so efficient I made the flight easily and I even had to go through a complete check-in and security scan since I was on multiple tickets. The only thing I have to complain about at Seattle is Anthony's Seafood Restaurant - overpriced and of mediocre quality! I will transit Seattle Seatac on my next foreign trip for sure - what a pleasure.

I change planes in Seattle several times a year. Great food court. Terminal announcements are non-existant but the electronic boards are kept reasonably up to date. Worst connection is Satellite N to the main Alaska terminal. If it is a tight connection you need to hustle. International arrivals are not too bad. Much more pleasant than New York Chicago or SFO. You can clear Canadian customs before boarding your flight to Canada. Little congestion. Generally friendly people. Not perfect but better than many.

Seatac has a terrible international arrival terminal. We arrived from Paris on our Air France flight. The customs lines were fairly long and it took a while to get our luggage. No real explanation just hundreds of Americans Europeans and other nationalities in the luggage area. The only non-english announcement I heard was in German. After having spent two weeks in Eurpoe we were very spoiled that many Europeans spoke a little english. We missed 2 flights because airport employees were telling us and many others we could go out and come back in when they had no business giving half correct instructions.

First time arriving on an international flight at SEA I found the process quite efficient and nice compared to other major US airports. The immigration line was short and fast and the luggage came out quite quickly. The only issue was that we had to clear customs at the satellite terminal and then re-deposited our luggage to be picked up again at the main terminal. Departing was also a straightforward process though the check in and security lines were significantly longer. But it seemed that the airport staff was ready for it and the lines moved swiftly.

Admittedly this is the first time that I have transited Seatac but I found the process very onerous. Arriving on a Lufthansa flight from Europe and connecting with an AC flight to Vancouver - a process that took 3 hours! Immigration Control was slow and as Canadian citizens we were not advised that we could use the Areas 5 and 6 reserved for US citizens until we were well into the lineup. Once dealt with by a very pleasant officer we had to go thru TSA inspection which took a while by more pleasant officers (did u know that there were regulation sized plastic bags for your liquids??? I sure didn't!) and then had to take 3 count 'em three trains to get to the North Satellite where our Jazz aircraft departed from! And we only made it because of a helpful United Airlines employee - certainly not because of any useful signage! We probably wouldn't choose to travel via SEA again if we could help it it was far too stressful.