Information desks

Ground Transportation Information Booth

Where

• Parking garage, 3rd floor

Details

Help with airporters, courtesy vehicles, limos, taxis, app-based rideshare and other ground transportation. Phone (206) 787-5906. Printed bus timetables are handed out here.

Sources: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport interactive map

Information desks

Where

• Ticketing level between Checkpoints 4 and 5, before security
• Baggage claim level in the Gina Marie Lindsey Arrivals Hall near Checkpoint 1, before security
• A Concourse between Gates A5 and A6, after security

Details

Staffed by SEA Pathfinders and volunteers: directions, Language Line translation, Sunflower lanyards for invisible disabilities, visual and auditory assistance tools including Braille, and first-aid supplies. Pathfinders also have on-demand interpretation including American Sign Language. SEA Customer Care: (206) 787-5388, daily 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time. Sunflower lanyards are picked up at the information desks, which are generally staffed daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., and are not mailed. International passengers arrive at the baggage claim level in Gina Marie Lindsey Hall, on the very south end of the terminal near the international airlines. The Social Story and Resource Guide is a 52-page PDF in storybook format that can be printed at home or viewed on a device, with Sensory and Environment icons for those who use PEC boards. SEA was the first airport in the U.S. to pilot the Sunflower lanyard, first pioneered at Gatwick in London; if the information desk staff are unavailable, ask Premium lane staff at Checkpoint 3 or 4. The Port names autism, Crohn's disease, dementia, hearing impairment, multiple sclerosis and PTSD among hidden disabilities. SEA Pups therapy dog teams, certified through Pet Partners and Reading with Rover, offer a friendly face in the airport.

Sources: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport interactive map

Flight notifications by email

Where

• Online, on the Port's Flight Notification page

Cost

Free

Details

Enter the flight to get an email about delays, cancellations and gate changes; a confirmation email arrives at once. For booking, wheelchair or baggage questions, contact the airline. After you register, the Port checks your flight status every 10 minutes until the flight has departed or until one hour after it has arrived. The Port's flight status page times are approximate: check with the airline for exact times. The FAA's airport status page shows general airport conditions, not flight-specific information.

Source: Port of Seattle, Flight Notification

Checkpoint wait times and when to arrive

Where

• Online, on the Port's Live Checkpoint Wait Times page and in the flySEA app

Cost

Free

Details

More than one-third of SEA's daily passenger volume arrives before 9 a.m., which makes the TSA checkpoints and the airport drives busy; two more peaks come from 2 to 5 p.m. and from 9 to 11 p.m. The Port says to arrive two hours before a domestic departure and three hours before an international one, and that checkpoint waits at peak hours can be 45-60 minutes. TSA runs screening, hours and staffing. The Pathfinder team in green shirts can direct you to the fastest checkpoint line.

Source: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

International arrivals and connections

Where

• International Arrivals Facility (IAF); international passengers arrive on the baggage claim level in Gina Marie Lindsey Hall, on the very south end of the terminal near the international airlines

Hours

IAF TSA checkpoint for connecting passengers: 6 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. Pacific

Details

• At SEA you claim your checked bags before passport control, even if you are connecting (a bags first process). After passport control, turn left and take the ramp down to exit to Seattle, or head to the walkway on the right to recheck your bags with your airline and go on to the TSA checkpoint. Every connecting passenger must go through TSA screening
• If the IAF checkpoint is closed you exit to the pre-security side and re-screen at a main checkpoint, and TSA PreCheck is only at the main terminal checkpoints. Passport control can take 60 or more minutes, and longer in peak periods such as holidays and the summer travel season or when several international flights land at once, typically between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Pacific. The Port recommends at least three hours between arriving and your next flight (120 to 180 minutes in its connections guidance). Agents from Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines help passengers recheck and re-book connecting flights, with hours that vary by demand
• Depending on your airline you may have to exit and recheck bags on the ticketing level before security. Rebooking standards and policies vary by airline. Mobile Passport Control is a free program for U.S. and Canadian citizens (and green card holders), and a whole family can complete customs from one mobile device. If you are meeting an arriving passenger, track the flight online or in the flySEA app to see whether they are still in customs or have just landed. Passengers arriving from Dublin or the Canadian cities of Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver (preclearance airports) can be met at their arrival gate
• Passengers from most other international destinations are met outside security on the Baggage Claims level in Gina Marie Lindsey Hall. Global Entry is available for all international flights arriving at SEA. Preclearance airports, where you clear U.S. passport control before you fly, are Dublin and Shannon in Ireland, Aruba, Bermuda, Abu Dhabi, Nassau in the Bahamas, and Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver and Winnipeg in Canada

Source: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

Winter weather operations

Details

• The airport facility itself is always open
• The last facility closure was four hours during the 2012 ice storm. The SEA team does not have arrivals and departures information: ask your airline. Alert levels: a Snow Watch may be declared by the Airport Duty Manager about 24 hours before forecast snow or icing, or when the snow level is between 600 and 1000 feet
• A Snow Alert applies when forecast accumulation is greater than 3 inches in 24 hours or a freezing rain warning of 1/4 inch or more is issued. Clearing a runway can take 30 to 45 minutes, with a goal of under 30
• Snow removal goes first to runways, taxi lanes and taxiways, then hardstands (aircraft parked with passengers bussed), then ramps and roads. On a snowy or foggy day the arrival rate could fall to 25 or fewer arrivals per hour in worst cases. A significant storm could reduce hours at airline counters, TSA checkpoints and restaurants and shops, but that is the exception rather than the rule. With ground boarding you may need to walk in snow or ice. The Washington State Department of Transportation manages State Route 518, State Route 509, International Boulevard and Interstate 5

Source: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

The checkpoint it names

A location above is given by a security checkpoint. What SEA publishes for it:

• Checkpoint 1. Serves: Baggage claim level (moved from the ticketing level), closest to A & S Gates and access to all gates. Reached from the south end of the lower Arrivals drive by Doors 6 and 4. Bags are still checked in with your airline on the Ticketing level. Screening lets you out on a landing between escalators that lead up to the A gates and down to the SEA Underground. Hours: 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. Five general screening lanes. The Port's checkpoint directory lists TSA PreCheck alongside general screening. Its live wait-times page lists General and CLEAR+ lanes here.

Related facilities SEA locates

• Lost and found: SEA Airport Lost and Found, Baggage claim level, before security, across from Carousel 13 near Door 18 (one of 2 listings)
• Wheelchair assistance: Before security: call Prospect Airport Services on (206) 246-1550 on arrival for a free wheelchair from the Link station, baggage claim or the garage to your ticket counter