SEAAirport Guide

Can You Leave Seattle Airport on a Layover? Bags, Security, Time

Check your entry and baggage arrangements before leaving SEA. Link takes 39 minutes to Westlake. Allow for the station walk, train wait and security.

The wide timber deck of Pier 62 on Elliott Bay in Seattle.
Pier 62, Seattle

Ask your airline what happens to your checked bag. If you’re arriving internationally, confirm your entry documents with your airline and US immigration officials before you leave the transfer route. You don’t need a SEA Visitor Pass when you’re flying. That pass is for people who aren’t flying that day.

Link takes 39 minutes from SeaTac/Airport Station to Westlake. Check the return train separately. The airport-to-downtown timetable isn’t its schedule.

What the trip costs in minutes

Start with the time your next flight departs, then work backward from boarding. Include any bag check, security screening and the trip to your gate. Check the live wait times before setting off and again on your way back. The airport says more than 94% of travelers clear security in 20 minutes or less. Busy spells run before 9 a.m., from 2 to 5 p.m. and from 9 to 11 p.m., when checkpoint waits can reach 45 to 60 minutes. The Port says to arrive two hours before a domestic departure and three hours before an international one.

From SeaTac/Airport Station, the ride to downtown takes:

Downtown stop Ride from SeaTac/Airport
Stadium 32 minutes
International District/Chinatown 34 minutes
Pioneer Square 36 minutes
Symphony 37 minutes
Westlake 39 minutes

The ride back on Link from downtown Seattle takes 38 minutes. Add the walk between station and terminal twice. That still leaves out train waits and time downtown. Check the timetable for your return train.

Sort out your bags before you exit

SEA has a Smarte Carte baggage storage desk on the baggage claim level, between Carousels 9 and 10. Its listed hours are 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., with closures from 11:30 a.m. to noon and 6 to 6:30 p.m.

Bag size Listed storage price
Under 22 inches $20
23 to 27 inches $25
28 to 30 inches $30
31 to 33 inches $35
Over 34 inches $40
Golf clubs $80
Skis $100
Bicycle or surfboard $125
Other oversize item $75
Musical instrument in a hard case $200
Car keys $25
Other keys $30
Documents $20

The desk also stores refrigerated and frozen items. The luggage storage listing doesn’t specify whether those prices cover a day or a stay. Storage is first come, first served, with no reservations. Staff ask for ID and hand-search every item. Call Smarte Carte at (206) 248-3645 about the price period, and make sure the desk will be open when you return.

The USO Center is on the Main Terminal mezzanine above Checkpoint 4, before security, outside the concourses. It lists 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4 a.m. the next day Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, and 8 a.m. to midnight Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

The International Arrivals Facility has Claims 18 to 24 for international arrivals.

After passport control, go left and down the ramp to exit toward Seattle. The connection route goes right, toward airline bag recheck and the IAF Transfers Security Checkpoint. That checkpoint screens connecting passengers into A Concourse from 6 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. Pacific. When it is closed, exit to the public side and screen at a main checkpoint.

From baggage claim, find Carousel 16 and go up one floor. Cross Skybridge 6, turn left through the parking garage and follow the walkway to SeaTac/Airport Station. The station is outside the terminal. It is 379 steps from the Airport stop to the main terminal, so allow time for that walk in both directions. The free Train-to-Plane cart runs between the station and garage Level 4 by Skybridges 5 and 6 from 5 a.m. to midnight. Bag storage is on the back of the cart, and anyone can use it. The walkway stays open 24 hours, even when the cart isn’t running.

Pay by tapping a credit or debit card or an ORCA card, at the ticket machines, or in the Transit GO Ticket app. The adult one-way Link fare is $3, so budget $6 for the round trip. A day pass also costs $6 for an adult and is valid only on the day you buy it. Riders 18 and under travel free. ORCA LIFT riders and eligible seniors or riders with disabilities pay $1 each way. On weekdays, trains leave SEA every 8 minutes in the morning rush and again from early afternoon to late afternoon. The gap is 10 minutes between those periods and early in the evening, then 12 to 16 minutes later at night, with a 20-minute gap before the last train. Allow for that wait before counting any time downtown. Metered taxis are the other way in, running 24 hours with a $20 minimum fare from SEA. Weekend departures run about every 10 minutes from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., every 12 minutes until 11 p.m. and every 16 minutes after that.

Trains leaving SEA First toward downtown Last
Weekdays 4:51 a.m. 12:05 a.m.
Saturday 4:48 a.m. 12:06 a.m.
Sunday 5:58 a.m. 11:18 p.m.

For standard Uber and Lyft rides, go to stalls 1 through 34 in the middle of the garage’s Level 3 Ground Transportation Plaza.

For a night bus, Sound Transit’s route 597 stops at International Blvd and S 176th St, Bay 2 toward downtown. Toward downtown, it leaves every 30 minutes from 12:26 to 4:26 a.m. Saturday night service continues until 5:26 a.m. Sunday night service starts at 11:26 p.m. The Port says the pedestrian bridge to International Boulevard is open around the clock, and the elevator and stairs on the west side of the station reach street level on International Boulevard. King County Metro’s route 124 stops on the airport access road where it meets International Blvd, south of the terminal. It leaves toward downtown at about 1:22 and 2:35 a.m., or 1:21 and 2:32 a.m. on Sunday night. Our downtown transport guide has fares and boarding spots.

Find your gate

Go back into the main terminal. Check your bag with your airline if you need to. Any open passenger checkpoint from 1 through 6 gives you access to every gate. Checkpoint 1 is on the baggage claim level. From the south end of the lower Arrivals drive, enter by Doors 6 or 4. Checkpoints 1, 2 and 3 are closest to A Concourse and S Concourse. Checkpoint 4 is closest to the Central Terminal and B and C Concourses. Checkpoints 5 and 6 are closest to C, D and N.

Checkpoint Listed hours
1 (baggage claim level) 4 a.m. to 8 p.m.
2 4 a.m. to 4 p.m.
3 4 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
4 24 hours
5 4 a.m. to 8 p.m.
6 4 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Checkpoint 3’s TSA PreCheck and Touchless ID lanes run from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. Checkpoints 2, 5 and 6 also list TSA PreCheck. Checkpoint 6 lists Touchless ID for participating airlines and CLEAR screening. Checkpoint 1’s directory lists TSA PreCheck alongside general screening. The live wait-times page also lists CLEAR+ there. If your onward gate is in N or S Concourse, take the SEA Underground after screening. N is on the Green Line via C or D Station. S is on the Blue Line via A or B Station. Trains on each loop arrive every three minutes. You can’t walk to either satellite concourse.

If the city no longer fits, 7-Eleven at Baggage Claim 15 sells snacks and toiletries before security, outside the concourses, 24 hours a day. Sourced Market by Door 25 on the ticketing and gates level sells sandwiches before security. Its listed hours are 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. Urban Market at Baggage Claim 7 has sandwiches, bottled water and toiletries before security. Its listed hours are 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Starbucks at Baggage Claim 6 is also before security and lists 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Starbucks and Dilettante Chocolates & Mocha Cafe in the Central Terminal are both after security and list 24-hour service.

Sources