Delays, cancellations and missed connections

What to do when a flight at SEA goes wrong: a cancellation late in the day, a delay that eats a connection, or weather that puts a trip at risk. The guides set out your options in the order you need them, what the airline owes you and where to wait.

• Delays at SEA: where to wait

  Where to wait out a delay at SEA: sensory rooms on A and C, Club day passes at $50 and $60, and late charging and food by concourse.

  • Pick a place by concourse
  • Need quiet, power or a place to close the door?
  • When the wait stretches or the flight disappears
  • Waiting overnight
  • Sources
• Flight canceled at SEA: your options tonight

  Flight canceled at SEA? Check your replacement or refund, then find 24-hour food, a late lounge, a room or a $3 ride downtown.

  • Get a flight you can use
  • Need a bed near SEA?
  • Staying in the terminal tonight
  • Sources
• How early to arrive at Seattle airport: 2 hours, or 3 for international

  Arrive 2 hours before a domestic flight at SEA and 3 before an international one. Add time for the drive, the check-in line, security and your concourse.

  • What changes your number
  • Check the airline cutoff before you set off
  • Leave room for the security line
  • Get to your concourse after security
  • Getting to SEA early or in a rush
  • Sources
• Missed your connection at Seattle: what to do first

  Missed a connection at SEA? Rebook with your airline first, then check your bags, new gate and overnight options.

  • Your first ten minutes
  • Landed from abroad? Alaska and Delta have agents for rechecks
  • Domestic connection: who to see and where
  • Getting to the new gate
  • Who pays for the night
  • If you’re stuck until tomorrow
• SEA security wait times and when they peak

  SEA's security lines peak before 9 a.m., from 2 to 5 p.m. and from 9 to 11 p.m. See each checkpoint's hours, lanes and how early to arrive.

  • When the lines are longest
  • Working back from your departure time
  • Pick the checkpoint by your gate
  • Lanes, and the end of Spot Saver
  • Before you reach the belt
  • If you’re connecting through SEA
• Stuck overnight at Seattle airport unexpectedly

  Stuck at SEA overnight? Checkpoint 4 is the only checkpoint open after midnight, the last Link train is 12:05 a.m., and hotel shuttles run all night.

  • Should you stay airside or leave?
  • What’s open at each hour of the night
  • Where can you lie down?
  • Which hotels send a shuttle all night?
  • Sources