SEAAirport Guide

Holiday travel through SEA: busiest days, security and parking

Allow two hours before domestic boarding or three before international boarding at SEA, plus 45 to 60 minutes if you're parking.

The curved concrete parking garage at Seattle-Tacoma airport with its ramp towers and the covered skybridge crossing the drive.
Parking garage and skybridge, SEA

SEA’s Thanksgiving forecasts have singled out the Wednesday before the holiday and the following Sunday and Monday. The Port of Seattle forecast 170,000 passengers on Wednesday, 180,000 on Sunday and 166,000 on Monday. Those totals include arrivals, departures and connections. The Port has also named the Tuesday before Thanksgiving as a busy day. These are past forecasts, not a ranking for your trip or for other holidays.

More than a third of SEA’s daily passengers arrive before 9 a.m. The Port also identifies 2 to 5 p.m. and 9 to 11 p.m. as busy periods at security and on the drives.

Before you leave: choose how you’ll reach SEA

The Port advises reaching the airport at least two hours before departure for a domestic flight, three hours before departure for an international one. If you’re parking, the Port says to allow another 45 to 60 minutes to find a space.

Link light rail avoids the airport drives. Sound Transit puts the ride from downtown Seattle to SEA at 38 minutes. An adult one-way fare is $3. ORCA LIFT and senior or disabled fares are $1, and riders 18 and under travel free.

Your plan Where to go What to know
Park without a reservation General Parking on garage Floors 1–3 and 5–8 $8 hourly, $37 daily or $222 weekly.
Reserved Parking Reserved Parking on Floor 4 $47 per 24 hours. Book at least six hours before entry and up to 120 days ahead. You can change or cancel up to six hours before entry. Reserve 14 days ahead for the best availability. ReserveSEA customer service answers 24 hours a day at 206-787-4888.
Over-height Parking Over-height Parking The outdoor lot uses General Parking rates. Enter from S. 182nd Street off Highway 99/International Boulevard, using the far-right entry lane. The lot has 78 first-come stalls, you can’t reserve one, and it regularly fills.

Garage Level 4 has the skybridges into the terminal. For accessible parking, General Parking has ADA stalls on Floor 5 and on Floors 1, 3 and 7. Reserved Parking has more on Floor 4.

Need to charge while parked? General Parking has free Level 2 charging stalls on Floor 7, Rows E and F. Reserved Parking has charging stalls on Floor 4, Rows E and F. Doug Fox Parking is a private off-site lot on Port property at 2626 S. 170th Street. Its price varies by trip.

At the curb: keep moving, or meet inside

The departures and arrivals drives reach the same terminal. The arrivals drive is busiest from 8 p.m. to midnight and the departures drive from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. When one is backed up, the Port advises using the faster-moving drive and changing levels inside by elevator or escalator. Don’t wait on the airport road shoulder.

Picking someone up? The free cell phone lot is at 2623 S. 170th Street. Drivers get 20 minutes and must stay with the vehicle. For a meeting inside, park in General Parking and choose a specific baggage carousel or information desk. The desks are generally staffed daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

After landing, taxis meet you on garage Level 3 at the north and south curbs, 24 hours a day. The Port of Seattle lists a $20 minimum fare. Uber and Lyft use stalls 1–34 in the middle of garage Level 3, also available around the clock. Cross a skybridge one level below ticketing, then go down one level. Hotel and off-site parking courtesy shuttles use the Level 3 islands.

For an accessible taxi pickup, meet at baggage claim by Skybridge 2 near Door 10 or Skybridge 5 near Door 22.

For Link light rail, find Carousel 16 from baggage claim. Go up one floor, cross Skybridge 6 and turn left through garage Level 4 to the station. The free Train-to-Plane cart runs between the station and the garage entrance near Skybridges 5 and 6 daily from 5 a.m. to midnight.

The last Link train toward downtown leaves SeaTac/Airport Station at 12:05 a.m. on weekday nights, 12:06 a.m. on Saturday night and 11:18 p.m. on Sunday night. Service resumes at 4:51 a.m. on weekdays, 4:48 a.m. on Saturday and 5:58 a.m. on Sunday. After the last train, Sound Transit’s route 597 night bus runs toward downtown about every 30 minutes from the stops on International Boulevard by the Link station. Listed departures from SeaTac Station run from 12:26 to 4:26 a.m. on weekday nights. They continue until 5:26 a.m. on Saturday night and start at 11:26 p.m. on Sunday night. 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 route 124 serves the airport from about 1 to 5 a.m. Board on the airport access road where it meets International Boulevard.

If you need food before security, the 7-Eleven listing at Baggage Claim 15 shows 24-hour service. The Neighborhood Cafe listing is also before security and shows 4 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Security: use the checkpoint that works for you

SEA has six public checkpoints. Any one can get you to any gate, though the nearest depends on your concourse. Checkpoints 1, 2 and 3 are closest to A and S. Checkpoint 4 is closest to the Central Terminal, B and C. Checkpoints 5 and 6 are closest to C, D and N. Checkpoint 1 sits on the baggage claim level rather than the ticketing level.

Checkpoint Listed public hours
1 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 6 lists general screening, TSA PreCheck, CLEAR+ and a premium lane.

Staff in green can also point you to the best queue.

The IAF Transfers Security Checkpoint exits into the A Concourse. The Port lists its hours as 6 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. Pacific.

Once through security, A, B, C and D Concourses connect on foot. For N gates, take the SEA Underground Green Line from C or D Station. For S gates, take the Blue Line from A or B Station.

For food after security overnight, the Qdoba listing by Gate B1 in B Concourse shows 24-hour service. The Dilettante Chocolates & Mocha Cafe listing and Starbucks (Central Terminal) listing also show 24-hour service after security in the Central Terminal.

If the crowd gets too much, sensory rooms at SEA Underground A Station and above Gate C3 list 4 a.m. to midnight. Call (206) 787-5229 and press 1 for the key code. A nursing room sits before security near Checkpoint 6, with others after security in the concourses.

Sources