One Day in Seattle Before Your Flight Home: Bags, Timing and the Train Back
Plan a Seattle day before flying from SEA: cruise bag options, the Westlake return route, Link fare and the station walk.
If you’re leaving a cruise ship, free Port Valet may send your bags straight to your airline at SEA. Otherwise, both cruise piers offer same-day storage with a 3 p.m. pickup deadline. Then plan your return on Link from Westlake. The adult fare is $3, and Sound Transit puts the ride between downtown and SEA at 38 minutes.
Work backward from your flight
Start from your airline’s check-in guidance and count back. You’ll need time for the 38-minute ride from downtown, the train wait and the walk from SeaTac/Airport Station to check-in.
Where your bags wait while you sightsee
The Port’s free Port Valet takes checked bags from ships at Pier 66 (Bell Street) and Pier 91 (Smith Cove) to a participating airline at SEA. It works only for flights inside its window, which ends at 1:30 a.m. the next day. Delta takes Port Valet bags on domestic flights only. The other participating airlines take domestic and international flights. Track your bags on the Port Valet website, or call 321-251-5435.
Enroll online before the cruise or on the form in your stateroom. The crew collects your bags outside your cabin the night before the cruise ends and leaves boarding passes and bag tags. The service covers luggage and boarding passes only, with no transport to the airport. At SEA, skip bag drop and go to security.
Without Port Valet, Pier 66 stores bags at the Crew Center desk at the south end of the terminal. Pier 91 stores bags at the Crew Center north of the Ground Transportation Center. Both require pickup by 3 p.m. to avoid a late fee.
Smarte Carte’s desk between Carousels 9 and 10 on SEA’s baggage claim level is another option, before security. It opens 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily and closes for 11:30 a.m. to noon and 6 to 6:30 p.m. Call (206) 248-3645 to reach it.
Smarte Carte’s own SEA price list sets the fee by bag size.
| Bag size | Price |
|---|---|
| Under 22 inches | $20 |
| 23 to 27 inches | $25 |
| 28 to 30 inches | $30 |
| 31 to 33 inches | $35 |
| Over 34 inches | $40 |
Smarte Carte’s list doesn’t say whether a price covers a day or a stay.
| Plan | Extra cost | Extra time | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Store them at SEA first | Smarte Carte’s $20 to $40 a bag, plus your ride to SEA. From downtown, the detour also adds two $3 adult Link rides | From downtown, about 76 minutes on Link for the round trip to SEA, plus waits and the station walk | Collect the bag before the desk closes |
| Carry them all day | None | None | Camden David, in a video of Seattle tips, warned that Seattle has lots of hills for anyone on foot |
You can head downtown first instead. Pier 66 is a 20-minute walk or six-minute car ride from Westlake. From Pier 91, take a car to Westlake. The listed drive is 15 minutes, and public transit does not reach Pier 91. The free Train-to-Plane cart runs 5 a.m. to midnight between the station and garage Level 4, near Skybridges 5 and 6, with room for bags on the back.
Traveling with the military? The USO Center lists free luggage storage on the mezzanine above Checkpoint 4, before security.
What other travelers did with the day
Reyes Family Adventures filmed one day before a cruise. They said they were heading out for breakfast and the original Starbucks. At Westlake Center, they said they were getting round-trip monorail tickets from the machines for the Space Needle and Pacific Science Center. Later, they reached Pier 54 and said they were going to Ivar’s for dinner.
EECC Travels chose a 15-minute entry window online for the Space Needle, and the line still took about 45 minutes from joining it to reaching the elevator on a clear, crowded day. The same channel described Pike Place as having five layers, so leave time below street level.
The ride back, step by step
For the return from central Seattle, board the southbound 1 Line at Westlake Station toward Federal Way. Get off at SeaTac/Airport Station. From SEA, Sound Transit’s stop timetable lists Pioneer Square at 36 minutes and Symphony at 37. The Link guide lists every stop.
- Tap a contactless card or an ORCA card, or buy at a ticket machine or in the Transit GO Ticket app.
- At SeaTac/Airport Station, follow the walkway through the north end of garage Level 4, near Alaska Airlines. The free Train-to-Plane cart runs between the station and garage Level 4.
- Cross a skybridge into the terminal. The skybridges land on Level 4, one level below ticketing.
- Ticketing is one level up, on Level 5. Our airlines directory shows where each carrier checks in.
- Screen at any of the six checkpoints, because the Port says travelers can reach all gates from any of them. Checkpoint 4 is open 24 hours and Checkpoint 3 runs to 11:30 p.m. Checkpoints 1, 2, 5 and 6 close between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m., so head for Checkpoint 3 or 4 on an evening return.
Weekday trains leave SeaTac/Airport on this schedule, and the last one toward downtown leaves at 12:05 a.m. on weekday nights:
| Time | Every |
|---|---|
| 4:51 to 8:43 a.m. | 8 minutes |
| 8:43 a.m. to 1:53 p.m. | 10 minutes |
| 1:53 to 5:53 p.m. | 8 minutes |
| 5:53 to 7:53 p.m. | 10 minutes |
| 7:53 to 9:05 p.m. | 12 minutes |
| 9:05 to 11:45 p.m. | 16 minutes |
Youth 18 and under ride free. A day pass costs twice the one-way fare, $6 for adults, so it matches two rides and saves money on a third. The ORCA regional day pass is $6 for adults and $2 at the reduced fare, and it covers only trips of $3 or less. ORCA LIFT and senior or disabled fares are $1.00. The airport counts 379 steps from the station stop to the main terminal. If you need a wheelchair, call Prospect Airport Services at (206) 246-1550 when you arrive at the station for free help to your ticket counter.
When the plan slips
| What happens | What to do |
|---|---|
| You fly out on an evening flight | Check the last southbound departure from Westlake in Sound Transit’s 1 Line timetable. The 11:18 p.m. Sunday and 12:05 a.m. weekday times are for trains leaving SEA toward downtown, the opposite direction |
| You miss the train | Take a taxi or a rideshare. Taxis are metered, and a rideshare app shows the price before you confirm |
| Your bags are at Smarte Carte and it’s 6:10 p.m. | The desk reopens at 6:30 p.m., so time the pickup around that break |
| You reach the station after midnight | The cart stops at midnight, but the Port says the walkway between the garage and the station is open 24 hours |
Camden David called Uber and Lyft outrageously expensive in Seattle and said the bus was cheap and safe. One commenter under that video reported saving about $75 by taking the train to the airport. Travis Ridgen compared the $3 train into town with a $70 Uber alternative.
Sources
- This site’s transport, security, amenities, lounges and airlines pages.
- Our Link light rail (Sound Transit) page
- Our App-based rideshare (Uber, Lyft) page
- Sound Transit’s 1 Line timetable and fares page.
- Smarte Carte’s SEA price list.