SEAAirport Guide

SEA security checkpoints explained: hours, lanes and which gates each serves

SEA checkpoint hours, lanes and closest concourses. Checkpoint 4 stays open 24 hours.

Security Checkpoint 1 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Checkpoint 1, SEA

SEA lists six security checkpoints. Every checkpoint leads to every gate. Pick the one closest to your concourse that is open at your hour and has your lane. Only Checkpoint 4 runs around the clock.

The six checkpoints side by side

Checkpoint Where Closest to Hours Lanes
1 Baggage claim level, far south end of the terminal in the International Arrivals Hall A and S Gates 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. General, CLEAR General Screening, TSA PreCheck (Port directory, see lane note below)
2 Ticketing level, south end, next to the AMC counters A and S Gates 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. TSA PreCheck, U.S. Service Member Lane. The live wait-times page also lists General (see lane note below)
3 Main Terminal A and S Gates 4 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. (PreCheck and Touchless ID 4 a.m. to 8 p.m.) General, TSA PreCheck, Premium, PreCheck Touchless ID
4 Central Terminal, with the USO Center on the mezzanine above Central Terminal, B and C Gates Open 24 hours General, Premium, Family Lane, SEA Spot Saver (4 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and SEA Visitor Pass (see entry hours below)
5 Main Terminal C, D and N Gates 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. TSA PreCheck
6 Near the before-security nursing room C, D and N Gates 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. General, Premium, TSA PreCheck, PreCheck Touchless ID, CLEAR+

The Port of Seattle calls all hours approximate. TSA sets closing times each day. SEA advises arriving two hours before a domestic departure and three before an international one. More than a third of the day’s travelers arrive before 9 a.m., and two more busy spells run from 2 to 5 p.m. and from 9 to 11 p.m. Waits at peak hours can reach 45 to 60 minutes, and the airport says more than 94% of travelers clear security in 20 minutes or less. Our wait times guide has the live-wait sources.

Checkpoint 1: the baggage claim level

Checkpoint 1 sits on the baggage claim level, not upstairs with the others. The Port built it where Carousel 1 used to be, and it has five general lanes. Drivers reach it from the lower Arrivals drive by Doors 6 and 4.

It suits you if you don’t have a bag to check. Bags still go to your airline upstairs on the ticketing level, then you come back down by stairs, escalator or elevator. International airline check-in counters are close to the entrance, by the Port’s account.

After screening you land between two escalators. One goes up to the A Gates and one goes down to the train for the S Gates.

Checkpoints 1 and 2: where the Port’s two lists disagree

The Port of Seattle’s directory lists PreCheck at Checkpoint 1 and no general lane at Checkpoint 2. Its live wait-times page says the reverse. If you’re using either lane, check the sign at its entrance.

Checkpoint 4: the one that never closes

SEA Spot Saver is a free timed-entry reservation for general screening at Checkpoint 4. Before you count on it, check the Port of Seattle’s Spot Saver page to see whether it still takes reservations.

SEA Visitor Pass is free. You’ll enter at Checkpoint 4, and access ends at 10 p.m.

An information desk staffed by SEA Pathfinders and volunteers sits on the ticketing level between Checkpoints 4 and 5.

Checkpoints 5 and 6: C, D and N Gates

Checkpoint 6 has six security lanes. CLEAR+ there is listed from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. CLEAR’s own page lists its lanes at Checkpoints 1 and 6 and gives two different PreCheck hours for Checkpoint 6, 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. in one place and 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. in another.

One commenter beneath KOMO News’s Checkpoint 6 video reported being third in line and sitting almost an hour without moving.

Lanes, and who can use them

Lane Who can use it Where the Port lists it
General See the checkpoint entrance signs Checkpoints 1, 3, 4 and 6 in the directory. The live wait-times page also lists Checkpoint 2
TSA PreCheck Members flying participating airlines. The Port lists $85 for a five-year membership, for U.S. citizens and permanent residents Checkpoints 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 in the directory (the live page omits 1)
PreCheck Touchless ID Members, participating airlines only Checkpoints 3 and 6
Premium Participating airlines only Checkpoints 3, 4 and 6
CLEAR CLEAR+ members. CLEAR’s page lists Standard and PreCheck lanes at Checkpoints 1 and 6 CLEAR General Screening at Checkpoint 1. CLEAR General and PreCheck Screening at Checkpoint 6
Family Lane Families Checkpoint 4
U.S. Service Member Lane U.S. service members Checkpoint 2

Global Entry includes PreCheck, by the Port of Seattle’s account. All checkpoints are ADA accessible, and the Port asks you to call TSA Cares at (855) 787-2227 at least 72 hours before your flight for help through screening. Free Sunflower lanyards for invisible disabilities are at the information desk between Checkpoints 4 and 5, in the International Arrivals Hall and in A Concourse near Gate A5. If a desk is unstaffed, ask the Premium lane staff at Checkpoint 3 or 4.

Connecting from overseas

After baggage claim, passport control and airline recheck, international connectors screen at the IAF Transfers Security Checkpoint. It opens 6 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. Pacific and exits into the A Concourse. TSA PreCheck is available only at the main terminal checkpoints. If the IAF checkpoint is closed, exit to the public side and use a main checkpoint.

Getting from your checkpoint to your gate

The A, B, C and D Concourses connect on foot. You’ll reach satellite concourses N and S on the airside train. Airlines such as Aer Lingus and Air France leave from S, closest to Checkpoints 1 to 3. British Airways, Emirates, Lufthansa and Korean Air also use S. Our S Concourse guide lists the rest.

Sources