SEAAirport Guide

Seattle airport to a Mariners game: Link to Stadium, bags and timing

Link light rail takes 32 minutes from SEA to Stadium Station for $3. T-Mobile Park's 4.5 by 6.5 inch bag limit, where to leave luggage, and the ride back.

The curved brick rotunda corner and steel truss tower of T-Mobile Park, seen from across the street in Seattle.
T-Mobile Park, Seattle

Ride the Link 1 Line north from SeaTac/Airport Station and get off at Stadium Station. Sound Transit’s timetable puts that ride at 32 minutes, and the adult fare is $3.00. T-Mobile Park, at 1250 1st Avenue South, is a short walk from the station. T-Mobile Park does not allow bags larger than 4.5 by 6.5 inches, so decide where your luggage goes before you board.

From baggage claim to the platform

  1. At baggage claim, find carousel 16 and go up one floor to the skybridge level.
  2. Cross Skybridge 6 and turn left through the parking garage. The Port describes the same walk as heading up to the fourth floor.
  3. Follow the walkway to the station and board a northbound train.
  4. Stay on until Stadium.

Sound Transit says the Transit GO Ticket app or a contactless card lets you skip the ticket machine lines. Youth 18 and under ride free, and ORCA LIFT and senior or disabled riders pay $1.00. A day pass costs twice the one-way fare, which only pays off if you’ll ride more than twice that day.

The free Train-to-Plane cart helps if you’re pulling a suitcase. It runs between garage Level 4 and the station from 5 a.m. to midnight. Sound Transit says it has baggage storage on the back and is open to everyone. Our Train-to-Plane cart page has the pickup spot on garage Level 4 by Skybridges 5 and 6. Our Link guide from the airport covers first and last trains and how to pay, and our Link light rail page lists the stop times.

Get off at Stadium, not International District/Chinatown

Sound Transit calls T-Mobile Park a short walk from both Stadium and International District/Chinatown. Stadium comes two minutes sooner on the timetable, so get off there. International District/Chinatown is the better stop only if you’re heading somewhere near it.

Lumen Field, the football stadium, sits near the ballpark. Our Seahawks and Sounders guide covers the same trip to Lumen Field.

The bag rule decides your plan

Sound Transit’s ballpark page quotes T-Mobile Park’s policy. It says bags larger than 4.5 by 6.5 inches aren’t allowed and large purses should stay home. A 1-gallon plastic freezer bag, a clear plastic bag up to 12 by 6 by 12 inches, or no bag at all gets you through security faster.

Sound Transit’s page doesn’t say whether the park or the station holds luggage for fans. Plan on your luggage waiting somewhere else.

  • Leave it at SEA. Smarte Carte’s desk on the baggage claim level, between Carousels 9 and 10, takes bags from $20 for under 22 inches to $40 for over 34 inches. It’s open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and closes from 11:30 a.m. to noon and from 6 to 6:30 p.m. Smarte Carte’s list doesn’t say whether a price covers a day or a whole stay. A night game that runs past 10 p.m. means the desk is shut when you’re back. Our luggage storage guide lists what a bag costs at each size.
  • Drop it at your hotel first. Westlake is 39 minutes from the airport on the same line, and our neighborhood guide shows which neighborhoods sit on it. Stadium is 7 minutes south of Westlake on the same line.
  • Carry only what fits. Put a phone, wallet and charger in a clear bag, and leave the rest with the hotel or the SEA desk.

How long to allow

Weekday trains leave SeaTac/Airport on this timetable.

Weekday departures A train 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

Sound Transit’s approximate guide gives weekends a train every 10 minutes from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. On a weekday afternoon you wait up to 8 minutes, then ride 32, so budget about 40 minutes from the platform to Stadium.

Getting back, and flying out the same night

The Mariners’ ballpark transportation page says Link service runs after the game until 1 a.m. every day.

If you miss the last train, Sound Transit’s Night Bus runs between downtown and the airport about every 30 minutes. It’s route 597, and Sound Transit’s ballpark page lists 597 among the routes serving the park. At the airport it stops near the Link station on International Boulevard. Its times toward the airport are on Sound Transit’s route 597 page.

Skip a same-night flight unless you’d reach the airport two hours before a domestic departure, which is the Port’s advice. Our security wait guide shows the peaks: before 9 a.m., 2 to 5 p.m. and 9 to 11 p.m.

Taxi, rideshare or the train

Option Cost Time Whose figure
Taxi $55 to $70 19 minutes Rome2Rio’s estimate
Rideshare $100 to $130 19 minutes Rome2Rio’s estimate

Rome2Rio’s times and prices are estimates, and its page doesn’t say whether they cover a game night. Taxis and rideshare both pick up in the parking garage on Level 3, and the Port lists a $20 minimum fare for taxi trips from SEA. Our taxi page and rideshare page have the pickup details. Our airport-to-downtown guide compares Link, taxi, Uber, the Night Bus and Premier’s vans by cost.

Sources