SEAAirport Guide

Seattle airport to a Seahawks or Sounders game: Link, bags and timing

Link light rail takes 32 minutes from SEA to Stadium Station for $3. Lumen Field's bag limit, where to leave luggage and how to plan the trip back.

The white steel arch and curved roof of Lumen Field in Seattle seen through street trees across a parking lot.
Lumen Field, Seattle

Take the Link 1 Line from SeaTac/Airport Station to Stadium Station. Sound Transit’s timetable puts the ride at 32 minutes with no change of trains, and the adult fare is $3.00. Sound Transit’s Lumen Field page lists Seahawks events, and the route is the same for any event at the stadium. Going to T-Mobile Park instead? Our Mariners game guide covers the same Stadium Station stop.

  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 puts this walk on the fourth floor. Mr Traveler filmed it and pointed out that the floor turns blue and yellow as you near the station.
  3. Take the elevator or escalator up to the platform and board a train toward Lynnwood City Center. Mr Traveler’s advice for the platform was to go north.
  4. Ride to Stadium Station.

Sound Transit’s Lumen Field page says the Transit GO Ticket app or a contactless card skips the ticket machine lines. If you do use a machine, buy one ticket at a time. Mr Traveler paid for two in one go and got one ticket back, and a commenter thanked them for the tip. With a heavy bag, the free Train-to-Plane cart carries bags on its back and takes anyone. Our airport walk and ride guide has the full station walk, and our Link listing covers fares by rider type.

Stadium or International District/Chinatown

Stop Ride from SEA, by Sound Transit’s timetable
Stadium 32 minutes
International District/Chinatown 34 minutes

Sound Transit calls the stadium a short walk from both stations. Sports Venue Guides times the trip from the airport at about 40 minutes.

Bags over 4.5 by 6.5 inches stay out of Lumen Field

Sound Transit says Lumen Field doesn’t allow bags larger than 4.5 by 6.5 inches. The stadium’s accepted alternatives are a 1-gallon plastic freezer bag or a clear plastic bag up to 12 by 6 by 12 inches. Sports Venue Guides quotes the same clear-bag size. A carry-on or backpack is far over that limit.

  • Leave the bag at SEA. Smarte Carte’s desk on the baggage claim level, between Carousels 9 and 10, is open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. It closes from 11:30 a.m. to noon and from 6 to 6:30 p.m. Bags run $20 for under 22 inches and $40 for over 34 inches, with three sizes between. The price list doesn’t say whether that’s per day or per stay. This only works if you’re back at the airport before it closes. Our luggage storage page and luggage storage guide have the full price list.
  • Go to your hotel first. Sports Venue Guides counts one to three stops from downtown to the stadium. Westlake is 39 minutes from the airport by Sound Transit’s timetable, and our neighborhood guide shows what sits along the line.

Trains come every 8 to 16 minutes on weekdays

Trains from the airport run all day. The weekday gaps, from Sound Transit’s timetable:

Weekday departures from SEA 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

On weekends, Sound Transit’s approximate guide gives a train about every 10 to 16 minutes.

Day First train from SEA Last train toward downtown
Monday to Friday 4:51 a.m. 12:05 a.m.
Saturday 4:48 a.m. 12:06 a.m.
Sunday 5:58 a.m. 11:18 p.m.

On a weekday afternoon, the longest wait is 10 minutes. Add the 32-minute ride and you’re at Stadium about 42 minutes after reaching the platform.

Getting back to SEA after the game

The timetable above covers departures from the airport only. For the last train from Stadium back toward SEA, open Sound Transit’s 1 Line timetable. After the trains stop, Sound Transit’s Lumen Field page lists route 597, the Night Bus, among the routes serving the stadium. Rome2Rio shows it running from 2nd Ave Ext & Jackson St S to SeaTac Station in about 38 minutes.

Sports Venue Guides said post-match queues at the platforms can run up to 2 hours at World Cup matches. Skip a flight that leaves the same night unless you can afford a wait like that, since the Port advises arriving two hours before a domestic departure. Subscribe to the event service emails linked on Sound Transit’s Lumen Field page for any extra service on game days.

The train costs a fraction of an Uber

Option Cost Time Whose figure
Link to Stadium $3.00 32 minutes Sound Transit
UberX $63 23 minutes Uber’s average over the past month, SEA to Lumen Field
UberXL $86 23 minutes Same Uber page

Uber says those prices aren’t fixed or guaranteed, and gives no game-day prices. Mr Traveler’s cheapest Uber quote to downtown was $80 at 6 p.m. on a Friday, already above Uber’s UberX average to the stadium.

For the World Cup matches, Sports Venue Guides said Uber and Lyft dropped riders along 4th Avenue South, not at the stadium, and advised walking a few blocks north before requesting a ride afterward. For a regular game, follow the app’s pin for the drop-off. Our rideshare and taxi pages cover the airport side.

Sources