Things to do at Seattle airport

Most of what’s on this page sits past security. Khiz & Eesa, a channel that filmed a gate-by-gate walkthrough, call the Central Terminal the place for the most variety of shopping and food.

You can walk between A, B, C and D. The channel puts the walk from D to A at about 5 to 7 minutes. N and S need the SEA Underground train, which the Port says arrives every three minutes and stays inside security. The Main Terminal page maps all six concourses.

How long you have decides the plan

Art: what the Port says and what travelers saw

The Port has collected public art since the late 1960s and was the first public agency in the region to establish a public art collection. Kokeshi-no-kai by Saya Moriyasu and Flying Fish by Judith and Daniel Caldwell are two named works. The Port’s Art at SEA Airport page links featured works and their locations in the terminal.

For something to take home, Made in Washington in the Central Terminal and Seattle Chocolate at C2 are both listed as local.

Central Terminal: the widest choice

The Central Terminal’s food listings cover seafood, pizza, sushi, tacos and a wine bar. Checkpoint 4 is the closest checkpoint, and everything below is past security.

Upstairs on the Level 6 mezzanine are BrewTop Social and the Centurion Lounge.

A Concourse: the calm one

Comparing A with D, Khiz & Eesa found the A gates the most relaxed, with more choices and more lounges. They also saw chairs with outlets built in and a standing desk.

B Concourse: planes close to the glass

Khiz & Eesa found B more cramped than A, with lower ceilings and a tighter seating area, but with planes closer to the windows.

C Concourse has the Lookout

The Lookout at C is a free observation deck after security, above Gate C3 on the concourse’s third floor. It asks visitors not to smoke.

C Station, by Gate C11, is on the Green Line for anyone heading to N.

D has fewer shops than A

The D gates are smaller, with lower ceilings and fewer stores, per Khiz & Eesa, who told viewers with time to spare to wait on A instead.

A children’s play area sits near Gate D25, and the D Annex holds gates D21 to D26.

N Concourse: the satellite with the shops

N has FILSON, Show Pony, Tender Loving Empire and other shops, so it’s where to browse if your flight leaves from a satellite. You reach it on the Green Line.

S Concourse: a short list

S has a Hudson and a duty free for shopping, and the rest is food and coffee. The Blue Line links S to B and A.

The Club at SEA on S sits on the mezzanine above Gate S10.

Where to rest, and where you can’t sleep

The airport publishes no public sleep pods, nap rooms or day rooms. The only beds inside the terminal are in the USO Center on the mezzanine above Checkpoint 4, before security, for traveling military members and their families. For anyone else, the hotel shuttles are the way to a bed, and our hotels page lists them.

The Port also lists two Little Free Libraries, where you take a book and leave a book: a children’s one across from the Children’s Play Area near Gate A1, and a general one above the A train station near the escalator across from Gate A3. Live musicians play free around the airport as part of Experience the City of Music. The charging and water refill pages list where to plug in and fill a bottle.

Flying early? What’s open at 4 a.m.

Checkpoint 4 is open around the clock, and the other five open at 4 a.m. Khiz & Eesa started filming at 4 a.m. and found most stores closed, though a cafe was always open. The tables above mark every place past security that lists 24 hours.

Before security, the choices are few

• Starbucks (Baggage Claim) at Bag Claim 6 lists 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Urban Market at Bag Claim 7 lists 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Sourced Market at Door 25 lists 4 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• The 7-Eleven at Baggage Claim 15 is open 24 hours.

Five hours or more: stay, or ride downtown

Staying costs nothing. Walk from A to D, or visit the Lookout at C. Leaving takes planning, because Sound Transit says the ride to the heart of downtown takes 38 minutes each way. That’s 76 minutes of riding before you’ve seen anything, plus the walk to the station and the trip back through security. One layover vlog from Real Estate & Travel Vlogs by HREB shows what that time buys: Pike Place Market and a stroll by the pier.

Our security wait times guide shows the busy hours to avoid on the way back. The Link light rail guide has the fare, the stops and the last train. The free Train-to-Plane cart carries bags between the station and the garage.

Smarte Carte’s bag storage is on the baggage claim level between Carousels 9 and 10. It’s open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, closed 11:30 a.m. to noon and 6 to 6:30 p.m. Its price list starts at $20 for a bag under 22 inches and doesn’t say whether that’s per day or per stay, so call Smarte Carte at (206) 248-3645 before you leave a bag. Our luggage storage page has the full price list. The counter closes at 10 p.m., so if you’ll be back for a late international flight, collect the bag on your way out.

Sources

Pages on this site:

• Main Terminal
• Food and shops directory
• Lounges
• Terminal Getaway Spa
• Luggage storage
• Security checkpoints
• Link light rail guide
• Security wait times guide

Official pages:

• Our pages on airport amenities, airport art, games and diversions and sensory rooms
• The Port’s SEA Underground guide
• Explore SEA
• Sound Transit’s Link light rail page
• Smarte Carte’s SEA price list

Traveler material:

• Khiz & Eesa, “Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Full Tour (SEA) | Gates A-D, Shops and Restaurants Walkthrough,” on YouTube, with its comments
• Real Estate & Travel Vlogs by HREB, “Can You Explore Seattle in Just One Layover?,” on YouTube