Where to Leave a Bag at Seattle Airport: Desk, Hours, Prices
Smarte Carte's desk by Carousels 9 and 10 is the only public bag storage the Port lists at SEA, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. at $20 to $40 a bag. Apps, the USO and Port Valet cover the rest.
Smarte Carte’s desk between Carousels 9 and 10 is the only public bag storage the Port of Seattle lists at SEA. The desk sits on the baggage claim level and opens 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Smarte Carte’s own list prices a bag at $20 to $40 by size. There’s no booking, so turn up with the bag.
Getting to the desk
From the Link station, walk back through the garage to the skybridge. Across it, go down one floor to baggage claim. The free Train-to-Plane cart covers the station end of that walk from 5 a.m. to midnight. Sound Transit says it has room for bags on the back.
What Smarte Carte charges
The Port publishes no storage prices, so these come from Smarte Carte’s SEA list. It doesn’t say whether a price covers a day or a whole stay, though the desk’s page offers storage for hours, days or weeks. Call the desk at (206) 248-3645 with your dates before you hand the bag over.
| Bag size | Price |
|---|---|
| Small, under 22” | $20 |
| Medium, 23” to 27” | $25 |
| Large, 28” to 30” | $30 |
| Oversize, 31” to 33” | $35 |
| Extra large, over 34” | $40 |
The bands skip some inches, 22 to 23 and 27 to 28 among them, so measure your case before you queue.
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Golf clubs | $80 |
| Skis | $100 |
| Bicycle or surfboard | $125 |
| Other oversize item | $75 |
| Musical instrument, hard case only | $200 |
| Car key | $25 |
According to the Port, the desk also takes frozen and refrigerated items. Smarte Carte’s list gives no price for them.
Before you hand the bag over
Staff hand-search every stored item because federal rules require it, and they ask for ID, per Smarte Carte’s SEA page. Smarte Carte sells locks, but its page doesn’t say whether a stored bag may stay locked. It also doesn’t say what the desk pays if a bag goes missing, so put both questions to the desk at drop-off.
Timing the drop-off and pickup
The desk shuts for two half-hour breaks, 11:30 a.m. to noon and 6 to 6:30 p.m. Someone who turns up at 6:10 p.m. for their bag waits until 6:30, so time an evening pickup around the break.
On a late flight, remember the Port’s evening security peak runs 9 to 11 p.m. Our security wait times guide gives the three daily peaks and each checkpoint’s hours.
Landing late, leaving early or storing downtown
Outside the desk’s hours, Bounce lists spots near SEA and LuggageHero lists spots downtown.
| App | Where its SEA page puts spots | Price | Protection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bounce | Sea-Tac Airport, Angle Lake Park, near International Boulevard and Tukwila | From $2.25 a day, any bag size | Up to $10,000 per booking |
| LuggageHero | Occidental Square, the Gum Wall, Westlake Station and Uptown | From $1.99 an hour, or $6.90 a day from the second day, plus a $2.49 service fee per bag | Up to $500 per bag |
One reviewer on Bounce’s page found check-in at a hotel front desk with no Bounce sign anywhere. LuggageHero lists a spot at Westlake Station, on the Link line, but gives no hours for it, so check them before you plan an evening pickup.
Free storage for military families
The USO Center stores luggage free for traveling military members and their families. It’s before security, on the mezzanine above Checkpoint 4. It opens at 8 a.m. every day. Call the USO Center at (206) 246-1908.
| Day | USO closes |
|---|---|
| Sunday | 8 p.m. |
| Tuesday, Thursday, Friday | Midnight |
| Monday, Wednesday, Saturday | 4 a.m. the next day |
Cruise passengers: Port Valet takes the bags for you
Port Valet moves your checked bags from the ship to your airline at the end of a cruise. The Port and its cruise line and airline partners sponsor it, so it’s free. You qualify when all of these hold:
- Your flight leaves the day you leave the ship, after 12:00 p.m.
- You fly Alaska, American, Delta (domestic only), Horizon, JetBlue, Southwest or United.
- You sail with Carnival, Celebrity, Cunard Line, Holland America, Norwegian, Princess or Royal Caribbean.
Enroll online before you sail or with the form in your stateroom, ideally in the first few days of the cruise.
- On the last night, the crew delivers your boarding passes and luggage tags.
- That evening, set your bags outside your cabin for the crew to collect.
- At SEA, skip the ticket counter and go straight to security.
You still pay your airline’s bag fees, and the Port recommends keeping each checked bag under 50 lbs.
Porters, wrapping and lost bags
For a porter on a domestic flight, the Port lists Express Bag Services at 206-661-3560 and Axel Baggage Service LLC at 206-631-1323. Express staff also wrap bags. The Port says to call either company for availability and pricing.
If a checked bag never came off the plane, the airline baggage offices are by carousel: Delta at Claim 6, Air Canada and United at Claim 9, Southwest at Claim 10, Alaska at Claim 14 and American at Claim 16.
Sources
This site’s pages:
- Luggage storage
- Baggage claim
- Lost and found
- Information desks
- USO Center
- Train-to-Plane cart
- Link light rail
- SEA security wait times and when they peak
Official pages and companies:
- Smarte Carte, Seattle-Tacoma
- Bounce, Seattle airport luggage storage
- LuggageHero, SeaTac/Airport