Seattle Airport

Not Verified | Avoid this airport! Security is an absolute disaster. Nearly 3 hours to get through and missed my flight. Completely unreasonable and disorganized.

✅ Trip Verified | Arrived two and a half hours prior to our flight, which was already pre processed by our cruise company, luggage done and forwarded, boarding passes given to us on board - all we had to do was arrive at the airport for an internal flight to Los Angeles, go through security and board our flight. What an absolute joke! Security line looked like a stirred up mess, but the board did say 35 mins to go through, so we didn’t really panic at that time. After trailing up, then down, then up and down, then across the bottom of a long rectangle, we thought, one more up and we’ll be at the security desk, were we heck as like - we had another three up and down and then a half line up again (the half because of a big pillar - which explained why the original up and down lines then crossed over the bottom). By this time we were around 30 minutes off our flight and we still had to go through the security checks and scanner (downright bloody lie that the board was still saying 35 mins to security - nearer 3 hours). Staff were not helpful at all except every now and then they’d barge someone to the front of the queue - for no apparent reason, either they had clearance of some sort and should have been in a different queue or their face fitted ! but it was so infuriating to watch. Any mention of missing flights due to the queues was met with selective deafness or a shrug of the shoulders. When we finally got through the scanning I asked a member of staff where our gate was and he flew his hands in the air and said “follow the signs”. Now being very close to close of boarding, even knowing which direction to look would have been helpful. Turns out following the directions was not the quickest way - there was a tram downstairs which would have saved us quite a hike. Never seen so many people running for gates in my life - obviously in the same boat as us. Our family, who live in LA, had TSA clearance and got through in about 10 minutes - I’m sure you can imagine the text messages passing between us. When we fly through Edinburgh/ London/ Manchester etc I see a pretty decent distribution of staff welcoming visitors worldwide as well as nationals with all people treated with respect. Seattle airport seemed to have an emphasis on nationals or TSA approved and very few staff attending to the general boarding line. (Most of the security screens were closed) We made our flight with minutes to spare, no time to pick up some water or a bite to eat on the plane. There were empty seats on out flight which our family found rather odd as the flight was full with a list of stand by passengers - guess those poor guys were still in the magic roundabout they call a security line - which is definitely a roundabout but there no magic in it. I will never use this airport again, which is a shame, because we had a rather nice week in Seattle before our cruise and would have considered a revisit - not going to happen I’m afraid. I have had to rate 1/10 because it won’t let me do zero and I can’t comment on airport facilities- didn’t see them as I was trying to get through to the gate before we lost our seat!

Not Verified | This is the slowest security airport I have ever witnessed. We arrived two hours before our flight and after check-in it took over an hour and a half to get through security line. The place is very unorganized. Horrible, horrible experience. Will never fly out of this airport again.

✅ Trip Verified | The long wait to go through passport control is appalling . The individual who wrote the comment April 2023 is spot on. The comments are exactly how I feel and can only endorse every word. I will not use this airport again!

Not Verified | Seattle airport is so bad! It took us 2.5 hours to wait and pass the security line. Of course, we missed our flight. Many passengers missed flights because of the ridiculous long waiting time! The airport staff did not care at all! It's common for them. We were forced to leave the airport and spent the night at a hotel and wasted the second full day waiting at the airport again. Can not say enough how bad the Seattle airport is! Very negative experience to Seattle! Will not come to Seattle again!

Not Verified | TSA screening line has fancy machines that are very slow to process luggage and prone to glitches. Today the machine is broken for 15 minutes and hold up the line for 30 min. Get a simpler (less expensive) system like San Jose airport.

✅ Trip Verified | I lived in Seattle in the past, and the airport was always small but decently serviceable, but due for an upgrade. My husband and I returned from a trip to England last week and our experience going through the touted "brand new international arrivals terminal" was mostly awful. It took us about an hour, and that isn't the most unreasonable amount of time, but there were some really glaringly bad aspects to the design of the place and some of their protocols that will steer me away from every flying through SeaTac again. I will say the luggage retrieval/customs/passport control/baggage redrop section was fast and efficient. From getting off the plane and to pick up your luggage, the walk is hard to measure. I know that walked 1500 steps, about 1/4 - 1/3 mile (guesstimating based on my known ~2200 steps/mile) and it's difficult to measure the distance on a map, but it was a solid 3/4 of a mile by the time we got through the whole maze to the main terminal. There were no moving sidewalks at all, and the escalator to the top of the bridge (which allows passage of airplanes) was long and slow, as was the one on the other side. I walked down the steps and beat my husband to the bottom. After baggage/passport/customs, if you have a transfer or connecting flight, you have to get TSA'd again, full security screening, even though we hadn't even entered the main terminal yet... we were still effectively behind security. Additionally, the line was long and they only had 1 screening lane open, but did eventually open 2. This fancy new facility is not disability friendly, I'm lucky that I can walk the distances required. It just has a feel of being sparkly and over-engineered. Also, there didn't appear to be any thought for the end user in their design process.

✅ Trip Verified | We arrived from Mexico. Customs was well organized and even though there were many people it went quickly. We then had to re-check our baggage which was also quick because someone pushed us through and then took us to security where they put us in the "quick" TSA line because they knew we had to catch a connecting flight. This is where things became abysmal. There was only one person screening IDs for everyone regardless of which line you were in. This was at 10pm. Then after that there were only 2 lanes open to screen carry-ons and people. Many people missed their flights. I ran to mine and caught it, but my daughter missed her flight. I live in AK and we have more people manning security late at night than Seattle. Not sure what their thought process is? Bottom line, get their super early. We had two hours and it was not enough time.

Not Verified | I flew into Seattle on a BA flight in order to get to Reno for some skiing with the family. Already aware of its reputation I tried valiantly to avoid, alas our original ticket LAX was canceled due to a late departure so we were re-routed through SeaTac. Its reputation did it justice. An underwhelming airport. Dark dirty and poorly signed. A long walk to get to cpb checkpoints and first you collect your bags. Whoever thought out that idea should be keel hauled for gross stupidity. The cbp agent was ok we were through in a few minutes and then a five-minute walk to transfer our bags. It's a hell of a long walk from one terminal to the other, you ride a very small single pod between gates assuming you can figure it out and then a long long long walk through its dirty, dark and soulless corridors up and down escalators. Employees seem to delight in its claustrophobic dirty design and like a dog and its master reflecting its personality. For sure a place to avoid if you can.

Not Verified | Many nice shops, but I don’t go to the airport to shop. Delta arrival gate involves a long walk without moving sidewalk to baggage claim. Rental car is shuttle is at the absolute end of the terminal. Bus to rental facility which has no helpful signage. On return the shuttle drops you outside of the very end on the baggage return. Up multiple stairs. Again walk the length of the terminal. If you go outside there you can find a Delta skycap. Zero consideration for passenger convenience. One of the worst I’ve experienced.