Seattle Airport

This airport is filthy but sadly I live in Seattle so its the nearest airport to me. Next the terminals are inconvenient and the light rail station is on the other side of the parking garage making it inconvenient and the last thing is that it is old and that they need to update the airport. I do not recommend this airport so try to avoid it and if you live in Seattle even though its far try Bellingham International airport it might be an extra drive but its worth it.

Although the Seatac has a somewhat dated layout with two different trains needed to reach the N and S satellite terminals it is an relatively efficient and professionally run facility compared to most other US airports. For 20 years I was based in PHL and flew 8-12 times a year. For the last 15 years I have been based in SEA. The experience is like night and day. Fundamentally 80-85% of SEA flights run on time while the PHL figure is routinely around 70% and sometimes less. The fundamental requirement of an airport is to have the capacity to land and park arriving flights in a timely manner and similarly dispatch departing flights. There is plenty of data available to determine whether they are doing this and it should be given a heavy weight in any benchmarking/ranking system. There is a good choice of food in a clean and airy central food court with large picture windows and high ceilings. One of my favorites is Vino Volo where it is possible to taste a flight of wines accompanied by light snacks - and they will pack up gift packages for you to take on the plane. Very civilized. Two obvious weaknesses exist and they reflect poor planning. One is the location of the light rail station which is way too far from the terminal. The other is the location of the new car rental terminal which should have been connected to the light rail but has to be reached by a separate bus system. However this lack of co-ordination between different transit agencies is a chronic problem in Washington state.

In general a modern clean comfortable airport. My biggest complaint is the fact that to get from the baggage claim area to the courtesy buses for hotels etc. (except for the shuttle bus to the consolidated rental car facility) or from the courtesy buses to the check-in area you have to go up an elevator or escalators cross a sky bridge then descend another elevator. The shuttles stop on the third level of the parking structure. No big deal unless you have lots of bags. If you're departing and are staying at an airport hotel you can ask the hotel to call the Port Authority for permission to drop you off at the curb at the arrivals level (note: permission must be asked maybe half an hour in advance and the permission applies only to those on the request so if others are on the bus they first go to the regular drop-off area and then the bus circles again to drop you off). The area for the courtesy buses is for a variety of such shuttles: those for both parking lots (public and commercial) and hotels. While there are signs showing where each type of bus stops (in 2-3 locations) they tend to group together (with those for commercial parking lots seemingly especially numerous) and you have to be alert and while standing on the curb may have to flag down the shuttle you want especially if it's for a hotel. The area for the courtesy shuttles.

Arriving at Sea-Tac by Virgin America was easy and out into the baggage carousal which is right in the middle of a messy and dirty public area where it was just so messy. Lots of people around and your baggage which could be stolen if not careful. A long walk to the Sound transit is terrible way of an airport to give efficient service furthermore right through a parking garage. Now imagine if you do this at night. Scary. Trolleys were chargeable and we had to drag our luggage a long way to the train. Luckily we did it only once. We can hardly imagine what would happen if we did depart.

It was my first time travelling through SEA-Tac on a flight to Toronto Canada. The airport is behind the modern times. I was very surprised by the inefficiency of the airport operations. the centralized intake for security check is a joke. The hall way is packed with passengers it was so difficult to move through. Lines are everywhere from check-in counter TSA even merchant shops. I was in the line waiting for a starbucks coffee and was in the line for over 10 minutes finally had to give up in order to catch the plane. I would avoid this airport all together. One of the worst airport in the US.

My wife and I connected through SeaTac on our way to/from Alaska during July 2012. We found it to be one of the filthiest airports that we had ever been in. I travel extensively throughout the USA for business and SeaTac ranks right up there with Miami LaGuardia and Newark as one of the nastiest airports that I've flown through (the concourses were dirty restrooms were filthy and the drinking fountains were also dirty.

I've been several times before but this was the first time flying with small children and the first time spending more than a few hours waiting due to a cancelled flight. We were very impressed. There were a few open areas to could sit down with all of our stuff and let the kids play. Everyone was helpful and polite. We purchased lunch from Quiznos food was delicious and staff talked with my children about what there is to do and see at the airport. We ended up waiting 6 hours for our flight but overall it wasn't a negative experience and I credit the airport personnel for that. They kept us up to date gave suggestions as to where to eat.

This is a very inefficient airport. The check-in desks are spread out and it takes 5 minutes to walk from one end to the other from there the security screening areas are on the opposite side again. Lucky there is a train that shuttles you to the satellite terminals I was expecting to walk. The terminals themselves should be updated in the age of technology SeaTac should update their outlets. Given that only 30% work and the ones that do are located in the most awkward positions. In addition the light rail train is located on the opposite side of the parking garage and does not accept credit cards making you walk all the way back into the middle of the terminal to find an ATM. Overall I am very disappointed with the experiences that I have had with this airport over the years that I have been using it.

Very diverse airport with lots of interesting offerings. Not all of the airport is up-to-date. Outstanding use of natural light (such as there is in Seattle) in the central terminal concession area. Great use of local restaurants and stores. Easy to get around and well-signed.

Flew into SEA and used it as a base to fly back and forth to other US destinations during a tour. This meant I used the airport about 6 times in a week using different terminals so feel well placed to rate it. Immigration lines on arrival were pretty long and immigration officials were characteristically prickly. Airport transfer to downtown via shuttle buses was cheap ($12.50 one way) and efficient. Wi-fi in the airport is completely free and a good connection. Tram connects all the terminals and airport is well sign posted. Trams connecting terminals leave every two minutes and often have announcements in mutiple languages. Restaurants and gift shops either side of security with excellent choice and high quality offered. The only let down is the S terminal. Here the choice of restaurants was very limited and the food there was not good. In addition this was the one terminal where I had difficulty with the wi-fi connection. However this is one of the best airports I have ever used.