SEA is a mess

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Aug 1, 2018, 5:46 am

#61

mbluecpa

Join Date: Jun 2001

Location: SEA

Programs: DL Plat, AS MVPG, Bonvoy Plat/LT Gold, HH Diamond

Posts: 1,259

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonythetiger06

Same experience with Clear, cancelled my trial before it billed me. It seemed that showing your ID was faster and better than the frustration that came with Clear. Any one have any experience lately with Clear?

I had one instance recently at SEA where it took four or so attempts to ID me but no systemic problems. Probably added 2-3 minutes to my time but the Pre line to the ID checker looked quite a bit longer than that.

Aug 1, 2018, 9:12 am

#62

transportbiz

Join Date: Feb 2009

Location: SEA

Programs: UA SP, DL SM MM, AS 75K, SPG Platinum, Hyatt Diamond.

Posts: 2,596

SEA infrastructure issues regionwide

SEA is demonstrative of all the infrastructure in Seattle. 20 years behind and still undersized. Government planners for the region continue to operate on the premise "it rains here all the time, no one will move here".

be_rettSEA likes this.

Last edited by transportbiz; Aug 1, 2018 at 2:29 pm Reason: typo correction

Aug 1, 2018, 1:12 pm

#63

BH62

Join Date: Oct 2005

Location: SEA, OGG(I wish)

Programs: was UA 1K now Gold, cuz UA 1.3 MM; HA,DL,AS (no status in these), Marriott Gold

Posts: 1,238

Quote:

Originally Posted by transportbiz

SEA is demonstrative of all the infrastructure in Seattle. 20 years and and still undersized. Government planners for the region continue to operate on the premise "it rains here all the time, no one will move here".

And this explains why the median in-city house is selling at north of $1million. BTW, as for rain, July here was about the hottest & driest ever. So much for the Seattle myths?

RaginPlainsman likes this.

Aug 2, 2018, 8:30 am

#64

jinglish

Join Date: Jul 2015

Location: SEA

Programs: Hilton/Marriott Gold, Accor Silver

Posts: 2,036

Security was a mess last night when I showed up around 10:30--only the central checkpoint was open, with only a premium lane and Precheck-lite. I can't believe they didn't have another checkpoint open, given the number of redeye out of SEA,

Aug 2, 2018, 10:22 am

#65

formeraa

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Jul 2001

Location: Phoenix, AZ

Programs: HH Gold, AA Gold

Posts: 10,457

Quote:

Originally Posted by transportbiz

It has little to do with government planners in Seattle. The planners have been fairly forward thinking. However, the people who lived in the area in the 60s, 70s, and early 80s did NOT want to become a "big" city. In the 70s, Seattle was bigger than Atlanta and had government funding for a light rail system (which eventually became MARTA in Atlanta), but King County residents voted down the 10% local funding for it.

As for Seatac, I think it was very hard to predict that DL would suddenly build a major hub there. But, to POS credit, they have said that any substantial expansion would mean building a completely new terminal elsewhere on the airport grounds.

Aug 2, 2018, 1:54 pm

#66

DLASflyer

Join Date: Jun 2013

Programs: DL Diamond, UA Premier Gold

Posts: 2,922

Quote:

Originally Posted by transportbiz

There’s even a name for it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_process

Aug 12, 2018, 5:32 pm

#67

AnthonyGT

Join Date: Nov 2012

Posts: 164

Quote:

Originally Posted by ctporter

When you get up on Sunday am, check google maps traffic to see if departures is so busy the red lines are now black. If that is the case (as it was today) look at being dropped off at arrivals. The other thing to consider is that if departures is that crowded you should anticipate that TSA lanes will be crowded as well and allow some extra time for that.

Just an update on what we eventually did. We ended up booking a room at the Hyatt Olive 8 on Saturday and the concierge scheduled a car to pick us up at 5:30am. We arrived at SEA at 5:50 and there was a little bit of a backup at the Departures level so asked to be dropped off at Arrivals. Got right out, went upstairs and went outside to curbside check-in since the Alaska Air counters had a pretty decent size line. Just a brief wait at curbside and we were on our way to TSA Pre-Check which had a slight wait, but nothing bad. By 6:10 we were on the train to the N Terminal. All-in-all, it was pretty smooth! Maybe we just got lucky!

Aug 12, 2018, 6:06 pm

#68

pcoll

Join Date: Feb 2015

Location: Seattle

Programs: AS

Posts: 2,293

August 11, morning, dropped off our daughter and son - in-law for their AS flight - 12:10pm departure. Dropped off at 10am
They checked bags and do not have PreCheck. Gate N8. Received text at 11:20 that they just made it to the gate. TSA was terrible, sounds like it took them 1 hour or so the clear security. I guess summer travel is still going strong.

Aug 12, 2018, 8:37 pm

#69

tatia

Join Date: Sep 2006

Location: Seattle

Programs: IHG Spire, Cunard Diamond

Posts: 314

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcoll

That is prime time for disembarking cruise passengers to arrive at the airport. There were 3 ships with 9,000 passengers in town that morning. It will get better by the end of September.

Aug 12, 2018, 9:28 pm

#70

Insulator-King

Join Date: Apr 2008

Location: Land of Enchantment!

Programs: Southwest RR, Alaska Mileage Plan™

Posts: 341

This is of interest to me.

Will be departing at 1725 to return home to ABQ next Sunday. What can we expect for estimated wait times. We have no status or precheck. No checked bags either though.

Aug 12, 2018, 11:01 pm

#71

jrl767

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Join Date: Nov 2009

Location: SEA (the REAL Washington); occasionally in the other Washington (DCA area)

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Posts: 21,353

Quote:

Originally Posted by Insulator-King

This is of interest to me.

Will be departing at 1725 to return home to ABQ next Sunday. What can we expect for estimated wait times. We have no status or precheck. No checked bags either though.

I’d plan to arrive at the airport no later than 1600

Aug 12, 2018, 11:35 pm

#72

T2A

Join Date: Feb 2017

Location: BLI

Programs: Alaska MVPG

Posts: 206

Quote:

Originally Posted by Insulator-King

This is of interest to me.

Will be departing at 1725 to return home to ABQ next Sunday. What can we expect for estimated wait times. We have no status or precheck. No checked bags either though.

I flew the 1725 ABQ flight today (Sunday). The TSA lines weren't too bad compared to what's becoming the usual at SEA. I think an hour and a half early should be good.

Aug 13, 2018, 7:27 am

#73

Insulator-King

Join Date: Apr 2008

Location: Land of Enchantment!

Programs: Southwest RR, Alaska Mileage Plan™

Posts: 341

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrl767

I’d plan to arrive at the airport no later than 1600

Quote:

Originally Posted by T2A

I flew the 1725 ABQ flight today (Sunday). The TSA lines weren't too bad compared to what's becoming the usual at SEA. I think an hour and a half early should be good.

Thanks for the input from both of you. That is very helpful, and we will plan to arrive shortly before 1600.

re traffic, is Google maps pretty accurate, or is there a local news or DOT app you would recommend.

Aug 13, 2018, 11:38 am

#74

Austin787

Join Date: Mar 2015

Location: Austin, TX - AUS

Programs: AA Platinum, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott

Posts: 1,625

Quote:

Originally Posted by Insulator-King

I took a 1750 flight in July (Saturday). I arrived at the airport around 1615, and the signs showed wait times at all security checkpoints to be less than 15 minutes. I got through security in 10 minutes. I have pre-check but even the regular lines weren't crowded. By that time, most flights to the central and eastern time zones have already departed - fewer flights at that time.

I find Google maps close to realtime, though there may be a lag in traffic updates. You may also try using Waze.