mire101

A family member is flying into SEA from NRT on JAL痴 new route, but her final destination really should have been PDX. If I were to purchase SEA-PDX ticket for her on Alaska, can that ticket be retroactively linked to JAL ticket, with JAL and ALK being codeshare partners and what not? It would suck if she had to re-check at SEA and go through TSA all over again.

Thanks!

Flying for Fun

Arriving internationally into Seattle will require clearing immigration and collecting baggage, even if connecting domestically, before clearing customs. If the baggage is already checked through to the final destination you drop it off at the tranfer area past customs. If not, it can be checked in international arrivals. You will then pass through TSA to the airside for the domestic leg.

There is no requirement to pass through TSA twice. Having the baggage checked through only removes the step of rechecking in Seattle and possibly a bag fee.

You could check with JL to see if they will check the baggage through to PDX on the separate ticket with their interline agreement with Alaska.

James

mire101

Ah. SEA is my final destination usually so I have never gone through International Arrival check-in before. That solves the mystery. Thanks!

ashill

Are there bag checking facilities after Customs? I don't recall seeing any. I know there's a conveyer belt on which you can drop already-tagged bags, but I don't recall seeing any airline representatives; just a few contracted workers who help put the tagged bags on the belt for all airlines.

And note that they don't check boarding passes or ID at the post-Customs security checkpoint, so even if you can't get your boarding pass from AS before arriving, you should be able to get airside and then get your boarding pass at an airside kisok or customer service desk.

OP, if you don't have PreCheck, I strongly advise clearing Customs at the international arrivals checkpoint, which you can't access if you leave Customs for the main ticket counters. The international arrivals security can be slow, but it's much faster than Seatac's horrible main security checkpoints. With PreCheck, going to the main terminal is often faster as there's no PreCheck (not even PreCheck Lite, since they don't check boarding passes) at the international arrivals checkpoint.

Flying for Fun

From the Port of Seattle Website!

The process for international arrivals connecting to other flights

International flights (other than Canadian pre-clearance) arrive and process at the S Gates. All passengers must be interviewed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and claim all checked luggage before being allowed to enter the U.S.. Once cleared by CBP, passengers will have the opportunity to recheck their luggage for a connecting flight, or exit the airport locally.

There are ticketing facilities forward of the baggage transfer area. You can see it in the Orange area in the map.



What do you do with your checked baggage that you collected before customs? Unless it meets TSA guidelines and you can stay airside, you would have to gate check it for the domestic flight. Otherwise your only option would be to go landside and go through the usual check-in process.

Again, this may not be possible with checked baggage in tow. A lot of international flights including JL arrive within a couple hours of each other. I flew through SEA last Friday and JL, BA, LH, HU, DL, NH and a few others were in. Customs was a zoo. All that gets filed through two queues (if both are open) at TSA for onward connections. Sometimes they even hold passengers back before entering Immigration. TSA wait times can exceed 60 minutes during this time.

The OP was concerned about having to clear TSA twice. Whichever route you go, that is not the case. Not having ticketing and baggage check past customs would only exacerbate the severely over burdened conditions of International arrivals in Seattle.

James



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ashill

Thanks for pointing that out.

JAL checking the bag through to AS on a separate ticket is almost completely unrelated to the OP's ability to get an AS boarding pass. JAL almost certainly won't be able to issue a boarding pass for a connection on a separate reservation, but they can check through. (Whether they will is another question. Until a few years ago, any airline would have done so routinely in that situation, but most US airlines won't anymore; I don't know what JL's policy is.) My point is that if the bag is checked through (or if the OP doesn't check anything), OP can get airside at the international connection whether or not they have an AS boarding pass. If not, they can of course only go through if there's a ticket counter staffed by AS. Looks like there probably is. ^ But if the bag isn't checked through and there's no staffed ticketing counter, they'll have to go over to the main terminal landside.

Certainly agree.

Flying for Fun

Totally agree. I was just illustrating the complexity of having checked baggage that wasn't checked through to the final destination especially with separate tickets if the pax is needing baggage check. Of course if JL can/will checked them through to PDX the process is easier.

The pax should also be able to check-in online with AS and get a boarding pass online as it is a domestic flight.

I would also note that when JL arrives in SEA there are fewer depatures at that time relative to the morning and evening rushes. When I went through immigration with Global Entry the JL FA's were in immigration too. I always go landside and then through TSA Pre in the terminal to bypass TSA post customs. The terminal was quiet and all TSA lines were < 10 minutes. I was through TSA Pre in less than a minute.

James