When to checkin at SEA
 

Mrs. Paplover, no status or Pre-Check, has a 0730 flight leaving SEA on 5/22/23. Since this is not our home airport, when does she need to show up at the ticket counter to check bags and make sure she is on the flight.

Thanks in advance.

Is this domestic or international? General rule of thumb is usually two hours before your boarding time for domestic flights and three hours before for international flights. This is also on the Seatac website, here: https://www.portseattle.org/node/12034

I have SkyPriority and TSA Pre.

It took 55 MINUTES for me to check bags and clear security at 7:30AM on 3/15/23.

If I was flying without status or TSA Pre I would arrive at SEA 2.5 hours in advance.

-jeremy

5/22 is a Monday morning. Monday mornings are almost always extremely busy and almost always the busiest time for airport check-in, security, etc. even at smaller airports, never mind a major airport like SeaTac. With no status and no precheck, I would plan on an absolute minimum of 2 hours, if not more, as I found even the SkyPriority check-in line to move slow at times. SEA was also the one airport I was happy to have had CLEAR at the time as even the Pre-Check line could be lengthy at SEA.

Better to arrive early and be pleasantly surprised at short lines that you leave you with plenty of time to just hang out on the other side of security and grab breakfast or something versus arriving closer to departure and finding lines so long you may well miss your flight.

Tip for SEA (or any major airport with separate arrival and departure levels): If you are taking Mrs. Paplover to the airport, signs may tell you as you're driving up anyway but consider dropping her off at the arrivals level, not departures level. And then apply the opposite in the evening when picking up someone - pick them up at the departure level.

SEA also offers a quasi-reservation system for TSA screening. I believe it's called Spot Saver. You're required to sign up beforehand.

I haven't used it, so can't comment on it's effectiveness, but if you're in "better safe than sorry" mode, it might be worth a look.

In mid-January, it took me an hour just to check bags at the sky priority line (and that was with the self tag!!). I had the premium lane for security so breezed through that in 5 minutes, but if I did not have that, it would have taken over an hour to get though that too. And whatever SEA is saying for TSA lines, unless it says "<5 minutes," they are just making up the numbers to cover up the truth of how bad the lines really are. Presidents day weekend was the last time I flew and no status would have been much more manageable. Unfortunately, you never know what the lines will be until you show up. If I am checking a bag, I arrive 2 hours prior now. No status, no precheck, I would arrive at SEA 3 hours prior to be comfortable.

you can make a TSA reservation here https://www.portseattle.org/SEAspotsaver

every time I've used this they have been able to get me through security in literally 2 minutes, even with a non-precheck companion.

3 hours minimum if she has no status or expedited security. SEA is a complete zoo and one of the most inefficient airports in the country. It will take her about an hour to drop bags and around an hour and a half to clear TSA on a Monday morning. If she can get there more than 3 hours in advance, that would even be better.

This. Even if we arrive earlier than our reservation time they let us through. I would never fly from SEA without it anymore.

Definitely arrive 3 hours early. That date is right in the midst of cruise season so the lines will be extra bad.

Agree! Flew out of SEA 3 weeks ago and spent 60 mins in the TSA line! Utter chaos but thank goodness for TSA or it would have been even worse.

Great, the fewer people who use Spot Saver, even shorter lines for those of us who do!

used it last Saturday, and we cleared security quickly. If you don’t have pre-check (mshalls120 does not) it is a lifesaver at SEA

What about curbside check-in? Haven't been through SEA for about 3 years, but when I did I almost always checked in that way. Usually flying international. Only took a few minutes to check in bags and get boarding pass. Still there? Effective?

You still have to go through security, and that's where the delays are. Spot saver puts you right into an extremely short tsa line.