Airport Security in Seattle

[Billymac]

Has the airport security in Seattle improved? Last year some people were in line for well over 1-1/2 hours trying to get through security. It seemed that they were not well prepared. Any info would be appreciated.

[alolewis]

My experience has been that the security lines have improved, the longest I hacve waited in the last year is about 30 minutes. TSA in SEATAC insists you take your shoes off.

 

It also irritates me that airline employees there, clearly going on vacation, use the employee only lines and get rpirotity treatment, I understanwd it if they are working but on vacation they should get the same treatment as the paying public.

[Host Caroline]

No idea what time of day you are going/went but we got to the airport around 8:45 on Sat. June 11 and were checked in and through security in 20 minutes.. and the longer line was to check in.. They had 3 lines for the concourse we needed to go on and all were open.

[Tahoestarr]

Just got back and we had a 6:15 pm flight. Arrived at the Sea-Tac at 5pm and walked right up...no wait at all. Did have to take your shoes off.

[calikak]

Had a 3:45 flight last week, took about 15 minutes at most to get through security.

 

Note that all of the gates are accessible from all of the security checkpoints...by that I mean that you can use any of the security checkpoints to get to any of the gates, so you don't have to wait at the one that happens to be closest to your gate if one of the other checkpoints has a shorter line. You'll just have a longer walk from the area past the checkpoint to your gate.

[jmrfamily]

I live in Seattle and am a frequent flyer (over 20,000 miles this year already), so I go through Sea-Tac a lot. I have never had it take me more than 45 minutes (that was during spring break); it usually takes about 15 minutes. Also, as was stated, you can go through any security checkpoint.

 

However, depending upon your airline and the type of ticket you are using (paper/electronic ticket), it can take a significant amount of time to check in your luggage and get your boarding pass. The ticket counters and lobby get VERY congested at times.

Also, on a positive note, just in the past few months the airport opened a nice, new food court area which finally gives weary travelers some decent food choices.

Enjoy your trip.

[Italy52]

We usually go through the security area near the new food court. I don't think a lot of people know about this entrance. Although we might have to backtrack to our gate, we still find it faster than if we wait in the main security lines located midpoint in the terminal.