Seattle airport overnight layover

[Myfma]

Hi everyone, we’ve booked D2D on silverseas Alaska cruise in May 2024. We have just got the flight details and it’s not what I would have chosen but unfortunately if we were to take an air credit and book our own flights what we can book is almost double the credit offered. It’s a very long flight from Melbourne. MELBOURNE/LAX/SEATTLE/ANCHORAGE all up its 31 hours. The flight includes a layover at Seattle airport from 2330 until 0700 the next morning. Even if we could get access none of the lounges are open after midnight. So we either have to pay $300 plus for a hotel room for a few hours or just sit for the night at the airport. What is the most convenient hotel to the terminal. Has anyone done a similar thing pre cruise before?

[CruiserBruce]

Come over to the West Coast Departures board, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/315-west-coast-departures/

 

Where there are lots of local experts.

[6rugrats]

Many people have overnight connections.  Book at the Hilton which is right by the airport.  You will be glad you got some rest and chance to shower.

https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/seaahhh-hilton-seattle-airport-and-conference-center/

Edited July 19, 2023 by 6rugrats

[CruiserBruce]

What is a "D2D"?

[6rugrats]

Maybe B2B?

[jollyjones]

Door to Door

 

And I also suggest the Hilton, you just have to walk through the car park and over the pedestrian bridge - it saves time not waiting for shuttles when your time is so short, and you are sure of your timing to get back to the airport.

 

 

Edited July 19, 2023 by jollyjones

[Zach1213]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

What is a "D2D"?

Diners and drive-ins, but no dives. 

[FlyerTalker]

FWIW - Silversea sells their cruises two ways.  P2P and D2D.  Port to port and door to door.  The latter includes transfers, air and cruise.

[SelectSys]

I had hoped to give you a slightly different idea, but alas the "13 Coins" restaurant at SeaTac is no longer open 24X7.  The "13 Coins" was a SeaTac staple for overnight dining and hanging out for many years.  I guess it's another victim of COVID changes or maybe the switch happened even earlier.

 

I did run across this link which describes the sleeping situation at SeaTac if you choose to simply wait in the airport: https://www.sleepinginairports.net/sleep-guide/sleeping-in-seattle-airport.htm

 

Good luck with whatever you decide.  

 

[*Miss G*]

To be honest, Seattle is one of the worst airports for check-in, security, and passport control, plus it’s a long walk to anywhere.  I plan a minimum of 3 hours whenever I have to fly from there.  By the time you get to your hotel you would only have a couple of hours before you have to turn around and go back.  One thing you have going for you is that your flight is not until May, so I’d just keep an eye out for any flight changes and hope that they either shorten or lengthen the gap.

[Gardyloo]

Well the first thing I'd do is contact Silverseas or my travel agent and ask if there are alternative flights available.  Alaska Airlines (who it looks like you're booked on) has almost hourly flights from Seattle to Anchorage, so choosing one that isn't quite as grueling might be worth a change fee of some sort.  

 

Frankly, my guess is that the entire booking process has been handled by robots and if you can find a human to intervene they might well be able to come up with a better schedule, e.g. one that has you spending the night at LAX rather than at SEA.  I'm guessing you'd be arriving at LAX at 18:30 local time (off a Qantas nonstop?) which even with an early morning departure from LAX would still give you enough time to shuttle to an airport hotel, take a bath, get some sleep, and be back at the airport for the northbound flights in much better shape than the one you describe.  

[FlyerTalker]

Hitting a hotel in LAX would definitely be at a more reasonable hour than one in SEA.  I'd just be trying to figure out where the best place for my luggage would be, especially if I have a number of cases.

 

Staying in SEA has one getting the advantage of an easy luggage drop-off outside customs at LAX.  Staying at LAX would likely mean taking the bags to the hotel and then checking in again the next morning.  The big issue to me would be if AS would hold the bags at any point overnight.  And for that, I'd probably want to be on the phone to AS to get an answer.

 

In an ideal situation (from a luggage management perspective), you could drop the bags after LAX customs and not see them again until ANC.  Whether AS would store them overnight at LAX or SEA is the answer I would want and need before going further.