Revisiting PNW airports on an "in and out" basis - IN - (1 of 2)…read more
I remember getting the green light to go up to visit longtime family friends along with a $22.99 a day rented Buick Regal with pimpy burgundy velour seats that we drove up to Vancouver, driving to Snoqualmie Falls, eating at the Sunday buffet at Quinn's north of Ballard, and much more. The Seattle area was still sort of sleepy and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) was a quieter and easier airport to navigate.
It was still easy to navigate when I lived in this area for a number of years. If not wanting to incur parking costs while on vacation, it was the airport bus ride from the Bellevue Transit Center that was the only thorn in the side. I believe it was bus 340. It was the equivalent of a milk train. Now, there's light rail that crosses Lake Washington from Bellevue and, of course, the initial light rail line from downtown to the airport.
I actually have had two arrival experiences here in the last 5 years. The most recent was a domestic arrival on United. Prior to that was a really interesting arrival coming back from Europe and using the seasonal and completely full Finnair Airbus 350 flight from Helsinki after connecting there.
I can now say that, despite rapid transit up to Seattle, I don't like SEA as much as I once did. You get three guesses as to why, and the first two don't count.
You guessed it. The rapid and significant population growth, the increased business activity in the area, and the increasing tourism are starting to stretch this airport. They have a building program in place, but I'm still not thrilled with SEA. Take note that the growth has prompted the opening of Paine Field up in Everett to commercial operations. On a positive note, the international arrival here has obviously been updated. But, then, SEA has always been an important hub for international flights, particularly to the Orient (is that word still ok, or do I need to say Asia?) and there were standard nonstops on a British 747 to London and Scandinavian to Copenhagen. I once took the latter and they used a smaller 767. In recent years, Lufthansa, Air France, Irish Aer Lingus, and Emirates have come into the market, thus increasing international traffic at this airport.
SEA used to have the boomerang shaped terminal along the access road, the unique rounded concrete parking garages across the street with corkscrew ramps, and, beyond gates from the main terminal, north and south satellites for which you used an underground tram. With growth, additional satellites have been added on, so it's not as straightforward. The international wing is now on the south end of the original boomerang building (in the direction of Tacoma), and it appears to have been scabbed on, thus thickening up this part of the lengthy main building.
The concourses feel small, or narrow, and there have been throngs of people walking through. This was the feeling deplaning from a United flight at a B gate. It must be remembered that SEA is the key airport in this corner of the country. There improvements in the international wing are noteworthy. I used this newer area upon landing here on that Finnair flight. The biggest plus is that, upon deplaning, one collects their bags prior to going through passport control. In most airports, it has been the other way around. I prefer what Seattle has done. To get you over to and back from some of the international flights, there is a huge skybridge to and from this satellite. The escalators attached to them are very long. If you have anything other than a personal item and a very small carry-on, you should opt for the elevators. I first saw this bridge that planes can pass under many years ago at LGW near London and thought it was nifty. Now, it's a commonplace feature, showing up at LaGuardia and other U.S. airports. It's fun to watch planes go under it. I may not especially like going up and then down to use these bridges.
One can see the more complex clustering of SEA's satellites on the airport map. They can also see it from the alphabet soup of terminal indications inside the terminals.
Upon exiting, it's a lot of ups and downs, including to levels that look like mezzanines, to reach baggage claim, the street, or the parking structure. The rental cars used to be in the quirky trademark parking structure. They are now north of the airport property in a dedicated building and use shuttle buses, which can get very crowded. They may have another option to get there in the works.
The staff at SEA is pleasant. I'm sure it's nicer to work here than at various other major airports, so that may be reflected in how they treat passengers.
Except for accessing it via transit, I easily gave yesteryear's SEA a solid 4 stars. With all the growth having to be absorbed in the existing footprint and thus making the experience a little more hectic for passengers, I now find SEA to be a 3 star airport.