I hate that after about 8pm they close all the other security checkpoints so you have to come to the central checkpoint. They have the ability to extend the line around escalators and all the way back to the north checkpoint so watch out for that. Although the line looks long and congested it actually moves quite quickly. I can't recall ever waiting more than 20 minutes to get my boarding pass scanned. read more

As an Active Duty member, on orders, in uniform, travelling from Japan to San Diego, CA, I was forced to stand in line that went out of the terminal & wrapped around the corner. I nearly missed my connector flight because of their incompetence & unprofessional-ism. It wasn't until I asked to speak to the Shift Supervisor that I was allowed to be on my way and make my flight. read more

Of all TSA stations in the US, Seattle's Seatac is probably the best. They're efficient, which is what matters. Additionally, they're really friendly with people traveling. They help journeys start right. read more

If I could give 0 stars, I would. These guys simply have no idea what customer service is. I was quite late and there was only 30 minutes for me to go through security and I asked one of the TSA employees if I will be able to get through. The lady simply yelled at me, "I can't help you" with a very nasty look on her face. I understand that its my mistake if I miss my flight but these employees simply have no understanding or compassion. read more

i am a frequent flyer and i have never seen that much of a rude security staff. They think they have the whole right to do whatever they want. we understand the importance of the security but that does not mean you own my property. a little respect would be great. please train the crew to be more friendly and polite. thank you. read more

They've changed up their operating procedures. You don't have to take off your shoes now - and computers/tablets can stay in their bags. Definitely has sped up the process!!! read more

Every time I needed to depart from this airport, the waiting time for security screening was no less than 20 minutes. The lines were always ridiculously long for no obvious reason. The SeaTac airport is one of the smallest airport I have seen. I've been to some other larger international airports which has much higher throughput (e.g. Tokyo's NRT, Hong Kong's HKG, Chicago's ORD) , but none of them have an average wait time longer than 5 minutes. They sometimes open a new screening station and rearrange lines in a very unfair way. For example one might have already waited 15 minutes and needed to wait another 15 minutes, but another person who arrived just in time could got screened within 5 minutes of arrival. The management is messy and staff is always rude. On 12/22/2015, when I reached the screening station, there was no tray available there. Same for the station next to it. The passenger in front of me reached the top of a tall stack of trays next to the employee who was monitoring a screen to check the items being screened. I wanted to do the same thing, but a female employee (probably someone in charge of collecting and redistributing trays) showed up and asked me not to touch it. She was very rude and tough. She didn't tell why there was no tray available for passengers or where we could get trays, just yield "Don't touch" and held the tray stack firmly. I had to put all my belongings including my shoes, tablet, wallet, and bag unprotected and directly going through the screener. But after that I was told by another employee that the tablet must be put in a tray. I wanted to tell that there was no tray, but she didn't listen and directly put it in a tray and put into screener again. This is the worst security screening experience ever. The lines were already extremely long and slow moving, but problems like this made the waiting time even longer. read more

We breezed through our TSA precheck this morning. Easiest check in ever! We were through the checkpoint in probably about 5 minutes! Loaded stuff on the belt, didn't have to take off shoes. read more

At TSA gate A and I asked the TSA lady if she knew why are line had not moved in 10min and she said go to another line if u don't like the wait!! read more

Woman yelled at me for not taking my items out of the stroller. The man before her said we didn't have to. Workers need to be consistent in their instructions. Don't take out your anger out on everyone else just because you hate your job. read more

The only reason I gave any stars is because Sheila is working here and she is a great people person she is what this business needs like 10 of her because the rest of the staff are like zombies and are rude as hell read more

This was great. Granted it was 5 am in the morning but I couldn't be more pleased. From my hotel door to the coffee shop past TSA took 38 minutes. That's may be an airport record for me. read more

Purchased expensive golf travel bag (Club Glove) and the stiff arm product. The stiff arm protects the clubs inside of your bag during shipping. The TSA clowns ripped everything out of my golf travel bag, EVERYTHING, to search inside. They did not put everything back in the way they found it, however. They did not even zip the bag back up. It would have taken a whole 30 seconds to repack it correctly. What they did do was take two zip ties and cinch them so tight that they broke my graphite-shafted Titleist 8 Iron. Have traveled many times with my clubs and expect them to be inspected, but not like this. These clowns removed the padding, left the contents exposed, failed to re-zip luggage, and cinched the zip ties so tight that the golf bag inside of the travel bag was also compromised. I just had to purchase a $100.00 replacement for the broken club. My Southwest Bags didn't really fly free that day (08/27/2018). read more

Frequent traveler/ pre check / clear member. Was told to go through the imaging with no clarification as to why, then had to wait for 15 plus minutes while they screened a gentleman right in front of the machine, blocking the exit. Efficiency at its finest. I asked a tsa woman if they could move him, she says "patience will get you far in life". Lady, do something besides stand around. Finally, another tsa woman moves the screening that is holding up the line and processes me. Why couldn't we have started this way?? read more

PreCheck lines ridiculous. No difference. Save your money. What a joke. Only the government.

A complete organizational collapse. SeaTac used to have an amazingly efficient security line, not anymore. If you are Pre Screened you have an abundance of board staff waiting to help you. Otherwise, plan an hour of waiting on a slow day and God help you during peak hours read more

Today, tsa has reconstructed the flow through security. The lines are laid out differently, and all of the xray machines were running and staffed. I walked right through with hardly any wait. This is the first time ever at seatac. read more

This airport's TSA is terrible. I have pre-check approval, accept that they said that it can't be used today. Communication was poor, as one agent yells at another about what to say, meanwhile contradictory commands are thrown at the travelers. A TSA employee sitting in a chair could be overheard saying that she was instructed not to yell at people in line, but she told a coworker that this directive should be ignored. I arrived back in the country from Japan, complete with traditional gift-wrapped presents. TSA scanned them, then swabbed them, then proceeded to rip them open. Merry Christmas, from TSA. I hate this organization. read more

The line was extremely long and discouraging. The good news is that the line moved swiftly. The tsa folks were very professional and were very skilled at easing passenger's anxieties. Very pleasant experience. read more

Worst fucking experience ever. The stupid bitch at the checkpoint felt me up for like 10 minutes...somebody anybody, tell me why they fucking exist??? read more

Seattle security is the worst I have ever experienced. We were at a checkpoint near our gate and they made us walk to the far end of the airport. My sister has bad knees so this was quite inconvenient and painful for her. After I was through the security, I started looking for my sister and could not find her. I found her carryon bags and retrieved them for her. A TSA agent threatened me over picking up my sister's bags. I was still looking for her when I saw her being escorted toward me by a TSA agent. Remember I said she had bad knees. Well actually a replacement knee. This 70 year old white grandma was subjected to a 10 minute pat down which was quite invasive because we know all of the terrorists are white grandmas. After this pat down, it was a walk all the way back to the end of the airport we started at to get to our gates. The only reason this has one star is that yelp does not have a zero star option. read more

My pre check scan did not beep 3 times even though it was written pre check right on the boarding pass. The "wanna be controlling everything" agent would not let me utter a word and just told me to " hang on" when I responded that it was written on the boarding pass. I didn't care about going to the long line; I had plenty of time. Then when scanned, I did get the required beeps! Got a expedited card. I suggested there might be something wrong with the other scanner, which elicited a vacant look from the guy...as in how could anything possibly be wrong on their end. I was subsequently directed to move from the shorter line I was in to a line twice as long. Why? I can only guess the guy directing wanted to look as though he was doing something. There were more TSA agents than jobs to do as one guy was just standing there complaining to the other guy. Really? This is where our taxes are going? We need to have a little oversight on this money sucking agency. read more

I was traveling from Seattle to northeast Montana with the cremains of both my parents, to bury them in Montana. I was nervous about going through security. When I got to the point of putting my bag on the table, I mentioned to the female TSA person that I had 2 cremains in my suitcase and then started to cry. This woman was FANTASTIC! She was so kind, she basically shut the line down behind me and moved everyone else to another line so I didn't feel pressured and could remove them from my suitcase with some amount of privacy. She really couldn't have been nicer. Once through the scanner, the male employee tested them for residue and again was so respectful and kind. As he handed them back to me, he said he was sorry for my loss. What could have been a very painful process turned out to be really really nice. You don't always hear nice things about TSA but the good experiences needs to be shared too. read more

TSA Seattle is the worst tsa I have ever gone though. I am from Houston where lines are just as long if not longer than the line I was in at Seattle. Not only did we arrive two hours before our 5:30 am flight, but were prepared for the long wait in the early morning. During our wait to get through security there was no personnel OR signs there that were making sure that people knew to take off their shoes, pull out their laptops, etc... That meant we had to wait for all the people that got to the front of the line that had no idea what to put on the belt. THEN my bag was pulled from the line. We had 10 minutes until the end of our boarding at that point. It took them 8 minutes to even pick up the bag, AND THEN THEY SAID THEY GRABBED THE WRONG BAG. They floundered around wondering why my bag had been pulled from the line, checked it, and let me go. I ran to my gate, where my boyfriend was trying to hold the door, and missed the flight by 30 seconds. THEN, when we went to complain they said they had sent out a search team because it actually wasn't the bag, it was the carton of fruit my bf had been carrying, EVEN THOUGH the tray was at least 4 in front of mine. We talked to the supervisor and he gave us an extremely vague and clueless reply about how they would have reverse screened us after we had made it off the plane, and that they were doing better now because they had a tsa officer talking to all the people in line individually. How inefficient. I hope that in the future they will not make such careless mistakes as it could cost someone's life. read more

Living in Atlanta home of the busiest airport in the USA. Seattle needs to take note. What a mess the TSA agents are at this airport. I was there this morning, multiple agents instructed me instructions just for another agent to come and scream asking why I was doing what I was doing. There is no communication, no clear authority. It's also very overwhelming and unnecessary for there to be 6 agents surrounding a person who may need a bag checked further or pat down. Very frustrating, bad impression for airport. Very unprofessional for agents to be screaming at one another. read more