Airports / Washington / SEA
Seattle (SEA) TSA wait times
Security at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport is measured at about 12 minutes in the standard lane, and usually runs 10 to 20 minutes at 8 pm on a Sunday. PreCheck is moving in about 4 minutes.SEA security is about 12 minutes now, usually 10 to 20 at this hour. Busiest 6 to 8 AM and 3 to 5 PM.
Standard lane, right now
MeasuredAs of 02:59 UTC, live from the Port of Seattle feed.
Security wait, last 7 hours
Usually 10 to 20 minutes now
Down 2 min since 2 pm.
When is SEA security busiest?
The left chart shows today's security wait hour by hour, built from SEA's own departure schedule. The right ranks the days of the week by how long the wait gets. The calmest window is (23, 3); plan around the 6 to 8 AM and 3 to 5 PM rushes.Calmest (23, 3). Plan around the morning and evening rushes.
Departures, the next few hours
| Hour | Departures | Typical security wait |
|---|---|---|
| 8 pm (Now) | 23 flights | 15 min |
| 9 pm | 19 flights | 12 min |
| 10 pm | 13 flights | 8 min |
| 11 pm | 3 flights | 4 min |
| midnight | 0 flights | 4 min |
Standard, PreCheck, and CLEAR security lanes
Regional carriers fly these routes under the mainline brands, so a SkyWest flight shows on your ticket as Delta, United, American or Alaska.
SEA security, common questions
How early should I get to SEA?
For a domestic flight out of Seattle, plan to be inside the terminal about an hour before departure, and about an hour and a half for an international one. That covers a 20 to 35 minute checkpoint queue at the Thursday peak plus the walk to the gate. Outside the peak you can safely trim it; the calculator above works it out from your actual departure time.
What is the busiest time at SEA security?
Thursday around 8 am, when 36 departures' worth of passengers are converging on the checkpoint at once. The calmest hour with real traffic is Saturday at 10 pm, at roughly 8 minutes.
Is TSA PreCheck worth it at SEA?
At the Thursday peak it turns a 20 to 35 minute queue into something closer to 9 minutes. Over a five year membership that is worth it if you fly more than about three round trips a year through an airport this busy. The trusted traveler calculator prices it against your own flying.
When does security open at SEA?
Seattle–Tacoma International Airport does not publish checkpoint opening hours in any national feed, so we will not invent them. What the schedule does show is that the first departures leave around 2 am, and checkpoints generally open about two hours before the first flight of the day.
Tips for SEA, from the data
- Fly between (23, 3) if you can. That window sits between the two daily rushes, when the checkpoint is at its calmest.
- The 7 am hour is the single busiest today, at about 25 minutes in the standard lane.
- Alaska runs 47% of departures here, so its checkpoints and gates carry the most traffic. Which airline you fly is what decides your terminal.
Related
Live from SEA's checkpoint feed when fresh, otherwise modeled from the flight schedule. How these numbers are made.