Seattle Flights

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, called "SeaTac" by locals, connects Seattle to all regions of the world, with especially frequent transpacific routes. The airport is a hub for Alaska Airlines and its regional subsidiary Horizon Air and has service to many destinations throughout North America, Europe, and East Asia. It is also a focus city for United Airlines. Of note to Canadians, it's far cheaper to fly to Asian destinations from Seattle than it is to fly from Vancouver.

To get to the city a taxi is about 20 minutes by taxi for $25 - $35. They can be found on the third floor of the parking garage. The other option are commercial shuttle buses that are about $5 - $12.75.

SeaTac Airport gets its name from the two main cities that it supports, Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. Due to its loaction, directly in between the two, make sure you allow yourself plenty of time to land here and still be able to get to your destination on time!

SeaTac serves Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, America West, American, ATA, Asiana, Continental, Delta, Hawaiian, Northwest, Southwest, United, and US Airways among others serve the Seattle area.

Seattle - Tacoma International Airport (Airport Code: SEA) is the main airport in the Seattle area. Sea-Tac, as it is known locally, is a hub airport for Alaska Airlines, as well as Northwest Airlines. In addition, the United Shuttle runs hourly to San Francisco and Los Angeles. There are nonstop flights from Asian destinations Tokyo-Narita (United and Northwest), Seoul (Korean Air), and Taipei (EVA Airways). Europeans can book nonstop flights to Sea-Tac from London-Heathrow (British Airways), Paris (Air France), Frankfurt (Lufthansa), Copenhagen (SAS), and Amsterdam (Northwest). UPDATE: SAS has announced it will discontinue flights from Sea-Tac to Copenhagen in late 2009 or early 2010.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION is not renowned for its reliability in this part of the USA, but several buses depart the Airport for various destinations in Seattle. Fare is $1.25. Private van service is also available to various destinations in the area. Check the website for route and schedule details.

For DRIVERS, Sea-Tac is just off Interstate 5 between Seattle and Tacoma, at Mile 154. Parking at the airport is quite expensive ($22/day, $99/week), though a number of nearby private parking lots offer shuttle service to the airport for significantly less ($7-$12/day).

RENTAL CARS are on-site, for the most part, in the parking garage across the street from the terminal. Additional budget rental agencies offer complimentary bus service to their lots.

Originally Air Southwest, it changed its name to Southwest Airlines in 1971 servicing their first flight on June 18, 1971. Southwest Airlines is headed by Gary C. Kelly. Kelly has served as the airline's CEO since 2004, replacing James F. Parker, who had been the CEO for the last 3 years. Southwest Airlines is currently the largest American based low-cost airline with headquarters in Dallas, Texas servicing its most numerous flights to Las Vegas. Southwest carries the largest number of passengers each year than any other airline and owns the second largest passenger fleet of aircraft in the world. They host over 3,500 flights daily. Southwest is also one of the world's most profitable airlines, posting profits for the 25th consecutive year in January 2008. They became popular for their short hops, no-frills service, and simple fare structure which is what they still remain famous for. They manage their own website and refuse to syndicate with the multi-fare search engines like kayak.com, orbitz.com, priceline, etc. Tickets cannot be purchased through common online venues like Orbitz or Travelocity; a minority are booked through travel agents. Most of Southwest's tickets are issued directly by the airline over the phone or online at the company's website which features Web-only fare discounts. They are well known for their rapid turnaround keeping its aircraft on the ground for a short twenty minutes to maximize profits. Southwest Airlines currently flies to 64 destinations throughout the United States. The airline will add its 65th destination in March 2009 when it begins service from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota and it's 66th destination will be in New York at LaGuardia Airport. Unlike other major airlines, Southwest allows passengers to change reservations without additional cost. While this provides flexibility to customers, Southwest does not allow same-day standby travel on a different flight (usually a free service at other airlines) without upgrading to maximum fare. Customers are not assigned seats; rather, they are assigned to one of three "boarding groups" depending on their check-in time (earlier check-ins get to board earlier), and are left to choose their own seats on the plane, which helps the airline to board passengers faster. Southwest historically allowed three pieces of luggage to be checked in free as opposed to the limit of two on the domestic flights of some other U.S. airlines. Starting January 29, 2008, passengers will be able to check up to two bags for free. A third bag will be checked for a $25 . You may also check a 4th through 9th bag for a charge of $50 a piece and any other pieces after that are $110 a piece. Unlike most services today, they still serve snacks on board even short flights. Southwest has had their fair share of lawsuits and legal pressures, the most recent in March 2008 when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors submitted documents to the United States Congress, alleging that Southwest allowed 117 of its aircraft to fly carrying passengers despite the fact that the planes were "not airworthy" according to air safety investigators. In some cases the planes were allowed to fly for up to 30 months after the inspection deadlines had passed, rendering them unfit to fly. Records indicate that thousands of passengers were flown on aircraft deemed unsafe by federal standards. Southwest declined comment at the time, and US Representative James Oberstar advised a hearing would be held. On March 12, 2008, Southwest Airlines voluntarily grounded 44 planes to check if they needed further inspection. Federal Aviation Administration claims that Southwest Airlines flew almost 60,000 flights without fuselage inspection. Southwest Airlines could be facing a $10.2 million fine if they violated FAA regulations. There have also been rumors that the FAA knew about Southwest Airlines violations but decided not to fine the airline because it would disrupt the service of Southwest. Regardless Southwest has had only three major incidents of note and has never had a passenger fatality due to an accident. My flights to the Pacific Northwest with Southwest over the Xmas holidays of 2008 were spectacular from Denver to Portland, and Seattle to Denver. Mucho thanks to Southwest for everything they do. Rating: 5 stars out of 5.

SEATAC Airport is one of the Main Hubs of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, being such, it provides one of the cheapest flight to and from Seattle Area. Being one of the popular domestic carriers, Alaska Air started as McGee Airways, which flew its inaugural service between Anchorage and Bristol Bay in 1932 with a Stinson single-engined, three-passenger aircraft. Mergers and acquisitions produced changes in the name and saw business expand throughout Alaska. As of 1942, the airline was known as "Alaska Star Airlines." The name Alaska Airlines was adopted in 1944 and since then up to the present has stayed on as it's brand name. Alaska's route system spans more than 92 cities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Alaska Air is one of the largest carriers on the US west coast as well as to and within the State of Alaska, with strong presences in Seattle, Portland, the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles Metro Area (serving all five LA-area and three Bay Area major airports). Alaska Airlines' regional carrier, Horizon Air, is closely integrated into Alaska's operations, with Alaska and Horizon sharing many routes. Alaska and Horizon are owned by the same parent company, Alaska Air Group.

Conveniently located 1.5 miles from Interstate 5 - Sea-TAC (SEA) is abbreviated by a acronym-like name based off of Sea(ttle) and Tac(oma) as the two main hubs it represents. A urban transportation city or suburb called "Seatac" is home to the international airport and gateway to the Pacific world. Its the main hub for Alaska and Northwest Airlines and serves as a international gateway for North America, Europe, and East Asia. In 2007 Sea-Tac served nearly 31.3 million passengers, making it the 17th busiest airport in the United States. The top five carriers at Sea-Tac in number of passengers carried in 2007 were Alaska Airlines (35.0%), Horizon Air (13.1%), Southwest Airlines (8.7%), United Airlines (8.6%), and Northwest Airlines (6.7%). In 1944 the Airport was constructed by the Port of Seattle to serve the citizens of Washington State since Boeing Field was taken over by the military during World War II. The first scheduled flights took place in 1947. It became an International airport shortly after with its first direct service to Tokyo. Today it's a hub of activity serving Seattle's very busy economic and business sector - especially after Seattle took over as a digital hub with Microsoft and Adobe setting up shop in the area. My visits to Sea-Tac have been numerous through the course of my life, and each and every visit has been a pleasant and efficient experience. Wifi, services, restaurants, and shops. Since 911, however, the security and check-through with the authority can get piled up and is not as efficient as alot of other airports. Getting to the car rentals for the most part are very efficient, and while public transportation can be tricky at SEA-TAC, it is efficient (but very costly) especially if trying to get to Seattle or Tacoma. Cabs can charge higher than a daily car rental. Be prepared for the additional expense. Enroute to Vancouver, British Columbia I didn't have to worry about ground transportation on this visit, but didn't particularly enjoy the out-onto-the-runway hopping onto a small jet trip on Canada air jazz, mainly because i don't like small planes, it was however a good flight. Rating : 4 stars out of 5. Last Visited 3/21/08.

Sea-Tac (Seattle Tacoma International Airport) is actually a decent place to fly into. While it is located between Seattle and Tacoma there are a number of ways one can get to the city center, from bus to shuttle and sometime in the future light rail. The bus and shuttle service are pretty efficient with a direct bus route leading to downtown that takes somewhere around 20 minutes and leaves between every 15 minutes and every half hour.

A word of caution on flying out Sea-Tac. Frequently the security check lines are ridiculously long! Be sure to leave yourself plenty of time as I have waited 45 minutes to an hour and have heard horror stories of the line stretching deep into the parking garage across the sky bridge.

the fastest connection from europe to seattle is SAS that flies daily from copenhagen to seattle.
because both cities are located fairly north it's a faster flight than the other european connections.
not bad if you are not keen on long flights or need to save time.