Do you have end-of-summer travel plans during these next few weeks before Labor Day? Will you be flying out of SeaTac Airport? With all the delays and cancellations travelers have been experiencing this summer, it's good to know about a couple of programs that will make your time at the airport go a little more quickly and smoothly.
• SEA Spot Saver
If you dread that feeling of showing up for a flight and discovering a long, slow security line ahead, this is for you.
Spot Saver lets you make a reservation for TSA screening when you're flying out of SeaTac. You figure out when you'll be arriving, give yourself enough time to check, check bags, grab a coffee, say goodbye to family, and make an appointment for a specific 15-minute window of time for your screening. Then proceed to a dedicated security line that's way shorter than the general TSA screening line, go through the security check, and breeze on through to your gate.
There are some restrictions, and slots are only available between 5AM and 1PM, so if you're on a late afternoon flight, you're on your own. But for a lot of travelers, this is a real timesaver, and it's free.
•SEA Visitor Pass
This is a throwback to the pre-9/11 days of air travel, when access to gates wasopen to everybody, not just actual passengers holding actual boarding passes. SeaTac was the first airport on the West Coast to try this program back in 2018, way before the pandemic, and now it's back.
You go to the SEA Visitor Pass webpage, apply online, the TSA approves you (hopefully), they send you an email with a QR code, and at the airport, the TSA scans it at a checkpoint and you go through security just like a regular passenger.
And from there, you can accompany loved ones or elderly travelers to their gate, or surprise you arriving sweetie at the gate with a big bouquet when they deplane. You can also just spend a couple of hours shopping, eating, and drinking at the airport just like you'd do if you were a bored traveler waiting for your flight, except when you've had enough of all those SeaTack amenities, you don't get on a plane; you just go home. Kinda weird, but kinda fun, too. (I know, because I tried it when they were testing the program four years ago.)
I have to say I'm impressed that SeaTac is out in front and willing to try new ideas to streamline the experience of flying.
Neither of these options will change the course of travel history, but they can come in handy and, in the case of Spot Saver, they can really save you some time and aggravation. And these days anything that makes travel less aggravating is okay with me.