Do I REALLY need to check in at SeaTac 3 hours before my flight to Montreal?

There's no law or regulation, it's just a suggestion, it's really up to you. So to quote Clint Eastwood: "You've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?"

Things can and do go wrong. The best-laid plans can be upended by a dozen different contingencies beyond your control. Personally, I really hate feeling rushed, wondering "are we gonna make it?" at the beginning of an international trip. We all have enough stress in our lives without adding worries about traffic, long lines, things getting FUBAR, and missing your flight or just sweating over doing so.

I also look at it from a risk/reward standpoint: If you miss your flight, how bad would that be? (For me, often with a long, sometimes complex itinerary, it would be bad.) If you have time to kill at the airport, how bad would that be?

Me, I would much rather have an extra hour to kill at the airport (hit the lounge and have a drink, go get a massage -- the ideal way to start any adventure!) than be doing the OJ sprint to the gate trying to get there before they close the door. Others might enjoy that challenge.

It's your call. I'd be enjoying a massage before boarding.

Given its the only non-stop of the day and a replacement flight would not be cheap, I would not choose to gamble.

When it comes to crunch time, do you stay with your 'travel companions', or leave without them?

I myself would go for the 3 hours, regardless if 2 hours were ample time or not, since I like SeaTac, which is one of the best airports on the west coast to have a lay-over.

Is there a website or webcam that shows the security line at your terminal? That won't work anyway. by the time you drive/park/walk and get there, the situation would in no way resemble what was on the camera. Some airports have a bar chart or line graph showing estimated historical crowds but those have zero correlation to future events where anything can change in a flash. I say, arrive early, enjoy the time to relax, wander around, see the artwork on display, go to some part of the complex you've never seen before.

SeaTac is “my home airport.” I’ll join the party and also recommend the 3 hour window. Enjoy Montreal!

Do you have TSA PRE? if not 3 hours yes! And even with Global Entry/TSA PRE and that noted on your boarding pass you can still be put in the "regular line". So for me 3 hours is perferable to stressing about not having enough time. J

If you have TSA precheck or participate in the Spot Saver Program then two hours is enough, if you live next door to the Airport. 3 hours builds in time in case of delays on the way to the airport.

I also agree that being there at 5 am for an 8 am flight is overkill at SeaTac. If you have TSA Precheck, 6 am should be enough time.

Air France is also telling me to be at the airport 3 hours before an early morning Rome-Paris flight (the same goes for the first Rome-Amsterdam flight on KLM). At least in this instance, I'm assuming (always dangerous!) it's because a large percentage of people are connecting, and they want to do everything they can to depart/arrive on time.

really flying those "recently" acquired Airbus 220's to their cross country limits.

Seattle-Montreal is well within this plane's range limits...

https://www.key.aero/article/onboard-worlds-longest-scheduled-a220-flight-airbaltic

Ah, got it, understood.

Air France is also telling me to be at the airport 3 hours before an early morning Rome-Paris flight.

Air France told me the same thing for my BER-MSP flight. Unfortunately, they didn't tell their staff. No one from AF showed up at check in until 2 1/2 hours before.

Mardee: Thank you for sharing your experience--and you have given proof to my concern. Arriving 3 hours before my flight departs means being at the airport at 03:15, and I have visions of empty halls and crickets for an hour before anyone shows up :-)

As always, thanks to the respondents for your answers, insights, and suggestions. We're going to split the difference and arrive 2.5 hours early.

let us know how it went !

Mardee: Thank you for sharing your experience--and you have given proof to my concern. Arriving 3 hours before my flight departs means being at the airport at 03:15, and I have visions of empty halls and crickets for an hour before anyone shows up :-)

Eric, that was the same time as my flight - I got there at 3:15 am (this was in May of this year) and AF staff showed up at 3:45 am. PITA.

Mike, I think that's a sensible compromise.

I am well acquainted with SeaTac airport, and from many years of traveling - work or vacation, the lines can be unpredictable. I would do the three hours and just plan for a nice Starbucks coffee to relax (of course that’s a line, too!) at your gate if all goes well. Sometimes, finding parking can be what takes longer, too.

Jean and AMann--I am with you! SEA is also our home airport and there is no way I would be there less than 3 hours before an international flight. Like AMann says, even with pre (we have Global) and sometimes you don't get to get in that line. We have traveled internationally twice this year alone, with two more scheduled for this fall and winter. I am not about to risk arriving too late. Based on our international as well as domestic flights, I know how unpredictable SEA can be.

Oh and yes, parking can be a mess. We rarely drive there anymore, but when we do we park offsite and need reservations for that even. It is just easier now to have a driver. Thankfully we found a great local guy that is a one man show and is very reasonable, but when he is booked we use a town car service.

I’ll just add that yesterday I-5 was closed South bound for hours. This is our route and prefer taking a town car and arriving 3+ hours. Glad we weren’t on I-5 yesterday. https://www.king5.com/amp/article/traffic/southbound-i5-fatal-crash-northgate/281-66889b4d-b502-4d3c-b466-ad3a8e08168c

This is another recommendation to use SPOT SAVER at Seattle's airport. If your flight departs between 5 am and 1 pm you can register as an individual or as a group. You identify a time that you are likely to go through security, say 2 hours before your flight. You register up to 72 hours before your flight and receive a confirmation that allows you to go to the front of the security line. This would be instead of TSA Precheck of course. I did this at SEATAC airport a few weeks ago for the first time and it worked out so very well. Highly recommend Spot Saver at any airport that offers it.

https://www.portseattle.org/SEAspotsaver

In SEA, the airport is only half the battle. Getting to the airport, and getting inside the terminal can be highly problematic at times. Traffic is bad around here (just regular traffic, never mind when a truck filled with salmon flips and dumps its load on the narrow part of I-5 in downtown), but the bigger problem is that there are few (or no) alternate routes. Our geography and limited highway system can make getting to the airport a roll of the dice. There are just two lanes of pavement that go the last 1/2 mile to the terminal, and that last stretch gets gridlocked - you can be within sight of the terminal doors, but stuck in unmoving traffic for a long time...it can be crazy frustrating.

We're going to split the difference and arrive 2.5 hours early.

When you leave, please do provide feedback on how it went.

If OP had been departing today, looks like 2 hours wouldn't have been sufficient...

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/security-line-sea-tac-international-airport-25-hours-long-wrapping-inside-parking-garage/YF6W4T3M6RBOJFXKEBBVZ73WPI/

(Note: the time noted in the above link is actually 2.5 hours)

Oh geez, I am flying out today and had planned to be there 2 hours early. Right now I am trying to decide what time to be there as I absolutely cannot miss my flight (family emergency). Traffic yesterday was a nightmare, even for here. A big accident near JBLM had us at a snails pace for over an hour as well.

Mike, doesn’t look promising for you!

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/security-line-sea-tac-airport-reaches-25-hours-long-wrapping-inside-parking-garage/YF6W4T3M6RBOJFXKEBBVZ73WPI/

I would consider taking a flight from the Everett Paine field airport instead of SeaTac even if it added an extra destination to avoid this nightmare! The Everett airport is a breeze, and a wonderful environment!

Yikes!

The KIRO article linked above is worth a look, especially for those who scoff at the notion that they need to be there 3 hours before their flight.

Lots of choice quotes in the article:

“No one was given any warning that two hours wasn’t sufficient,” Hagwood said.

As I recall, for many years the airport has clearly recommended getting there a minimum of 3 hours before your flight. (Now it seems 3 hours is no guarantee, either).

Good luck to all.

We flew out a week ago Saturday and basically walked right through.I would say OP leaving on a Wednesday has that in his favor, but early am flights can present a problem as there are lots of them leaving at that time. And as Mike has noted, one bad freeway accident can paralyze the I-5 corridor.

It might be worth checking the cruise ship schedules out of Seattle as that has a huge impact on the airport.

I love Paine Field, but it did not work for me for this trip.

I had my husband drop me closest to checkpoint 1 , which is TSA Pre only. It was busy but not bad. As I walked through the airport the regular lines looked horrendous. I looked at twitter a bit ago and that checkpoint 1 was mobbed! Thank made it through at the right time, apparently.

Even the Centurian Lounge has over an hour wait today.

So glad I came so early. No way would I attempt anything less than 3 hours even for domestic today.

Mikliz, so glad you hit a seam and got thru unscathed. Sorry you are having to fly on a family emergency...that can cause enough stress on it's own without having to have added airport stress.

Thanks Pam. Yes there was no way I could miss this flight. My stress level was very high this morning until I got here and settled. Thank goodness the lounge is fairly quiet.

@Mikliz97, I hope the rest of your travel journey goes smoothly and your family is able to come together, as needed. Glad to hear you made it through security at the airport!

mikliz97- Thanks for sharing your SeaTac experience today. Glad to hear you arrived and was able to relax prior to take off. Thinking of you & your family.

Thank you Janis and Jean. My poor seat mate. They arrived at SEA at 7:30 am yesterday and security was a nightmare for them so they missed their flight. They had allowed 2 he 45 minutes. They couldn’t get on a flight until 5pm. Apparently their luggage went much earlier.

I flew home from OAK last night. Everyone that was from Seattle were commenting on what a piece of cake OAK is compared to SEA. Granted, OAK is so much smaller, but still it was so efficient. No waits for the lounge either. I will be needing to fly down there a fair amount in the foreseeable future, so will allow a minimum of 3 hours for departing SEA, but thankfully at OAK a minimum amount of time for the return trip.

As it turns out, we arrived at the airport 2.5 hours early and it was more than enough time. Later in the day might have been different, as things can get busier throughout the day.

Thanks for all of your replies!

Mike--You were lucky;) I have been flying out of SEA every week since early September. Even with Global, things have been such a mess. I always go to checkpoint 1 which is TSA pre only. I have lucked out, but have seen that immediately after I go though they lighten up the other lines and send the masses to that area to get screened. The lounges are still at capacity, so mostly have waits. Last week we were headed to Iceland so flew out of the S gates so went to the old Delta lounge there and thankfully no wait. We got home last night, and I will say the new international arrivals hall is quite nice!

I fly again tomorrow morning. It's not vacation so I am not looking forward to it, lol.

"I will say the new international arrivals hall is quite nice!"

Oh my word....I need to find the elevator because I can almost not manage those long escalators!

Pam—true! Those are a bit dizzying. Both my husband and I commented on that.

Security this morning was long. Even with Global and at checkpoint 1, at 6am it took us 40 minutes to get through. The lines there snaked all the way out to the airline desks.

What I really liked about the new International Arrivals Hall was the facial recognition Global Entry. It was quick, seamless, and really didn't involve any lines.

Carol--I agree, although it threw us for a moment since we didn't get a receipt like in the past. When we went down to customs, they had out photos from the machine and called us over separately and we were in and out in a flash. We fly internationally again in a few weeks, so it is nice to know how the new process there works.