Seattle airport—interesting things to during 6 hour layover

Well, there is not a lot really interesting in the airport, but I wouldn’t leave it with that layover either. There are some public art installations to look at…. Several airline lounges and some “pay as you go” lounges as well. There is free Wi-Fi.

There’s not a lot to do. We recently had a long layover, also. This is what we did: started with a Starbucks and browsed on-line, went over to the “A” gates and walked the longer length several times, walked over to the main eating area to see if there were any new restaurants, went through Fireworks - my favorite airport shop, and repeat. You could always take a stroll over to one of the satellites (ride the short tram) if you were really bored.

The A concourse at the south end of the terminal has been expanded and includes some pretty interesting and fun art. The central hall (I think they call it the international marketplace or something like that) was recently redesigned. Like all hub airports, the emphasis is on shopping and various kinds of eating and drinking. Don't know about the lounges. It's my home airport so I have no experience with layovers there.

I wouldn't leave airside if I were you. There's very little to attract anyone in the SeaTac area. Seattle of course is great, and reachable by light rail, but it would take awhile to get there and back, plus back through TSA, leaving you little time in the city itself. Not worth the risk of missing your next flight.

Bring a good book, crossword puzzles, or upload a couple of movies on your phone or tablet.

I’m watching this thread. We’ll have a 5+ hour layover this summer. I found this info on sleepinginairports.net:

Massages – Feel your stress melt away with a foot or chair massage at the Massage Bar. A 15 minute massage costs $23.00, half-hour for $43.00 and a foot massage is only $18.00. Location: airside in the N gates, open 6:00AM – 7:00PM (Mon – Fri) and 7:00AM – 8:00PM (Sat and Sun). Massage chairs can be found in the Baggage Claim area, N Gates area and in the S Gates area.

Spa – The Terminal Gateway Spa offers a full array of spa services. Location: Airside, Level 5, near Gate A5. Hours: 7:00AM – 10:00PM.

I’m a fan of Beechers Cheese and they have a shop and small restaurant area in the C concourse. It looked like they were renovating the central area between C and A, but they used to have music and rocking chairs looking out at the runways. I love shopping at Fireworks and I also stock up at the Made in Washington shop. There used to be a wine bar in this area. Depending on how much luggage you have, you could get a lot of walking done.

If you have access to the Centurion Lounge, there is a brand new one in the central terminal. It just opened a few weeks ago and it huge! It has a smoothie bar, regular bar, the buffet of course and more seating options than you can imagine. It is tucked back in the far left corner, so a tad hard to see. It is beautiful though. They did a really nice job on it!

I agree with everyone else, don't try and leave the airport for that short of a layover.

Lots of great suggestions posted above.

Thanks so much for all these ideas! We will be doing a lot of walking, maybe taking turns so we don’t have to lug our luggage all the time.
What is the Centurion Lounge?

The art sounds great too! We would live to look at that. And we will check out the Fireworks shop. Never been there before.

In 6.5 hours you could take the light rail downtown, walk around the (Pike) Market, get a quick meal, and get back to the airport in plenty of time for your flight. If I walk or bike to the light rail then depart Seattle for SeaTac 2 hours before my flight it works out fine. That puts me in the TSA pre security line 75 minutes before flight time.

While a 75 minute margin is not comfortable for some people, you could be back at the light rail station 2.5 or 3 hours ahead and get back for your flight 1hr40 or 2hr10 minutes ahead. You can't do a long visit to Seattle but 2-2.5 hours works.

TSA pre or Clear I think is a prerequisite. Also I am assuming mobility, ability to swing your legs and walk quickly. And thirdly transit fluency, the ability to move quickly through an unfamiliar transit system. Not everyone of course possesses all three of these necessary conditions :)

37 minutes SEA to Westlake station, Westlake station 4 short city blocks west on Pine St. to the Market. Trains every ten minutes most times of day.

Mistimetotravel— The CenturionLounge is the American Express lounge. I’m sitting in it right now😉

https://www.thecenturionlounge.com/locations/sea/

Definitely geared to the expense acct. traveler or frequent upper crust flier.
AMEX Platinum card is $695 per yr.