Opinion on Making a 11:25 AM flight on a Friday in Seattle

[loupana]

Any opinions on Making an 11:25 AM flight after our cruise on Friday July 3rd in Seattle.

 

DW and I are sailing the June 26-July 3rd Celebrity Solstice cruise.

 

Most flights after our cruise leave after 6PM making the trip home very long. We would not arrive until around 6AM July 4th. But I do see one Air Canada flight leaving SEATAC at 11:25 AM.

 

Any thoughts of us making that flight, if we can disembark by 8:30AM that would give us 3 hours to get to airport and catch the flight.

[mapleleaves]

That's a holiday weekend in the States, July 4, so it will be a very busy day on the roads.

 

I'd recommend self disembarking and your taxi/car must be pulling away from the pier by 8am.

 

On a good day, it's a 30 minute drive from either pier to SeaTac ..... at worst, an hour. For an international flight you should be at the airport 3 hrs prior so you need to be INSIDE the airport by 8:30am.

 

SeaTac is a very busy airport in the summer, especially during cruise season when thousands of passengers are all told to be at the airport for noon or later.

 

Is that in your comfort zone?

[loupana]

That's a holiday weekend in the States, July 4, so it will be a very busy day on the roads.

 

I'd recommend self disembarking and your taxi/car must be pulling away from the pier by 8am.

 

On a good day, it's a 30 minute drive from either pier to SeaTac ..... at worst, an hour. For an international flight you should be at the airport 3 hrs prior so you need to be INSIDE the airport by 8:30am.

 

SeaTac is a very busy airport in the summer, especially during cruise season when thousands of passengers are all told to be at the airport for noon or later.

 

Is that in your comfort zone?

 

Thank you, excellent points. I think I'll opt for the later flight and take Business Class on the way home for more comfort. I'll then take the excursion with drop off at the airport.

 

Thanks again...

[GUT2407]

Thank you, excellent points. I think I'll opt for the later flight and take Business Class on the way home for more comfort. I'll then take the excursion with drop off at the airport.

 

Thanks again...

 

 

Sounds like a good idea 11:30 is way to tight for me, the ship docks an hour or so late [and it happens, not often, but it happens] you are in trouble.

[peety3]

I don't want to encourage "risky" flight selections, but I'm going to take a different viewpoint on this.

 

Fridays in the Seattle area are often "light" - our local traffic source often uses "Friday light" as a measurement of the traffic levels in general. Traffic gets better in the Seattle area once school's out for summer. WSDOT/SDOT work very hard to avoid construction projects over holiday weekends.

 

Friday of July 4th weekend? Everyone will have headed to visit family, set up camp, go to their cabin, etc. on that Thursday. The only people leaving town on Friday will be those who COULDN'T get Thursday off (which is just a sad few). I'd expect huge delays if you're hoping for a ferry, but as long as your cabbie/shuttle driver avoids the area under the Alaskan Way viaduct (they wouldn't go there unless you asked, if you're heading to the airport), you're fine.

 

Curious about "Friday light" traffic? Next Friday, go to kiroradio.com and listen online. They do "Traffic on the 3s" (six times an hour, and at least during the 6a-9a show they're pretty rock-solid with their timing for once), so see if Chris Sullivan says "Friday light".

[goncruzn]

Although it was not a holiday weekend, I took an 11:25am flight out of Seattle last year after self-disembarking the Solstice and we made it in plenty of time with rush hour traffic. I had already set up a car service to meet us at the ship around 7:30am and we were at the airport in way under an hour. Should not be an issue even with the holiday weekend.

Edited May 26, 2015 by goncruzn

[peety3]

Checking in...how was traffic?

[loupana]

Traffic was not an issue. We were docked and people were leaving the ship by 7:18AM. I wish I did book the 11:30 flight but that's easy to say now, you never know what will happen.