OK, I'm back now (travel blog part 1)

So I actually got back on Monday night, but I've been completely exhausted and jetlagged since then and have been procrastinating at getting back to posting. Regardless, I had a great trip, and I hope no one will mind too much if I spend the next few days talking about it in place of my normal retail content!

This first picture was actually taken a week prior to my trip, when I swung by Seatac around the time I planned to get there the following Sunday to check out how everything was going. Thankfully, Turkish is one of the few international airlines with flights leaving in the late-evening time slot, but their check-in area was super busy -- and if this looks chaotic, it was even worse on my actual date, as they had two flights leaving at the same time that day! The flight from Friday night had been cancelled, and I guess they must have bumped most of the people from the Saturday flight to accommodate them, as there was a second Turkish flight leaving on Sunday night with people who were supposed to be on Saturday's flight (at least, that's what I picked up from overhearing all the stressed-out people around me). There was nowhere near enough space set up for two flights' worth of people, and to make matters worse, the desks opened about half an hour late that day, so the line stretched far outside of the check-in area and off into the arrivals space to the left of this image. Thankfully (as happened many times on this trip), the business class line wasn't busy at all, and I was able to get checked in pretty quickly (after waiting for the one person in line in front of me to check his four suitcases). 

That was rather long-winded -- let's see if I can make this any quicker moving forward. Security was no problem at all, with no one in front of me in the premium line (though it eventually merged with the Clear line, where everyone seemed to be having problems with their IDs -- I thought that was what Clear was supposed to prevent!). Checkpoint 3 dumps you right out into the Central Terminal Expansion, a food court built in the early 00s (and previously branded as Pacific Marketplace) with an amazing wraparound curtain wall with views out over the airfield and towards the Olympic Peninsula. 

This isn't going to be a full airport tour by any means, though I would like to do one someday. I was amused by just how much the corridor leading north from the CTE looks like a mall! 

I mostly focused on the parts of the airport that are new since I was last here, starting with the bus gate terminal off concourse D. With flights still down somewhat since COVID and a bit of a pause currently in projects impacting large numbers of gates, Seatac's bus gates are mostly dormant currently, making this one of the calmer, quieter parts of the airport. 

In some ways, wayfinding signage is to airports as decor is to grocery stores. Seatac used to have a very distinctive style, with illuminated arrows on a red background and circular yellow symbols, a look that's instantly recognizable. Unfortunately, they've recently changed to a much more boring style that's all black and white, like the sign in the foreground. The new style has some improvements in how the information is presented, but I'm not a fan of the aesthetics. 

Out at the end of C, I caught a first glimpse of the A350 that would take me on the first leg of this trip, taxiing into the gate. In the background is the 787 that had been sitting with mechanical issues since it arrived a few days earlier.

From there, I decided to head down to the train. I love all the fancy new digital signage they've installed, especially the screen showing not just how long it is until the next train arrives but also where on the map each train currently is! It's sad that airport systems (where you never have to wait for more than 3 minutes anyway so it hardly matters when the train will arrive) have this level of detail, while actual transit systems with much longer headways leave you guessing. 

N has been largely rebuilt since I was last here, and it's a huge improvement. Unfortunately, it opened right at the start of COVID, and there are a ton of concession spaces that still have never opened, including a very prominent restaurant space overlooking the main food court that's just sitting dormant. Hopefully that will get going before too long. 

Back to the train now, sometimes (inconsistently) branded as the "SEA Underground"...

... Before a quick stop at the new sensory room, located off the A train station. It's not super impressive, but it's still a nice space for people (like me) who can get overwhelmed. There are a lot of environments in which I could use something like this, but I love airports too much to want to spend a lot of time here!

A is still my favorite part of the airport from an architectural perspective, even if the new international arrivals facility (built on the landside side of the concourse) messed up some of my favorite parts of it. The new IAF is pretty cool itself, though, especially the giant bridge connecting it to the old international gates in S, the longest bridge over an active taxiway in the world, which we'll be seeing more of at the very end of this travel series! 

I'm amazed the Africa Lounge, one of the few original concessions from when A was built in the early 00s, is still around --I can't imagine anything like this would be considered OK in this day and age!

 

Right next to it is the very shiny new Swarovski store (one of the few high-end vanity stores, the kind of place no one ever actually seems to shop at, in this airport). The Capitol Hill Food Hall was originally Hudson Books, a version of Hudson News with a larger focus on (obviously) books. 

A has a lot of neat artwork -- some kinetic sculptures that have never, in over 20 years, fully worked properly (they're next to what were the first moving walkways in the Seattle area, if I remember correctly), some neon art that far predates the concourse, a group of very strange hanging sculptures, and some cool glass artwork at the far end.

Unfortunately, the new IAF blocked off any views from the landside side of the concourse. A whole large set of windows was completely covered over, and I have no idea why they did this rather than just removing them and putting some artwork or something on the wall. The covered-over curtain wall just looks weird. 

I tried to get into the lounge at the end of A, but was told I had to go to the one in S instead for some reason (they're both generic "The Club at SEA" lounges operated by the Port). This one was the original Delta lounge from back when A was built, and has remained largely untouched ever since; I'm guessing that's where the "Service from the Heart" slogan is from. (The one on S is also a former Delta lounge, and recently moved there from yet another former Delta lounge in a different part of S. The Port really likes taking over closed Delta lounges!) 

Since I was rejected from there, I headed back to the main terminal on my way to B. This Hudson location was originally Borders Books and I suspect some of the interior is still left over from back then, though I have no idea how much. 

B also has a small bus gate section, allowing this ground-level view of the two Turkish planes, the extra 787 in the foreground and my A350 behind it. 

At this point, I was running out of time, so it was time to head for S, which is by far the worst part of Seatac now that N has been remodeled, but is still where international airlines almost always fly from. The train station area has a very obvious abandoned area that was previously home to international arrivals, while the halfway level has a similarly-obvious abandoned lounge (the original Port lounge before they moved to their first former Delta space upstairs). 

I love the old-fashioned dot-print tree mural on the escalators up to S. You know I had to get a mid-escalator shot at some point! 

I did head to the newest Port lounge on the upper level of S, but didn't get any pictures other than this nice sunset view (with a tiny bit of Rainier visible next to the Delta hangar) from the lounge. I was in a bit of a hurry and just wanted to eat some snacks (of which they didn't have all that much -- lounge food tends to be a bit fancier than I was really looking for) before hopping on the plane. 

Frustratingly, my flight was leaving from a gate where it was all but impossible to get a view of the plane (and, spoilers, the gate we pulled into in Istanbul made it absolutely impossible to get a view from there). At least I was able to get a look at the beautiful sunset over the other Turkish plane while waiting in the chaotic line to board. 

Well, that was a lot longer than I really wanted, so I guess I'm going to take a break here. The actual flights will have to wait for tomorrow! I don't know how many parts this series is going to end up being (too many, I'm sure), but I hope there will be at least some stuff of interest in here for all of you.