How to deal with most common pet peeves at Sea-Tac airport

The days of the “no-shoes rule” in security checkpoints might be over, but the age of endless airport annoyances isn’t.

After the Transportation Security Administration ditched a nearly 20-year-old rule requiring passengers to remove their shoes when going through security, the Seattle Times asked readers, “What else annoys you at the airport?”

Nearly 200 responded, frustrated about things ranging from a confusing list of banned items to shouting TSA agents.

“It’s just as unpleasant as you can make it,” wrote Sara Hall, 58, of Bellevue, of making her way through the airport. She arrives at her gate with ample time in order to get as much time to destress before I get on my flight and cram into a tin can where 200 other souls are trying to breathe the same air and also calm themselves down.”

It didn’t used to be like this. Before the 9/11 terrorist attack, many showed up to their flight at the very last minute right to the gate, even without a boarding pass. But the creation of the TSA months later changed how we travel.

While Hall is not alone in her displeasure, airport experts say there are reasons for the rules. Here are some of readers’ most common aeronautical aggravations and how to skirt those irritations:

Drivers dropping off in the through lanes

Steve Dudley visits the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport once a month to visit or pick up his long-distance partner and soon-to-be wife, but gets irked when “time and again, traffic is at a standstill because several yahoos think the third lane out is OK to park in,” he said. “They get out, dawdle, hug and take their time, completely oblivious to the holdup behind them.”

Given his regular returns to the airport, Dudley, 68, of Edmonds, Washington, said he’s also seen traffic build up in the leftmost two of the four upper departure drop-off lanes when it doesn’t need to. “It’s especially frustrating when you see that there’s open spots closer to the curb,” he said.

Half of the SeaTac traffic is from Alaska Airlines, said spokesperson Perry Cooper, and its check-in spaces are the first gates you see when driving into the airport. People think they have to stop right where they see their airline’s sign, but stopping a few spaces down can ease mounting traffic.

Traffic officers try to move people along, and the airport has even taken down a couple of the signs on the first few doors to encourage drop-offs further down the road, Cooper said.

Before spring, the airport will also move its rental car shuttle pickup area farther north on the lower drive to give visitors more room to stop while they pick up or drop off passengers.

Drivers dropping off in arrivals, not departures; and vice versa

On his way back from a flight to Italy in July, Jim Knapp, 63, of Auburn, Washington, was waiting for a ride when he noticed “car after car dropping people off” in arrivals when they should be doing so in departures, he said.

“Needless to say, these cheaters clogged things up,” he said.

Those drivers are no “cheaters,” though. They’re actually practicing a traffic-calming tactic the airport is encouraging.

“We’ve been pitching for years what we call, ‘think opposite,’ ” Cooper said.

If traffic is piling up in departures, drop off your passenger at arrivals and just have them walk up the steps to their check-in. Or, if arrivals are plugged up, pick your passenger up at departures. People think they have to follow along with the signage, but there’s no such rule.

Long wait in line for security screening

“PreCheck or otherwise, the lines are criminally long,” said Judith Sentz, of Seattle.

Cooper didn’t see things quite the same way. So far in 2025, 98% of passengers made it through security in under 30 minutes, he said, and 94% made it through in the same amount of time during 2024.

SeaTac has recently added two lanes to Checkpoints 3 and 4 and opened a brand-new Checkpoint 1 on the south end of the lower level, Cooper said.

People can also use SEA Spot Saver to reserve their spots and skip the security line.

But those passengers who experience the longest wait times might not see security the same way though, Cooper acknowledged.

Why do I have to take all of this stuff out at security?

Then comes the bane of many travelers’ existence: TSA security screening. You fumble with the plastic security bins, pull your phone, wallet, keys and random items from your pockets, then pat yourself down to make sure you don’t have anything else metal on you – all to get your carry-on luggage pulled for a restricted item you forgot was inside.

Readers asked: Why do computers have to be taken out in security? Why do we have to throw out containers with more than 3.4 ounces of liquid, and why isn’t it disposed of as potentially hazardous waste? Why do we have to pour out our water bottles? Why do we have to remove belts with a metal buckle?

“Hey SeaTac, that belt holds up my pants!” Donald White, of Seattle, wrote.

Belts can trigger alarms and laptops may have to come out of passengers’ bags if there isn’t a CT scanner that gives officers a 3D view inside bags, said TSA spokesperson Jessica Mayle.

And the TSA began limiting the volume of liquids in carry-ons after authorities thwarted a plot to detonate liquid explosives on a series of flights from London to the U.S. and Canada in 2006. The intended explosives were homemade with a mixture of chemicals packaged in ordinary sports drink bottles.

Water is no exception to the 3.4 ounce rule.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said the agency could allow larger liquids in carry-ons. But such action could be years away as it may require CT scanners throughout the country, according to Travel + Leisure.

TSA agents stressing you out?

All the confusing rules and hurried fumbling of unpacked items is only made worse for some by TSA agents who travelers say are being rude and condescending.

The agents’ “attitude appears to be one of perpetual annoyance rather than courteous and helpful,” said Michael Comeau, who travels frequently for work and pleasure. He said this behavior contributes to”what is already a stressful and chaotic experience at Sea-Tac.”

“TSA is committed to treating all passengers with dignity and respect and providing a safe and efficient screening process,” Mayle said. “When passengers have an experience that does not meet their expectations, they are invited to provide feedback through our customer care center” or “ask for a supervisor at any time while in the checkpoint.

People crowding the baggage claim carousel

After a long flight crammed into a small seat, shoulder to shoulder with other passengers, the last thing you need is to stand shoulder to shoulder with them as you wait for the procession to exit the plane, and again at baggage claim.

“People gathering around the luggage belt like a water hole waiting for their bag,” is what annoys Hannah Peterson, of Seattle. “At least take a few steps back, I promise getting your bag 10 seconds later isn’t a big deal – and no one is stealing it.”

Maybe spread out a little or get your luggage on the other side of the carousel, Cooper said.

But he understands if people are getting “construction fatigue.” People are being directed into smaller and smaller areas, especially at carousels 12 to 15 while construction walls and scaffolding are up to support the port’s $546 million project expanding the ticketing level by 2026.

As far as passengers standing up right as the plane lands – but far before they’re realistically going to deplane – or anxious travelers lining up at the gate before their boarding group is called? That’s a matter of airport etiquette and individual airline policy, Cooper said.