9+ hours layover in Seattle airport
 

Delta just changed my November flight. Flying Taipei ->Seattle-> Boston, they moved up the Taipei flight departure time from 6:25 pm to 10:15 am, so now I have a 9+ hours layover in Seattle, from 6:15 am to 3:30 pm.

I imagine I can take the light rail to Pike Place Market for a stroll and brunch. But I have been to the Pike Place Market before. Any suggestions for where to stroll an area of the beautiful city and enjoy a casual breakfast/lunch?

Thanks in advance.

Yes you could explore Seattle.

Me? I’d ask them to out me on the 7:20 am flight to BOS and get there earlier.

Do you think it is feasible to deplane at 6:15 am, get my luggage, go through immigration, and then reboard a 7:20 am flight?

It may be possible, but if I cannot make the 7:20 am flight, and the next direct flight at 3:30pm is full, then it will be more flying around to get to Boston.

Assuming your flight from TPE is on time, you'll likely be through border controls etc. by around 7:30 or a bit earlier. Delta's published minimum connection time for international to domestic at SEA is 1h 10m, so I'm not sure if the 6:15 > 7:20 time frame would be doable, but almost certainly not comfortable, especially if it's later in November when there could be weather/wind delays over the Pacific.

I'd make the decision about where (or even if) to go in Seattle once I knew what the weather was doing. November can be wet and gloomy, or it can be sunny and crisp - something of a roll of the dice.

The Pike market is certainly a reasonable destination; you could have breakfast at Lowell's then watch the merchants set up for the day. Another option is the Chinatown/International District, where there are a number of restaurants open around the breakfast period - dim sum etc. You're coming from Taipei, so maybe you aren't interested in more Asian food, but it's an option for sure.

If you could stand the expense (probably $40 or $50 one way) I'd give strong consideration to Ubering to Fishermen's Terminal across the Lake Washington Ship Canal from the Ballard district. Map. (You could also take the light rail to Westlake or to the University District stops and Uber from there, cheaper.) The Bay Cafe is a Seattle institution - terrific diner breakfasts surrounded by families and fisher folk; walk off the carbs and load up on oxygen on a tour of the docks and jetties in the fishing port (home of the Seattle and a big part of the Alaska fleets) before heading back to downtown or to the airport.

Bay Cafe Fisherman's Terminal | A Traditional American Restaurant (baycafefishermansterminal.com)

In any scenario you might think about stopping at Uwajimaya, Seattle's iconic pan-Asian supermarket and department store, for any last-minute gifts, a quick nosh in their food court, etc. It's a couple of blocks from the Chinatown/International District light rail stop.

Delta will sell you a ticket on their website TPE to SEA to BOS connecting to that 7:20…

Depending on the precise date, there might not be seats available in the same fare bucket from SEA to BOS as the OP is using on TPE-SEA. Plus the new "bags first" system at the new Seattle International Arrivals facility is still - apparently - pretty buggy and prone to delays. Still, a phone call to Delta is probably worth a shot. Worst case is they'd put you on the 3:30 if the 7:20 doesn't work.

Had a call to Delta. The rep could move me to the 7:20 am flight, but she thinks it is risky, and I agree. The next direct flight after 7:20 am is the 3:30 pm flight.

Gardyloo, thanks for your Seattle information. I'll see what the weather is like on that day and plan to be flexible.
J62 - thanks for your suggestion. It may just work out, but I'll be stressed over it. The worst case for me is I miss the 7:20 am flight and the 3:30 pm flight is full, then I'll be flown to another city to connect to Boston. In that case, there is no telling what hour I'll reach Boston.

Sure there is. Ahead of your trip look at all the SEA to BOS options on Delta and pick the one you’d want them to put you on…

ATL, DTW, MSP, JFK are all Delta cities.

+1 for gardyloo's suggestion of breakfast at Lowell's, my favorite place in Pike Market.

https://roadfood.com/restaurants/lowells/

If you want to go into the city you need to figure out how to leave your luggage at SeaTac.

Besides the Pike Place Market you could walk around the Waterfront area or go to Pioneer Square historic district. For views from up high if the weather is clear there's Smith Tower, Sky View Observatory, or the Space Needle. You could go to Seattle Art Museum.

On a 6 hour layover truly you'll only have a few hours to spare. One hour to deplane and stash luggage. Another hour to take the LightRail into the city. One hour to do something downtown. One hour to get back to the airport. Two hours (at least) back at the airport before your next flight.

Welcome! suze, in seattle

Thanks Suze. I have 9+ hours in SeaTac, not 6. See the thread title.

Two years ago I stayed with friends in Bremerton & took the ferry to Seattle for the day. I got on the #10 bus very near Pike Place Market & visited Starbucks Reserve Roastery, then on to the Volunteer Park Conservatory. One or both of those might be of interest. Here are my write-ups for both with transport link:

https://www.travelgumbo.com/blog/roa...eserve-seattle
https://www.travelgumbo.com/blog/roa...k-conservatory

Thank you MmePerdu, for your detailed blog.

Starbucks Reserve Roastery is now on my list to visit. I can already smell the coffee aroma and the buttery croissants.

Sorry!! I will still make the point that you don't have as long as you think :-) as SeaTac can be super busy these days. You don't want to cut it short on the getting-back-to the airport part.

Thank you Suze.
And thank you curiousgeo for post #9.

I know you don't want to spend 9 hours there :-) but SeaTac truly does have some pretty good - restaurants, bars, shopping, art, spa services, bookstores - for an international airport of its size.