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Port of Seattle launches free airport luggage service


MVPinBoynton
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I have A list so I was automatically checked in early by Southwest so I had A27 and my wife had B37. The flight coming home from Seattle was only about 3/4 full with many middle seats open. We took the one nonstop Southwest had. I think the cruise line checked us in at exactly 24 hours to get the boarding passes and luggage tags to us as soon as possible.

Good to know and thanks for the info. We can't book flights yet, of course, but I may decide to put Early Bird on our reservation just to be sure. Now if the service just survives until next year!

 

Pat

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  • 2 weeks later...

We are disembarking in Seattle on October 5th and would like to use this service. I can’t find any info regarding dates the valet service runs. I know October is pretty late in the season so hoping we can participate. We will be on Exlplorer of the Seas and our flight doesn’t leave till 7:00 pm.

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We are disembarking in Seattle on October 5th and would like to use this service. I can’t find any info regarding dates the valet service runs. I know October is pretty late in the season so hoping we can participate. We will be on Exlplorer of the Seas and our flight doesn’t leave till 7:00 pm.

 

You will be the last ship returning to Seattle this season and RC has been participating in the program this year so I would suspect that it will still be available to you. You could check with Passenger Services on board the ship once you get on board, they should know for sure or could at least find out.

 

Tom

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Thanks Tom.

 

I’m hoping that is the case. If valet is not available I need to figure out what to do with luggage before I arrive. I thought about renting a car but need to look into locations etc.

 

I would suggest having a Plan 'B' in hand. The service lets you bypass Custom's baggage inspection, and you won't

know until the last night of the cruise whether Customs vetoed your participation. It's uncommon, but they do issue

random vetoes to try and keep the bad guys guessing.

 

Without a Plan 'B', know that Mr Murphy will be standing by with his Law. :o

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I would suggest having a Plan 'B' in hand. The service lets you bypass Custom's baggage inspection, and you won't

know until the last night of the cruise whether Customs vetoed your participation. It's uncommon, but they do issue

random vetoes to try and keep the bad guys guessing.

 

Without a Plan 'B', know that Mr Murphy will be standing by with his Law. :o

 

While I'm sure they could if they wanted to, I've never heard of them inspecting any bags at Pier 91 in Seattle. The only thing that I've ever seen them check is passports or any other documents used as ID. I asked my wife, who is very familiar with operations in the luggage hall at the pier if she'd ever seen any bags checked and she said no also. As I said, however, I'm sure they could if they wanted to.

 

Tom

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Anyone know the closest rental car company to pier 91 for my plan B?

 

Alamo/National/Enterprise car rental agencies will have kiosks at both the Pier 66 Bell Street Pier Cruise Terminal and the Smith Cove Cruise Facility at Terminal 91. When you are going on a cruise, what they request you do is to drop your party at the pier with the luggage and then drive back to the office. They'll shuttle the driver back to the pier. That makes it easier on everybody. One thing to note if you are doing that, however! Make sure that the person who is dropping everybody off has their own travel documents with them. That way someone will not have to come back out of the building to meet the driver to give them any papers. It also means the driver's documents aren't inadvertently left in checked baggage that has to be hunted down and returned off the ship so that the driver can check in! Don't laugh, I've seen that happen and it's often a very time consuming process!

 

For Alamo reservations, please call 1-800-462-5266 or 1-800-go-alamo.

 

For National reservations, please so call 1-800-227-7368 or 1-800-car-rent.

 

For Enterprise reservation, please call 1-800-736-8222 or 1-800-rent-a-car.

 

The car rentals will be locally supported by the Seattle downtown location at:

 

Alamo Rent A Car National Car Rental Enterprise Rent A Car

Downtown Seattle Downtown Seattle Downtown Seattle

1301 6th Avenue 1301 6th Ave. 1301 6th Ave.

Seattle, WA 98101 Seattle , WA 98101 Seattle , WA 98101

(206) 292-9770 (206) 292-9770 (206) 382-1051

 

 

 

Tom

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Alamo/National/Enterprise car rental agencies will have kiosks at both the Pier 66 Bell Street Pier Cruise Terminal and the Smith Cove Cruise Facility at Terminal 91. When you are going on a cruise, what they request you do is to drop your party at the pier with the luggage and then drive back to the office. They'll shuttle the driver back to the pier. That makes it easier on everybody. One thing to note if you are doing that, however! Make sure that the person who is dropping everybody off has their own travel documents with them. That way someone will not have to come back out of the building to meet the driver to give them any papers. It also means the driver's documents aren't inadvertently left in checked baggage that has to be hunted down and returned off the ship so that the driver can check in! Don't laugh, I've seen that happen and it's often a very time consuming process!

 

For Alamo reservations, please call 1-800-462-5266 or 1-800-go-alamo.

 

For National reservations, please so call 1-800-227-7368 or 1-800-car-rent.

 

For Enterprise reservation, please call 1-800-736-8222 or 1-800-rent-a-car.

 

The car rentals will be locally supported by the Seattle downtown location at:

 

Alamo Rent A Car National Car Rental Enterprise Rent A Car

Downtown Seattle Downtown Seattle Downtown Seattle

1301 6th Avenue 1301 6th Ave. 1301 6th Ave.

Seattle, WA 98101 Seattle , WA 98101 Seattle , WA 98101

(206) 292-9770 (206) 292-9770 (206) 382-1051

 

 

 

Tom

We rented with Alamo at the airport and dropped downtown. They shuttled us to the pier. It worked well, with a couple of warnings.

 

First, when we arrived at the airport, the rental agent told us that the office would be closed since it was downtown, and we were returning on a Sunday. Also, the entrance to the garage is around the corner from the office, and not well marked.

 

On Saturday, we tried calling Alamo, but couldn't get through to confirm that they were open Sunday (I thought I'd called when I did the rental, but the lady at the airport was insisting it was closed). When I couldn't get through, we drove over there on our way to lunch. They assured me they were open, and one of people working there showed me where to return the car. The people in the van with us spent a half hour driving around looking for where to drop it.

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While I'm sure they could if they wanted to, I've never heard of them inspecting any bags at Pier 91 in Seattle. The only thing that I've ever seen them check is passports or any other documents used as ID. I asked my wife, who is very familiar with operations in the luggage hall at the pier if she'd ever seen any bags checked and she said no also. As I said, however, I'm sure they could if they wanted to.

 

Tom

 

I've never seen a bag inspected on Pier 91 either, but that's not what I was talking about.

 

Customs uses the possibility of inspection to keep folks honest as they bring their luggage through

the Customs Hall on Pier 91. But with Port Valet you go through the Customs Hall without your

bags. Oops! That's gaping hole in their inspection regime.

 

Instead, Customs uses the possibility that you'll be randomly denied Port Valet (and presumably be

flagged for inspection in the Customs Hall). If that happens, you won't know until the last night of

the cruise when your envelope contains a letter instead of tags.

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  • 8 months later...

The information is very informative.  I plan on checking on this baggage service when I'm on the ship.  I'm using Delta Airlines which is one of seven (7) airlines that's in the program..   I have an 11:45am flight out of SEA.  Will I be OK?

John

Edited by John99
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23 hours ago, John99 said:

The information is very informative.  I plan on checking on this baggage service when I'm on the ship.  I'm using Delta Airlines which is one of seven (7) airlines that's in the program..   I have an 11:45am flight out of SEA.  Will I be OK?

John

We had an 11:24 Delta flight and after a long but fast moving line at immigration and a fifteen minute wait at TSA  prechek still were a couple of hours early. Should be no problem.

We walked off the Solstice at 7:45.

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10 hours ago, va9276 said:

We had an 11:24 Delta flight and after a long but fast moving line at immigration and a fifteen minute wait at TSA  prechek still were a couple of hours early. Should be no problem.

We walked off the Solstice at 7:45.

How did you get from the port to the airport?

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Sorry for jumping in

For us our flights were much later. We sent our big luggage ahead thru the free service, which by the way you have to prebook and in a short booking window by filling out forms that get left in your room free. It was then a simple matter to get an uber after going through customs. There is a 5 min walk to the pick up point which is on same side  of road as the bus pickup but ahead maybe 1/4 mile or less. It is clearly marked. We visited a friend and did some touristy stuff. Later headed off to airport by taking the Tram from Westlake and Pine station (near Pike Place market)

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We used the Port Valet coming off of the NCL Joy on June 8th.  This service worked like a charm.  I have attached the form that was delivered to our room with plenty of time to complete it and submit it to guest services.  I had also picked on up ahead of time at guest services since I thought had heard that availability was limited.

 

image.thumb.png.4ac34ddf3e105d686f2b4787ea2ce656.png

image.thumb.png.1c14ccb28da5f449db278ccb03a12985.png

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 5 months later...

On the 2019 news articles related to this service, it says that it now includes Carnival. Can anyone confirm that?

 

Well, according to this review, port valet now includes Carnival.

 

Now I just have to find out if an 11am flight is possible. Traveling with two people with scooters and trying to figure out logistics.

 

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2 hours ago, Tinknock50 said:

Anyone know if a similar program will be available in San Diego?

 

Since the program is paid for by the Port of Seattle to make up for any inconvenience due to the huge construction program at SeaTac Airport I would very much doubt it.  You might want to contact the Port of San Diego to see if there is any similar project there. 

 

Tom

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On 7/14/2018 at 10:54 PM, lozzie64 said:

Someone above posted that their luggage was lost and it was near impossible to find due so much handling. Hmmmmmm. I am moving onto a Convention after this cruise going via LA. I think I will go back to the idea of using a Porter, which I am happy to pay for. Then at least I know my bags are with me at the airport for check in, only one step need to trace back if things go pearshaped. Is there a big time wait if the bags get taken off the ship and you collect them on the dock? I have an 11.30 flight out of SEATAC. Thanks.

Many more people have not had luggage lost.  Ill take my chances with the free service.

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