Travel Tips
How to Get UberX from the Seattle Airport
Another case of not doing my homework properly…I arrived at Seattle Airport earlier this week and pulled up Uber, only to discover that UberX is not available at the airport.
I HAD done my homework on how much transportation to the city cost, checking prices on Taxi Fare Finder’s Ride Guru comparison site and noted that all other options were at least $60, compared to $35 on UberX. UberBlack would run $100+ which wasn’t an option and I didn’t want to spend the time on taking light rail into the city and then Uber from there.
Then I had an idea! I saw that UberX was available at the Hilton near the Light Rail stations, so walked to the station which is attached to, but a small trek from, the airport, and took the elevator down to the street level which deposited me right by the Hilton. UberX cars were immediately available, and in fact my driver was parked in the parking lot right behind the elevator.
While I was walking I had also found Travel More’s tip for getting UberX pickups at non-participating airports, which is to set your location outside the airport (like I’d done to find the closest UberX boundary) and then contact your driver to let them know you’re actually at the airport. I was nervous about whether this was something they did in Seattle and if it somehow put my rating at risk.
But I did confirm with my driver that next time I could just move my location pin off the grounds and they’d still pick me up at the airport.
So there’s two tips on how to score a more affordable ride home when arriving in Seattle! And if you’re new to Uber, sign up using my link and you’ll get a free ride up to $20.
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Giddy for Points
May 7, 2015 at 7:35 pm
Good tip thanks! I’ll be using this when I go up to Seattle later this year
preston
May 7, 2015 at 9:34 pm
Lyft doesn’t geoblock the airport, so you can use it there with no problem.
It is still technically not allowed by the airport, but it worked fine for me yesterday.
Ming
May 7, 2015 at 10:26 pm
If you are going in to the downtown Seattle, it’s a flat rate of $40 via cab http://www.seattleyellowcab.com/seatac-taxi-rides/
Ming
May 7, 2015 at 10:28 pm
actually that’s the reverse, going to the airport.
Ian
May 8, 2015 at 3:53 am
An even better deal, light rail is $3.00: http://www.soundtransit.org/Schedules/Link-light-rail
Paradocs
May 8, 2015 at 4:34 pm
Light rail is so easy and cheap. Been to Seattle scores of times. The last 5 trips we figured out the light rail system. We’ll never go taxi or limo on I5 again. Rail is way less stressful and is a bargain.
Andy
August 12, 2015 at 3:30 am
100 for uber black car? That is simply not true. I take a black car from the airport to just north of downtown (Queen Anne) and it is always $55