The Alaska Airlines North Satellite lounge at Seattle (SEA) is a fitting flagship lounge, with stunning views, cozy seating, and excellent barista-made coffee.
Alaska Airlines North Satellite Lounge Seattle Review (SEA)
While I considered lounge hopping before my flight back to Chicago, I found this lounge so comfortable that I ended up staying, enjoying a relaxing and productive three-hour stay.
Hours + Access + Location
The lounge is located in the North Satellite on the mezzanine level, above Gates N13–18 (Terminal N) and open daily from 5:00 am to 11:00 pm.
Access is available to:
- Members (Alaska Lounge or American Admirals Club members)
- Paid or award first or business class tickets operated by Alaska or Hawaiian Airlines that are over 2,000 miles
- upgrades are excluded
- oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members
- Alaska Airlines Emerald and Sapphires may access the Alaska Lounge when traveling on a oneworld member airline to a destination outside of the US, Canada, or Mexico.
- American Airlines Emerald and Sapphire may access the Alaska Lounge when traveling on a oneworld member airline to a destination outside of the US, Canada, Mexico (excluding Mexico City) or the Caribbean.
- All other Emerald or Sapphire oneworld members can access the lounge regardless of destination or cabin class, as long as they are departing on a oneworld flight.
- Emerald and Sapphire members may invite one guest to join them in the lounge.
I used my CITI AA Executive Card to gain access. Had I not had that, I could have bought access for 35 USD, which is a discounted rate Alaska Airlines charges to first class passengers for access on flights under 2,000 miles.
Seating
This is a very cozy lounge, with a nice mix of seating, including couches, easy chairs, and tables, and benches. There’s a fireplace in the center of the lounge and incredible views of the apron outside. At 15,800, it is currently the largest Alaska Lounge and the high ceiling and floor-to-ceiling windows make it feel very spacious.
Power ports are easily within reach almost anywhere you sit in the lounge, though the USB ports are still -A rather than -C.
I love the easy chairs along the windows, where I settled for most of my stay.
Look at these views:
Food + Drink
I’m a huge coffee fan and I LOVED the coffee in this lounge. Barista-made coffee is available all day, with coffee provisioned by Umbria, a local coffee purveyor. The drinks were nice and the baristas were nicer…I appreciated the small talk and genuine kindness. Fabulous coffee…so good, I had a second cup (I had a cappuccino and latte, and would go with the cappuccino).
A full-service bar offers a mix of beer, wine, spirits, and cocktails at no cost, plus higher quality adult beverages for a fee.
The food, however, was the only letdown of the lounge. The selection was all East Asian-inspired and nothing looked appetizing to me.
Choices included:
- cherry blossom chicken
- vegetarian fried rice
- roasted garlic green beans
- Pho potsickers
- sweet chili Gochujang
I suspect that food looks rather delicious to most people, but a simple salad bar would have been appreciated. I did eat some sliced chicken breast and char siu pork to get some protein.
Restrooms + Showers
Restrooms are located on each side of the lounge, but there are no showers in this lounge. Soap and hand lotion from Salt & Stone smell great.
Printer
Tucked away in a corner by the fireplace is a printer, with remote printing available.
No Tipping
Finally, a shoutout to this lounge: I love the no tipping policy. I find tipping a scourge in the United States and I find Alaska Airlines a welcome refuge from the tipping culture.
CONCLUSION
Alaska Airlines has a great lounge at the North Satellite, the sort of place where you can spend hours and quite enjoy it. I look forward to returning.
I passed through on my way to the start of the Iditarod in March – the entire space is serene and inviting. Indeed, it reminded me of the relatively new Admirals Club at DCA’s E gates.
The fireplace does give off those vibes!
The food isn’t a letdown, your food palate is 😉
Sorry Aaron, the reviewer is correct, the food is terribly disappointing. The pot stickers were burnt, stale and inedible. The rest of the foo was not much better. It used to be very good and a real salad bar like they used to have would help.
Henri
I thought the food was good quality when I visited last month, actually. And kudos to them for going with something diffrrent besides the same boring salad bar.
My comment was more about Matthew’s automatic aversion to the food because it was east Asian, regardless of the quality. Had it been all Mexican, Matthew would have probably been much happier.
It is a letdown compared to other lounges. I was there a few days ago (1/13) and the food selection was the same. The rest of the experience was fantastic though.
Think this is one of our top domestic lounges.
They don’t keep the lounge clean and the food is meh.
IMO SkyClub is better. Amex CL has better food.
They need a Flat White on the coffee menu though.
Sorry but I’ll take the better looking food options at the new SkyClub near Gate A11 or the AmEx CL in the main terminal over this. SkyClub and AECL have better drink options, especially the CL. I’m even willing to go to the Centurion Lounge rather than this lounge, even though my departing flight is in the N terminal.