Seattle-Tacoma International is about to get one of the biggest credit-card lounges in the country. Chase plans a 16,000-square-foot Sapphire Lounge at SEA, and the Port of Seattle is being asked to sign off on a 15-year lease. The total investment across the initial build and a later refurbishment: $70 million.
The location is the fun part. The new lounge will sit right next to Delta's lounge complex — a pointed bit of positioning in a market Delta treats as a hub. Getting there involves a chain of musical chairs: United finishes its new club on the B concourse and moves out; The Club at SEA, the Priority Pass-accessible lounge, relocates into United's old A-concourse space; and Chase, working with Airport Dimensions (The Club's sister company), takes over the vacated The Club space plus a cancelled 6,000-square-foot expansion next door. Rent starts at $500 per square foot, worth roughly $7.9 million a year to the airport, with 10% bumps in years six and eleven.
Timelines are still fuzzy. There will likely be a stretch where Priority Pass has no lounge at SEA while The Club relocates and construction begins, and United's own refurbishment schedule adds more uncertainty. One advantage for Chase: it's fitting out an existing space rather than building from shell condition, which should be faster than projects like Dallas or Miami that required adding an elevator.
If you hold a Chase Sapphire Reserve, personal or business, entry is free with up to two guests; additional guests cost $27 each, and kids under two are free. J.P. Morgan Reserve and Ritz-Carlton cardholders get the same terms. Note that employee cards on a small-business Reserve account don't qualify.
Seattle becomes a significant addition to a fast-growing network. Chase already runs Sapphire Lounges in Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Las Vegas, New York JFK, New York LaGuardia, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego and Washington Dulles, with Los Angeles, Miami and a doubled Phoenix on the way. Seattle would be the twelfth.
Why it matters: if you're a Sapphire Reserve holder flying through Seattle — a major gateway to Alaska, Hawaii and Asia — you'll soon have a premium lounge option where previously the card gave you little. And anyone relying on Priority Pass should watch the transition window, since access may temporarily dry up while the reshuffle happens.
