With a combination of walking, Community Transit, and King County Metro we were able to get to the airport for a grand total of $5. Granted, it was 2.5 hours from our doorstep to the check-in counter, but that's still an amazing price.
It was also interesting to observe some of our fellow bus riders. One young woman (mid- to late-teens) got on the bus, held out her transfer for the driver to see, and announced "This is all I got and I hafta get home". After a bit another woman sitting at the front of the bus got up and dropped a few coins in the fare box and she was allowed on. A couple passengers after her was another young woman (similar age) decked out in black, boots, and chains with a similar MO. She held our her transfer for the driver to see and said "This is all I have and I gotta see my Parole Officer"...pause..."If I don't see my Parole Officer then they're gonna put me in jail". No one came to her rescue, and after a bit the driver nodded his head over his shoulder and she was on gratis. It would seem to me that if the only thing standing between me a jail was a visit to my Parole Officer that I'd probably plan my day around the event or at the very least make sure that I had bus fare with me. Of course, the cynic in me suspects that it was just a poly to save a buck. Still, I was surprised to see two teens in a row climb on the bus (presumably) without bus fare and expect that this was a problem the driver had to sort out.
We checked our backpacks and were actually able to get away from the check-in counter and past security with no problems -- much better than our last foray to the airport. We grabbed a quick dinner at a Chinese place and then read while waiting for the plane to load.
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