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Window Seat

Houston → San Francisco

IAH–SFO · George Bush Intercontinental Airport to San Francisco International Airport

Best bet

Left side

Slight edgeEnough to break a tie, not enough to change seats over.

It is close. The left edges it, mostly on San Francisco Peaks, but the right is not a bad seat.

Flight paths move around. Treat this as the better bet, not a promise.

What you might see

In flight order, with distance measured from the representative route.

IAH to SFO: where each landmark sits relative to the routeA diagram of the representative route running left to right, with the departure airport at the left and the arrival airport at the right. Landmarks on the left side of the aircraft are plotted above the route line and landmarks on the right side below it, each at its distance from the route. The numbered list below this diagram carries the same information as text.IAHSFOLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE12345678910
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 40 miles); the shaded ends are the 40-mile zones around each airport where the runway in use decides the view. Numbers match the list below. Hollow markers didn't count toward the recommendation.

  1. San Francisco Peaks

    LeftThree quarters8 mi off the route

    San Francisco Peaks is about 8 miles off the left, about three quarters of the way.

    Good possibility

  2. Lake Mead

    RightThree quarters9 mi off the route

    Look right about three quarters of the way for Lake Mead, about 9 miles out.

    Good possibility

  3. Death Valley

    LeftThree quarters13 mi off the route

    Death Valley is about 13 miles off the left, about three quarters of the way.

    Good possibility

  4. San Francisco Bay

    Either sideNear the end4 mi off the route

    Whether San Francisco Bay appears comes down to how you come into SFO, which is not something we can know in advance.

    Runway dependent

Show 6 more along the way (Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, Meteor Crater, Grand Canyon, Mount Whitney, Half Dome)

Further off the route, closer to an airport, or both. Still in flight order, still numbered to match the diagram.

  1. Petrified Forest

    Either sideHalfway7 mi off the route

    Petrified Forest passes almost directly beneath around the halfway mark, which is the one place a window seat can't help you.

    Good possibility

  2. Painted Desert

    RightHalfway29 mi off the route

    Around the halfway mark, Painted Desert sits roughly 29 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  3. Meteor Crater

    LeftHalfway18 mi off the route

    Look left around the halfway mark for Meteor Crater, about 18 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  4. Grand Canyon

    RightThree quarters34 mi off the route

    About three quarters of the way, Grand Canyon sits roughly 34 miles to the right.

    Good possibility

  5. Mount Whitney

    LeftNear the end23 mi off the route

    Late in the flight, Mount Whitney sits roughly 23 miles to the left.

    Good possibility

  6. Half Dome

    RightNear the end40 mi off the route

    Look right late in the flight for Half Dome, about 40 miles out.

    Distant possibility

The sun

Flying soon? Add your date and departure time and we'll work out where the sun should be, and which side gets less of it.

Airport codes or city names. SEA, Seattle, and Seattle-Tacoma all work.

Skip the date and you still get the landmark answer. Add it and we work out where the sun will be, using the departure airport's local time.

The route we used

1,632 mi
Great-circle distance
8
Landmarks that counted

That is the shortest path between the two airports, used as a representative corridor rather than a flight plan. The first and last 40 miles are treated as uncertain, because that part of the flight is shaped by the runway in use and the published departure or arrival procedure. Anything in those zones is listed and marked, never counted toward the recommendation.

Left and right, from where?

Left and right are from your perspective sitting in the cabin, facing the front of the aircraft. Seat letters are not a reliable guide to which side you are on, because aircraft are configured differently.

Why this isn't guaranteed

Flights don't follow the same path every day. Runway configuration, weather deviations, traffic, and air traffic control all move the track around, and none of it is knowable in advance. We also have nothing to say about cloud cover, which is the other thing standing between you and Mount Rainier. The full method.

Flying the other way?

San Francisco → HoustonRight side

Calculated from scratch, not by flipping this one. The landmarks arrive in the opposite order, the sun is somewhere else entirely, and the answer changes with them.

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