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Window Seat

Los Angeles → New York

LAX–JFK · Los Angeles International Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport

Best bet

Right side

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

It is close. The right edges it, mostly on Sangre de Cristo Mountains, but the left 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.

LAX to JFK: 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.LAXJFKLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE1234567891011
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 55 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 Gorgonio Mountain

    RightEarly27 mi off the route

    San Gorgonio Mountain is about 27 miles off the right, early in the flight.

    Distant possibility

  2. San Jacinto Peak

    RightEarly48 mi off the route

    Early in the flight, San Jacinto Peak sits roughly 48 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  3. Grand Canyon

    Either sideQuarter in2 mi off the route

    Grand Canyon passes almost directly beneath about a quarter of the way in, which is the one place a window seat can't help you.

    Strong candidate

  4. San Francisco Peaks

    RightQuarter in55 mi off the route

    San Francisco Peaks is about 55 miles off the right, about a quarter of the way in.

    Distant possibility

  5. Lake Powell

    LeftQuarter in45 mi off the route

    About a quarter of the way in, Lake Powell sits roughly 45 miles to the left.

    Distant possibility

  6. Monument Valley

    LeftQuarter in22 mi off the route

    Look left about a quarter of the way in for Monument Valley, about 22 miles out.

    Good possibility

  7. Shiprock

    RightQuarter in20 mi off the route

    Shiprock is about 20 miles off the right, about a quarter of the way in.

    Distant possibility

  8. San Juan Mountains

    LeftQuarter in47 mi off the route

    About a quarter of the way in, San Juan Mountains sits roughly 47 miles to the left.

    Distant possibility

  9. Sangre de Cristo Mountains

    RightQuarter in17 mi off the route

    Look right about a quarter of the way in for Sangre de Cristo Mountains, about 17 miles out.

    Good possibility

  10. Great Sand Dunes

    Either sideQuarter in7 mi off the route

    Great Sand Dunes passes almost directly beneath about a quarter of the way in, which is the one place a window seat can't help you.

    Good possibility

  11. Manhattan

    Either sideNear the end5 mi off the route

    Manhattan sits close enough to JFK that the runway in use and the procedure of the day decide whether it shows up at all.

    Runway dependent

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

2,469 mi
Great-circle distance
66°
Course out of LAX
94°
Course into JFK
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?

New York → Los AngelesLeft 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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