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Oakland → Austin

OAK–AUS · Oakland International Airport to Austin–Bergstrom International Airport

Best bet

Either side

Both sides workThe two sides come out close to level.

Both sides have something going for them, and the totals come out close enough that picking one would be a coin flip with extra steps.

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.

OAK to AUS: 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.OAKAUSLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE12345678910
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 47 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 Bay

    Either sideEarly5 mi off the route

    San Francisco Bay sits close enough to OAK that the runway in use and the procedure of the day decide whether it shows up at all.

    Runway dependent

  2. Death Valley

    RightQuarter in10 mi off the route

    Death Valley is about 10 miles off the right, about a quarter of the way in.

    Good possibility

  3. Lake Mead

    LeftQuarter in17 mi off the route

    About a quarter of the way in, Lake Mead sits roughly 17 miles to the left.

    Good possibility

  4. San Francisco Peaks

    Either sideHalfway6 mi off the route

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

    Strong candidate

  5. Meteor Crater

    Either sideHalfway3 mi off the route

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

    Good possibility

Show 5 more along the way (Half Dome, Mount Whitney, Grand Canyon, Sedona red rocks, Petrified Forest)

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

  1. Half Dome

    LeftEarly37 mi off the route

    Early in the flight, Half Dome sits roughly 37 miles to the left.

    Distant possibility

  2. Mount Whitney

    RightQuarter in23 mi off the route

    Look right about a quarter of the way in for Mount Whitney, about 23 miles out.

    Good possibility

  3. Grand Canyon

    LeftHalfway47 mi off the route

    Look left around the halfway mark for Grand Canyon, about 47 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  4. Sedona red rocks

    RightHalfway28 mi off the route

    Around the halfway mark, Sedona red rocks sits roughly 28 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  5. Petrified Forest

    LeftHalfway25 mi off the route

    Petrified Forest is about 25 miles off the left, around the halfway mark.

    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

1,495 mi
Great-circle distance
7
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?

Austin → OaklandEither 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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