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Window Seat

Portland → Houston

PDX–IAH · Portland International Airport to George Bush Intercontinental 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 Great Salt Lake, 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.

PDX to IAH: 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.PDXIAHLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE1234567891011
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 62 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. Mount Hood

    Either sideEarly7 mi off the route

    Mount Hood passes almost directly beneath early in the flight, which is the one place a window seat can't help you.

    Strong candidate

  2. Great Salt Lake

    RightQuarter in10 mi off the route

    About a quarter of the way in, Great Salt Lake sits roughly 10 miles to the right.

    Strong candidate

  3. Sangre de Cristo Mountains

    LeftHalfway12 mi off the route

    Sangre de Cristo Mountains is about 12 miles off the left, around the halfway mark.

    Good possibility

  4. Palo Duro Canyon

    Either sideThree quarters7 mi off the route

    Palo Duro Canyon passes almost directly beneath about three quarters of the way, which is the one place a window seat can't help you.

    Good possibility

Show 7 more along the way (Mount Adams, Columbia River Gorge, Mount Jefferson, Wasatch Range, Uinta Mountains, San Juan Mountains, Great Sand Dunes)

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

  1. Mount Adams

    LeftEarly62 mi off the route

    Mount Adams is about 62 miles off the left, early in the flight.

    Distant possibility

  2. Columbia River Gorge

    LeftEarly25 mi off the route

    Whether Columbia River Gorge appears comes down to how you get out of PDX, which is not something we can know in advance.

    Runway dependent

  3. Mount Jefferson

    RightEarly39 mi off the route

    Mount Jefferson is about 39 miles off the right, early in the flight.

    Distant possibility

  4. Wasatch Range

    RightHalfway23 mi off the route

    Look right around the halfway mark for Wasatch Range, about 23 miles out.

    Good possibility

  5. Uinta Mountains

    LeftHalfway33 mi off the route

    Uinta Mountains is about 33 miles off the left, around the halfway mark.

    Distant possibility

  6. San Juan Mountains

    RightHalfway27 mi off the route

    Around the halfway mark, San Juan Mountains sits roughly 27 miles to the right.

    Good possibility

  7. Great Sand Dunes

    LeftHalfway20 mi off the route

    Look left around the halfway mark for Great Sand Dunes, about 20 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

1,823 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?

Houston → PortlandLeft 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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