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Palm Springs → Seattle

PSP–SEA · Palm Springs International Airport to Seattle–Tacoma 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 Mount Hood, 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.

PSP to SEA: 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.PSPSEALEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE1234567891011
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 53 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 Jacinto Peak

    LeftEarly10 mi off the route

    San Jacinto Peak sits close enough to PSP that the runway in use and the procedure of the day decide whether it shows up at all.

    Runway dependent

  2. San Gorgonio Mountain

    LeftEarly12 mi off the route

    Whether San Gorgonio Mountain appears comes down to how you get out of PSP, which is not something we can know in advance.

    Runway dependent

  3. Death Valley

    RightQuarter in31 mi off the route

    Look right about a quarter of the way in for Death Valley, about 31 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  4. Mount Whitney

    LeftQuarter in42 mi off the route

    Mount Whitney is about 42 miles off the left, about a quarter of the way in.

    Distant possibility

  5. Three Sisters

    LeftThree quarters53 mi off the route

    About three quarters of the way, Three Sisters sits roughly 53 miles to the left.

    Distant possibility

  6. Mount Jefferson

    LeftThree quarters42 mi off the route

    Look left about three quarters of the way for Mount Jefferson, about 42 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  7. Mount Hood

    LeftNear the end21 mi off the route

    Mount Hood is about 21 miles off the left, late in the flight.

    Strong candidate

  8. Columbia River Gorge

    LeftNear the end17 mi off the route

    Late in the flight, Columbia River Gorge sits roughly 17 miles to the left.

    Good possibility

  9. Mount Adams

    Either sideNear the end8 mi off the route

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

    Strong candidate

  10. Mount St. Helens

    LeftNear the end24 mi off the route

    Mount St. Helens is about 24 miles off the left, late in the flight.

    Good possibility

  11. Mount Rainier

    RightNear the end11 mi off the route

    Late in the flight, Mount Rainier sits roughly 11 miles to the right.

    Strong candidate

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

988 mi
Great-circle distance
344°
Course out of PSP
340°
Course into SEA
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?

Seattle → Palm SpringsRight 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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