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Window Seat

Seattle → San Jose

SEA–SJC · Seattle–Tacoma International Airport to San José Mineta International Airport

Best bet

Left side

Strong betOne side has clearly more to look at.

Mount Rainier is the main event, and it has company: 6 more worth looking at out the left.

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.

SEA to SJC: 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.SEASJCLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE123456789101112
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. Mount Rainier

    LeftEarly25 mi off the route

    Mount Rainier is about 25 miles off the left, early in the flight.

    Strong candidate

  2. Mount St. Helens

    Either sideEarly3 mi off the route

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

    Strong candidate

  3. Mount Adams

    LeftEarly37 mi off the route

    Look left early in the flight for Mount Adams, about 37 miles out.

    Good possibility

  4. Columbia River Gorge

    LeftQuarter in21 mi off the route

    Columbia River Gorge is about 21 miles off the left, about a quarter of the way in.

    Distant possibility

  5. Mount Hood

    LeftQuarter in26 mi off the route

    About a quarter of the way in, Mount Hood sits roughly 26 miles to the left.

    Strong candidate

  6. Mount Jefferson

    LeftQuarter in19 mi off the route

    Look left about a quarter of the way in for Mount Jefferson, about 19 miles out.

    Good possibility

  7. Three Sisters

    LeftQuarter in20 mi off the route

    Three Sisters is about 20 miles off the left, about a quarter of the way in.

    Good possibility

  8. Crater Lake

    Either sideHalfway1 mi off the route

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

    Strong candidate

  9. Mount Shasta

    Either sideHalfway7 mi off the route

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

    Strong candidate

  10. Lassen Peak

    LeftThree quarters28 mi off the route

    Lassen Peak is about 28 miles off the left, about three quarters of the way.

    Good possibility

  11. Golden Gate

    RightNear the end29 mi off the route

    Late in the flight, Golden Gate sits roughly 29 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  12. San Francisco Bay

    RightNear the end16 mi off the route

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

    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

697 mi
Great-circle distance
178°
Course out of SEA
179°
Course into SJC
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 Jose → SeattleRight 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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