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Window Seat

San Francisco → Austin

SFO–AUS · San Francisco International Airport to Austin–Bergstrom 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 San Francisco Peaks, 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.

SFO 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.SFOAUSLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE123456789
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 Francisco Bay

    Either sideEarly4 mi off the route

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

    Runway dependent

  2. Mount Whitney

    RightQuarter in16 mi off the route

    About a quarter of the way in, Mount Whitney sits roughly 16 miles to the right.

    Good possibility

  3. Death Valley

    Either sideQuarter in3 mi off the route

    Death Valley 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. Lake Mead

    LeftQuarter in23 mi off the route

    Lake Mead is about 23 miles off the left, about a quarter of the way in.

    Good possibility

  5. Grand Canyon

    LeftHalfway53 mi off the route

    Around the halfway mark, Grand Canyon sits roughly 53 miles to the left.

    Distant possibility

  6. San Francisco Peaks

    LeftHalfway11 mi off the route

    Look left around the halfway mark for San Francisco Peaks, about 11 miles out.

    Good possibility

  7. Sedona red rocks

    RightHalfway23 mi off the route

    Sedona red rocks is about 23 miles off the right, around the halfway mark.

    Distant possibility

  8. Meteor Crater

    Either sideHalfway2 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

  9. Petrified Forest

    LeftHalfway30 mi off the route

    Look left around the halfway mark for Petrified Forest, about 30 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

1,502 mi
Great-circle distance
103°
Course out of SFO
117°
Course into AUS
6
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 → San FranciscoRight 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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