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Window Seat

San Francisco → Houston

SFO–IAH · San Francisco 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 San Francisco Peaks, 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.

SFO 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.SFOIAHLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE12345678910
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. 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. Half Dome

    LeftEarly40 mi off the route

    Early in the flight, Half Dome sits roughly 40 miles to the left.

    Distant possibility

  3. Mount Whitney

    RightEarly23 mi off the route

    Look right early in the flight for Mount Whitney, about 23 miles out.

    Good possibility

  4. Death Valley

    RightQuarter in13 mi off the route

    Death Valley is about 13 miles off the right, about a quarter of the way in.

    Good possibility

  5. Lake Mead

    LeftQuarter in9 mi off the route

    About a quarter of the way in, Lake Mead sits roughly 9 miles to the left.

    Good possibility

  6. Grand Canyon

    LeftHalfway34 mi off the route

    Look left around the halfway mark for Grand Canyon, about 34 miles out.

    Good possibility

  7. San Francisco Peaks

    RightHalfway8 mi off the route

    San Francisco Peaks is about 8 miles off the right, around the halfway mark.

    Good possibility

  8. Meteor Crater

    RightHalfway18 mi off the route

    Around the halfway mark, Meteor Crater sits roughly 18 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  9. Painted Desert

    LeftHalfway29 mi off the route

    Look left around the halfway mark for Painted Desert, about 29 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  10. Petrified Forest

    Either sideHalfway7 mi off the route

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

    Good 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

1,632 mi
Great-circle distance
101°
Course out of SFO
116°
Course into IAH
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 → San FranciscoLeft 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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