Skip to content
WanderNerd
Check a flight

Window Seat

San Jose → Detroit

SJC–DTW · San José Mineta International Airport to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County 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 Mono 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.

SJC to DTW: 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.SJCDTWLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE123456
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 58 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. Half Dome

    RightEarly22 mi off the route

    Half Dome is about 22 miles off the right, early in the flight.

    Good possibility

  2. Mono Lake

    RightEarly14 mi off the route

    Early in the flight, Mono Lake sits roughly 14 miles to the right.

    Good possibility

  3. Wasatch Range

    LeftQuarter in31 mi off the route

    Look left about a quarter of the way in for Wasatch Range, about 31 miles out.

    Distant possibility

  4. Uinta Mountains

    LeftQuarter in33 mi off the route

    Uinta Mountains is about 33 miles off the left, about a quarter of the way in.

    Distant possibility

  5. Longs Peak

    RightHalfway58 mi off the route

    Around the halfway mark, Longs Peak sits roughly 58 miles to the right.

    Distant possibility

  6. Chicago skyline

    RightNear the end32 mi off the route

    Look right late in the flight for Chicago skyline, about 32 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

2,057 mi
Great-circle distance
68°
Course out of SJC
94°
Course into DTW
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?

Detroit → San JoseLeft 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.

Keep nerding