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Window Seat

San Jose → Houston

SJC–IAH · San José Mineta International Airport to George Bush Intercontinental Airport

Best bet

Either side

Both sides workThe two sides come out close to level.

Both sides have something going for them, and the totals come out close enough that picking one would be a coin flip with extra steps.

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 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.SJCIAHLEFT SIDERIGHT SIDE12345678
Distance from the route is to scale (up to 43 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 Whitney

    RightEarly12 mi off the route

    Mount Whitney is about 12 miles off the right, early in the flight.

    Strong candidate

  2. Death Valley

    Either sideQuarter in2 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

  3. Lake Mead

    LeftQuarter in18 mi off the route

    Look left about a quarter of the way in for Lake Mead, about 18 miles out.

    Good possibility

  4. Grand Canyon

    LeftQuarter in43 mi off the route

    Grand Canyon is about 43 miles off the left, about a quarter of the way in.

    Good possibility

  5. San Francisco Peaks

    Either sideHalfway0 mi off the route

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

    Strong candidate

  6. Meteor Crater

    RightHalfway10 mi off the route

    Look right around the halfway mark for Meteor Crater, about 10 miles out.

    Good possibility

  7. Painted Desert

    LeftHalfway37 mi off the route

    Painted Desert is about 37 miles off the left, around the halfway mark.

    Distant possibility

  8. Petrified Forest

    LeftHalfway14 mi off the route

    Around the halfway mark, Petrified Forest sits roughly 14 miles to the left.

    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

1,605 mi
Great-circle distance
101°
Course out of SJC
116°
Course into IAH
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?

Houston → San JoseEither 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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