Window Seat Guide • 2026
Flights from Los Angeles: Best Side of Plane
Window seat guide for all 4 routes departing Los Angeles International (LAX)
LAX sits right on the Pacific Ocean — departures to the east immediately climb over the Santa Monica Mountains and the Los Angeles Basin, with the city grid, the downtown skyline, and on clear days the San Gabriel Mountains all visible within the first few minutes. Westbound departures head straight out over the Pacific, and the Channel Islands often appear off the coast before the ocean takes over entirely. The New York transcontinental is North America's busiest air corridor: it crosses the Mojave Desert, the Colorado Plateau, the Rockies, the Great Plains, and the Appalachians in five and a half hours — a complete geographic cross-section of the continent. The Tokyo trans-Pacific route is a 10-hour arc that brushes the Aleutian Islands. The Kauai hop is short but the Hawaiian island chain below is one of the most visually striking approaches in commercial aviation. All three have a specific better side.
4 Routes — Best Side Recommendations
Sorted by confidenceLos Angeles → New York
LAX–JFKGrand Canyon — one of Earth's great geological wonders
Los Angeles → Kauai
LAX–LIHCalifornia coastline and Malibu from low altitude on departure
Los Angeles → Seoul
LAX–ICNChannel Islands off LA
Los Angeles → Tokyo
LAX–NRTChannel Islands off Santa Barbara coast
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