Which side of plane gives best views of SFO?

I'm told views of SFO are great when landing and taking off. Last did this a few years ago and didn't see much but can't remember where I was sitting.

Going again in March and will be daylight landing and taking off. Any suggestions where to sit?

[Nottingham Nick]

It will depend which runways are in use.

Every time I have flown into SFO, we have come in from the south over Sam Mateo with Burlingame on the left side of the plane as you fly up San Francisco Bay.

If you come in from the north you will get good views but I don't know how often that happens.

Nick

Every time I've flown into San Francisco we've flown over the city before doing a U-turn and landing. If this is the case then sit on the left hand side of the plane.

Sitting on the right hand side usually gives the great views on take off unless the city is covered in mist like usual.

When we flew out a couple of years ago we sat on the starboard side and had excellent views. I can't remember a great view coming in though. A lot of marshland and my employer's HQ IIRC.

Taken from 18A on landing into SFO:

Good question -- it depends on the runways in use.

Are they predictable? Yes.

Have a look at Why do you change flight patterns? in:
http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/about/news/pressres/mediafacts.html

For 83% of the year, you land on a 28 runway and take off on a 01 runway. So you tend to land pointing slightly north of west, and take off pointing slightly east of north.

So... this explains why it's often very difficult to see the city when you're on your final approach, though you may of course fly over it earlier on. It also explains why you can get some really good views on departure if you sit on the left.

Of course, if you happen to fly in the 17% of the year not covered by this advice, then you may or may not be so lucky.

Good luck.

Two things worry me about this post I have just written. One is the level of geekiness. The other is the fact that I have contradicted Tinkerbelle :0

[honey lamb]

Taken from Bayshore Highway

[honey lamb]

After take-off from the A seats

But you usually see this

But you usually see this

P1000256.JPG

Never a truer word spoken! y)

Great pictures thanks y) - fully aware that fog may spoil the view!

Will gamble on right inbound and left outbound and see how it goes.

Actually, Tinkerbelle has it the other way around, and it's the correct way all things being equal. Takeoff and landing for the big birds is almost always on the N/S runways into the bay (aka 28).

If, perchance, you are flying in UC, and really care about the views, then grab the frontmost seats in zone A (downstairs front cabin), Row 12 IIRC, as the curvature of the plane makes the views perfect. Chances are in those seats you will have great views either side of the cabin. Otherwise in UC you'll need a lot of slack in the seatbelt, and some gymnastics, to stretch and be able to see well out the windows.

As it happens we're booked in 15,16 in zone A cabin so looking forward to the views, assuming no fog!!