Does anyone sit on a specific side of the plane to avoid the sun?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: ORD
Programs: UA E+, HH Platinum, Marriott Rewards, Budget Fastbreak
Posts: 211
Does anyone sit on a specific side of the plane to avoid the sun?
I frequently travel ORD-MCO-ORD on early morning flights (0600), especially in the winter, I always make sure that going down to MCO I sit in the right side of the a/c, and coming back I sit in the left side of the a/c to make sure the sunrise doesn't shine in and I don't get cooked by the heat! I prefer the window seat and like to keep it open but to me it gets warm really quick once the sun is up.
Also sitting on the right side of the a/c has it's advantages as most of the FA's don't see that my Bose QC2's are on!
Anyone else do this or sit on certain sides for certain reasons?
Also sitting on the right side of the a/c has it's advantages as most of the FA's don't see that my Bose QC2's are on!
Anyone else do this or sit on certain sides for certain reasons?
#8
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: SFO, SJC
Programs: UA 1K MM, United Club, AA EP, BR, CI, CX, WN, SPG, HH, Marriott Gold, LeClub Accor PLAT
Posts: 338
I frequently travel ORD-MCO-ORD on early morning flights (0600), especially in the winter, I always make sure that going down to MCO I sit in the right side of the a/c, and coming back I sit in the left side of the a/c to make sure the sunrise doesn't shine in and I don't get cooked by the heat! I prefer the window seat and like to keep it open but to me it gets warm really quick once the sun is up.
#12
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: London, England
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 3,772
When crossing the pond westbound I always sit on the right hand side to avoid the sun and the same with westbound US transcons. Reverse this for eastbound flights. I sometimes deviate from this though if I know the destination airport has a spectacular approach best viewed from the other side.
On a similar theme I always sit on the left hand side for overnight transatlantic eastbound flights (particularly in winter) in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Northern Lights which I often have. I'm not the kind of person that takes kindly to the request to lower window shades
On a similar theme I always sit on the left hand side for overnight transatlantic eastbound flights (particularly in winter) in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Northern Lights which I often have. I'm not the kind of person that takes kindly to the request to lower window shades
#13
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Ireland
Programs: No longer bothered chasing FF status.
Posts: 2,345
We were sat on the right side (J/K seats) thinking we would be out of the sun for the flight. Except that our routing from London took us across the North Atlantic to Newfoundland, then we turned south & tracked all the way along the coast of the U.S. towards MIA.
So with the sun setting the West, we ended up with it on our side of the aircraft for hours.
I guess you win some, you lose some eh
#15
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: (not Montana. Nor is my name really Helena, nor am I female)
Programs: Delta, USAirways, Starwood, Priority Club, Marriott, Amex
Posts: 2,557
When crossing the pond westbound I always sit on the right hand side to avoid the sun and the same with westbound US transcons. Reverse this for eastbound flights. I sometimes deviate from this though if I know the destination airport has a spectacular approach best viewed from the other side.
On a similar theme I always sit on the left hand side for overnight transatlantic eastbound flights (particularly in winter) in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Northern Lights which I often have. I'm not the kind of person that takes kindly to the request to lower window shades
On a similar theme I always sit on the left hand side for overnight transatlantic eastbound flights (particularly in winter) in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Northern Lights which I often have. I'm not the kind of person that takes kindly to the request to lower window shades
However, I am often willing to sit on the sunny side in such cases as:
1) the only available window seats are on the sunny side,
2) there's only a single seat on the sunny side vs. two on the "dark side," such as an Embraer 145,
3) there are only two seats on the sunny side vs. three on the dark side, such as on an MD-80 (on Delta MD-80s there seems to also be more leg room on the 2-seat side).
4) flying south along the eastern Florida coast at sunset, when you can catch the reflection of the sun in the Gulf of Mexico and thus see the entire width of the state in between the Gulf and the Atlantic directly beneath you.