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?

yes of course.

I try to sit on the side away from the sun (usually north side but not always surprisingly) for better viewing of beautiful earth below and less glare

Same here, always watch it, and mostly for less glare because I always read a book.

Absolutely! Who doesn't?? :)

For eastbound transatlantic or transpac flights leaving in the late afternoon (northern), the right side is better. (Counterintuitive?)

i am right handed and alway sit on the starboard side of the craft.

Not if it's an ERJ.

I fly between SAN-LAX-SFO quite a bit. For the early evening flights home, I tend to sit on the left side of the aircraft. After a hectic day, I really enjoy watching the colors in the sky as the sun is setting.

:D

The lower the window shades, the less radiation on everybody.

Sure do

Posh
 

Port Out, Starboard Home...

... though probably apocryphal.

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 ;)

I got caught out on this a few weeks ago on a BA flight LHR to MIA.

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 :)

delete

You and I would make poor traveling companions because I would always be trying to get the same window seat you're after! I've found FAs tend to respond quite enthusiastically to my requests to be awakened if the captain observes the Aurora Borealis.

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.

Yeah, I used to have "shady side window" in my UA profile, back before
it was automated to this degree. Even though it's no longer an option,
UA usually does this for me, how I don't know and won't ask.

I do this too, but thought no one else did. Looking at the seat maps, I never notice much of a bias with regard to sun/shade position.

I always get a window seat if possible, because I get better reception with my GPS receiver in a window. (Permitted on MOST aircrafts, see other post), and because I like to look out and see the terrain and clouds with my own eyes. Most people are clueless as to where they even are and totally miss out seeing the rivers, lakes, mountains, city lights at night, etc...

I also prefer a LEFT side window seat, because thats the side I prefer for SLEEPING - with my head turned that way. Thats my gig. To each his own.

Another story, my friend is handicapped and he needs a specific-side AISLE seat for a prophylactic mobility (hook arm). The airlines will not pre-assign it, since he's not in a "wheelchair", he doesn't officially "qualify", so we have to manually fight for it by checking in online. Usually have sucess at that.

Actually I was surprised to see this sunny-side post, I honestly had never even considered the effects of the SUN as being important in seating location.

very interesting.