Sit on the Left side of the plane for the best views on flights from Charlotte to San Juan. While the right side has a decent Charlotte departure, the left side wins overall. Once airborne and tracking southeast, the left side faces northeast and then east, capturing the Atlantic coastline as the flight crosses over the Outer Banks of North Carolina and then tracks over open ocean. The left-side arrival into San Juan with Old San Juan, El Morro, and San Juan Bay is the single most visually rewarding moment of the flight.

During takeoff from Charlotte Douglas International (CLT), sit on the Right side for the best views. Charlotte Douglas typically departs south or southwest on runways 18C/18L/18R, meaning a right-side seat faces west and southwest toward the Catawba River valley and the broader Piedmont. As the aircraft banks southeast toward San Juan, the right side briefly captures the Charlotte skyline and the sprawling Lake Norman to the north before it passes behind. Notable sights include: Charlotte skyline, Lake Norman, Catawba River corridor, Piedmont flatlands stretching toward the Sandhills.

When landing at Luis Munoz Marin International (SJU), sit on the Left side for the best views. Luis Munoz Marin typically lands on runway 10, approaching from the west over the water, which puts the left side facing south toward the Caribbean and the coastline of Puerto Rico. The left seat gets the approach over San Juan Bay, Old San Juan's distinctive peninsula, and the Atlantic coast as the aircraft descends over the water. Notable sights include: Old San Juan peninsula and El Morro fortification, San Juan Bay, Condado lagoon and beach strip, El Yunque rainforest massif to the southeast.

The flight from Charlotte Douglas International (CLT) to Luis Munoz Marin International (SJU) takes Approximately 3 hours 15 minutes to 3 hours 30 minutes.

The flight tracks southeast from Charlotte, crossing the North Carolina Sandhills and the Cape Fear River basin, then over the Cape Hatteras area and the Outer Banks before heading out over the open Atlantic. The mid-flight portion is largely open ocean with occasional cloud cover. As the flight approaches Puerto Rico, the island's mountainous spine, the Cordillera Central, becomes visible from altitude, rising to around 4,000 feet and running east-west across the island's interior.