Sit on the Right side of the plane for the best views on flights from Seattle to New Orleans. Right side wins both ends of the flight. The Mount Rainier departure view is one of the best urban mountain departures in the US, and the Lake Pontchartrain and New Orleans crescent arrival is genuinely spectacular. The middle portion of the flight over Oregon, northern California, Nevada, and the Rockies offers occasional canyon and mountain views on both sides, but the bookend moments favor right consistently.

During takeoff from Seattle Tacoma International (SEA), sit on the Right side for the best views. SEA typically departs south on runways 16L/16R, then turns southeast. The right side gives you a clear view of Mount Rainier dominating the eastern skyline, plus the full sweep of Lake Washington and the Seattle city grid. Left side faces west toward Puget Sound but loses the mountain drama quickly. Notable sights include: Mount Rainier (14,411 ft, unmistakable snow cone to the southeast), Lake Washington (long narrow lake east of Seattle), the Seattle downtown skyline receding to the north, the Cascade Range foothills stretching south.

When landing at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International (MSY), sit on the Right side for the best views. MSY typically lands on runway 10 (heading east) or runway 28 (heading west). On approach from the north or northwest, the right side gives you Lake Pontchartrain's enormous expanse, the New Orleans city crescent along the Mississippi, and the causeway bridge. Left side sees mostly flat Louisiana marshland. Notable sights include: Lake Pontchartrain (640 sq mi lake, visually massive), the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (24-mile bridge visible as a thin line across the water), the Mississippi River crescent defining the French Quarter and downtown New Orleans, the Lake Borgne wetlands to the east.

The flight from Seattle Tacoma International (SEA) to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International (MSY) takes Approximately 4 hours 15 minutes to 4 hours 45 minutes.

The route typically tracks southeast over the Oregon Cascades and Klamath Mountains, then across northern Nevada's Basin and Range terrain (parallel mountain ridges separated by flat desert valleys), clipping the corner of Utah or Arizona depending on routing, then across the Texas Panhandle's flat plains, and finally descending over the Mississippi Delta's vast wetland and bayou network into Louisiana. The Mississippi River itself may be visible multiple times in the final 100 miles of descent.