Sit on the Right side of the plane for the best views on flights from San Francisco to Pittsburgh (pennsylva). While the left seat wins at departure with Bay views, the right seat delivers the more dramatic and unique payoff at arrival — Pittsburgh's three-river confluence is one of the most visually striking urban geography features in the country. Across the cruise portion heading east, the right side also faces slightly more southward where the Sierra Nevada foothills, Great Basin, and eventually the Appalachian ridges are more prominent.

During takeoff from San Francisco International (SFO), sit on the Left side for the best views. SFO's primary departure runways (28L/28R) head west over the Bay before turning. A left seat gives you the San Francisco peninsula, the city skyline, and the Bay Bridge as you climb out and bank northeast. Right side faces the open Pacific with little of interest. Notable sights include: San Francisco Bay, Bay Bridge, San Francisco city skyline, San Mateo Bridge.

When landing at Pittsburgh International (PIT), sit on the Right side for the best views. Pittsburgh International uses runways oriented roughly east-west (28L/28R for arrivals from the east). On approach from the east, the right side faces south toward downtown Pittsburgh, the confluence of the three rivers — the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio — and the city's distinctive triangular Point State Park. This is one of the most recognizable urban geography features in the eastern US. Notable sights include: Downtown Pittsburgh skyline, Point State Park and the Three Rivers confluence, Allegheny River, Ohio River.

The flight from San Francisco International (SFO) to Pittsburgh International (PIT) takes Approximately 4 hours 30 minutes to 5 hours.

After departing the Bay Area, the route crosses the Sierra Nevada range over the Tahoe region, then the Great Basin desert of Nevada and Utah with its salt flats and basin-and-range topography. Over Colorado and Nebraska the terrain flattens into the Great Plains. The flight then crosses the Missouri and Mississippi river systems before the Appalachian ridges of Ohio and western Pennsylvania become visible as parallel forested folds in the terrain on descent into Pittsburgh.