Sit on the Left side of the plane for the best views on flights from San Francisco to Vienna. The left side wins overall. The San Francisco Bay departure is spectacular and hard to beat. Across the polar-adjacent North Atlantic routing, the left side also faces south toward Greenland's ice sheet and Iceland's coastline during the oceanic crossing, and on approach to central Europe the left side catches the Alps if the route dips far enough south. The Vienna landing right-side advantage is real but shorter in duration.

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 north or northeast. A left seat gives you San Francisco Bay, the city skyline, and the Bay Bridge as you climb out and bank. Right side faces the peninsula and suburban sprawl. Notable sights include: San Francisco Bay, Bay Bridge, San Francisco city skyline, Marin Headlands and Golden Gate Bridge visible to the northwest.

When landing at Schwechat (VIE), sit on the Right side for the best views. VIE's primary landing approach on runway 29 comes in from the east-southeast, meaning a right-side seat faces north toward Vienna's city center, the Danube, and the Vienna Woods on the horizon. Left side looks south toward flat agricultural plains. Notable sights include: Vienna city center and Ringstrasse district, Danube River and Alte Donau, Vienna Woods (Wienerwald) on the western horizon, Prater park and Donauturm tower.

The flight from San Francisco International (SFO) to Schwechat (VIE) takes Approximately 11 to 12 hours.

The route typically tracks northeast over the Sierra Nevada, then across southern Canada and Hudson Bay, out over the North Atlantic passing near southern Greenland and Iceland, then across Scotland and northern Germany before descending into Austria. Key geographic features include the Sierra Nevada range shortly after departure, the Canadian Rockies if routing goes that way, Greenland's southern ice cap visible as a vast white mass, Iceland's volcanic coastline, the Scottish Highlands, and the North Sea coast of Germany and Denmark.