Sit on the Left side of the plane for the best views on flights from Sacramento to Chicago. Left side wins at both ends of the flight. At departure you get the Sierra Nevada, and at arrival you get Lake Michigan and the Chicago lakefront. During the cruise over Nevada, Utah, and the Rockies, left-side passengers also get slightly better angles on the Wasatch Range and Colorado Plateau features depending on exact routing.

During takeoff from Sacramento International (SMF), sit on the Left side for the best views. SMF typically departs eastbound on runway 34L/34R or uses runways oriented north-south. On an eastbound departure toward Chicago, the left (north) side gives you a clear view of the Sacramento Valley floor and the Sierra Nevada foothills rising to the east, while the right side faces south toward flat agricultural land. As the aircraft banks eastward, left-side passengers get the best angle on the Sierra Nevada range. Notable sights include: Sierra Nevada range (including visible snowpack on peaks like Donner Pass area), Sacramento River delta and its braided channels in the valley below, the flat Central Valley agricultural grid stretching south, and the city of Sacramento itself briefly visible near the river.

When landing at Chicago Ohare International (ORD), sit on the Left side for the best views. ORD predominantly uses westerly runways (10L/10C/10R) for arrivals from the west, meaning the aircraft approaches from the west heading east. The left side faces north, giving views of the northern Chicago suburbs and Lake Michigan's southern shoreline as you descend. The right side faces south toward flat suburban sprawl with fewer distinctive features. Notable sights include: Lake Michigan's southern shoreline and the Chicago lakefront, the dense urban grid of Chicago's North Side suburbs, O'Hare's distinctive multi-runway complex visible just before touchdown, and the flat Illinois agricultural plain transitioning to suburban development on approach.

The flight from Sacramento International (SMF) to Chicago Ohare International (ORD) takes Approximately 3 hours 45 minutes to 4 hours 15 minutes.

The route typically crosses the northern Sierra Nevada near Donner Pass, then tracks over the Nevada Basin and Range desert, the Great Salt Lake (visible as a large pale flat expanse south of the route), the Wasatch Front near Salt Lake City, the Rocky Mountains of Colorado or Wyoming depending on routing, the high plains of Nebraska and Iowa, and finally the flat agricultural Midwest of Illinois before Chicago