Flying from Chicago to Denver?
Add a departure date and see which side gets the sun.
Flying from Chicago to Denver?
Add a departure date and see which side gets the sun.
Flying from Chicago to Denver?
Add a departure date and see which side gets the sun.
Chicago → Denver
A short flight within United States. The clock rolls back 1 hour when you land.
The Windy City
Chicago lines the southwest shore of Lake Michigan, a flat, gridded city with one of the great American downtowns at its heart. Elevated trains and a deep commuter-rail network make the core genuinely transit-friendly, and the lakefront ties the city together. Beyond downtown and the north-side neighborhoods, Chicago spreads into a huge belt of suburbs. Winters are hard, and the wind off the lake lives up to the nickname.
Surrounding hubs
| 976 km / 606 mi | |
| 983 km / 611 mi | |
| 376 km / 234 mi |
The Mile High City
Denver sits exactly a mile above sea level where the Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains, a compact downtown ringed by wide, flat suburbs. It is the gateway to the mountains for skiing and hiking, and much of its draw is what lies a short drive west. The core is walkable and a rail line runs in from the airport, but the wider region runs on the car. The altitude is real, so take the first day easy.
Surrounding hubs
| 1,092 km / 679 mi | |
| 1,371 km / 852 mi | |
| 628 km / 390 mi |
Find out which side of the plane to sit on.
Pick your airports, set your departure time, and you're done.
We calculate the sun's position based on your flight path and departure time, then tell you which side of the plane gets direct sun and which stays shaded. No guessing, just math.
Enter your flight
Pick your departure and arrival airports and set your departure time at the departure airport. FlightSide estimates the duration and you can adjust it if you know the exact schedule.
We track the sun along your route
Your flight path is broken into hundreds of points. At each one we check where the sun is and which side of the plane it faces.
You get a recommendation
Which side of the plane to sit on, left or right, depending on whether you'd rather avoid the sun or enjoy it. The percentages and the map are there if you want to see why.
Want to go deeper? Accuracy, edge cases, polar routes — see the FAQ →
Notes from the product.
Small updates, route observations, and clearer explanations for how the app keeps evolving.
Type less, wait less, wonder more
Airport search now understands metro codes and old city names, FlightSide loads noticeably faster, and a new Feeling lucky button chooses a flight for anyone without one in mind.
A closer look at the route, not just the seat
FlightSide now shows the two cities and key details about the flight alongside the seat recommendation: confirm you picked the right airports, read the time change off two clocks, and check the return leg.
It's all about the sun (after all)
Not all sunlight reaches the side windows. FlightSide now weighs the sun’s angle to the cabin and shows twilight along the route.