JetSetAuthority

Route · North Atlantic

SFO San Francisco ⇄ AMS Amsterdam

San Francisco International Airport (United States) and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (Netherlands): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance8,785 km5,459 mi4,744 nautical miles
SFO → AMS10 h 35 minestimated block time
AMS → SFO11 h 30 minestimated block time
Clock change+8 hAmsterdam vs San Francisco, today
Great-circle route from San Francisco (SFO) to Amsterdam (AMS)SFOSan FranciscoAMSAmsterdam
The shortest path over the Earth’s surface (great circle), drawn on a Natural Earth projection. Real flight paths bend around weather, winds and closed airspace.

Flight time each way

SFO → AMS

10 h 35 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 30° (NNE).

Leave San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Amsterdam Sun 8 Nov, 05:35 local +1 day.

AMS → SFO

11 h 30 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 320° (NW).

Leave Amsterdam Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive San Francisco Sat 7 Nov, 12:30 local.

SFO-bound flights are the slower direction by about 55 minutes in our estimate: the route runs partly east–west through latitudes where the prevailing westerly winds at cruise height are strong, so heading east rides a tailwind and heading west fights a headwind. How we estimate it.

Distance

Great-circle distance8,785 km · 5,459 mi · 4,744 nmi
Initial heading30° (NNE) from SFO; 320° (NW) from AMS
Farthest from the equator66.8°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip44% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

SFOAmerica/Los_Angeles — UTC−7 now; UTC−8 standard time, UTC−7 during daylight saving time
AMSEurope/Amsterdam — UTC+1 now; UTC+1 standard time, UTC+2 during daylight saving time
DifferenceAmsterdam is 8 hours ahead of San Francisco today.

Jet lag, flying SFO → AMS. Your body clock has to move 8 hours earlier, like an eastward trip. A common rule of thumb is that the body clock adjusts by roughly one time zone a day, so expect up to about 8 days to fully adjust. Shifting earlier (as here) is usually the harder direction; morning daylight at the destination helps. Flying the other way, the shift is reversed.

General information, not medical advice.

The two airports

SFO San Francisco International AirportSan Francisco, United States · longest runway 11,870 ft3,618 m AMS Amsterdam Airport SchipholAmsterdam, Netherlands · longest runway 12,467 ft3,800 m

More routes from SFO and AMS

LAXSFO Los Angeles – San Francisco 543 km338 mi · 1 h 45 min SFOORD San Francisco – Chicago 2,964 km1,842 mi · 4 h 05 min JFKSFO New York – San Francisco 4,152 km2,580 mi · 6 h 20 min SFOLHR San Francisco – London 8,616 km5,354 mi · 10 h 20 min SFOPVG San Francisco – Shanghai 9,877 km6,138 mi · 13 h 20 min SFOSIN San Francisco – Singapore 13,582 km8,439 mi · 17 h 45 min LHRAMS London – Amsterdam 370 km230 mi · 1 h 25 min AMSBCN Amsterdam – Barcelona 1,241 km771 mi · 2 h 30 min AMSATH Amsterdam – Athens 2,182 km1,356 mi · 3 h 20 min DTWAMS Detroit – Amsterdam 6,324 km3,929 mi · 7 h 45 min ATLAMS Atlanta – Amsterdam 7,066 km4,390 mi · 8 h 30 min AMSSIN Amsterdam – Singapore 10,514 km6,533 mi · 12 h 20 min

Routes of a similar length

LAXLHR Los Angeles – London 8,760 km5,443 mi · 10 h 25 min LAXHND Los Angeles – Tokyo 8,812 km5,476 mi · 12 h 10 min LAXNRT Los Angeles – Tokyo 8,753 km5,439 mi · 12 h 05 min CDGJNB Paris – Johannesburg 8,737 km5,429 mi · 10 h 50 min

Need a different pair? The flight-time calculator works for any two of 3,245 airports. Not covered: which airlines fly this route, schedules, fares and live status — that data is proprietary and we don’t guess it.

Photos on airport pages are credited there. Estimates are rounded to 5 minutes; typical error about 13 minutes (validation).