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Find cheap flights from San Francisco to South Africa from $893

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from San Francisco to South Africa departing on 7/28. Fares are subject to change and may not be available on all flights or dates of travel. Click the price to replicate the search for this deal.
1 adult
0 bags
Wed 6/12
Wed 6/19

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Best South Africa Flight Deals

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours

Johannesburg
Johannesburg2 stops$1,431
Cape Town
Cape Town1 stop$1,376
Durban
Durban2 stops$1,413
Port Elizabeth
Port Elizabeth2 stops$1,508

Good to know

Low season

March

High season

December

Cheapest flight

$893
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 4% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 7% increase in price.
Flight from San Francisco to Cape Town

FAQs - booking South Africa flights

  • Is it a good idea to buy a ticket with an airport change during a layover?

    It depends. Some tickets from SFO to South Africa require you to change airports within a city during a layover or to collect your bags and check in again for the next leg of your flight. This can be time-consuming, and getting across town to another airport could get expensive. Before you book a ticket with a re-check-in or an airport change, make sure that the ticket leaves you enough time to do it and that all aspects of the change or the re-check-in are feasible.

  • What documentation do I need in order to fly to South Africa?

    US citizens flying to South Africa need a valid passport that is still valid at least 30 days beyond the date when you enter South Africa. This passport must have two consecutive empty pages per entry. You do not need a visa if you plan to leave South Africa in 90 days or fewer.

  • Does SFO have therapy dogs?

    Yes. When you are at SFO waiting for your flight to South Africa, you might encounter the Wag Brigade, therapy dogs roaming Departures with their trained handlers. SFO hopes these therapy dogs can delight, distract, and comfort passengers waiting to travel. The Wag Brigade includes several dogs, a pig, and a rabbit.

  • Does SFO have a hotel at the airport?

    Yes. If you would like to stay at the airport the night before your flight to South Africa, consider staying at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at SFO. Connected to all of the terminals by way of the free AirTrain, this upscale hotel offers free Wi-Fi, room service, a fitness center, a business center, and much more.

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from San Francisco to South Africa?

    KAYAK is a travel search engine. That means we look across the web to find the best prices we can find for our users. With over 2 billion flight queries processed yearly, we are able to display a variety of prices and options on flights from San Francisco to South Africa.

  • How does KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy my flight ticket from San Francisco to South Africa?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight to South Africa from San Francisco is likely to change within 7 days, so travelers know whether to wait or book now.

  • What is the Hacker Fare option on flights from San Francisco to South Africa?

    Hacker Fares allow you to combine one-way tickets in order to save you money over a traditional round-trip ticket. You could then fly to South Africa with an airline and back to San Francisco with another airline.

  • What is KAYAK's "flexible dates" feature and why should I care when looking for a flight from San Francisco to South Africa?

    Sometimes travel dates aren't set in stone. If your preferred travel dates have some wiggle room, flexible dates will show you all the options when flying to South Africa from San Francisco up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

See more FAQs

Top tips for finding cheap flights to South Africa

  • Morning departure is around 6% cheaper than an evening flight, on average*.
  • San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is a hub for Alaska Airlines. When you fly from the shores of the San Francisco Bay to South Africa, you will have many choices of destination city, airline, flight time, and price.
  • When you fly from SFO to Johannesburg, chances are you will be landing at the O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB). Turkish Airlines, Delta, and KLM are among the airlines that offer one-stop flights from San Francisco to Johannesburg. Some common layover cities include Istanbul, Atlanta, Amsterdam, and others. Alaska Airlines, Ethiopian Air, and United are among the carriers that offer two-stop flights from SFO to JNB.
  • If you want to fly from SFO to Cape Town at the southern tip of South Africa, you'll most likely be landing in the Cape Town International Airport (CPT). Turkish Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, and KLM are among the carriers that offer one-stop flights from SFO to CPT, with layovers in cities such as Istanbul, Zurich, and Amsterdam. KLM, Ethiopian Air, and Delta are among the airlines that offer two-stop flights from SFO to CPT.
  • If you want to fly to Durban on the east coast of South Africa, you will most likely be landing at the King Shaka International Airport (DUR). Qatar Airways, SWISS, and Turkish Airlines are among the many carriers that offer two-stop and three-stop flights from SFO to DUR., with stops in Istanbul, Johannesburg, Paris, and others.
  • If you are flying into the city of Pietermaritzburg, about an hour inland from Durban, you will most likely be landing at the Pietermaritzburg Airport (PZB). You can find two-stop flights from SFO to PZB on airlines such as Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines, with stops in cities such as Istanbul, Johannesburg, and Doha.
See more tips
*Average of the lowest prices shown in KAYAK’s search results for departures within the next 30 days

Top 5 airlines serving from San Francisco to South Africa

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from San Francisco to South Africa? KAYAK airline reviews give an overall score for each airline based on loads of factors, including comfort, boarding, in-flight entertainment and more, to make your decision easier. See airline scores according to verified KAYAK customer reviews.
8.0
DeltaOverall score based on 10736 reviews
7.9Comfort
8.2Boarding
7.4Food
8.0Entertainment
8.6Crew
Airline reviews

There was a loud squeaky sound the whole time we were flying.

6.0 GoodEliza, Apr 2024SAN - LAX
Read more about Delta reviews

There was a loud squeaky sound the whole time we were flying.

I didn’t not like that I could not select my seat and ended up with the worse seat.

The landing was bad and the hostess came two times and i was sleeping but when she served the person that nexts to me I woke up and she didn’t even asked me if I need any drink or snacks two times!!!!

Plane was late because of a mechanical malfunction and the food listed as available was not. Flight attendants seem over worked and under paid. They just done seem happy. And that can be seen in their faces.

Waited 3 hours on a plane to de-ice due to manpower issues. Waited another hour and a half once we landed because of a gate issue. Missed my connections. Created. A total of 13 hours of delay.

Great, on time departure, friendly and accommodating crew, great leg room, Smith flight

Plane was turned around due to fog half way into the flight, Delta did not properly direct passengers to stay on same flight and instead failed to properly rebook on Alaska

Honestly, I didn’t expect that I will experience this long time wait during the check in. There was only one person who was taking care of the passengers for the economy class and it took us to wait about one hour to do our check i. As a result we barely get to the airplane as the gate was at the end of the airport. That is totally not professional where one crue is working at the registration desk with economy and 3-4 crues are helping for the business class.

Like most domestic flights in the US, you are basically on your own with this airline when it comes to food, so be sure to purchase meals and drinks ahead of time or expect to arrive starving and dehydrated (like I was).

You need to be a hacker to get the (Free) WiFi

Operated by American Airlines. Very chaotic and the crew was bit rough responding any enquiries. Restricted leg space.. Qatar would have been better

Qatar airways from Doha to guangzhau was excellent big bird Boeing 777 more room and smoothly flight, I Love it

It was good no problems made it on time for the next flight overseas!

The made us waiting and held our passports and boarding pass making us miss our flights

Not impressed. Only allowed one carry on on such a long flight.

The flight was good but my neighbor had the vent open full power for the whole flight and because the air was blowing from the side instead of from the top and I got very cold and ended up with a sore throat.

Bad experience with the delay n long wait time for connecting flight after missing the connection flight from Doha.

Wore experience due to delay and took me 3 days to reach my destination.

All over with Qatar airlines my experience was really bad due to delays and then putting me on different airlines and after 8 hours of wait I had to listen to their is no plane to fly for another 24 hours. Wore experience ever.

Excellent will be flying again in May with Qatar. to Botswana.

Excellent service and comfort from the moment you check in. Flight crew is hyper focused on making passengers comfortable and at ease. It’s like a flying hotel!

Only chicken as a meat dish through out the flight

Nothing really was great as such. Seen other no name airlines perform better.

Quality of service on board was very inconsistent. FA service primarily seemed robotic and they barely engaged with passengers

I’m unclear why I had to pay extra for assigned seats as Turkish airlines did not honor the seating. We were placed across the aisle from each other on TK 34, and were seated behind one another on TK 694. Because my name was misspelled on e-ticket (Klawiter, instead of Klawitter) I could not log onto website to get the connection gate number in Istanbul. The monitors in the airport were a jumbled mess 1/2 Arabic and 1/2 English.

On line check in needs a lot of improvement. I tried and gave up.

Food not good, flight attendants not the best, not accommodating very ruff

the female flight attendant was racist towards me. I could tell she treated the two other passengers next to me with more softness.

Oh my god! For an13 hour flight they serve you food just one time. Also don’t be thirsty they give you a little small cup of soda to drink. They seem like their goal is to feed you one so they don’t have to be bothered with you. It quite surprise for such a long flight there are several times to eat at least three and the food was well lackluster. The food and lack of offering drinks which were always hot no ice provided.

We were traveling first class. Checkin counter lady and her manager, both were in bad mood and did not treat us well about checking in the handbag. The gate agent took care of it right away. I travel Turkish twice a year in first class. No one has ever refused to check in the hand bag. Not sure, why this agent and her manager refused. Everything else was excellent.

Hated every minute of it. This flight should have only taken 1.5hrs but was delayed over 10hours. Now I am being told I cannot be compensated or refunded my ticket price or extra leg room, which I purchased but did not receive, because the airline is throwing the blame on the 3rd party I purchased tickets through and 3rd party putting the blame on airline. No one wants to help. They received their money and that's all they care about. Im going on 3 days of still trying to get to my final destination, had to cancel car rental, car insurance and hotel. Currently staying in airport until hotels open up. Thank you Lufthansa, Kayak, Underpricer and United for making this trip the worst ever.

Crew was great and did their best to make us comfortable and captain came out at the beginning to announce why the flight was delayed, weather situation up ahead, and kept us updated throughout the flight.

United WiFi is consistently unusable (it can take 10 mins to load a single web page). If you need Wifi to do work, be prepared to lose half a day of productivity.

Awful. I got stuck next to a person carrying a dog and behind someone with a dog. People need to board these dogs downstairs. The cabin is crowded enough with your pets

Packed in like sardines, very uncomfortable. Sitting the aisle my shoulder was rammed into numerous times by rushing flight attendants. Also flight was very cold.

Beverage and food services are excellent. We enjoy paying the extra for economy plus for the 3 inches more leg room to be exact.

Flight was delayed by 3 hours. The pilot made up 1 hour during the flight, but that made the wait at the airport 5 hours once you factor getting there 2 hours early.

Airline did not explain reasons why flight was delayed two hours. Explanations were badly needed and rarely provided. Problem seemed to clearly be the airline’s fault and not the fault of the weather or airport.

Very uncomfortable seats and seat backs, and I am only 5’9”. Delayed due to crew issues, spent a long time with no ventilation. Teeny overhead bins. Wifi worked well. Arrived safely.

I was delighted that we were able to get on the 4:40 pm flight rather than our original booking at 6:55 pm!! Other than that, the flight was comfortable and landed early😊

Better food and more space in the seats. Also when doing the web check in both times I was going in to your site the minute you open it and there is not really many seats to choose only to buy!!!

It was ok, not as good as it used to be. The Heathrow connection was a disaster - complete anarchy, unknowledgable and skimpy assistance and signage. Gate crew at next flight was great, held the flight while my wife struggled through security.

It was great! The seats were comfortable, and they fed me during the transatlantic flight, something which I have been missing out on for the past 3 years as I travel to and from school.

This flight was cancelled at the last minute. We were rebooked on another flight but a day later. We lost a day of our vacation and paid for a night in a hotel we couldn’t use. The flights we were rebooked on (both American) messed up our seating on both flights-we didn’t get the seats we had paid for. All in all, a terrible experience.

Lost our bags in Heathrow, We didn’t receive bags in Mallorca for 3 days, out of a 7 day cycling vacation. Really inconvenient and disappointing!

The crew on board were all very pleasant and happy to help. The flight had the old business class seats. The departure board in the business lounge did not update and kept on saying ' gate open' but never said boarding. When I got nervous about the departure time and walked to the gate I was told off rudely for being late.

This was an American Airlines flight. The crew were very unhappy and quite grumpy. Abrupt to the point of being rude. The food was dreadful. Indeed the breakfast was in edible. I will avoid AA at all costs in the future.

We have business class seats from Los Angeles to London. The crew is friendly and provided great service. The flight was very comfortable and very smooth. Will use this airlines again in the future.

Asked for a wheelchair multiple times. Got denied the wheelchair in London layover.

Flight delayed Got bags after 5 days Delivery of bags was done 500 meters as driver did not want to go into my street

Book cheap flights from San Francisco to South Africa

Recent round-trip flight deals

7/4Thu
1 stop
32h 15mSFO-CPT
7/18Thu
2 stops
30h 20mCPT-SFO
$1,376
10/16Wed
2 stopsQatar Airways
33h 25mSFO-DUR
10/20Sun
2 stopsQatar Airways
35h 35mDUR-SFO
$1,413
7/30Tue
1 stopTurkish Airlines
32h 15mSFO-CPT
8/26Mon
1 stopTurkish Airlines
27h 45mCPT-SFO
$1,441
5/27Mon
1 stopBritish Airways
30h 40mSFO-CPT
6/4Tue
1 stopBritish Airways
27h 20mCPT-SFO
$1,476
5/30Thu
2 stopsBritish Airways
32h 36mSFO-CPT
6/5Wed
1 stopBritish Airways
27h 20mCPT-SFO
$1,481
8/4Sun
1 stopTurkish Airlines
30h 55mSFO-JNB
8/21Wed
1 stopTurkish Airlines
26h 15mJNB-SFO
$1,490
6/17Mon
1 stopDelta
25h 20mSFO-CPT
7/23Tue
1 stopDelta
25h 17mCPT-SFO
$1,576
7/15Mon
2 stopsDelta
22h 55mSFO-CPT
7/21Sun
1 stopDelta
29h 51mCPT-SFO
$1,581
6/2Sun
2 stopsUnited Airlines
31h 35mSFO-JNB
6/12Wed
1 stopUnited Airlines
26h 40mJNB-SFO
$1,615
6/9Sun
2 stopsUnited Airlines
31h 35mSFO-JNB
6/19Wed
2 stopsUnited Airlines
29h 35mJNB-SFO
$1,619

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Recent one-way flight deals

7/28Sun
2 stops
59h 09mSFO-CPT
$893
6/20Thu
3 stopsRwandAir
62h 00mSFO-CPT
$916
6/9Sun
2 stopsLufthansa
26h 10mSFO-CPT
$926
7/28Sun
1 stopQatar Airways
33h 40mSFO-CPT
$967
6/8Sat
2 stopsUnited Airlines
31h 30mSFO-CPT
$1,218
6/19Wed
2 stopsDelta
36h 18mSFO-CPT
$1,246
5/25Sat
2 stopsBritish Airways
56h 30mSFO-MQP
$1,364
8/11Sun
1 stopTurkish Airlines
30h 55mSFO-JNB
$3,249
7/12Fri
1 stopTurkish Airlines
30h 20mSFO-JNB
$3,285
7/12Fri
2 stopsDelta
35h 29mSFO-JNB
$10,111

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Last minute flights from San Francisco to South Africa

Last minute flight, train and bus deals

5/14Tue
multi-stopQatar Airways
36h 05mSFO-JNB
5/21Tue
multi-stopQatar Airways
33h 15mJNB-SFO
$1,598
5/14Tue
multi-stopVirgin Atlantic
40h 55mSFO-JNB
6/8Sat
multi-stopVirgin Atlantic
34h 25mJNB-SFO
$1,719
5/14Tue
multi-stopQatar Airways
37h 10mSFO-JNB
5/21Tue
multi-stopQatar Airways
50h 54mJNB-SFO
$1,755
5/15Wed
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
36h 13mSFO-CPT
5/19Sun
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
47h 29mCPT-SFO
$1,762
5/14Tue
multi-stop
53h 15mSFO-CPT
5/19Sun
multi-stop
48h 30mCPT-SFO
$1,772
5/14Tue
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
42h 22mSFO-JNB
6/8Sat
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
38h 11mJNB-SFO
$1,810
5/15Wed
multi-stopLufthansa
29h 45mSFO-CPT
5/19Sun
multi-stopLufthansa
27h 55mCPT-SFO
$2,030
5/15Wed
multi-stopKLM
22h 35mSFO-CPT
5/19Sun
multi-stopKLM
29h 41mCPT-SFO
$2,075
5/14Tue
multi-stopDelta
35h 45mSFO-CPT
5/19Sun
multi-stopDelta
29h 03mCPT-SFO
$2,110
5/14Tue
multi-stopDelta
35h 40mSFO-JNB
6/8Sat
multi-stopDelta
24h 59mJNB-SFO
$11,180

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