$69 Find Cheap Flights from California to District of Columbia

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Good to know

Low seasonAugust
Cheapest flight$69
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 10% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 4% lower on average.
Flight from Ontario to Reagan Washington National Airport

Flights from California to District of Columbia: the best tips from KAYAK users

Insights shared by verified travelers who flew the route from California to District of Columbia 
karenFlew with Alaska Airlines
LAX
-
IAD
Jun 2024
Personal tips are bring your own food if you're hungry; keep foot space as open as possible for leg room; pack your patience
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska Airlines
LAX
-
IAD
Jun 2024
Get to the airport on time because traffic in LA is unexpected

FAQs for booking flights from California to District of Columbia

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from California to District of Columbia?

    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 California to District of Columbia.

  • How does KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy my flight ticket from California to District of Columbia?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from California to District of Columbia 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 California to District of Columbia?

    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 from California to District of Columbia with an airline and back with another airline.

  • What is KAYAK's "flexible dates" feature and why should I care when looking for a flight from California to District of Columbia?

    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 from California to District of Columbia up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

  • Which airlines fly most frequently to District of Columbia?

    California and District of Columbia are connected by different airlines. The airlines that fly that route the most regularly are United Airlines (137 flights per week), Air New Zealand (129 flights per week), and Virgin Australia (107 flights per week).

  • How many airports are there in District of Columbia?

    There are 2 airports in District of Columbia. The busiest airport is Washington Dulles Airport (IAD), with 54% of all flights arriving there.

  • Which is the cheapest airport to fly into in District of Columbia?

    Prices will differ depending on the departure airport, but generally, the cheapest airport to fly to in District of Columbia is Baltimore/Washington Airport (BWI), with an average flight price of $260.

  • What is the cheapest day to fly to District of Columbia?

    Based on KAYAK data, the cheapest day to fly to District of Columbia is Wednesday where round-trip tickets can be as cheap as $412. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Sunday, where round-trip prices are $552 on average.

  • What is the cheapest time of day to fly to District of Columbia?

    The cheapest time of day to fly to District of Columbia is generally in the evening, when round-trip flights cost $382 on average. Morning departures are around 18% more expensive than evening flights, on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to District of Columbia is generally in the afternoon, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is $471.

  • What is the cheapest flight to District of Columbia?

    The cheapest ticket to District of Columbia from California found in the last 72 hours was to Baltimore, at $197 round-trip. The most popular route is Los Angeles (LAX) to Baltimore (BWI) and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $197.

  • What is the cheapest month to fly from California to District of Columbia?

    The cheapest month for flights from California to District of Columbia is February, when tickets cost $317 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are November and December, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $635 and $580 respectively.

  • How far in advance should I book a flight from California to District of Columbia?

    To get a below average price on the flight from California to District of Columbia, you should book around 4 weeks before departure, which saves you about 42% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 26 weeks before departure.

  • How many cities have direct flights to District of Columbia?

    From California, there are direct flights to District of Columbia from 5 cities. The city with the most direct flights is San Francisco, with 287 direct flights each week.

  • How many direct flights to District of Columbia are there each day?

    There are around 95 direct flights from within California to District of Columbia every day. Most flights (60%) depart in the morning.

  • How many direct flights to District of Columbia are there each week?

    Each week there are around 662 direct flights from within California to District of Columbia. The most common day for departures is Sunday, with 16% of flights taking off on this day.

  • How long is the flight to District of Columbia?

    An average nonstop flight from California to District of Columbia takes 6h 38m, covering a distance of 2312 miles. The shortest route is Las Vegas (LAS) to Washington, D.C. Dulles Intl Airport (IAD) with an average flight time of 4h 22m.

  • How many long-haul flights are there to District of Columbia each week?

    There are not any long-haul (6-12 hour flight duration) or short-haul (up to 3 hour flight duration) flights to District of Columbia. Instead, there are 662 medium-haul flights (3-6 hour flight duration), with the most arriving from San Francisco.

  • What is the most popular destination in District of Columbia?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is Washington, D.C. (100% of total searches to District of Columbia).

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from California to District of Columbia

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from California to District of Columbia? 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
Alaska AirlinesOverall score based on 11793 reviews
8.1Boarding
7.0Entertainment
7.1Food
8.5Crew
7.8Comfort
Airline reviews

Worst first/business class I have ever flown after 75 years on planes. Barely acceptable seats, terrible food, uninterested attendants, unavailable WiFi. I’ll never fly this airline again.

4.0 OkayJerry, Jan 2026
SAN - ORD
Read more Alaska Airlines reviews

Worst first/business class I have ever flown after 75 years on planes. Barely acceptable seats, terrible food, uninterested attendants, unavailable WiFi. I’ll never fly this airline again.

The bathroom trash container under the sink fell out and was like that long before my flight. The plane smelled of canned fish and floor was Deteriorating

My TSA pre check was left Off my boarding pass which was a large inconvenience.

Departed on time and had an efficient boarding process. The inflight wifi was not working on one of the flights.

Again, very smooth and all of the Alaska folks were great. They continue to meet all my needs.

Overall it was fine, however one of my two checked bags did not arrive and I was told it was left in Palm Springs. I don't understand how one of the two bags made it through fine but the other got lost .

The Alaska Airlines app made it very difficult to find my boarding pass. It was very frustrating to use! The flight itself was flawless.

It wasn’t great. Your app is not user friendly unless you sign up for those points. It tries to force you and won’t show you flight/trip info until you sign up. You have to somehow get into get your boarding pass because your kiosks don’t offer boarding pass information only bag check. It was not helpful or user friendly. The app is useless unless you sign up for your rewards program. My daughters info was missing even though I checked us in we had to get out of security and go back to a ticket window the woman told us that it sometimes populates incorrectly so it didn’t have her information. It populated incorrect birth date. She said this is common. Luckily we were at Palm Springs and not JFK where leaving the giant security line would have been a much bigger problem. I will avoid your airline in the future if it’s possible. Also no food availability except dry snack boxes.

The whole experience went smoothly with no hitches along the way.

The flight was excellent and very friendly and helpful staff. Will travel again and recommend to friends. Thank you

Great flight but super high price. Glad it was a business trip and not personal

3 hour delay. Had to change plans and was still delayed.

We got exit row seats both flights. Everything was running on time

The boarding and seat assignment system no longer works for me, but I know it is being replaced. Otherwise, I am good with the overall experience.

The lead steward kept singing about "San Francisco" and hotel California---more annoying than humorous....needs work. Flight was smooth and on time.

San Diego airport is brand new, spacious, airy and very smooth checkin at SW baggage drop.

Crew could have been friendlier, maybe I'm spoiled by SW crews. In flight wifi was good. Would be nice to have more food offerings on a 4 plus hour flight

Ever since Southwest starting charging for bags, passengers don't want to pay to check their bags, so the gate agents have to beg people to check their roller bags now because there's "not enough space". This was a terrible business move by Southwest.

Sacrament staff are always polite and helpful. Airport is easy to maneuver and boarding is straightforward.

As always, the entire Southwest experience was wonderful, from online booking to flight to baggage retrieval. Very grateful.

It was a pretty standard flight... until the almost hour and a half spent on the taxi way. I get that the weather has been poor but the delay had nothing to do with the weather and more to do with a plane with several issues tying up the gate. I get that that happens from time to time but this has been EVERY flight I've been on for the past 5 years and I fly 3 to 5 times a year. This isn't just United... it's American, it's Delta. It's an issue with the entire industry. I work for UPS and packages on a cargo plane get better service than people do these days. Anymore I HATE flying.

Unfortunately weather delayed our flight waiting for our plane to arrive and due to a little snow time was needed to deice the plane so departure was very delayed and I missed the connecting flight

The flight crew where really good. Better then the crew from BNE to SFO

Miserable. They moved my seat, but canceled the next leg of my flight. I resolved the issue at my transfer, but that resulted in lost luggage that has taken days off my schedule with no resolution. Worse, they fail to interface effectively with Lufthansa, forcing me to bounce between two equally useless help desks. The apps are unable to handle the situation, the bag dropped off the tracker, and while the call centers are polite, they do not provide written information to assist with cross-airline communication.

left on time, reasonable boarding process arrived early luggage came out quickly

I’m so sorry, I can’t remember her name, I believe it was Dimpti. She was stellar, also a mature Asian flight attendant, lots of flowers in her hair, just as amazing! But literally the crew was AWESOME . Only downside is there weren’t any charging outlets. Maybe I needed to ask a flight attendant , but it would’ve been nice to have one easily accessible.

I boarded flight UA#1318 at Sacramento International Airport going back to Houston TX. The flight was scheduled at 5:10am. I was able to check in virtually using the United Airlines app. When I entered the airport, there was no one outside assisting with checked bags as it was for Delta Airlines. Immediately upon entering, there was a LONG, EXTREMELY LONG line to the kiosks to get boarding passes. I stand in line to get boarding passes then had to move to ANOTHER EXTREMELY LONG line to get my bags checked in. While standing in this line, we noticed an agent taking customers to 3 at a time to her station to check their bags in. Lucky for me, she called me back, checked my bags for me and I was on my way. I then encountered another long line at the TSA check and to avoid I ending up having to sign up for CLEAR to bypass it. So glad, I did.,...Both of my flights were great with no issues, butthe check in progress at Bush Airport was so much smoother. Check-in at SMF airport needs to be anaylzed and corrected. Do better United, I know you can....thanks

Pushed back only to get deplaned due to a tire damaged by ground crew. They did at least go pretty fast. The bathrooms should be banned under the Geneva convention. No room to even sit straight on the toilet. The under-seat entertainment units block what little leg room there is.

United airlines has the best customer experience from booking to arrival. I always fly United airlines. The mileage program is excellent

The only downside was my cell phone charger wouldn’t work in the charging port but everyone else’s would work in them all. My cell phone cable works fine in my hotel room in Frankfurt.

The entertainment options were at best, fair. It was exactly the same as my outbound flight. It would have been more entertaining if there were some series from Apple TV, HBO, Showtime or other carriers for me to catch up with.

Concern Regarding Significant Gate Delay and Jet Bridge Issue Dear Customer Relations Team, I am writing to express my disappointment with the experience I had on my recent flight AA 2414 on Sunday January 18, 2026. What should have been a routine departure turned into a frustrating and avoidable delay due to an issue with the jet bridge at the gate. As a result, the flight was delayed by approximately 90 minutes while multiple gate changes were attempted. The lack of clear communication during this period made the situation even more challenging. Passengers were left uncertain about the cause of the delay, the expected timeline, and the next steps. This not only disrupted travel plans but also created unnecessary stress for everyone on board. I understand that operational issues can arise, but a malfunctioning jet bridge and the resulting extended delay suggest an area where procedures or equipment maintenance may need attention. I hope you will review this incident to prevent similar disruptions in the future. I would appreciate acknowledgment of this concern and consideration of appropriate compensation for the inconvenience and lost time caused by this delay. Thank you for taking the time to review my experience. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Dion Dillard

The flight was on time and arrived early. The crew were friendly and helpful.

Overall experience was great. Flights were almost on time in departing and we arrived at our destination as scheduled. No issues with amenities or flight crew. Everything went well as as expected. Will fly again with American Airlines in the future!

I got sick nothing contagious but distressing enough and the care I received on the flight was astounding.

Horrible. Both legs of my flight were delayed more than 6 hours. No compensation, no screens on the plane, and the plane was not clean.

After we'd boarded , they canceled the flight. The crew didn't even know , we just all received text messages. Then after they deplaned us , AA was just like "too bad, go F your self, we sure ain't gonna help you"

Initial flight was cancelled at the time of arrival to the airport, flight alternative requires switching from direct to flight with a layover, and the plane felt like it would split apart, it was so rattle-y.

Weather delay for 2.5 hours followed by half hour crew delay, did not have ginger ale, uncomfortable seats

It was nobody’s fault - but the plane came 4-hrs late and we were updated randomly in 20-30 mins increments which left us hostage to sit and wait expectantly. It was very long and got very late. Our plane didn’t land until nearly 1 am! Also the toilet wasn’t working. The hosts were nice enough but were clearly “about to pass out” as one told me. Lastly, there was no snack or even time for it. Just a bad experience overall.

Very well recently! Frontier is improving and less harrassing customer on luggages! Positive!

Good for a budget airline! It was easy to get on, staff was really nice. Can’t say anything about the food or entertainment because it wasn’t available, which is fine.

I am writing to express my disappointment with my recent Frontier Airlines flight. I was charged $99 at the gate because my bag was said to be too large, yet once onboard there was no available overhead bin space, and I was required to place the bag under the seat in front of me anyway. This made the charge feel unnecessary and unfair. Additionally, before the flight even took off, I was asked to move from the seat I paid for into a middle seat so another passenger and her cat could have my seat to themselves. I was not offered compensation or an explanation for being moved from a paid seat. Between the unexpected bag fee and being forced to give up my seat, this experience fell well below acceptable customer service standards. I would appreciate a review of this situation and appropriate compensation.

It was costly and difficult to check in. $85 to take a small suitcase with me, carry on or checked and $75 on the return trip, Plus $25 if I didn't check my self in check in $25, because I couldn't do it on the kiosk. Small very uncomfortable seats, waited on the runway for near an hour each way. It was my worst flight to date.

It was ok. It was expensive to check 2 bags ($75.00 per bag), and then it took a long time to wait for shuttle to take us from one terminal to the terminal where the plane was taking off at LAX. And all of this for a flight where we had to pay for any food or drink that was not water.

When I wanted to check in 3 hours prior to boarding time, the employees mentioned “a little over an hour delay” so I waited for an hour then I went to go look for food in the terminal and most people from that flight were in the same area looking for food. Finally I decided after food to check to see if it’s anytime closer and now it’s 2 mins until boarding closes?! What are you kidding me? I didn’t receive anything via sms about boarding now nor via email or on the intercom. I luckily made it through, barely, and then there’s no room for my carry on mind you I’m in the very first row so I had to place my purse in one further row back and my carry on sections down. Not sure who pays for better seats to get your stuff placed all over the plane but that was the worst experience I’ve ever had flying with anyone.

This airline sucks. They offer low rates then charge you for everything, the app does not work well, the seats are the most uncomfortable. Maintenance issues on the flight, and you still have to sit through their credit card commercials. People are nice enough but does not make up for overall poor experience.

The worst. We never made our connection and they did absolutely nothing to help us at the airport.

Cancelled flight after I arrived at airport after 75 min drive and parking. Next flight was 4 days in the future. Had to scramble and buy a much more expensive flight on another carrier.

I liked the turn-style feature at gate 209B at LAX. Very efficient process. The gate staff also made several, clearly directed announcements so I felt very informed.

Everything you need to know for your flight to District of Columbia

Cabin class types available on flights to California

Cabin classes available on flights to California. Prices are the lowest found on KAYAK over the last 7 days. Price and availability is not guaranteed.