$74 Find Cheap Flights from California to Illinois

1 adult
1 adult, Economy

KAYAK searches hundreds of travel sites at once for deals on flights to Illinois

Travelers love KAYAK
41,299,237 searches in the past 7 days on KAYAK

Save 22% or moreCompare multiple travel sites with one search.

Track pricesNot ready to book? Create a price alert for when prices drop.

Bundle and saveSave money when you bundle your flight + hotel.

Filter your dealsChoose cabin class, free Wi-Fi and more.

Useful Info

Good to know

Low seasonJanuary
Cheapest flight$74
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 0% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 4% lower on average.
Flight from Burbank to Chicago O'Hare Airport

Flights from California to Illinois: the best tips from KAYAK users

Insights shared by verified travelers who flew the route from California to Illinois 
RodFlew with United AirlinesSAN-ORDSep 2024
Yes! Don’t reserve a flight with less than 1 1/2 hour connection time or you have a good possibility of missing your connection.
GeraldFlew with Alaska AirlinesSFO-ORDOct 2024
Book a flight as early in the day as possible to avoid incoming flight delays.
KimFlew with American AirlinesSNA-ORDNov 2024
Bring extra foods and buy extra drinks bring your meds
ShirleyFlew with United AirlinesLAX-ORDMay 2024
Check-in using the United AirLines app to access your boarding pass. Arrive at least two hours early at LAX airport.

FAQs for booking flights from California to Illinois

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from California to Illinois?

    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 Illinois.

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

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

    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 Illinois 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 Illinois?

    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 Illinois 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 Illinois?

    California and Illinois are connected by different airlines. The airlines that fly that route the most regularly are United Airlines (275 flights per week), Air Canada (255 flights per week), and American Airlines (188 flights per week).

  • How many airports are there in Illinois?

    There are 12 airports in Illinois. The busiest airport is Chicago O'Hare Airport (ORD), with 92% of all flights arriving there.

  • Which is the cheapest airport to fly into in Illinois?

    Prices will differ depending on the departure airport, but generally, the cheapest airport to fly to in Illinois is Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport (ORD), with an average flight price of $242.

  • What is the cheapest day to fly to Illinois?

    Based on KAYAK data, the cheapest day to fly to Illinois is Wednesday where round-trip tickets can be as cheap as $361. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Sunday, where round-trip prices are $457 on average.

  • What is the cheapest time of day to fly to Illinois?

    The cheapest time of day to fly to Illinois is generally in the evening, when round-trip flights cost $280 on average. Morning departures are around 43% more expensive than evening flights, on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to Illinois is generally in the afternoon, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is $452.

  • What is the cheapest flight to Illinois?

    The cheapest ticket to Illinois from California found in the last 72 hours was to Chicago Midway Airport, at $137 round-trip. The most popular route is Burbank (BUR) to Chicago Midway Airport (MDW) and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $137.

  • What is the cheapest month to fly from California to Illinois?

    The cheapest month for flights from California to Illinois is February, when tickets cost $216 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are March and April, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $508 and $426 respectively.

  • How far in advance should I book a flight from California to Illinois?

    To get a below average price on the flight from California to Illinois, you should book around 3 weeks before departure, which saves you about 29% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 5 weeks before departure.

  • How many cities have direct flights to Illinois?

    From California, there are direct flights to Illinois from 11 cities. The city with the most direct flights is Los Angeles, with 947 direct flights each week.

  • How many direct flights to Illinois are there each day?

    There are around 334 direct flights from within California to Illinois every day. Most flights (56%) depart in the morning.

  • How many direct flights to Illinois are there each week?

    Each week there are around 2,338 direct flights from within California to Illinois. The most common day for departures is Sunday, with 16% of flights taking off on this day.

  • How long is the flight to Illinois?

    An average nonstop flight from California to Illinois takes 4h 38m, covering a distance of 1691 miles. The shortest route is Las Vegas (LAS) to St. Louis (STL) with an average flight time of 3h 05m.

  • How many long-haul flights are there to Illinois each week?

    Each week, there are 2,250 medium-haul flights (3-6 hour flight duration) and 88 short-haul flights (up to 3 hour flight duration) to Illinois. There aren't any long-haul flights (6-12 hour flight duration).

  • What are the most popular destinations in Illinois?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is Chicago (92% of total searches to Illinois). The next most popular destinations are St. Louis (6%) and Moline (1%). Searches for flights to Peoria (1%), to Bloomington (0%) and to Evansville (0%) are also popular.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from California to Illinois

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from California to Illinois? 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
SouthwestOverall score based on 4242 reviews
8.1Boarding
8.0Comfort
8.6Crew
7.0Food
7.5Entertainment
Airline reviews

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

10.0 ExcellentRobert, Sep 2025SFO - LAS
Read more Southwest reviews

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

The weather could have been better. There was a 40 minute ATC delay in SFO because of marine fog and a micro cell storm delayed landing and take-off at Nashville. The gate was changed 5 minutes from boarding from gate B3 to gate C23 at Nashville airport.

The cabin was quiet for the redeye flight. The area was clean. The staff was great. The 787 Max was in good condition. Drawbacks were that the seat widths were tight for some passengers. The seat padding was at best average and for a long flight uncomfortable.

Worst experience I had on Southwest. Still better than most, but the seating was barely tolerable.

It was okay. The plane was delayed from earlier in the day, but they kept updating the departure time, sometimes later, sometimes earlier. That was stressful. Once we finally got on and took off, it was fine. I was supposed to have a connection in Chicago to Los Angeles, and the time for so late I was rebooked to arrive in LA 3 hours late. The departure time to Chicago later became early enough to have taken my original connection and arrive earlier but that wasn't an option.

Delayed flight. Nicest crew member was a SW pilot flying seated next to me who kindly move to seat the final passenger. Flight extra delayed. My cup of refreshment of ginger ale was so packed with ice it was literally 2 sips.

No trays in our seats, we sat in first row, purchased a business class fare. Had to hold our drinks and snack in our hands. No plugs for our cell phones. Had to pay for it a drink cocktail each. Seats so uncomfortable.

Flight wasn’t even full, but too many carry-ons caused us to run out of bin space. New bag fee has folks who would usually check their bags carrying on. Watching Southwest morph into Spirit/Frontier is so sad to watch

Everything was on time. I was disappointed by the front section female, African American flight attendant. I did not see her name tag or would have identified by name not race. As passengers moved to the bathroom early in flight, she would say with a disdainful tone “I have to say the seat belt light is on” then go back to her book. Better trained flight attendants say something like be careful the seat belt light is on.

Southwest is Southwest. No frills. If you're luck enough to get a happy crew (we did), then it makes for a nicer flight.

Flight attendant in first class gave poor service (like he didn't want to be there) and food was awful. We sat waiting for gate upon arrival over 45 mins.

Weather delay in Chicago?. No sense of urgency to make connection in Chicago for our connecting flight that wasn't delayed. Connection was missed.

Overall it was good. I missed my connection but I was put on another flight.

Overall a very poor experience - booked premium economy tickets but due to last minute flight delays , all my itinery went for a toss and had to fly economy class with no access to lounge or any compensation by united airlines to make up for the flight delays . i had expected better experience than that from united.

It was fine, definitely older planes with no charging or anything. There’s no entertainment set up on board, but it is nice that they allow you to access the in flight entertainment from your phone without having to pay for the Wi-Fi and they do offer free texting.

I liked that the flight was nonstop from ORD to CIU for $200 round trip.

The schedule to Moline changed 5 times. The gate changed 6 times. That is a pathetic way to run an airline. No wonder that no one in our company flies on United Express to or from Moline. Changes happen most of the time. I learned my lesson on this trip…never again!

While the staff was pleasant and helpful, the following observations are for your awareness. There was some delay on the tarmac on take off and landing. The paid lunch/food offerings were limited. Entertainment was only available on WiFi at a cost.

The first flight was better in terms of the aircraft.

Smooth flight. Boarding was chaotic. Could not hear the gate agent over the intercom. People were lined up in the wrong lines. Groups one and two were told to board through line one and group 3 through line 2. All very confusing. Once in the air, the flight was smooth. There was no entertainment option on this aircraft, even though it was a larger aircraft.

Any flight to ORD after about 2pm this summer has been challenging. Flight was delayed getting in (coming from ORD) and that led to it not leaving before a ground stop due to lightening before they could fuel the plane, and so forth. They made up some time but we were still late in arriving at ORD, and that led to missed connections.

Food was ok, but not as good as I have had before on AA.

Pretty good. The food was just mediocre, the boarding and crew were good.

My flight got switched and my prepaid bag didnt transfer over properly so I paid to check ANOTHER BAG. I was placed in a middle seat and it was just miserable. At least it was a bulkhead row so I had legroom. The flight just never seem3d to end

Was not able to watch most shows on the entertainment site. They would not load

On Wednesday, July 30 we were in mid flight from Manchester to Charlotte and we turned around because the right engine was malfunctioning. That was the last flight out of Manchester that night. I was rebooked for Thursday, which became a weather event Friday. There were no seats left on the flight from Manchester to Charlotte. Consequently I didn’t leave Manchester until Saturday morning and we flew to Chicago so to say the least my scheduled flight and return to Iowa was three days off and it messed with my business schedule. Consequently cash flow. I would like some sort of acknowledgment of this event.

Dreadful experience. Our flight was delayed more than 8 hours due to a maintenance issue and the assistance from rebooking was poor. I was travelling with a bad knee and needed assistance waited in one place more than 3 hours before someone came with a wheelchair. The woman next to me was a 91 year old great grandmother who had waited more than 4 hours. There were moments of support from the staff but it appeared as they were going against the direction of management. It was apathy, lack of ownership and dismissive responses with small moments of kindness and understanding typically from grey haired, female, veteran staff..

Couldn’t get the door on the plane to close leading to a nearly 2 hour delay. But, hey at least they didn’t cancel the flight.

The flight was fine and the crew awesome. The problem is ORD and AA. Computers went down, ORD fell apart and a 40 min flight turned into a 3 hour trip. Guess the answer is to not try and fly to ORD after noon. But, as I said, crew was awesome and did everything they could to lesson the flight time.

The flight was fine but the 8 hour delay in Chicago was awful - 5 gate changes and repeated delays without an explanation. No vouchers. Nothing.

Spirit Airlines was ok but TRAVELHELPDESK, the 3rd party travel agent IS A JOKE! VERY RUDE CUSTOMER AGENTS ont he phone. NO HELP AT ALL. But the airlines was ok.

No frills - because you get what you pay for. The crew was amazing!! I had plenty of room to spread out because the flight was half full. Which made it easy to sleep.

The staff was very very rude in Las Vegas when boarding the flight. When presenting the boarding ticket. Las Vegas flight, it was hot and stuffy, it smelled really bad.

Dear All, I have harassment and accident with the flight attendant . This is my phone to talk 8168073567, please, leave phone message . Regards Emily,

Flight was on time but the amount of noise from several children and the kicking of my seat the entire flight was overwhelming.

Unbelievable check in horrible. Asked to print tickets at the gate after a delay

Just total easy flight experience!! What could you do better..? Hmmm..? There was nothing I can remember. Spirit was a far more comfortable and easy process than American, United & Delta. I'll always look for Spirit and I've told a few people about, since flying this past trip!! I'm a SPIRIT FAN!! Thank You, SPIRIT AIRLINES!! Very, VERY well done, 100%!! See you...SOON!! -Best, Linda R.

check in at security was a hassle being scanned. Spirit employees were helpful and professional.

Had a issue with catching flight due to airline, was unable to board flight

Spirit is a very uncomfortable travel experience. It’s cheap but you are squeezed into the seats like canned meat.

Severe turbulence. Captain never came on to reassure passengers after things settled down.

We were delayed three times ,and that destroyed my plans, and reservations

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.

The crew was delayed because they came on another flight that was delayed due to weather 10pm flight left at 1.30 am The airline made no effort to align alternate crew

The seats were awful, hard plastic covered in sheet vinyl. The airline tries to scam you into paying extra to get seat together when the flight wasn’t full. They were going to separate a family with young children but my wife who had a row to herself gave up her seat so the young mom could be with her young boys. I’m never giving this airline my money again.

It was a short flight so no food or entertainment….

Frontier had yet another flight cancellation. Have never made a complete round trip with this airline without at least one leg getting cancelled. Miserable flights - dirty, uncomfortable planes that apparently always have issues since I've had multiple delays and cancellations with them.

Flight was delayed 3 times, would have been nice to have received text message instead of email notifications. Frontier app wasn’t even updated accordingly, no gate number disclosed. No agent at front desk of gate to inform of delay. Very confused and left if the dark

The flight itself was ok and the pilot was very communicative. However, our flight was delayed for almost 3 hours, the gate was changed 3 times and there was no communication as we were waiting. The flight staff was overall a little crabby...I understand as they probably had a long day but we all did.

Everything you need to know for your flight to Illinois

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.

Not what you’re looking for? Find thousands of other hotels, flights, car rentals and package deals with KAYAK.