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Flight Deals

Cheap Flights from California to San Francisco

 
Discover the best prices for you by selecting your travel dates on KAYAK.

Recent round-trip flight deals from California to San Francisco

Mon, Oct 19 - Mon, Oct 19
Frontier Logo
12:01 pm - 1:32 pmONT  Ontario-SFO San Francisco
1h 31mnonstop
Frontier Logo
6:02 pm - 7:40 pmSFO  San Francisco-ONT Ontario
1h 38mnonstop
$58Frontier
Wed, Dec 9 - Fri, Dec 11
Frontier Logo
7:11 am - 8:44 amONT  Ontario-SFO San Francisco
1h 33mnonstop
Frontier Logo
7:41 am - 9:10 amSFO  San Francisco-ONT Ontario
1h 29mnonstop
$60Frontier
Thu, Oct 22 - Thu, Oct 29
Multiple Airlines Logo
3:14 pm - 5:03 pmSAN  San Diego-SFO San Francisco
1h 49mnonstop
Multiple Airlines Logo
10:40 am - 12:23 pmSFO  San Francisco-SAN San Diego
1h 43mnonstop
$74Multiple Airlines
Sat, Oct 24 - Mon, Oct 26
Multiple Airlines Logo
7:03 pm - 8:38 pmLAX  Los Angeles-SFO San Francisco
1h 35mnonstop
Multiple Airlines Logo
8:47 am - 10:24 amSFO  San Francisco-LAX Los Angeles
1h 37mnonstop
$75Multiple Airlines
Sat, Oct 17 - Mon, Oct 19
Alaska Airlines Logo
3:37 pm - 5:00 pmLAX  Los Angeles-SFO San Francisco
1h 23mnonstop
Alaska Airlines Logo
10:21 am - 11:53 amSFO  San Francisco-LAX Los Angeles
1h 32mnonstop
$103Alaska Airlines
Thu, Oct 15 - Mon, Oct 19
Alaska Airlines Logo
5:25 pm - 6:50 pmLAX  Los Angeles-SFO San Francisco
1h 25mnonstop
Alaska Airlines Logo
7:27 am - 8:58 amSFO  San Francisco-LAX Los Angeles
1h 31mnonstop
$103Alaska Airlines
Mon, Nov 2 - Wed, Nov 18
United Airlines Logo
2:07 pm - 3:35 pmRNO  Reno-SFO San Francisco
1h 28mnonstop
United Airlines Logo
12:00 pm - 1:04 pmSFO  San Francisco-RNO Reno
1h 04mnonstop
$117United Airlines
Mon, Oct 5 - Mon, Oct 12
United Airlines Logo
6:39 pm - 7:56 pmRNO  Reno-SFO San Francisco
1h 17mnonstop
United Airlines Logo
6:42 pm - 7:53 pmSFO  San Francisco-RNO Reno
1h 11mnonstop
$117United Airlines
Thu, Nov 5 - Tue, Nov 17
American Airlines Logo
2:04 pm - 3:36 pmLAX  Los Angeles-SFO San Francisco
1h 32mnonstop
American Airlines Logo
7:00 am - 8:37 amSFO  San Francisco-LAX Los Angeles
1h 37mnonstop
$117American Airlines
Wed, Oct 14 - Sat, Oct 17
American Airlines Logo
10:02 pm - 11:37 pmLAX  Los Angeles-SFO San Francisco
1h 35mnonstop
American Airlines Logo
1:28 pm - 2:59 pmSFO  San Francisco-LAX Los Angeles
1h 31mnonstop
$117American Airlines
Useful Info

Good to know

Low season

January

Cheapest flight

$33
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 15% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 3% lower on average.
Flight from Ontario to San Francisco

Flights from California to San Francisco: the best tips from KAYAK users

Insights shared by verified travelers who flew the route from California to San Francisco 
DAVIDFlew with United Airlines-Sep 2026
The SBA airport food options are very limited as the airport is small (6 gates). Cozy country feel to the airport.
ClaudiaFlew with United Airlines-Jun 2026
Please be careful: 1,5 hrs for transfer in San Francisco might not be enough time in the future
LindseyFlew with SWISS-Dec 2025
Ready for weather delays of wind in SFO, which happens often. Keep that in consideration when planning an additional leg of a trip after it from SFO.
Verified travelerFlew with United Airlines-Feb 2026
1 hr is doable if you're transferring at sfo but probably just get something to go food wise
JakeFlew with United Airlines-Jul 2025
Security in Bishop does not open until 1 hour before the flight.
RonaldFlew with Alaska Airlines-Apr 2025
The airport security can take a long time, the bathrooms are not always available near the gates due to construction, repairs, remodels.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska Airlines-Jan 2025
Bring water and snacks with shorter flights as some routes will not offer it.
CongFlew with United Airlines-Nov 2024
Nothing really, being clothes that are easily taken off like shoes at the security will always save time
VyomaFlew with Alaska Airlines-Jun 2024
Be sure to read the signs, i have heard it's confusing for connecting flights if you don't follow the directions.
KathyFlew with United Airlines-Jun 2024
Realize it’s a smaller plane and you will probably have to green tag any carry on.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska Airlines-Jul 2024
Bring a sweater, just incase other people's ac makes you cool.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska Airlines-May 2024
Please be prepared to check in your luggage even if there is available space in the overhead bins. Despite the availability of space, Alaska Airlines employees refused to allow us to bring our bags onto the plane and insisted that we check them in.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska Airlines-Feb 2024
Long Beach and SNA are convenient airports for flying out of Orange County. I wish I knew about the size of the plane which caused a fee for checking one small bag that normally was a carry on for other airlines such as SouthWest.

FAQs for booking flights from California to San Francisco

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

    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 San Francisco.

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

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

    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 San Francisco with an airline and back to California with another airline.

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

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

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from California to San Francisco

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from California to San Francisco? 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 4195 reviews
8.6Crew
8.0Comfort
7.0Food
7.5Entertainment
8.1Boarding
Airline reviews

Seated at front bulkhead for a smidge extra leg room away from home and on flight back home. Away crew was very proactive about assuring our carryons had space close behind us (because no seat in front of us our personal items had to be in a small bin overhead). They actively required passengers place overhead luggage on its side so more items could fit in bins. Home crew made no such efforts. I had to struggle back rows to get overhead bags upon landing, no crew help then either, and some disgruntled passengers as I and others retrieved our bags. There was a system that worked pretty well. The home bound crew just didn't feel like working.

4.0 OkayMather, Aug 2026
Read more Southwest reviews

Seated at front bulkhead for a smidge extra leg room away from home and on flight back home. Away crew was very proactive about assuring our carryons had space close behind us (because no seat in front of us our personal items had to be in a small bin overhead). They actively required passengers place overhead luggage on its side so more items could fit in bins. Home crew made no such efforts. I had to struggle back rows to get overhead bags upon landing, no crew help then either, and some disgruntled passengers as I and others retrieved our bags. There was a system that worked pretty well. The home bound crew just didn't feel like working.

The flight was late. The crew was rude. There was no food. Cramped and uncomfortable. Nothing about this flight was good.

Plane was clean and comfortable. Flight attendants and gate staff were professional, friendly and efficient. Boarding and deplaning were orderly and efficient. All in all, the typical excellent Southwest experience.

Boarding was easy. The seats are small and fairly uncomfortable

The problem with the seat assignments is that there were a lot of rows in the front that were empty but my row at the back was full. Just not so pleasant.

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

Was as expected. Crowed planes. Too many carryons delaying takeoff. But the ride only took an hour and saved me a lot of time SFO is a not a great airport.

Can not wait for seating change to reduce the amount of pre boards - it’s disheartening the abuse. And then then deplaning

Flight was delayed more than 2 hour do the scheduling issues and then some confusing weight and balance matters, followed by a miscommunication with the tower on which runway was going to be used based on the airplane weight. All these things should have been figured out in advance. Instead of arriving at 12:30 a.m. we arrived at 2:30 a.m. very difficult to find a taxi or other transport at SFO. Luggage was delayed. An extension of an unpleasant flight day

The crew was fabulous, outstanding, friendly, attentive and just great, really made my flight one of the best I've ever had, thank you southwest crew flight #474, from Los Angeles to San Francisco on April 2,2024

My first leg was canceled 3 hr before leaving. My return trip left late. I leave it to Alaska higher ups to figure out what can be improved. Just put yourself in the passengers position.

The flight was very late departing the gate, for unknown reasons.

Our flught was rerouted to another airport 60 minutes from our destination. We were told we would get Lyft vouchers to get us to our original destination. We did get vouchers, but when we arrived at the rerouted airport, we realized the vouchers were for a Lyft ride from the starting airport to our original destination. We were lead to believe that once we arrived at the rerouted airport, we could use the voucher from there. Nope. So we got stuck with a $100, 1-hour Uber ride. The flight staff was annoying. We were seated near the rear, and for the entire flight, both attendants were gossiping about some drama on Facebook. And they weren't being quiet about it. The back dozen rows or so could easily hear their entire conversation. I've flown Alaska Airlines many times before and have never had problems. This was an awful experience.

delay was longer than the entire flight. I didn’t stop flying with delta for this.

It might not have been their fault, but there was a two hour delay due to weather. Then we boarded and were about to leave when they said there were more problems at the destination, took us back to the gate where we had to fully deplane. But then five minutes later, they said everything was fine and to get back on the plane. This was the part that pissed everybody off.

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 .

Was notified the departure would be late. Later on it was suddenly on time. Traffic by LAX was horrendous, and I missed the flight.

This was likely the smallest, oldest plane I've been on. It didn't handle turbulence well and we were all jostled a lot more than I'm used to. At least it was a short flight.

I liked the crew. There was no food flight to short

2 FLIGHT DELAYS? what an inconvenience to stay @the airport HALF THE DAY😳from 1pm till boarding @ 4pm pass 😠exhausting !

The flight was done by SkyWest only WIFI no entertainment center are available on the CRJ

Delta is always late. Ruined our first day of a short vacation. Timing is important. We pay to stay on an itinerary

We sat on the runway for over an hour before departure. That was unwelcome.

Everything went smoothly, although the usual gripes about airline travel were still present: the boarding process is inefficient, the snack selection is limited, and so on. Since there was extra space on the flight, the gate agent rearranged many people's seats to put people on the aisles and windows, leaving the middle seats empty, as much as possible, which was pretty great.

One of the flight attendants was a little cranky. I appreciated the free wifi and plug to charge my laptop

WiFi didn’t work most of the time. The usb chargers would work only occasionally for 5 mins and wouldn’t charge after that. Had to keep trying repeatedly at each of the seats in the row.

Generally on time departures and arrivals, clean planes, sky miles membership provides great benefits (complimentary upgrades, etc).

Staff were friendly and happy. Delta could make sure passengers that don't have the app know of changes. Without Kayak I would not have known about the change of gate or the delay. Kayak was faster to notify me.

There are 4 flights in consecutive gates with about the same departure time. Two flights were boarding at the same time. One was delayed or boarding would be happening at the same time. I am not sure what Delta and LAX need to do to have a better layout at the end of Terminal 2

I guess they don’t serve drinks on planes anymore

Boarding, time to take off, in flight offerings, and staff were all great. I recommend using UA for this short flight.

The flight out of Fresno boarded 1.5 hour past scheduled and made me miss my connecting flight from SFO to SEA.

The staff was extremely helpful and friendly at all times! They went above and beyond to get us into an earlier flight in San Diego to make our connection in SFO possible, because our original flight did actually not make it! I did so much appreciate the UA team and how they made this possible. We also didn’t have seats together on the long flight to Singapore, but they found us seats together last moment with no additional cost! Nobody sat next to us, so that we were able to sleep! Thanks to UA for improving their service and Underpricer for booking this trip! Please be careful: 1,5 hrs for transfer in San Francisco might not be enough time in the future

Seat pitch is horrible especially on the 15 hour flight. Gate crew at SFO was Outstanding. The flight crew was also great.

Late plane. Only one crew on the ground so we b had to wait for Denver flight to come in, board, and depart. At 78 yrs of age I was not pleased trying to get my connection. What really made me angry was the notification you sent me to hurry up or I would miss my connection. Why tell me to hurry up when you got me in late. It was not a good way of treating customers.

Boarded plane and then delayed 1.5 hours while on the plane

Really good 😊 the woman at the gate entrance was a little rude checking in our carry-on but i dont think she worked for the airline, she worked for the airport at sacramento, other than that amazing.

The gate was too far away for the connecting flight

Very poor the plane itself was really old, slight smell that couldn’t be named. I didn’t even get a boarding pass UNTIL AFTER clearing security! Even then, they said when I get to my connected flight I’ll get my 2nd boarding pass there! A bit ridiculous!

Do not like the feeling of being in the basic economy. Everyone should feel good no matter what.

Charges unexpected. For seat that didnt recline. Please reverse extra seat and carryon charge. Bad business that is a bait and switch.

I couldn’t check in because the app didn’t work. It took 3 Frontier employees at the counter to get me checked in. Flight left 3 hours after departure time

Horrible! The short distance flight ended up taking 5 hrs! There was a 3 hr delay for the flight to take off and there was a 70 min wait on the tarmac for some bogus reason that the pilot said the gate he was supposed to board was taken up. After a 30 min wait he said the plane that was supposed to push out of the gate called a medical emergency and 40 min later he ended up boarding another gate. For the initial 3 hr delay there was no information/alert about the gate or delay in the app or the boards up until the boarding time and even beyond! Had to walk all the way to the end of the terminal to find the frontier staff to ask what was going on. Avoid this airline at all costs! If you have carryon bags or checked bags , their prices come equivalent to the prices of more reliable airlines. They are the worst in timeliness at 60% (reported as delayed) this year (check the data) by a high margin even compared to the second worst airline. If you are ok with having a miserable flight experience with the odds close to flip of a coin, feel free to try them. If you value your time , money and flying experience, stay away.

Our flight was delayed by four hours without notice, the app for getting my boarding pass is super confusing, and I wasn’t able to check a suitcase without paying for a higher cost package

First the gate was a total nightmare-no chairs anywhere! So over crowded and only one bathroom and nightmare of food service - took forever and NOT one place to sit. No inflight entertainment and had to pay 60.00 for a small carry on. I will never fly Frontier again!

Flight was 3 hours late leaving. Poor communication from the staff about delays. Impossible to get in touch with customer service (by design). And it actually didn't come out to be much cheaper than a non-budget airline! Not worth the headache, I'm never flying Frontier again

See my previous comment which is mostly about our flight from Phoenix to SFO

The check in at the airport was awful. Told I need to pay for a bag. The item was taken at screening. I went back to get my $ back and they gave me a coupon with a QR code that doesn’t work. Worst costumer service ever!!!!!

4 hour delay because they used our aircraft to fly a different segment (per the captain)

absolutely horrific. delayed flights, overbooking. over charging. nightmare service beyond words. stay away.

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