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$37 Find cheap flights from Chicago to California

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from Chicago to California departing on 8/21. 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
Sat 8/24
Sat 8/31

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Best California Flight Deals

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

Los Angeles
Los Angelesnonstop$77
San Francisco
San Franciscononstop$90
San Diego
San Diego1 stop$65
Sacramento
Sacramento1 stop$96
San Jose
San Jose1 stop$82
Palm Springs
Palm Springs1 stop$280
Fresno
Fresno1 stop$226
Reno
Reno1 stop$125

Good to know

Low season

January

High season

March

Cheapest flight

$37
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 5% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 22% increase in price.
Flight from Chicago O'Hare Airport to Las Vegas

FAQs - booking California flights

  • Is ORD accessible to all?

    You can count on having a smooth experience at ORD if you’re disabled, as this airport is accessible to all. To cater to passengers with mobility impairment, it features drop-off areas equipped with curb ranks and mandates each airline that serves flights to California to offer wheelchair assistance. It has also invested in restrooms throughout the airport with wheelchair-accessible facilities. The said restrooms are three in Terminal 1, two in Terminal two, over ten in Terminal 3, and two in Terminal 5.

  • How can I travel to ORD from Downtown Chicago?

    In case you’re set to fly from Chicago’s ORD to California, you can travel to the airport from Downtown Chicago via a Blue Line train, a Metra North Central Service train line, a CTA bus, or a taxi. Boarding a Blue Line train, a Metra North Central service train, or a CTA bus is advisable if you’re on a budget. On the other hand, boarding a taxi is advisable if you value convenience. This is because, unlike its comparisons, a taxi will pick you up at your preferred destination and transport you directly to the airport.

  • Can I breastfeed my baby before my flight to California?

    Regardless of the Chicago airport you’re set to fly out of, you can comfortably breastfeed your baby while waiting for your flight since both transit stations offer nursing rooms equipped with comfortable seats, deep sinks, changing tables, and power outlets. At MDW, the available nursing room is in Concourse C, next to the yoga room. In contrast, at ORD, the rooms are available near gates B4, B10, and C 20 in Terminal 1, between gates E5 and F9 in Terminal 2, the Rotunda and gate L6 in Terminal 3, gate M20 in Terminal 5, and on Level 1 of the Multi-Modal Facility.

  • Is it possible to rent a car at LAX?

    If you want to rent a car once you land at LAX, you’ll be able to do so with ease since the airport features counters for Alamo, Avis, Fox, Enterprise, Budget, Dollar, Hertz, National, Payless, Six, Zipcar, and Thrifty. The counters for these agencies are housed in the airport’s car rental center, accessible through purple Rental Car Shuttles. These shuttles are boarded on the Lower/Arrivals Level islands outside the Baggage Claim.

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

    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 Chicago to California.

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

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

    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 California with an airline and back to Chicago with another airline.

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

    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 California from Chicago 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 California

  • Morning departure is around 6% more expensive than an evening flight, on average*.
  • You can board your flight to California at Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) or O’Hare International Airport (ORD). When selecting your flight, choose one that departs at MDW. Doing so is in your best interest because MDW experiences lower passenger traffic than ORD, meaning it has shorter queues.
  • When booking a flight to California, book one that lands at an airport close to your preferred destination. You can land at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), San Diego International Airport (SAN), San Francisco International Airport (SFO), and Oakland International Airport (OAK) if you’re flying into Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Oakland, respectively.
  • Suppose you intend to fly to California with your pet. If that’s the case, you can let your pet relieve itself at ORD in one of the airport’s Service Animal Relief Areas. They are outside security on the lower levels of Terminals 1, 2, and 5 and inside security in Terminal 3 Rotunda and Main Hall.
  • If a small airport serves your California destination, use LAX as your travel base. This is because it serves commercial flights to nearly all small airports in the state. If you need assistance at MDW, visit the airport’s information desk at the Main Entrance of the Terminal. Here, you’ll find knowledgeable airport staff, always ready to help.
  • If you need assistance at MDW, visit the airport’s information desk at the Main Entrance of the Terminal. Here, you’ll find knowledgeable airport staff, always ready to help.
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 Chicago to California

Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Chicago to California? 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.
7.8
Cathay PacificOverall score based on 945 reviews
8.0Boarding
8.2Crew
7.5Food
7.7Comfort
8.0Entertainment
Airline reviews

Wanted different plane design with an additional bathroom at the back of the plane.

10.0 ExcellentAnonymous, Jul 2024HKG - ORD
Read more about Cathay Pacific reviews

Wanted different plane design with an additional bathroom at the back of the plane.

The crew staffs are very nice. The temperature is too low.

Great, the flight attendants were very friendly and the food was also good.

The first economy rows have remote space in the seat which eats in the seating space. The seats are also smaller compared to other airlines.

The overall flight went well and the aircrew was pleasant.

Very comfortable Prem economy seats for a long haul flight. Had a problem with the tv that the crew fixed so was great!

Cathay Pacific seems to be an airline in trouble and on its way out. Lots of broken or poorly functioning things like entertainment screens, seats, and enough well trained staff to handle a full flight. Sad...

The flight crew was exceptionally good. Personal needs were well met. The food choices were very nice.

Excellent. Planes are a little older and could get some refurbishment, but besides that everything was excellent.

While I was in great pain, the seat was sufficiently comfortable to allow me to rest and not be in so much pain.

My flight was delayed for a whole day, so I lost a day of my vacation.

flight delayed, was put on another flight after standby queue, luggage was misplaced and arrived to me 3 days later

The baggage handlers broke the handle on my bag that they put under the plane that I checked on the jetway. They traded it out for a less quality bag in Tulsa. But, they said they would try to fix it. Bologna! There was no fixing that bag handle. Someone didn’t care how they treated the bag.

Flighty delayed on boarding - then group 1 had to check their carry on bags but groups 3 and beyond could carry bags on - very inconvenient for weekend business trip with no checked baggage. Then delayed on the runway - before take off. No communication from pilot on why or how long. Wifi/Entertainment didn't work for 4+ flight. Upon arrival, attendants announced wrong carousel for baggage claim - everyone was waiting at the wrong place for their checked bags. This was a mess united!

There was no screens on board AND the WiFi didn’t work. My seat was broken and couldn’t recline so I couldn’t even sleep. The flight attendants didn’t offer anything to make it more comfortable. It was such an old cramped plane, when the person in front of me reclined I couldn’t even open my tray table. All the United ads talk about guaranteeing everyone gets a screen!

I’ve had a couple flights this week on United that were delayed by an hour or more

Great! The plane was decently sized and comfortable. The staff was nice and there was great in flight entertainment

Last minute gate change nearly caused us to miss our flight. Change was not announced or displayed in the main board at the old gate. Terrible communication. When we landed we had to wait 20 minutes because there was another plane at the assigned gate. Not the crew’s fault, but adding 20 minutes to a 45 minute flight sucked.

delay several times and wait extra long to board. no entertainment service because there are problem for some rows. always encounter some delays for the last flight of the day.

The flight experience was very good! Especially the United Club!

Perfect flight. Efficient boarding, on time take off and early arrival. Generally smooth flight.

American is a steady for me. I always get what I expect from them. Sincere effort to get me from one place to another.

BAD. As a family could not sit together. The gate agent told us there was only one seat in the middle left, when we got on the plane the situation was very different with whole rows of seats empty

Plane was delayed an hour causing me to miss my flight to London and now I am not arriving until Sunday instead of Friday. I am stranded at airport and they give me $12 of food vouchers. It's a joke and everyone I talked to was rude

The Airline was not prepared for weather delays. We were held up due to an incoming flight being delayed and so we did not have a flight crew. This caused an extra delay for departure by 2 hours.

The plane was freezing cold. Normally I’m fine on planes but I needed to toss a sweatshirt on this time.

I missed this flight due to delays on my previous flight.

My husband and I pre-ordered our food, but they did not have my husband’s order, and my cheese plate was very average. I asked for a blanket and was told they don’t carry blankets on domestic routs. The flight was on time and smooth!

Good flights. Departure and arrivals were on time. DFW was a little problematic in that the Skytrain without prior notice bypassed the Echo terminal so that delayed my arrival at my connecting flight.

Because I can’t stand very long in one place, I was allowed to reword.

Awful. My flight was three hours late leaving DFW and we just arrived at LAX three hours late and stuck on the runway. I heard the Spirit workers at the desk in DFW say that we were waiting on a crew. I am extremely disappointed in Spirit.

Canceled my first flight for no discernible reason and couldn't rebook me on to a new flight until the next day. They did not compensate me for the delay in any way.

At LAS airport, bag drop process was hard, you need to pay for a faster drop. There was a long line for a free drop and you need to do it by yourself. No one helped you. Bad experience at LAS airport.

Terrible airline. Cancelled the flight less than 24 hours before the flight. Caused me extra expenses!!! This will be the last time me and my family will travel with them

There was no water offered to passengers during a four hour flight, five hours on the plane. There is no entertainment on board. The crew interrupt everyone often to sell credit cards and reward packages. Other than that, pretty typical flight. You get what you pay for.

Someone opened my checked bag and stold75 euros Not happy

Very uncomfortable seats that do not recline. My husband had hip replacement 7 years ago; after 5 hours from Maryland to California and another 5 hours back, we had to go to the emergency for the intense pain on his hip joint and soon he will see the surgeon. The cherry on the cake was when at the end of our flight back to BWI, we were prompted by a flight attendant to stretch: "arms right, now left, now reach your toes..." (really? how can we do that as we are sitting on seats with no leg room?) "...and as you are there, pick up any garbage you may see on the floor"!!! wow!

It was delayed 7 hours!!!!! We had to spend $550 on new flights so we didn’t miss our evening event for family. It was absolutely ridiculous. Our flight was suppose to leave at 9:30 am. Nobody was there to even help until 12:30. Worst experience ever.

Terrible experience, will definitely NEVER fly with Spirit again (this was my first AND last time). They canceled the flight JUST minutes before we were about to board, with no warning, no reason, and no recourse. We managed to get on a different, much more expensive one-way flight home (with United) later that night, and arrived early the next morning, although by that point, the garage with our car had already closed for the day. So we were left having to pay an exorbitant $200 Uber ride to get home. Trying to fly with Spirit is definitely “penny wise and pound foolish,” absolutely NOT worth whatever meager savings they promise (and then still nickel and dime you for everything from water to a carry-on bag).

Delays delays and more delays in both LAX and San Jose. And then I said something else flight was supposed to arrive in Portland at 12:04 but didn't land until 2:30 PM which made me late for my appointment.

Better than expected.on time. Friendly staff in NY however MYR not so nice.

The flight crew and flight attendants are poorly trained and demonstrate poor professionalism. They have a sloppy appearance and communicate with patrons poorly. It is embarrassing for them to be representatives of an airline and for them to be called professionals.

After 5 hours of delay, they cancelled the flight. Very disappointed

My flight to LA was cancelled. I waited at the airport for 3 hrs saying it was delayed and then all of a sudden it was cancelled. Frontier only gave me a voucher and refund but could not rebook me. Flights on other airlines were too expensive last minute. I had to drive down to LA and didn’t even take my return flight home since I had to drive. One of the worst airline experiences in my life. It’s crazy how airlines can just upend people’s plans just like that.

Flying Frontiier was extremely poor!! I paid for a7:15am flight on flight 1601 from PHL To Las Vegas and the delay was brutally, excruciatingly and disgustingly long (8 hrs). I arrived by Uber to PHL at 5:30 am and had to spend the entire 8 hr delay inside the airport. Even more atrocious was that the flight was delayed twice. On the phone with customer service for two hours and was not fully compensated. I feel taken advantage of with this airline. They offered a menial couched for another flight within 90 days to me and my husband who has never flown but this experience has made us almost 100% sure to not fly this airline and will suggest that others don’t either. We don’t want to book ever again, don’t want a menial voucher and I believe by standard and because the flight was delayed for 8 hours, I should be fully reimbursed for the entire round trip. There is no excuse why this should have ever occurred. After sharing my experience with others in Vegas and Philadelphia, I was told that Frontier airlines is notorious for long delayed flights, poor customer service and refusal to compensate people correctly. I’m very nervous to see what departing from Vegas to Philadelphia will bring.

I fly Frontier often and generally don't have any issues. For some reason, the Denver to Houston's George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) flight always needs to wait on the tarmac in Houston because a gate is not available after landing. I've been stuck for as little as 15 minutes and as much as a little over an hour. I know only fly the Frontier Denver to IAH route when there is not an available flight to Houston Hobby (HOU).

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

I’ve never flown frontier without a flight getting canceled. I understand that things go wrong with planes, but all other airlines handle cancellations so well. Frontier becomes a dumpster fire if a problem appears for them.

Checking in was easy and simple, crew was nice and efficient, but I would improve seat assignment randomness to make it easier to sit together based on when you check in. Overall would fly with them again.

Flying Frontier was a nightmare. From the booking through Kayak, checking in, departing and arriving, I will never recommend Kayak or Frontier.

Book cheap flights from Chicago to California

Recent round-trip flight deals

8/18Sun
1 stopSpirit Airlines
18h 09mORD-LAS
8/27Tue
1 stopSpirit Airlines
14h 59mLAS-ORD
$55
8/18Sun
1 stopFrontier
15h 04mORD-LAS
8/27Tue
nonstopFrontier
3h 44mLAS-ORD
$59
8/15Thu
2 stopsJetBlue
29h 26mORD-LAX
8/21Wed
2 stopsJetBlue
23h 01mLAX-ORD
$137
8/15Thu
2 stopsJetBlue
16h 37mORD-LAX
8/21Wed
2 stopsJetBlue
25h 25mLAX-ORD
$143
10/30Wed
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 50mORD-SFO
11/3Sun
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 13mSFO-ORD
$150
11/1Fri
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 45mORD-SFO
11/3Sun
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 13mSFO-ORD
$159
9/6Fri
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 38mORD-SFO
9/10Tue
1 stopUnited Airlines
6h 05mSFO-ORD
$189
8/15Thu
1 stopUnited Airlines
6h 23mORD-SFO
8/20Tue
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 22mSFO-ORD
$214
12/7Sat
1 stopDelta
8h 03mMDW-LAX
12/9Mon
1 stopDelta
6h 56mLAX-MDW
$236
9/10Tue
1 stopDelta
7h 23mMDW-SFO
9/11Wed
1 stopDelta
5h 58mSFO-MDW
$236

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Recent one-way flight deals

8/21Wed
nonstopSpirit Airlines
3h 58mORD-LAS
$37
8/13Tue
nonstopFrontier
4h 05mORD-LAS
$38
10/22Tue
nonstopAlaska Airlines
4h 43mORD-SFO
$71
9/7Sat
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 44mORD-SFO
$80
10/25Fri
nonstopAlaska Airlines
4h 43mORD-SFO
$91
8/20Tue
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 41mORD-SFO
$95
8/22Thu
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 39mORD-SFO
$110
9/3Tue
1 stopDelta
9h 55mMDW-LAX
$118
10/9Wed
1 stopDelta
7h 27mORD-LAS
$118
9/1Sun
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 20mORD-SAN
$119

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Last minute flights from Chicago to California

Last minute flight, train and bus deals

7/30Tue
nonstopSpirit Airlines
3h 54mORD-LAS
8/6Tue
nonstopSpirit Airlines
3h 43mLAS-ORD
$137
7/30Tue
nonstop
4h 11mORD-LAS
8/9Fri
nonstop
3h 47mLAS-ORD
$138
7/27Sat
nonstopFrontier
4h 00mMDW-LAS
8/6Tue
nonstopFrontier
3h 34mLAS-MDW
$166
7/27Sat
nonstopFrontier
4h 00mMDW-LAS
7/29Mon
nonstopFrontier
3h 34mLAS-MDW
$169
7/29Mon
multi-stopUnited Airlines
6h 45mORD-SFO
8/7Wed
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 15mSFO-ORD
$369
7/28Sun
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
6h 50mORD-SFO
8/27Tue
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 17mSFO-ORD
$389
7/29Mon
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 45mORD-SFO
8/9Fri
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 15mSFO-ORD
$391
7/30Tue
multi-stopDelta
6h 54mMDW-LAX
8/2Fri
multi-stopDelta
8h 54mLAX-MDW
$416
7/28Sun
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 40mORD-SFO
8/13Tue
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 15mSFO-ORD
$449
7/27Sat
multi-stopDelta
6h 31mORD-SFO
7/31Wed
multi-stopDelta
9h 55mSFO-ORD
$463

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Flights to California

Return flight deals:

California - Chicago

Cabin classes:

$468
$641
$517
$49

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