$65 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 5/5. 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
1 adult, Economy, 0 bags

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

 
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from Chicago to California.
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from Chicago to California.
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Cheap Flights from Chicago to California

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours
Los Angeles
Los Angelesnonstop$149
San Francisco
San Francisco1 stop$236
San Diego
San Diego1 stop$193
San Jose
San Josenonstop$275
Palm Springs
Palm Springsnonstop$284
Fresno
Fresno2 stops$268
Imperial
Imperial1 stop$359
Reno
Reno1 stop$296
Sacramento
Sacramento1 stop$236
Los Angeles
Los Angelesnonstop$149
San Francisco
San Francisco1 stop$236
San Diego
San Diego1 stop$193
San Jose
San Josenonstop$275
Palm Springs
Palm Springsnonstop$284
Fresno
Fresno2 stops$268
Imperial
Imperial1 stop$359
Reno
Reno1 stop$296
Sacramento
Sacramento1 stop$236

Book Cheap Chicago to California Plane Tickets

 
Here are some of the best deals found on KAYAK recently from the most popular airlines for round-trip flights from Chicago to California that are departing in the next months. While these flights were available on KAYAK in the last 72 hours, prices and availability are subject to change and deals may expire.
Discover the best prices for you by selecting your travel dates on KAYAK.

Recent round-trip flight deals from Chicago to California

Tue, May 5 - Tue, May 12
Frontier Logo
9:37 pm - 10:05 am
ORD
-
ONT
14h 28m
1 stop
Frontier Logo
8:06 pm - 11:01 pm
ONT
-
ORD
24h 55m
1 stop
$128Frontier
Tue, May 5 - Wed, May 6
Frontier Logo
9:37 pm - 10:05 am
ORD
-
ONT
14h 28m
1 stop
Frontier Logo
8:06 pm - 11:01 pm
ONT
-
ORD
24h 55m
1 stop
$135Frontier
Tue, May 5 - Sat, May 9
Frontier Logo
9:37 pm - 10:05 am
ORD
-
ONT
14h 28m
1 stop
Frontier Logo
10:50 am - 8:32 pm
ONT
-
ORD
7h 42m
1 stop
$136Frontier
Thu, Apr 30 - Sat, May 2
Spirit Airlines Logo
5:15 am - 7:35 am
ORD
-
LAX
4h 20mnonstop
Spirit Airlines Logo
5:30 am - 5:11 pm
LAX
-
ORD
9h 41m
1 stop
$153Spirit Airlines
Sat, May 2 - Sat, May 9
Spirit Airlines Logo
3:00 pm - 5:23 pm
ORD
-
LAX
4h 23mnonstop
Spirit Airlines Logo
11:59 pm - 5:59 am
LAX
-
ORD
4h 00mnonstop
$154Spirit Airlines
Tue, May 5 - Tue, May 12
Southwest Logo
8:55 pm - 11:20 pm
MDW
-
LAX
4h 25mnonstop
Southwest Logo
5:15 am - 11:15 am
LAX
-
MDW
4h 00mnonstop
$199Southwest
Wed, May 6 - Wed, May 13
United Airlines Logo
10:30 am - 1:12 pm
ORD
-
SFO
4h 42mnonstop
United Airlines Logo
7:00 pm - 1:28 am
SFO
-
ORD
4h 28mnonstop
$237United Airlines
Tue, Apr 28 - Wed, Apr 29
Southwest Logo
10:00 am - 12:35 pm
MDW
-
SFO
4h 35mnonstop
Southwest Logo
5:25 am - 11:35 am
SFO
-
MDW
4h 10mnonstop
$237Southwest
Thu, Jun 4 - Sat, Jun 6
United Airlines Logo
7:45 pm - 10:30 pm
ORD
-
SJC
4h 45mnonstop
United Airlines Logo
2:45 pm - 12:44 am
SJC
-
ORD
7h 59m
1 stop
$275United Airlines
Tue, Jun 2 - Tue, Jun 9
American Airlines Logo
8:15 am - 10:41 am
ORD
-
SNA
4h 26mnonstop
American Airlines Logo
11:33 am - 5:53 pm
SNA
-
ORD
4h 20mnonstop
$289American Airlines
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for Chicago to California flights

Get data-powered insights and trends into flights from Chicago to California to help you find the cheapest flights, the best time to fly and much more.

How much is a round-trip flight from Chicago to California?

This analysis is based on the cheapest round-trip price found on KAYAK in the last 12 months by searching for a flight from Chicago to California departing in May.

What is the cheapest Chicago to California flight route?

Data is based on round-trip flight searches on KAYAK over the past month.

The cheapest ticket to California from Chicago found in the last 72 hours was to Los Angeles, at $130 round-trip. The most popular route is from Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport (ORD) to Los Angeles (LAX), and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $147.

What is the cheapest time of day to fly to California?

The average price for all round-trip flights from Chicago to California depending on the time of departure, clicked by users on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks.

The cheapest time of day to fly to California is generally at night, when round-trip flights cost $322 on average. Morning departures are around 46% cheaper than evening flights, on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to California is generally in the evening, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is $622.

Can I save money by flying with a layover from Chicago to California?

The average round-trip price for all non-stop flights, flights with one layover, and flights with two layovers for the route found by users searching on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks.

No, with an average price for the route of $449, prices are generally cheapest when you fly direct.

What is the cheapest month to fly from Chicago to California?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for round-trip flights from Chicago to California, removes the top 0.1% to account for outliers, and then takes the median of all values for each month.

The cheapest month for flights from Chicago to California is September, when tickets cost $223 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are December and January, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $366 and $361 respectively.

What’s the cheapest day of the week to fly from Chicago to California?

The average price of all round-trip flights from Chicago to California clicked on KAYAK for each day over the last 12 months.

When flying from Chicago to California, you should consider leaving on a Friday and avoid Mondays if you are looking for the best rates. For your return to Chicago, you’ll find the best rates on Thursdays and the most expensive ones on Sundays.

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

To calculate weekly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each week before departure over the last year for round-trip flights from Chicago to California, removes the top 0.1% to account for outliers, and then takes the average of all the values for each week.

To get a below average price on the flight from Chicago to California, you should book around 3 weeks before departure, which saves you about 28% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 7 weeks before departure.

Good to know

Low seasonJanuary
Cheapest flight$65
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 9% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 15% increase in price.
Flight from Chicago O'Hare Airport to Ontario

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

Top tips for finding cheap flights to California

  • 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.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from Chicago to California

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying from Chicago to California. Airline scores are aggregated from all reviews left by passengers on KAYAK after flying with an airline. KAYAK doesn’t show reviews that are older than 5 years. Learn how KAYAK collects reviews.
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.
8.0
SouthwestOverall score based on 4334 reviews
8.0Comfort
7.0Food
8.6Crew
7.5Entertainment
8.1Boarding
Airline reviews

The Air hostess were very rude on my flight from Houston to Austin . Their regular communication itself felt a they are shouting at people.

4.0 Okaysangeetha, Apr 2026
AUS - SJC
Read more Southwest reviews

The Air hostess were very rude on my flight from Houston to Austin . Their regular communication itself felt a they are shouting at people.

I flew twice this week on Southwest, was delayed over 2 hours both ways. From Pittsburgh to Chicago it was due to weather but the gate agents, pilot etc were great at updating everyone. Today from Midway to Pittsburgh the plane had come from an international location, kept getting delayed, no information was given until we were delayed for the third time. It was ridiculous, whoever scheduled that plane to fly to Pittsburgh after didn’t consider a lot of things.

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.

No food or entertainment, just a quick 40 minute flight. A little bumpy due to Santa Ana winds but pilot has no control over that. Good flight and landing!

Good but I prefer choose your own seat. With the new assigned seats they should board from the back I see no advantage to this new boarding. Just like every other airline

Mediocre. Boarding is now unpleasant. The employees, once friendly and nice, are now regularly speaking sternly to passengers, badgering them to do things right so they can take off on time and gate check bags because they don't have enough overhead bin space. The pretzel snack was crushed flat and broken into even smaller pieces, which happens frequently lately. Drink service was suspended before they reached my row.

The charges were ridiculous for an hour flight and the turbulence was very scary.

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

The staff was very friendly, professional, and courteous. The overall flight was a great experience.

Poor communication, flight was delayed for preventable reasons. I missed my connection.

No meal service to the back of the plane as it started late or was too slow to get it out before it was time to land.

Terrible, if possible won't be flying again anytime soon!

Efficient boarding and early departure. Very smooth flight. Early arrival in ATL. Great flight.

Smooth and easy boarding, comfortable for the entire 5 hour flight, and the seat back entertainment was great! I appreciated all the features, from location info and maps, movies, the ability to connect with Bluetooth headphones, and good selection of movies. Food was good, normal airline snacks (I didn’t purchase anything)

Awful. No counter attendants. No dinner offered due to delays.

This trip did not start off well. The inbound flight was delayed about 20 minutes. Then, after initial onboarding, the passengers had to deplane due to a mechanical problem. That took about 30 minutes to fix and be cleared. Then, reboarding was chaotic. It took a long time to sort passengers and two passengers on standby were ticketed but there was no seat. So, they had to deplane. One of the flight crew was trying to help passengers figure out a place to put their carry-on bags and that took more time. In the end, our scheduled 10:30 am departure did not actually take off until about 12:05 pm CST. The flight itself was long but we got to Houston. Some passengers missed their connecting flights and had to rebook. Not the best of flights I've had.

We were delayed for about an hour from taking off due to traffic control procedures at the destination airport. But once in the air, the flight went well. The crew members were great and provided cabin service despite moderate turbulence during much of the flight.

Short flight, but no drink/snack service. The flights both going and coming were delayed.

Not being stranded in Chicago for her airport to 11:30 tomorrow morning the 3rd

Delays experienced in boarding/take off due to incoming plane delayed. However, the boarding time/depart time in the app was significantly delayed in providing these updates. Usually not updated until an hour after we should have already boarded. Poorly managed.

Moved to earlier flight which unexpectedly had maintenance issues initially indicated as quick fix to ultimately plane changes. Moved back to original flight, also delayed. In all cases customer updates and communication very unclear, no updates on drivers for delays.

Typical AA - late by 90+ mn. Gate changed twice... Changed the departure time 6 times No explanation, no communication on reasons for delay I travel with AA twice a year... and it is consistently very poor.. I will continue to use AA only when i have to.

The gate got changed several times and the flight was delayed over an hour. Awful experience

American continues to decline in their customer service and its beyond disappointing.

It was an older plane. First Class was not especially roomy or comfortable. It was a short flight so there were no meal but they did offer mixed nuts which used to be normal but now is rare. Crew member was very polite and professional.

Flight to Tampa was delayed taking off due to plane arriving late but no other issues

As previously stated the delay I experienced flying from Wichita to Chicago caused a host of issues. When I finally was able to be booked on the last remaining American flight from Chicago to Cincinnati, the gate changed four times with the last change occurring very near the scheduled boarding time. While I didn't have a problem moving from gate to gate, I did notice and make note of others that had mobility issues and had to move each time for the gate change.

Maintenance took a very long time and then we were in a holding pattern. While a one-off maintenance issue is standard, there were delays on both of my flights for this trip based on maintenance issues with the planes, which delayed both flights over 45 minutes. Thankfully, I didn't have any connections but it wasn't an experience that would make me pick AA if I have other options.

No Snacks or Entertainment. The flight was short, snacks should still be given.

They cancelled our flight. 2 hours before we were supposed to take off and offered us nothing! We got our money back and that was it. No other flight to get to our cruise no working with another airline or with us to get there. Terrible customer service, no apology.

No WiFi, no outlets to charge phones, no complimentary beverages on a 6 hour flight

Flight was delayed more than 3 hours, and the metro had stopped running by the time we got to the terminal well past midnight, so I was stranded, alone, with no way to get home until the metro started up the next morning.

We get stuck in the plane when landed during 45min and no communication from the crew People were listening to their phone and music out loud and nobody told them anything I definitely want stop booking spirit flight it is a disaster

Good: It was cheap and they got us to our destination safely. Not so Good: Gates experience with many, many nauseatingly (almost) threatening announcements about bags size and how much they were going to charge us if our bag was too big, even to the point of having a gate agent roaming around through the passengers eyeballing bags size and making people go check their bags in the sizers.

Terrible. The flight was randomly delayed in Chicago causing us to miss our connection and they offered us a flight the next day at 6 am and it would have taken till 345 to get to Pensacola. They didn’t cover any fees. Our bags also supposedly were on the flight to Pensacola and we tried to get them yesterday after driving 6 hours and nobody was available. Worst company ever and will never use them again. Had to pay for a rental. Spirit is claiming in climate weather for the delay but there wasn’t any weather issuesz it’s a bunch of bullshit and I am not happy

Checking in at desk in Chicago was horrible. Person was not friendly never smiled and said my flight was not paid for so I had to give another credit card. Then it ended up that I was charged twice. Then after arriving at my destination had to wait on the phone a long time to speak to a person to fix the double charge! Thank goodness the flight was perfect.

My flight was cancelled I missed time at work and got a parking ticket

Flight was delayed for 12 h. They should stop overlooking flights.

Crew was very nice. Take off and landing were great. Economy seats are not comfortable. Extra cost for snacks.

They switched our terminal 3 times and we were delayed for four plus hours!!!

It was an early flight and most people napped/slept and the crew let us which was nice.

The crew acted like they had never done this and kept barking passive aggressive orders at people. + the security line + the delay + sitting on the tarmac for 2 hours + none of the apps or signage updating with correct times

More inflight connection. And leg space is horrible. And the paying for baggage I'd ridiculous!!!

My flight was originally from SAT to MCO connecting from MCO to ORD. We got diverted to ATL and than Frontier staff there was sooo un helpful first they said they couldn’t give us any accommodation since our flight first got delayed that cancelled and now it’s 221am and I am still in ATL since they said they need to create a new flight my final destination is ORD and I have been delayed twice and cancelled. With no real help the frontier app didn’t work no email updates over all such a horrible experience

There's no seats that lean back with little leg space i wad uncomfortable the entire flight. Your charges for extra baggage is despicable and costly!!

Flight was canceled. Most upsetting was message from Kayak, stating that the flight was canceled and click with Kayak for details regarding rebook, refund details. THERE'S NO INFORMATION PROVIDED BY KAYAK EXCEPT THAT FLIGHT IS CANCELED. AND NOW THIS SURVEY TO FIND OUT HOW WAS THE FLIGHT !!!!!!!

Our flight was canceled. I will never use Kayak nor Frontier for travel again. The entire experience was a headache.

Better than expected. Staff were friendly and nice on both flights.

Terrible. The canceled my entire flight when I requested a refund for a trip frontier canceled trip one way.

Everything you need to know for your flight from Chicago to California

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.