$51 Find Cheap Flights from Chicago to San Francisco Bay Area

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 San Francisco Bay Area departing on 9/17. 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

KAYAK searches hundreds of travel sites at once for deals on flights to San Francisco Bay Area

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

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours
San Francisco
San Franciscononstop$198
San Jose
San Jose1 stop$114
San Francisco
San Franciscononstop$198
San Jose
San Jose1 stop$114

Book Cheap Chicago to San Francisco Bay Area 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 San Francisco Bay Area 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 San Francisco Bay Area

Tue, Sep 9 - Wed, Sep 10
Spirit Airlines Logo
9:00 am - 8:00 pmORD-SJC
13h 00m1 stop
Spirit Airlines Logo
6:35 am - 9:32 pmSJC-ORD
12h 57m1 stop
$114Spirit Airlines
Find Deal
Tue, Sep 9 - Wed, Sep 10
Spirit Airlines Logo
9:00 am - 8:00 pmORD-SJC
13h 00m1 stop
Spirit Airlines Logo
11:40 am - 9:32 pmSJC-ORD
7h 52m1 stop
$121Spirit Airlines
Find Deal
Fri, Sep 19 - Mon, Sep 22
Frontier Logo
6:00 am - 11:30 amORD-SJC
7h 30m1 stop
Frontier Logo
12:30 pm - 11:59 pmSJC-ORD
9h 29m1 stop
$158Frontier
Find Deal
Sun, Sep 14 - Mon, Sep 15
Frontier Logo
6:00 am - 11:26 amORD-SJC
7h 26m1 stop
Frontier Logo
12:25 pm - 11:59 pmSJC-ORD
9h 34m1 stop
$159Frontier
Find Deal
Sat, Sep 13 - Sat, Sep 20
American Airlines Logo
6:45 am - 9:24 amORD-SFO
4h 39mnonstop
American Airlines Logo
1:21 pm - 7:45 pmSFO-ORD
4h 24mnonstop
$198American Airlines
Find Deal
Wed, Oct 15 - Wed, Oct 22
Alaska Airlines Logo
8:20 am - 2:01 pmORD-SFO
7h 41m1 stop
Alaska Airlines Logo
10:26 am - 11:59 pmSFO-ORD
11h 33m1 stop
$204Alaska Airlines
Find Deal
Wed, Oct 22 - Mon, Oct 27
Alaska Airlines Logo
7:59 pm - 10:39 pmORD-SJC
28h 40m1 stop
Alaska Airlines Logo
8:05 pm - 6:59 pmSJC-ORD
20h 54m1 stop
$204Alaska Airlines
Find Deal
Thu, Sep 11 - Wed, Sep 17
American Airlines Logo
6:00 pm - 8:50 pmORD-SFO
4h 50mnonstop
American Airlines Logo
2:22 pm - 8:40 pmSFO-ORD
4h 18mnonstop
$207American Airlines
Find Deal
Wed, Sep 10 - Sat, Sep 13
Southwest Logo
6:15 am - 10:25 amORD-OAK
6h 10m1 stop
Southwest Logo
5:15 am - 1:05 pmOAK-ORD
5h 50m1 stop
$217Southwest
Find Deal
Wed, Sep 10 - Sat, Sep 13
Southwest Logo
7:00 am - 2:10 pmORD-OAK
9h 10m2 stops
Southwest Logo
5:00 am - 2:05 pmOAK-ORD
7h 05m1 stop
$222Southwest
Find Deal
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for Chicago to San Francisco Bay Area flights

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

What is the cheapest Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport to San Francisco Bay Area flight route?

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

The cheapest ticket to San Francisco Bay Area from Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport found in the last 72 hours was to San Francisco, at $197 round-trip. The most popular route is from Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport (ORD) to San Francisco (SFO), and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $197.

Can I save money by flying with a layover from Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport to San Francisco Bay Area?

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 $1,028, prices are generally cheapest when you fly direct.

What is the cheapest month to fly from Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport to San Francisco Bay Area?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for round-trip flights from Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport to San Francisco Bay Area, 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 O'Hare Intl Airport to San Francisco Bay Area is April, when tickets cost $287 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are March and December, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $383 and $348 respectively.

What’s the cheapest day of the week to fly from Chicago to San Francisco Bay Area?

The average price of all round-trip flights from Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport to San Francisco Bay Area clicked on KAYAK for each day over the last 12 months.

When flying from Chicago to San Francisco Bay Area, you should consider leaving on a Thursday and avoid Sundays if you are looking for the best rates. For your return to Chicago, you’ll find the best rates on Wednesdays and the most expensive ones on Sundays.

How far in advance should I book a flight from Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport to San Francisco Bay Area?

To calculate weekly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each week before departure over the last year for round-trip flights from Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport to San Francisco Bay Area, 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 O'Hare Intl Airport to San Francisco Bay Area, you should book around 4 weeks before departure, which saves you about 48% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 21 weeks before departure.

Good to know

Low seasonFebruary
Cheapest flight$51
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 1% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 12% increase in price.
Flight from Chicago O'Hare Airport to Oakland

FAQs - booking San Francisco Bay Area flights

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from Chicago to San Francisco Bay Area?

    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 San Francisco Bay Area.

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

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

    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 San Francisco Bay Area 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 San Francisco Bay Area?

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

  • What is the cheapest time of day to fly to San Francisco Bay Area?

    The cheapest time of day to fly to San Francisco Bay Area is generally at night, when round-trip flights cost $375 on average. Morning departures are around 14% cheaper than evening flights, on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to San Francisco Bay Area is generally in the evening, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is $454.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from Chicago to San Francisco Bay Area

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying from Chicago to San Francisco Bay Area. 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 San Francisco Bay Area? 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 10000 reviews
7.1Food
8.1Boarding
7.8Comfort
8.5Crew
7.0Entertainment
Airline reviews

Well the flight being delayed multiple time really was frustrating. But the crew and flight was good.

4.0 OkayTahirra, Aug 2025PDX - BUR
Read more Alaska Airlines reviews

Well the flight being delayed multiple time really was frustrating. But the crew and flight was good.

Staff at Gate desk were helpful. My connecting flight from the first part of my trip Kona to Seattle was late. I had to run through SeaTac Seattle to catch my flight to San Jose. They made an exception to let me board. On my return trip San Jose to San Diego and San Diego to Honolulu the same thing happened. One flight arrived late and I had to run through the terminal to catch my connection. There are no Gluten-free & Vegan options meals and snacks to purchase.

generally good. No snacks or drinks on the flight 3379 from Portland to San Jose, CA. Sad.

Terrible airport. It took over one hour to pass checkpoint and security gate. We stood under the sun in the long line

Everything except for the lack of a choice of the snack provided was great.

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

I like the friendliness of the staff. The food choices were OK. I wish there was more options. The entertainment through the movie portal was alright.

Good experience on flight. But flight was delayed for takeoff by an hour, and Alaska posted the wrong landing time on its website. So the person who was designated to pick me up arrived 1 hour early and sat waiting for a long time at 11pm at night. This could have been avoided with better text and website communication by Alaska/Hawaiin Airlines

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

There was a very drunk man behind me who kept talking loudly to no one in particular. He was slurring his words and at times he didn’t know where we were going or whether or not we landed. He was also loudly using a lot of profanity. The attendants didn’t seem to notice or care and in fact continued to serve him alcohol. He was allowed to purchase 4 little bottles.

Better and more food and drinks. Put msnbc and free speech tv on the news channel selection list.

Very smooth checking in our luggage with a super pleasant SW agent. I enjoyed a fun entertaining movie.

after landing, we stay 2 hours on the taxi way before reaching the gate The airline and the crew were good though

First time traveling on Southwest since bag fees were implemented. Usual good service. Just more expensive now.

I'm not a fan of Southwest's model. I don't like the herding style of boarding.

It was a perfect flight in all aspects! Both legs!

Boarding process, crew were good. But the seats were so uncomfortable that was all I could focus on. I literally had to sit forward so that all 3 of us could fit in row. I will try to avoid Southwest in the future for any flights over 60 minutes.

Great flight, 47 passengers on a 180 seat plane. Stewardess was pleasant and cheerful.

Great experience flying Southwest. The crew was really kind and helpful, and very friendly with our toddler.

My flight to Chicago left and landed early. My return flight left two minutes late and arrived 2 minutes late. My seat selections were ideal! There were no snacks going to Chicago and no snacks on the return trip. There are no charging outlets on board.

Excellent flight. Boarding was efficient and departure was on time. Smooth flight with on time arrival. Deplaning was also efficient.

It was delayed instead of departing at 9:20pm, we departed at 11pm… putting us in Columbus after 2am! It was awful. Had I known about the delay, I could have spent some time in the United Lounge… I was starving because I started my journey in Budapest… so I was exhausted and hungry. Plus I had to make new arrangements to be picked up at the airport in Columbus, instead of midnight it was 2:30 am after getting luggage and out of airport. Not feasible. I would have just stayed in Chicago for the night and gotten a morning flight.

It was great, I’m very grateful for the pilots and crew flight attendants for everything.

Evidently, my seat had the only broken TV. I couldn’t plug it in, get it to come on, or watch anything, and of course, no one could fix it while we were on the plane. The service was good and the boarding was quick

I was charged for my daughters bag when I am supposed to receive two free checked bags with my United Explorer card.

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!

Flight was great. Efficient boarding. Short flight. Early arrival. Friendly flight crew. The entertainment system did not work well. Could not access it until the aircraft reached 10K feet or more. Lots of glitches.

A bit rush for transit. Food and entertainment are not available

Smooth boarding process. Early departure, smooth flight, early arrival. The entertainment package has very good recent movie options. The flight crew were friendly and professional.

My flight was scheduled for about 6:05 departure. There were 11 gate changes from 4-7pm and the flight was 3 hours delayed due to operational issues. The plane taxied around the airport for about half an hour before stopping to be de-iced. It would have been nice if we were alerted of the plan to de-ice prior to the 30 minute drive around the airport. The flight attendant was friendly, which was the only redeeming thing about this flight. As a former flight attendant for United, I was extremely disappointed.

3 hour weather delay followed by 1 hour (and counting) maintenance delay. UGH!

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"

After a two hour delay, my flight was CANCELLED! No pilot available. Such BS.

Amazing food, great staff, with one noticable detail missing ...but no seat entertainment in any of aircraft ...I am not a fan

I wish American Airlines would change the airline industry by loading the plane back to front instead of front to back. Planes would board so much more smoothly and quickly.

I have long legs, my foot was out in the aisle and when a flight attendant came walking by and I didn't notice, instead of saying "excuse me" or anything like that, she kicked my foot. Extremely rude

Excellent! The gate agents were kind enough to rebook me on an earlier flight saving me from a 6 hour layover. Even my luggage made it despite the fact that the connection was technically too narrow. The flight itself was very comfortable, roomy, and clean. Plenty of space for my carryon items with plugs to charge my phone. After a long international flight of 14 hours, this was an excellent way to end my travels!

Great experience. Flight boarded easily. Departed early. Smooth flight. Great arrival in DC--almost no taxing! Almost direct to gate from runway. Crew was terrific. Same cookies and beverages in main cabin. I did not use the entertainment system on this flight.

Most of the delay was due to weather which is not what was at issue here. One delay was due to a missing flashlight and in the end the flashlight was actually found on the plane. The entertainment system is very limited. Live TV options offer only a few channels that are not very appealing. Boarding and deplaning are always difficult. It just takes too much time to get on and off the plane. On the plus side, I missed my connecting flight, but was easily able to book a later flight from the app while enroute.

You were more on time than United. I'm so over united delays.

Great for the price. No wifi or entertainment, but gate agents and crew were fantastic and we boarded quickly and left on time.

sluggish boarding and arrival procedures, fake nice flight attendants, and lots of delays.

Disaster. They lied every step of the way. We ended up being delayed due to crew and then allegedly abandoned the flight because of a curfew at LGA. No rebooking to LGA at any reasonable time. No hotel. No meal vouchers. Had to sleep in the airport and fly to Newark instead. Will never fly Frontier again.

What I expected, nickeled and dined and a frontier flight attendant loudly complained about her job and lack of communication as she headed to the gate on her cell phone. Not professional.

As every law enforcement agency I could imagine surrounded the plane and we didn’t disembark for 2 hours and then had to stick around for another hour to go get our personal belongings after leaving them behind and being bused away from the plane, it was scary and inconvenient. We were given no information as to why this was happening. Lack of communication with passengers was disappointing.

After boarding and un-boarding twice over 6+hours, the flight was canceled.

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

My first flight was delayed 5 hours. The 2nd flight was canceled til the next day and the never even tried to compensate for it. Worse I was delayed again on the flight the rebooked me on.

Boarding in Orlando was not good. Giant mob at the gate, should have been lines.

Decent clean onboard experience. Okay discount airline experience. Unfortunately, any customer service interactions are difficult and unhelpful. There is no service. Also, a premium seat only gets you premium boarding if you line up first. Once they start general boarding you must go to the back of the line. Not very premium

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