$73 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 9/11. 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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Best San Francisco Bay Area Flight Deals from Chicago

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours
San Francisco
San Franciscononstop$184
San Jose
San Jose1 stop$172
San Francisco
San Franciscononstop$184
San Jose
San Jose1 stop$172

Cheap Flights from Chicago to San Francisco Bay Area

 
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

Wed, Aug 6 - Tue, Aug 12
Spirit Airlines Logo
3:18 pm - 11:33 pmORD-OAK
10h 15m1 stop
Spirit Airlines Logo
6:00 am - 2:13 pmOAK-ORD
6h 13m1 stop
$163Spirit Airlines
Find Deal
Tue, Aug 5 - Tue, Aug 12
Spirit Airlines Logo
3:18 pm - 11:33 pmORD-OAK
10h 15m1 stop
Spirit Airlines Logo
6:00 am - 2:13 pmOAK-ORD
6h 13m1 stop
$167Spirit Airlines
Find Deal
Fri, Jul 4 - Sat, Jul 12
United Airlines Logo
7:20 am - 10:02 amORD-SFO
4h 42mnonstop
United Airlines Logo
6:10 am - 12:37 pmSFO-ORD
4h 27mnonstop
$184United Airlines
Find Deal
Sun, Aug 31 - Sat, Sep 6
American Airlines Logo
6:45 am - 9:15 amORD-SFO
4h 30mnonstop
American Airlines Logo
11:25 pm - 5:31 amSFO-ORD
4h 06mnonstop
$188American Airlines
Find Deal
Tue, Aug 26 - Sun, Aug 31
American Airlines Logo
9:50 am - 12:30 pmORD-SFO
4h 40mnonstop
American Airlines Logo
8:00 am - 2:20 pmSFO-ORD
4h 20mnonstop
$189American Airlines
Find Deal
Fri, Aug 22 - Sun, Aug 31
United Airlines Logo
6:15 am - 8:56 amORD-SFO
4h 41mnonstop
United Airlines Logo
6:30 am - 1:01 pmSFO-ORD
4h 31mnonstop
$194United Airlines
Find Deal
Thu, Aug 7 - Thu, Aug 14
Alaska Airlines Logo
7:18 pm - 10:06 pmORD-SFO
4h 48mnonstop
Alaska Airlines Logo
11:55 am - 6:18 pmSFO-ORD
4h 23mnonstop
$196Alaska Airlines
Find Deal
Thu, Aug 7 - Thu, Aug 14
Alaska Airlines Logo
7:18 pm - 10:06 pmORD-SFO
4h 48mnonstop
Alaska Airlines Logo
11:55 am - 6:18 pmSFO-ORD
4h 23mnonstop
$217Alaska Airlines
Find Deal
Mon, Jul 7 - Sat, Jul 12
Frontier Logo
9:56 pm - 12:15 pmORD-SFO
16h 19m1 stop
Frontier Logo
6:37 am - 12:10 amSFO-ORD
15h 33m1 stop
$261Frontier
Find Deal
Thu, Jul 10 - Mon, Jul 14
Frontier Logo
1:39 pm - 7:39 pmORD-SFO
8h 00m1 stop
Frontier Logo
5:45 am - 9:06 pmSFO-ORD
13h 21m1 stop
$271Frontier
Find Deal
Useful Info

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?

The cheapest price for flight routes found by users searching on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks for round-trip flights from Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport to San Francisco Bay Area.

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 $198 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 $198.

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 $951, 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 $349 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. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 21 weeks before departure.


Good to know

Low seasonFebruary
High seasonJuly
Cheapest flight$73
Best time to beat the crowds but there is an average 3% increase in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 11% 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 $387 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 $461.

Top tips for finding cheap flights to San Francisco Bay Area

  • Looking for a cheap flight? 25% of our users found tickets from Chicago to the following destinations at these prices or less: San Francisco $144 one-way - $245 round-trip

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
8.5Crew
7.1Entertainment
7.8Comfort
7.1Food
8.1Boarding
Airline reviews

One of the stewardess, Tre, went above and beyond to ensure my comfort!

10.0 ExcellentJenny, Jun 2025IAD - SFO
Read more Alaska Airlines reviews

One of the stewardess, Tre, went above and beyond to ensure my comfort!

Alaska app and website had numerous problems so couldn’t get boarding passes or check seats

Flight was very warm. It felt like there was no working AC.

Big delay of over 7 hours on next leg of trip with Alaska. Would have been nice to have food or something

Very good. Gate personnel were excellent flight attendants were also able to change my seat at the last minute everyone, courteous, polite, and.

Passengers were not informed timely of delays. The staff appeared like they didn't really care about the passengers.

Both flights were delayed going to our destination and leaving, and communication about the delays was not great by the airlines, now the crews were phenomenal and great to be around!!

Delayed. It's not our first flight with them either, it's actually our 3rd and all 3 were delayed by hours each time. It was a myriad of delays. On one flight we boarded after being delayed for a little over an hr, only to be told we were going to sit in the plane for another hour before departing. Once landed, we waited another 40ish min to get to our gate. On another flight, flight was delayed just under 3 hrs but atleast we got to wait it out at the airport terminal. Its just a bad experience overall flying with Alaska Airlines.

Flight was delayed for weather, then delayed for mechanical, then just cancelled. Once mechanical problems started I wish you had just started offering rebooking options (at the same airport). I felt my trip was not a priority for you. I called you, I asked for a better option (than changing airports), then I had to literally run around the airport making it happen. Do better.

I would've liked to have the seat tablets like before to view movies, with long travels not everyone carries tablets to view movies. And phones are not worth it because screens to small.

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.

Delays took 2hours and thirty minutes making me miss my connecting flight and make me sit in the Chicago airport for 9 hours

Had a short delay once we boarded the aircraft in Chicago, but it was fixed in no time flat then we were on our way. The pilot was able to make up the time lost and we landed 5 minute later then schedualed . Great service

Our seats were all the way in back of the plane,

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.

The meals were mediocre and the alcohol selection was poor. I enjoyed the selection of movies and other entertainment.

I chatted with the captain before the flight, and similarly during the welcome announcement, he warned of a turbulent flight that may impact the in-flight service. However, once at altitude, he announced that the weather changed and he immediately turned off the seatbelt sign. But it appeared the cabin crew had already decided to take off this flight. They remained seated and then just chatted in the galley. The flight was fully catered, but only first class received service.

My flight attendant was attentive! The elderly person next to me was flatulent and the flight attendant could see that I was in distress and brought me some face masks

My boarding pass wouldn't pull up in the app very easily and had to really dig through my email. That caused a delay in TSA..

Boarding was a breeze, however, two of the flights that I boarded with Spirit did not have Wi-Fi available.

Very good. Nothing more or less than expected. No complaints.

My experience with the spirit as a first time it was OK, but the seats need a little cushion, the problem I had the most impacted me was when checking in the scales were so off and wrong. It will tell that you would have more weight, which was not true. The scale was say that it had Thirty Eight Pounds, when get in the labels when we send the luggage into the band. It says that it was overweight. I really really dislike that because the scales are not accurate. If I use Spirit and I have that issue again. That will be my last time flying with the spirit, even though I like so much to service the planes, and everything else

hahaha we are delayed for one hour plus.. but thx we arrived San Diego safe

Worst airline ever! The guy weighing my bag had his foot on the metal plate and when I called him out on it, I got this stupid little smirk. La is a scam and so is Spirit Airlines. All the flight attendants looked like they hated our flight just as much as we did.

Very dissatisfied with spirit airlines after buying my ticket's they cancelled our flights with no reasoning.

Unclear pricing; ended up being charged an extra $52 just to get onboard

Spirit is awful. Too expensive for what you get. Stop nickel and diming.

Good crew and safe. However, comfort and being nickeled-and-dimed are my issues. $75 each way for luggage is exhortation. The space to the next seat is so close you cannot open a laptop. The magazine rack doesn’t hold your items. Not a fan.

would be great to get basic water, soda at least and stop charging for carry ons

Frontier is terrible. Paid for exit row, not given exit row, refused to refund fee.

2 hour delay due to late plane, wrong size plane causing overbooking, and people getting off and on the plane after boarding was completed.

We had to wait in line over an hour just to check our bags. It's a good thing we were so early to the airport. Only one clerk was working and the line was around the corner and down the hall. No good. I felt bad for her. Not sure how she kept her sanity with all the upset people. Then we get to our gate and there is no seating. Everyone was standing. Then I realize it is not a gate at all, we still have to be shuttled to our airplane. Ugh. Then we were late taking off and missed a window of opportunity before the airport runways were shut down for some reason. (not frontier's fault the runway shut down.) The seats on the airline are crammed and there is no cushion. Never had a tighter seating arrangement while flying. My 6' 4" husband was absolutely miserable the whole time with knees digging in to the seat in front of him. You think you are getting a good deal on a ticket, and then wham! I had to pay 75 dollars for our checked bags and 75 dollars for a carry on. No other airline does that!!! And also, there is a 40 pound weight limit on checked bags... Would have been cheaper flying with another airline, and I would have at least gotten a snack and drink. Was thankful for the tiny cup of water at least.

This was one of the first frontier airline flights this spring that wasn't delayed. It actually left on time. Some of the flight crew did not look happy, they didn't smile when the passengers were boarding or getting off the plane, and the passengers initiated greetings, not the staff. To me this was an odd experience to have with any flight/airline. I had a bad experience booking this flight. The price didn't solidify until late hours into the night. Ever time I purchased the ticket, I either received a denial email or an error because the price has changed, but it was never reflected on the flyfrontier or kayak websites until way after midnight on the date of travel. This caused me anxiety and irritation with the websites. Then I noticed a mishap with my name on my voucher as I went to check in, it was incorrect. When I proceeded to correct it, Frontier had no easy, let alone free, way to remedy it. I couldn't correct my name without a $75 charge, I couldn't cancel my voucher to repurchase it with the correct name without a $100 charge, because it was too close to departure. Then calling frontier was nearly impossible to remedy the situation with a human. It's already difficult to want to choose frontier because of all the upcharges, but you feel kinda trapped into doing so because it's the more affordable airline.

They canceled flight. Hard to believe there was even a plane incoming for us to get on

Plane was down graded and I lost my uncharged exit row with more leg room. No mention or offer of refund from podium. Flight attendant was nice to explain this happens often and that I could request a refund via online form submission. I did this and have heard nothing back.

Horrendous. I do not recommend Frontier. The passengers lack manners and decency, and the flight attendants lack professionalism. If I wasn’t in a bind to fly with 48 hours notice for a job interview, I would not have selected a flight with Frontier and I never plan to fly with them in the future.

The seats were hard molded plastic covered in plastic vinyl. And the scam to charge people extra to sit together. Don’t they know we can just ask someone to trade seats. And watching the staff separate young children from parents… super classy. We had to guilt them into offering up our seats. This companies policies suck. Don’t give them your money.

Everything went as planned. Crew was great. Seats were still not that comfortable.

No frills for sure. No gate announcements about flight delay, not even water to drink on the flight.

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