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Find cheap flights from Des Moines to California from $62

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from Des Moines to California departing on 7/22. 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
Tue 6/4
Tue 6/11

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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$162
San Francisco
San Francisco1 stop$210
San Diego
San Diego1 stop$154
San Jose
San Jose3 stops$336
Palm Springs
Palm Springs2 stops$346
Fresno
Fresno1 stop$311
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo1 stop$358
Bakersfield
Bakersfield2 stops$376
Reno
Reno1 stop$304

Good to know

Low season

September

High season

June

Cheapest flight

$62
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 12% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 3% lower on average.
Flight from Des Moines to Los Angeles

FAQs - booking California flights

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from Des Moines 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 Des Moines to California.

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight to California from Des Moines 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 Des Moines 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 Des Moines with another airline.

  • What is KAYAK's "flexible dates" feature and why should I care when looking for a flight from Des Moines 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 Des Moines 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

  • Looking for a cheap flight? 25% of our users found tickets from Des Moines to the following destinations at these prices or less: Los Angeles $74 one-way - $154 round-trip
  • Morning departure is around 12% more expensive than an evening flight, on average*.
*Average of the lowest prices shown in KAYAK’s search results for departures within the next 30 days

Top 5 airlines serving from Des Moines to California

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Des Moines 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
DeltaOverall score based on 10826 reviews
7.9Comfort
8.0Entertainment
8.2Boarding
7.4Food
8.6Crew
Airline reviews

There was a loud squeaky sound the whole time we were flying.

6.0 GoodEliza, Apr 2024SAN - LAX
Read more about Delta reviews

There was a loud squeaky sound the whole time we were flying.

Had a broken tray in business class. Crew just shrugged it off.

I didn’t like that I could not select my seat and was assigned a seat when I checked in at LAX

Great experience overall. Check in at Austin was congested as they only have about 6 check in kiosks, one was broken, and there was a lot of Spring Break travelers.

Bag drop off was slow and annoying. Only 2 agents at the entire delta desk, and no one directing traffic for what line to be in, many confused people slowed down the process. Boarding was fine. Seats in Delta comfort plus were fine. Snacks were great! Definitely a bonus. The entertainment system was awful — old, slow, not responsive, and completely unable to play games due to some kind of error. But on the other hand, thank you to Delta for the free WiFi. That made it better.

Everything was very good other than I had selected a specific seat when I booked the flight and they changed it once I checked-in the day before my flight. I was still in first class but lost my aisle seat for a window seat. Being tall, the aisle offers more comfort so I always select an aisle seat.

Flight diverted in SD. Later take off in Seattle by 1.3hrs

Crew was not friendly when I went to request a seat change.

Really impressive staff at airport and on plane, especially given how busy it was

Was a great smooth flight from Detroit to San Diego.

More facilities to transport to the gates......felt too much walking distance

Just happy I flew Qatar Airways awesome no wonder they are #1 in the world right now! The food was just delicious, very courteous, professional crew.

It was good no problems made it on time for the next flight overseas!

It was a really long flight from Doha to Philadelphia and it was overall a good one. The one area that I would comment on is that there is a lot of single-use plastic and disposables in the meal service for American Airlines. It would be great to see more circular options in the meal service to reduce the amount of waste.

Suddenly Flight has been change by Qatar and there’s no information is there of us from Bom to Doha and counter person is behaving like Qatar owner next I will not buy Qatar and I will not suggest anyone to fly in Qatar

The crew was fantastic and the over flight was perfect as well.

They shld provide food. Between food they are giving 10 hours gap which is toooo much

The crew was great and the food and liquor offerings were good. Seats were a bit cramped. Flight arrived early at destination. That's a plus.

All over with Qatar airlines my experience was really bad due to delays and then putting me on different airlines and after 8 hours of wait I had to listen to their is no plane to fly for another 24 hours. Wore experience ever.

I had already opted for Vegan food before 2 months yet they say we have no record for it,

Should have video screens Plane audio was poor and without wired connection hard to understand crew. Should serve more than just cups of water and pretzels on six hour flight. Did not see crew rest of flight. Fix charging sockets to retain charging blocks.

Generally good but there wasn’t any staff available when my luggage didn’t appear at baggage claim in Fresno. It took about half an hour to locate a staff member to open up the locked room where it was being kept.

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

Our original business class flight was cancelled so we not only downgraded but we were also spread out across the plane not sitting together in separate middle seats. My poor kids were scared and couldn’t see me on the flight and the crew wasn’t sensitive to the situation and what the airlines did to us. Very dissatisfied with United airlines.

The WiFi didn’t work and the seats are too close together. Very uncomfortable.

So so. Terrible aircraft choice for that leg of the flight.

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.

On time every leg of the journey and exceptional staff at counter, gate, and on board. I haven’t travelled in US for a long time and was genuinely surprised how pleasant this was.

This was a Lufthansa flight. Disappointing main meal. Very rough over Canada and arrival at FRA. IFE was almost unusable.

Too many fees (but that seems to apply to all airlines nowadays)

Fight crew was not very attentive and the bastions were gross!

Our flight was great we left Kona earlier and got into LAX almost an 1hour earlier as well. LAX AA is in repair so to get out and found our bus to get pick up was a bit confusing.

Plane was good but was delayed. probably not AA fault but caused a 1 hour delay. Seating was cramped.

5 hour flight - full flight - not enough room to use my computer - slightly delayed - Admirals club was excellent quality food, drink made up for flight seating. No food offerred on flight, you ahd to prebook.

We experience delays on departure and connecting flights resulting in 14 hour to our next departure. We were accommodated with a night's stay but was only provided a 12 dollar meals accommodation. The airlines rules state.at least 50 dollars. In any case, it can not make up for the whole day missed on our vacation in Sydney Australia.

I can say I will not be taking this airline again any time soon. Seat were uncomfortable and too tight. Lack of chair screen and little overhead space.

Plane felt so crowded and tightly packed. The chair itself was not comfortable.

They attended to my needs as I couldn't walk and they provided a wheelchair for me.q

Poor availability of food. Cold cabin temperature. Extremely long waiting time for a flight attendant to respond to a call button signal.

2.5h delay due to unruly passenger in first class. Had to be removed from the flight. No food unless pre ordered. Didn't know we would need it because of delay.

Not good 😐 Over priced baggage fees Small hard seats No wifi or entertainment options 😕

Didn't like anything!! Horrible flight. Small seating area and hard seats. Butt was sore after 2 hour flight to Seattle No entertainment or free refreshments No wifi or USB charging receptacles to charge phone entoute like other airliners Luggage rates were 3 times as much as competitors. Difficult to navigate online luggue process to pre pay before flight Overall bad experience WILL NEVER RIDE OR RECOMMEND FRONTIER TO FRIENDS OR FAMILY MEMBERS!!! THIS IS A SHAME!! MOST MESERIBLE FLIGHT OF MY LIFE!! AND I THOUGHT SPIRIT WAS 👎 YOU GOT THEM BEAD HANDS DOWN!!

Flight was a little late taking off. Seats are too upright, no ports to charge devices, no wifi, no entertainment

Six hour delay. Poor customer service. No voucher. Bad communication. Missed important appointments.

Our flight was delayed an hour, then when we got to board our flight finally, we were waiting in our seats for take off for 45 minutes before it was communicated that there was a maintenance issue therefore we waited on the plane for over an hour while that was resolved. We did not get to Phoenix until almost 3 hours after we were originally supposed to. This was the first and last time I will be flying Frontier.

Flight was canceled with little warning. Flight was rebooked through Ontario, California and connecting flight was delayed by over three hours. Frontier is living up to their Greyhound of the skies reputation for sure.

I purchased a carry on bag online…was supposed to cost $72 but after a whole slew of bs charges, the total was over $175.00. Because of these hidden charges, I will not even consider flying Frontier ever again. It’s just not worth the hassle. I’m scratching this company off my list forever.

Flight was OK. Seats were good no cell phone charges on the plane no TVs or entertainment.

There were 3 leg for the trip and each leg was delayed by 90 minutes or more. The boarding process takes forever with people waiting on the jetway even though most folks do not have carry-on. The whole process is poorly managed.

Flight cancelled and was told by a rude gate agent that they don’t accommodate on other airlines. Had to wait 5 hours for a connecting flight that had a 7 hour layover. Would not allow bags to be checked early so we couldn’t go through security .Had to rent a car for the afternoon to store bags and get a meal. Also incurred a hotel fee. No apology or reason given for the cancellation- just rudeness.

Book cheap flights from Des Moines to California

Recent round-trip flight deals

5/20Mon
1 stopFrontier
17h 57mDSM-SAN
6/1Sat
1 stopFrontier
10h 44mSAN-DSM
$154
6/3Mon
nonstopAllegiant Air
3h 45mDSM-SAN
6/7Fri
nonstopAllegiant Air
3h 25mSAN-DSM
$159
6/3Mon
1 stop
17h 57mDSM-SAN
6/7Fri
nonstop
3h 25mSAN-DSM
$201
5/20Mon
1 stop
24h 27mDSM-LAX
5/23Thu
1 stop
23h 48mLAX-DSM
$204
5/30Thu
1 stopAmerican Airlines
8h 33mDSM-SAN
6/4Tue
1 stopAmerican Airlines
5h 22mSAN-DSM
$302
8/14Wed
1 stopAmerican Airlines
8h 30mDSM-LAX
8/24Sat
1 stopAmerican Airlines
9h 25mLAX-DSM
$302
6/1Sat
1 stopDelta
8h 57mDSM-LAX
6/5Wed
1 stopDelta
7h 53mLAX-DSM
$305
8/17Sat
1 stopUnited Airlines
5h 47mDSM-RNO
8/24Sat
1 stopUnited Airlines
5h 34mRNO-DSM
$306
5/22Wed
1 stopDelta
7h 42mDSM-LAX
5/28Tue
1 stopDelta
8h 41mLAX-DSM
$324
10/2Wed
1 stopUnited Airlines
5h 32mDSM-PSP
10/9Wed
1 stopUnited Airlines
5h 21mPSP-DSM
$384

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Recent one-way flight deals

7/22Mon
nonstopAllegiant Air
3h 33mDSM-LAX
$62
6/14Fri
nonstopAllegiant Air
3h 42mDSM-LAX
$69
5/25Sat
1 stopFrontier
11h 16mDSM-SAN
$76
6/15Sat
1 stopFrontier
11h 36mDSM-SFO
$76
6/18Tue
1 stopAmerican Airlines
8h 40mDSM-SAN
$151
6/4Tue
1 stopAmerican Airlines
5h 44mDSM-SAN
$152
6/1Sat
1 stopDelta
8h 57mDSM-LAX
$153
8/1Thu
1 stopUnited Airlines
9h 49mDSM-LAX
$168
8/1Thu
1 stopUnited Airlines
5h 40mDSM-ONT
$233
5/19Sun
1 stopDelta
9h 46mDSM-SNA
$243

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Last minute flights from Des Moines to California

Last minute flight, train and bus deals

5/10Fri
multi-stopFrontier
8h 41mDSM-SFO
5/14Tue
multi-stopFrontier
17h 24mSFO-DSM
$264
5/10Fri
multi-stopFrontier
22h 02mDSM-SAN
5/18Sat
multi-stopFrontier
10h 29mSAN-DSM
$270
5/10Fri
multi-stop
17h 04mDSM-LAX
5/12Sun
multi-stop
15h 57mLAX-DSM
$305
5/10Fri
multi-stop
17h 04mDSM-LAX
5/12Sun
multi-stop
20h 21mLAX-DSM
$363
5/8Wed
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
9h 10mDSM-LAX
5/14Tue
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
10h 06mLAX-DSM
$489
5/8Wed
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
10h 13mDSM-LAX
5/13Mon
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
7h 20mLAX-DSM
$490
5/7Tue
multi-stopUnited Airlines
5h 28mDSM-PSP
5/11Sat
multi-stopUnited Airlines
4h 43mPSP-DSM
$666
5/6Mon
multi-stopUnited Airlines
9h 01mDSM-SAN
5/8Wed
multi-stopUnited Airlines
7h 14mSAN-DSM
$669
5/10Fri
multi-stopDelta
7h 32mDSM-SFO
5/13Mon
multi-stopDelta
8h 38mSFO-DSM
$716
5/10Fri
multi-stopDelta
13h 10mDSM-SFO
5/13Mon
multi-stopDelta
8h 38mSFO-DSM
$924

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