$118 Find Cheap Flights from Des Moines to Illinois - Compare and Save

1 adult
1 adult, Economy, 0 bags

Save 21% or more on flights. Compare deals from all over the web.

Never overpay with our price tracking tools.

Filter searches by price, airline and more to find your best flights.

Flight Deals
Booking Insights
Flight Deals

Cheap Flights from Des Moines to Illinois

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 5 days
Sort by: Cheapest
Chicago
1h 20mNonstop
from $237per person
Bloomington
4h 01m2 stops
from $955per person
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for Des Moines to Illinois flights

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

How much is a round-trip flight from Des Moines to Illinois?

Flight prices are below average for this route right now.

Flights to Illinois from Des Moines usually cost between $270 and $448 in November.
The lowest price found in the past 5 days was $237 on United Airlines (Nov 9-Nov 11).

What is the cheapest Des Moines to Illinois flight route?

The cheapest ticket to Illinois from Des Moines found in the last 5 days was to Chicago, at $311 round-trip. The most popular route is from Des Moines (DSM) to Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport (ORD), and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 5 days was $311.

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

The cheapest time of day to fly to Illinois is generally in the morning, when round-trip flights cost $499 on average. Morning departures are around 35% cheaper than evening flights, on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to Illinois is generally in the afternoon, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is $1,070.

Can I save money by flying with a layover from Des Moines to Illinois?

Yes, flying with a layover may cost you more time, but you can also save money on the route, with a 1 stop layover the cheapest option at $349 on average.

What is the cheapest month to fly from Des Moines to Illinois?

The cheapest month for flights from Des Moines to Illinois is February, when tickets cost $239 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are July and June, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $425 and $381 respectively.

What’s the cheapest day of the week to fly from Des Moines to Illinois?

Your flight ticket price will generally be cheaper if you fly to Illinois on a Friday and more expensive on a Sunday. On your return trip to Des Moines, you should consider flying back on a Saturday, and avoid Tuesdays for better deals.

How far in advance should I book a flight from Des Moines to Illinois?

To get a below average price on the flight from Des Moines to Illinois, 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 19 weeks before departure.

Good to know

Low season

August

Cheapest flight

$118
Best time to beat the crowds but there is an average 9% increase in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 23% lower on average.
Flight from Des Moines to Chicago O'Hare Airport

FAQs - booking Illinois flights

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from Des Moines to Illinois?

    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 Illinois.

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from Des Moines to Illinois 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 Illinois?

    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 Des Moines to Illinois 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 Des Moines to Illinois?

    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 Des Moines to Illinois 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 Illinois

  • Looking for a cheap flight? 25% of our users found tickets from Des Moines to the following destinations at these prices or less: Chicago $207 one-way - $391 round-trip; Chicago $236 one-way - $419 round-trip

Reviews of the top 3 airlines serving from Des Moines to Illinois

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Des Moines to Illinois? 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 4194 reviews
8.6Crew
8.1Boarding
7.0Food
7.5Entertainment
8.0Comfort
Airline reviews

Wasn't expecting this, but, we actually ended up getting assigned to the first row of seats!!!!! The extra legroom came in handy

10.0 ExcellentAnonymous, Sep 2026
Read more Southwest reviews

Wasn't expecting this, but, we actually ended up getting assigned to the first row of seats!!!!! The extra legroom came in handy

Flight was delayed over 3 hours. Planes were dirty. Staff indifferent. And they serve vegan pretzels as snacks.

The flight was smooth. The Southwest experience has degraded overall, but this one was okay.

The checking experience in Orlando was terrible, almost missed the flight. Too many travelers and Southwest completely understaffed.

no service at all due to turbulence. they should've at least given us snacks, there were only 10 people on the entire flight.

For the first time in a long time, the Wi-Fi actually worked the entire flight! The flight crew was amazing as usual.

Great flight. I didn't get a drink because I was asleep whole on the flight.

Love them will get a Southwest card to track my points and keep flying with them. My family and I were pleased with the services.

WiFi was not working and didn’t have a beverage service

All good except once again bags took an hour at Midway Airport Happens all the time. Ridiculous

Usual wait for over a half hour for a gate at Ohare. They tell you you'll get there early then sit on the plane and wait almost an hour

Plane congestion resulted in a 1 hr wait from landing to arrival at the gate. This was in addition to also experiencing extreme delays on my incoming flight.

Very disappointing that on an international business class flight they would not give me access to the lounge in Boston. They said it was because it was a codeshare flight. International business class should include lounge access regardless of codeshare.

Crew was great. Seats are cramped and uncomfortable and I’m a small person.

Awful. Delay after delay. And then again on the tarmac.

1 flight cancelled Had to fly out of different city Flight at new departure city was delayed 3 hours causing us to miss connecting flights. By the time we did make it to Prague our luggage did not. Had to wait day and a half for luggage to be delivered. Customer service was not good. Agents did not arrive at gate until 5-10 minutes before boarding

It was better than excellent. The staff in Mason City were great. The young woman that pushed my wheelchair did more than could be expected of her. She came from India 17 years ago. I don't remember her name.

Very rough getting into denver. my kid threw up it was so rough.

Liked that we left on time for each flight. Snacks not the best, but we're okay.

I had requested wheelchair assistance prior to flight. The airport staff had no record of it. It was not provided at Cedar Rapids which was a small airport, so I managed on my own. At O'Hare airport the same thing happened. The staff told me they had no record of my request for a wheel chair. But they finally provided it after a delay when I insisted that I needed it.

Flight was 2 hr late but at least I was upgraded to first class

The flight was delay roughly 90 minutes. Once we arrived at O'Hare, we sat on the tarmac for another 90 minutes. I understand that O'Hare is under construction however they need to figure out a solution as every incoming flight I have been on has been delayed coming to a gate.

We were stuck with no gate upon landing for 90 minutes. Unacceptable.

Horrible. Flight was delayed for 4 hours first till 7pm. Then for one more hour. Then again and around 9pm we were finally boarded and waited for catering delivery for another hour. At 10pm we were not interested on food at all. Tired, sleepy we arrived after midnight. Insane.

I've never seen such poor lack of information at a gate station in 69 years. The flight from COS was to depart at 12:37pm. At boarding time, the gate agent in the microphone mumbled something completely unintelligible. I understood one word. "mechanical". Nothing else. Absolutely nothing else was reported for the next 1-1/2 hours. Past the time for departure, at 12:37pm, the gate agent simply walked away and the station was left unattended, as all of the passengers waited expectantly. The board still said that the flight was ON TIME. That was hard to believe since it was then well past 12:37pm and we all were sitting at the gate and there was absolutely no gate agent anywhere in site. I stopped an employee who was standing somewhere else and said that we can use some information. Much later, the same gate agent said that he will have information for us about 5 minutes but he "doesn't know any more than you do." Of course, five minutes came and went and he did absolutely nothing. One and a half hours after 12:37pm, he opened the door and began boarding. No explanation, no apology. Once we were boarded, the same happened on the plane. We sat. No explanation, no apology, from any flight attendants. Finally, finally, a pilot apologized and explained that there would be a delay. WELL NO KIDDING !

The boarding process needs to be fixed. The zone don't work, especially when there is hardly anyone in zones 3, 4,and 5, leaving the majority of the passengers backed up in the aisle, especially because passengers seated near the front are blocking passengers who are seated in the rear of the plane. It would also help if the size of carry on bags was more strictly enforced.

In flight connectivity (via T-Mobile) was often not working.

Terrible. Internet/kiosk glitch prevented baggage checkin. Line at ticket co in Ter was under serviced and did not move. Agents did not call for flight but rather allowed time to pass. Then told each person as they reached the front if line that it was too late to check bags so they’d have to rebook flights. At least 15 people missed the flight as a result of this incompetence.

It was exactly what I expected, actually arriving sooner than scheduled.

Terrible, they canceled my flight due to an issue they had, couldn't fly me into the same place within 24 hrs so had to fly in 2.5 hrs away from my destination and spend even more money. The customer service was terrible (except at the airport in Charleston). Had to call to get my checked baggage fees reimbursed 2 wks later in which one customer service agent was very rude, wouldn't listen and then hung up on me. The second lady I spoke with was actually able to help me with that part thankfully. Would not recommend flying AA.

More options for your flight from Des Moines to Illinois

Complete your trip to Illinois with a hotel stay or car rental