$48 Find Cheap Flights from Detroit 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 Detroit to California departing on 8/26. 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

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

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours
Los Angeles
Los Angeles1 stop$95
San Francisco
San Francisco1 stop$206
San Diego
San Diego1 stop$98
San Jose
San Jose1 stop$140
Palm Springs
Palm Springs1 stop$241
Fresno
Fresno1 stop$241
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo1 stop$369
Bakersfield
Bakersfield1 stop$278
Arcata
Arcata1 stop$314
Redding
Redding1 stop$606
Reno
Reno2 stops$191
Sacramento
Sacramento1 stop$186
Los Angeles
Los Angeles1 stop$95
San Francisco
San Francisco1 stop$206
San Diego
San Diego1 stop$98
San Jose
San Jose1 stop$140
Palm Springs
Palm Springs1 stop$241
Fresno
Fresno1 stop$241
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo1 stop$369
Bakersfield
Bakersfield1 stop$278
Arcata
Arcata1 stop$314
Redding
Redding1 stop$606
Reno
Reno2 stops$191
Sacramento
Sacramento1 stop$186

Book Cheap Detroit 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 Detroit 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 Detroit to California

Wed, Sep 10 - Thu, Sep 11
Spirit Airlines Logo
7:20 am - 10:44 pmDTW-LAX
18h 24m1 stop
Spirit Airlines Logo
5:30 am - 12:56 pmLAX-DTW
4h 26mnonstop
$95Spirit Airlines
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Tue, Sep 2 - Tue, Sep 9
Spirit Airlines Logo
8:25 pm - 11:37 pmDTW-SAN
6h 12m1 stop
Spirit Airlines Logo
7:47 pm - 5:26 amSAN-DTW
6h 39m1 stop
$98Spirit Airlines
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Sat, Oct 25 - Sat, Nov 1
American Airlines Logo
7:00 am - 2:11 pmDTW-SAN
10h 11m1 stop
American Airlines Logo
6:16 am - 9:41 pmSAN-DTW
12h 25m1 stop
$197American Airlines
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Wed, Oct 22 - Sat, Oct 25
Southwest Logo
8:00 am - 11:40 amDTW-SFO
6h 40m1 stop
Southwest Logo
9:05 pm - 10:10 amSFO-DTW
10h 05m1 stop
$206Southwest
Find Deal
Wed, Sep 10 - Mon, Sep 15
American Airlines Logo
3:18 pm - 11:09 pmDTW-SFO
10h 51m1 stop
American Airlines Logo
11:25 pm - 12:09 pmSFO-DTW
9h 44m1 stop
$209American Airlines
Find Deal
Mon, Nov 10 - Thu, Nov 13
Southwest Logo
2:45 pm - 9:50 pmDTW-SFO
10h 05m1 stop
Southwest Logo
6:15 am - 7:50 pmSFO-DTW
10h 35m1 stop
$217Southwest
Find Deal
Sat, Oct 11 - Mon, Oct 27
Delta Logo
4:25 pm - 10:49 pmDTW-ONT
9h 24m1 stop
Delta Logo
1:15 pm - 11:59 pmONT-DTW
7h 44m1 stop
$277Delta
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Fri, Sep 26 - Sat, Oct 4
Delta Logo
6:15 pm - 10:23 pmDTW-ONT
7h 08m1 stop
Delta Logo
5:40 pm - 6:26 amONT-DTW
9h 46m1 stop
$288Delta
Find Deal
Thu, Sep 4 - Wed, Sep 10
United Airlines Logo
11:00 am - 5:29 pmDTW-ONT
9h 29m2 stops
United Airlines Logo
1:15 pm - 10:15 pmONT-DTW
6h 00m1 stop
$313United Airlines
Find Deal
Tue, Oct 14 - Sat, Oct 25
United Airlines Logo
6:05 pm - 10:30 pmDTW-ONT
7h 25m1 stop
United Airlines Logo
1:15 pm - 10:22 pmONT-DTW
6h 07m1 stop
$327United Airlines
Find Deal
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for Detroit to California flights

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

What is the cheapest Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to California flight route?

The cheapest price for flight routes found by users searching on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks for round-trip flights from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to California.

The cheapest ticket to California from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport found in the last 72 hours was to Los Angeles, at $108 round-trip. The most popular route is from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) to Los Angeles (LAX), and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $108.

Can I save money by flying with a layover from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport 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.

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 $881 on average.

What is the cheapest month to fly from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to California?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for round-trip flights from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport 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 Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to California is January, when tickets cost $231 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are December and March, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $383 and $349 respectively.

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

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

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

How far in advance should I book a flight from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport 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 Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport 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 Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to California, you should book around 2 weeks before departure, which saves you about 26% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 6 weeks before departure.


Good to know

Low seasonApril
Cheapest flight$48
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 3% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 18% increase in price.
Flight from Detroit to San Diego

FAQs - booking California flights

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

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from Detroit 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 Detroit 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 Detroit 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 Detroit 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 Detroit to California 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 California?

    The cheapest time of day to fly to California is generally in the afternoon, when round-trip flights cost $271 on average. Morning departures are around 13% 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 $451.

Top tips for finding cheap flights to California

  • Looking for a cheap flight? 25% of our users found tickets from Detroit to the following destinations at these prices or less: Las Vegas $107 one-way - $164 round-trip; Los Angeles $132 one-way - $146 round-trip

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from Detroit to California

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying from Detroit 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 Detroit 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 4246 reviews
8.6Crew
8.1Boarding
7.5Entertainment
8.0Comfort
7.0Food
Airline reviews

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

10.0 ExcellentGordon, Jul 2025GEG - OAK
Read more Southwest reviews

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

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

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.

Plane late from DC to Austin 30 minutes. Crew made up much of the time enroute to San Diego.

Fine, but how to board on SW versus othrr airlines, is just lame. Goood staff though and all was solid otherwise.

Was as expected. Crowed planes. Too many carryons delaying takeoff. But the ride only took an hour and saved me a lot of time SFO is a not a great airport.

I will be flying again Southwest Airlines. Friendly crew, comfortable and affordable.

Delayed and took off even later than the scheduled delay time

Food was surprisingly good but the WiFi was not great

Great. Very smooth. Plenty of information. However, wish they would give out a menu in advance of making a dinner choice like other international airlines. The flight attendant says chicken or pasta and there are details about ingredients or spices requiring the passenger to ask which requires the flight attendant to answer many times. So easy to solve this problem. P

My flight was extremely cold. I had a jacket and a cover was left in each seat. The cover was extremely thin and I have a disability, fibromyalgia and arthrithis and AC air is the worst. I closed my vent and my husbands vent and it still was frigid. I asked the attendant if I could get another cover and she quickly almost dismissively and totally unconcerned stating, (I quote) (one per chair) and walked off so quickly that I didn't get a chance to explain to her that I literally have adisability. I didnt want to make a seen so I set on that flight for over 5 hours in pain, joints locking up and extremely uncomfortable. When my fibromyalgia flares up my joints not only ache but they will lock up also and it takes me days to get back to my regular self even though I take medication for it. I felt like it would not have hurt anyone at all for her to just give me an extra cover because I'm sure they have all types of medical issues in people that fly every day.

Not a "Delta" issue, but a JFK issue: We booked a connecting flight with 3 1/2 hours between to clearn immigration and customs. Our inbound flight (BCN to JFK) was on the taxiway 45 minutes which ate into our layover time. Immigtration was insanely quick with the CBP MPC app; however, clearing TSA (again, after we were ALREADY cleared in Spain on the inbound international flight) took over 95 minutes. This left us with 10 minutes before boarding the connecting flight (JFK to SAN) to walk to the far end of Terminal 4 and try to find food. We didn't find any food that could promise to serve us in under 10 minutes so we boarded the Delta flight after coming off a plance and an 8-hour flight knowing that we wouldn't be served any food on the next 5 1/2 hour flight. I feel like Delta needs to put pressure on the JFK TSA to open more screening stations (by our count, we saw only 5 scanners open and a line of - as we said - over 90 minutes. The insult is that we WERE ALREADY SCREENED through TSA, but as you come off one flight into the USA, you have to go through the whole process again. It seems like if you have a connecting flight, there should be a way to pass through immigration and customs without needing to return through TSA.

There are 4 flights in consecutive gates with about the same departure time. Two flights were boarding at the same time. One was delayed or boarding would be happening at the same time. I am not sure what Delta and LAX need to do to have a better layout at the end of Terminal 2

5 hours of delay that could've been much shorter if Delta had taken the 1 hour delay they imposed on the flight before boarding to run any of the plane checks required for flight to find the hydraulic issue that required nearly 3 hours to fix. $24 of meal credit buys a sandwich and a soft drink. Poor communication within the terminal about what gate we'd be re-boarding from and when we'd be re-boarding.

The entertainment and wifi mostly didn't work on this flight.

Terrible entertainment system - kept freezing and audio kept cutting out. Snacks were mediocre at best for a 5 hour flight.

I am still upset that my bag was lost on a recent trip to Rome ; we were inconvenienced and out €150 Euros ; delta has refused to reimburse us

1. when we went to check in, our 2 first class seats had been CANCELED and the flight was sold out. This was done without our prior knowledge. It was all we could do to restore one first class seat for my wife and I flew economy. 2, Our flight home was scheduled to leave at 10:30 pm. Due to tsunami warnings, the roads were closed and our flight status was uncertain as to whether it would leave as scheduled. It was announced that it would now leave at 11:20 pm and the roads were now open since the tsunami had come and gone. We made a mad dash to the airport and checked in. Delays were announced at 12:30 pm, 1:30 am, 2:30 am and at 3:30 am it was canceled. Since this was a flight due to natural (tsunami) causes, there was no compensation. We were told to return at 1:00 pm the next day and our baggage would be kept on the plane since the same plane was going to leave at 1:00 pm. We had to return to our hotel for the rest of the night. The same plane did not leave at 1:00 pm and our baggage was gone! All in all, it was a miserable performance by UA. Information was hard to obtain and no one knew what was going on and what was going to happen. Hundreds of passengers slept on the floor, chairs, etc. No food and no water was made available to the passengers. It was a situation where UA could care less what was going on. As a one million mile flyer, I had not experienced anything like this before and it was hugely disappointing!

Boarded plane and then delayed 1.5 hours while on the plane

Horrific. They missed my connecting flight to San Diego. I didn’t get there until Monday at 9am when I had a mandatory court settlement conference scheduled at 6am since we had parties on the east coast. This caused many issues. All because United apparently forgot to hold the doors open until my flight landed that only had a 10 minute delay. This was the last flight to Southern California. So I couldn’t even rent a car to finish the trip. United cannot be trusted when traveling on specific days and times since weather didn’t have anything to do with the delays.

My flight was delayed a very short period of time but they did not hold my connecting flight to San Diego, also through United. So they closed the doors before we got off our plane. They would only have to help the door open for another five to ten minutes. So I missed a court deadline for a manditory mediation settlement conference for my client. I had to get an associate to be there in person and be on the phone with him relaying what he needs to do the entire time. The court was very upset with me and so was my client. United cannot be trusted.

We were given vouchers we couldn’t use with a 5.5 hour delay

Really good 😊 the woman at the gate entrance was a little rude checking in our carry-on but i dont think she worked for the airline, she worked for the airport at sacramento, other than that amazing.

Boarding was mayhem. Late boarding by 15 minutes because of lack of staff (missing 1 flight attendant. We had to wait for an arrival of another plane before we could board). Flight was a little rough, but cannot blame on airlines.

Great experience…left a bit behind schedule but made up fir that in the air and landed 10 minutes early 😁

United out of SFO is having issues with catering so none of our meals were loaded on the plane and no offer of compensation for our tickets purchased was offered.

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

There is no room, no gluten free options, or any free internet/entertainment. You have to bring your own tablet or smartphone because there are no screens.

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

Boarding gate in Honolulu was staffed with a great clerk with a soothing voice despite the flight delay of over an hour. Flight attendants in the plane were all grumpy, not pleasant looking bunch. Their sour attitude showed throughout the flight. Inly able to get a select few movies started. Most of the movie links in the “free entertainment” did not work.

This was a horrible experience. For a first class experience, my chair was held together by 3M tape - and I have a photo. The crew weren’t very attentive, somewhat dismissive and forgot my drink and snack, the chair reclined about 3 inches on a 6-hour cross country flight. I was also not informed that there was no lounge available in Newark airport because of renovations, so all around this was one of the worst experiences and I would actively avoid both American and Alaska Air going forward.

Boarding was very efficient. Everyone got on board and we got on our way very quickly. It was frustrating that the entertainment app was not functioning properly. I was not able to activate some of the movies offered. The crew on this flight appears to be pretty grumpy. They had no smile on their faces. I felt like they were doing us a favor for being there.

Loved the staff, boarding and drink options! Wish the comfort of the seat could have been better nevertheless

Honestly, I haven’t flown American in years, probably due to the pandemic and my being unable to travel for certain periods in the last two years, but it was a good experience to dig out or obtain a new American Airlines account after many years of traveling for business with American in the past.

Long 5 hour and 45 min flight and only one drink service and cookie snack

The trip was very smooth and they provided great customer service

One bottle of water and a package of cookies for comfort plus. We had to literally beg a flight attendant for an extra bottle of water later in the flight due to feeling dehydrated.

I didn't order food. I requested a Tomato juice and was given a boody mary mix. The serve needs to warn the customer what their given. It wasn't a huge deal, but I wasted $4.50.

Late departure by 1:45min. No explanation why. During boarding inconsistent policing of their baggage rules. Before takeoff and lamdimg strange obsession with window shade and armrest positions. Don't know why they care. 15 min tarmac delay on arrival, they blamed airport congestion but we were the o lh flight waiting, it was clear it was due to poor staff planning (only one ground crew to receive airplanes and multiple arrivals) Got there but was rrally lame the whole trip.

Everything was fine, but there was no food or entertainment, so I didn’t know how to rate that.

I've flown Spirit many times. However, they seem to be getting worse. I don't understand how the contracts with the gates at the airport works, but Spirit never seems to have a gate ready when we land. This happened again on this flight. And once again, baggage took forever to arrive at the baggage claim belt. This time it was about 45 minutes to an hour, late at night, when the airport was not crowded. On a previous trip, they lost the luggage cart and we were all waiting for about 3 hours for our luggage. Plus, I did get a deal through Kayak on a flight that was shown sold out on Spirit's site. However, by the time I added all the luggage, and didn't even pick seats, I could have taken any direct flight I wanted through Delta. I'm about done with Spirit.

I made it safely. The flight was delayed, though. Not upset or expect anything.

Great experience overall. Early boarding, no delays. Drinks and snacks are not included in price and very expensive. Seats are not very comfortable. Not as much space or padding as other airlines. Good for a quick cheap flight.

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

Tell them to chose a better, less bumpy route :( my seat had no window all the way at the end 😔

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

Boarding east and ontime. Seat spacing was tight, and seats don’t recline.

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