$52 Find Cheap Flights from District of Columbia to California

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Low seasonJanuary
High seasonJuly
Cheapest flight$52
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 12% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 7% increase in price.
Flight from Washington Dulles Airport to Las Vegas

Flights from District of Columbia to California: the best tips from KAYAK users

Insights shared by verified travelers who flew the route from District of Columbia to California 
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesDCA-SFOJan 2025
Reserve your plane seat & bring something to eat in the plane.
RebeccaFlew with Alaska AirlinesIAD-SANSep 2024
Get something to eat in the airport, just in case there is no food onboard.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesDCA-LAXJul 2024
Easy access via metro, and by car with parking available walking distance from the terminal. Lots of seating and dining options near the flight boarding gates.
NoamFlew with Alaska AirlinesIAD-SFOAug 2024
Flying to the Ronald Reagan airport is closer and faster to D.C. than the Dulles airport.
BillFlew with Alaska AirlinesIAD-LAXJun 2024
At Dulles, you can spend 30 minutes getting to your AFTER clearing TSA
DeniseFlew with Alaska AirlinesIAD-SFOMay 2024
Bring your own device. No screens on the seatbacks.

FAQs for booking flights from District of Columbia to California

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from District of Columbia 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 District of Columbia to California.

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from District of Columbia 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 District of Columbia 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 District of Columbia 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 District of Columbia 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 District of Columbia to California up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

  • Which is the cheapest airport to fly into in California?

    Prices will differ depending on the departure airport, but generally, the cheapest airport to fly to in California is Long Beach Municipal Airport (LGB), with an average flight price of $183.

  • What is the cheapest day to fly to California?

    Based on KAYAK data, the cheapest day to fly to California is Wednesday where round-trip tickets can be as cheap as $408. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Tuesday, where round-trip prices are $603 on average.

  • What is the cheapest time of day to fly to California?

    The cheapest time of day to fly to California is generally at night, when round-trip flights cost $406 on average. Morning departures are around 30% 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 $626.

  • What is the cheapest flight to California?

    The cheapest ticket to California from District of Columbia found in the last 72 hours was to Los Angeles, at $111 round-trip. The most popular route is Baltimore (BWI) to Los Angeles (LAX) and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $111.

  • What is the cheapest month to fly from District of Columbia to California?

    The cheapest month for flights from District of Columbia to California is August, when tickets cost $208 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are May and December, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $522 and $508 respectively.

  • How far in advance should I book a flight from District of Columbia to California?

    To get a below average price on the flight from District of Columbia to California, you should book around 4 weeks before departure. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 18 weeks before departure.

  • How long is the flight to California?

    An average nonstop flight from District of Columbia to California takes 7h 47m, covering a distance of 2311 miles. The shortest route is Washington, D.C. Reagan-National Airport (DCA) to Las Vegas (LAS) with an average flight time of 4h 54m.

  • What are the most popular destinations in California?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is Los Angeles (30% of total searches to California). The next most popular destinations are Las Vegas (22%) and San Francisco (17%). Searches for flights to San Diego (9%), to Ontario (6%) and to Sacramento (3%) are also popular.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from District of Columbia to California

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from District of Columbia 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
Alaska AirlinesOverall score based on 10000 reviews
7.1Food
8.5Crew
7.1Entertainment
8.1Boarding
7.8Comfort
Airline reviews

Good experience, although it was a little cramped being a tall person. Otherwise everything went smoothly and professionally though

8.0 ExcellentTim, Jun 2025SEA - SAN
Read more Alaska Airlines reviews

Good experience, although it was a little cramped being a tall person. Otherwise everything went smoothly and professionally though

Delay of more than 3 hours I didnt recieve neither a voucher for food Attention disaster

I'm a platinum member with American Airlines, however, my ticket did not display status and thus I did not board with an early group. I traveled with my two daughters and we were given a row of seats that did not recline. Not the treatment I would have expected for a platinum customer. The flight was also a bit late leaving Portland. Also on my flight to Portland we were not given premium seats. In fact, we were in the last row of the aircraft.

The seats in first class are very dated and quite uncomfortable. I don’t need lie-flat seats for a 6 hour flight, but more recline is really necessary.

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.

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

The gate was too far away for the connecting flight

Generally good. The aisles have gotten narrower which can slow down boarding. Flight crew was great! Healthier complimentary snacks would be appreciated. Due to earthquake in San Francisco we had to circle in air space for a bit but then had a smooth landing. I laud the flight crew for their patience ;)

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

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.

Flight boarded from Gate 39 at OGG, the farthest gate in the terminal. There were no Hawaiian themed amenities for the flight. The first class service was mediocre at best; I received not special welcome or recognition as an executive platinum member of American Advantage program. The flight attendants were more concerned with their cell phones than saying "thank you" to the passengers as we disembarked. Fortunately, the flight arrived at LAX a few minutes early.

Bigger seats. Board back to front! Disembark front to back!

Extraordinary service in business class, and very good breakfast and snacks. A really lovely flight.

This flight didn’t happen because AA agents didn’t let us board the flight

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.

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.

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

Your crew is a representation of your Standards and Values. The crew from Seattle to LAX, was very disappointing. The crew was more interested in hanging out at the lobby area. Talking, laughing loudly and eating all the snacks. They did not do regular rounds to see if customers needed anything. This was a huge disappointment. I will no longer be flying with your airlines moving forward.

- flight attendants not very friendly. - Paid for WiFi and plane didn’t have it working , never got a refund.

Very bad! No good service delayed my second connection flight

The confirmation # CK8GNW and my name was not recognized/in Frontier system. I was able to check in on Frintier app so i went to the Frontier ticket agent, at time they told me that my name/ confirmation did not show up as a purchased ticket. I had to purchase a new ticket that cost $289.00 one way.

Flight was late. Missed connecting in Denver. My new flight is more than 24 hours later and I have no room, vouchers, or compensation, and might also be bumped from the one tomorrow.

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.

Book cheap flights from District of Columbia to California

Recent round-trip flight deals

7/28Mon
1 stopFrontier
9h 46mIAD-LAX
8/7Thu
1 stopFrontier
7h 49mLAX-IAD
$94
8/23Sat
1 stopFrontier
13h 35mIAD-LAX
8/24Sun
1 stopFrontier
7h 45mLAX-IAD
$95
8/3Sun
nonstopUnited Airlines
5h 04mIAD-LAS
8/6Wed
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 35mLAS-IAD
$159
8/12Tue
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 54mDCA-LAS
8/19Tue
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 46mLAS-DCA
$160
8/22Fri
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 54mDCA-LAS
8/30Sat
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 46mLAS-DCA
$196
7/29Tue
1 stopAlaska Airlines
8h 10mDCA-LAS
8/7Thu
1 stopAlaska Airlines
7h 42mLAS-DCA
$201
8/12Tue
nonstopAlaska Airlines
5h 27mIAD-SAN
8/19Tue
nonstopAlaska Airlines
5h 11mSAN-IAD
$225
10/1Wed
nonstopUnited Airlines
5h 24mIAD-SAN
10/4Sat
1 stopUnited Airlines
7h 06mSAN-IAD
$243
7/22Tue
1 stopDelta
9h 26mIAD-SMF
8/5Tue
1 stopDelta
9h 17mSMF-IAD
$277
9/24Wed
1 stopDelta
11h 33mIAD-SMF
10/8Wed
2 stopsDelta
9h 27mSMF-IAD
$282

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Recent one-way flight deals

7/28Mon
1 stopFrontier
9h 08mIAD-LAS
$52
7/28Mon
1 stopFrontier
9h 46mIAD-LAX
$52
8/2Sat
nonstopUnited Airlines
5h 04mIAD-LAS
$80
9/20Sat
nonstopAmerican Airlines
5h 23mDCA-LAS
$80
10/21Tue
nonstopAmerican Airlines
5h 14mDCA-LAS
$81
7/21Mon
nonstopUnited Airlines
5h 04mIAD-LAS
$90
11/18Tue
1 stopAlaska Airlines
7h 35mIAD-LAS
$98
7/29Tue
1 stopAlaska Airlines
8h 10mDCA-LAS
$100
8/3Sun
1 stopDelta
7h 24mDCA-LAS
$129
7/30Wed
1 stopDelta
9h 26mIAD-SMF
$139

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Last minute flights from District of Columbia to California

Last minute flight, train and bus deals

7/4Fri
multi-stopFrontier
8h 16mIAD-LAX
7/24Thu
multi-stopFrontier
7h 49mLAX-IAD
$101
7/5Sat
multi-stopFrontier
8h 19mIAD-LAX
7/12Sat
multi-stopFrontier
11h 46mLAX-IAD
$131
7/5Sat
multi-stopDelta
7h 46mIAD-SMF
7/9Wed
multi-stopDelta
6h 44mSMF-IAD
$299
7/4Fri
nonstopDelta
5h 35mDCA-LAX
7/11Fri
nonstopDelta
5h 01mLAX-DCA
$302
7/5Sat
multi-stopAlaska Airlines
11h 37mDCA-LAX
7/16Wed
nonstopAlaska Airlines
5h 11mLAX-DCA
$362
7/5Sat
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
7h 30mDCA-LAX
7/11Fri
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
7h 33mLAX-DCA
$372
7/5Sat
multi-stopAlaska Airlines
11h 37mDCA-LAX
7/12Sat
nonstopAlaska Airlines
5h 11mLAX-DCA
$387
7/3Thu
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
11h 51mIAD-SMF
7/13Sun
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
8h 04mSMF-IAD
$504
7/5Sat
multi-stopUnited Airlines
8h 49mIAD-SMF
7/13Sun
multi-stopUnited Airlines
9h 03mSMF-IAD
$529
7/4Fri
nonstopUnited Airlines
5h 44mIAD-SMF
7/19Sat
multi-stopUnited Airlines
8h 57mSMF-IAD
$559

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Everything you need to know for your flight to California

Cabin class types available on flights to District of Columbia

Cabin classes available on flights to District of Columbia. Prices are the lowest found on KAYAK over the last 7 days. Price and availability is not guaranteed.

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