$364 Find Cheap Flights from Europe to California

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Low seasonJanuary
Cheapest flight$364
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 6% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 9% increase in price.
Flight from Warsaw Chopin Airport to Los Angeles

Flights from Europe to California: the best tips from KAYAK users

Insights shared by verified travelers who flew the route from Europe to California 
RobertaFlew with United Airlines
CDG
-
SFO
Mar 2026
If flying from Paris to SFO, I would recommend if you are not familiar with either terminal to do some research: CDG is very well organized for signage and helpful general customer service. SFO is not as well organized for signs, and the people who work there (at least upon the returning/customs area) don't seem as cheerful. The TSA agents at SFO were super nice to us when we departed! Their French counterparts are not as pleasant - they are really pushing hard to get you through security. So, again, familiarize yourself as much as possible with the different systems to herd you through to your plane and getting in and out of the terminals, and you will probably have a better experience. I recommend looking at online videos and terminal maps, along with transportation options.
Verified travelerFlew with Aer Lingus
DUB
-
LAX
Apr 2026
If continuing from LAX on SkyWest, be prepared for a long walk followed by a bus transfer, and get your necessities before you leave the main terminal areas.
JanieFlew with SWISS
ZRH
-
SFO
Jan 2026
If you need to do an overnight layover, Grand Hyatt at SFO is perfect and has a 24 hour cafe!
ShengFlew with Aer Lingus
DUB
-
LAX
Jan 2026
Aer Lingus agent booked us a 1-stop reservation via Air Canada to replace our original 2nd leg flight to LAX. I was surprised to discover the new trip only has the 2nd part in the Air Canada system, 1 day before the departure time. I spoke to the ticketing agent again, who really made her efforts to confirm a new reservation for our big group of travelers. I was not happy about the surprise, which can be of a very rare situation, while at the same time I do appreciate the agent's effort to help us get back home ASAP. Lesson learned: even with a printed itinerary, you still need to double check on the carrier website to be sure.
AntonFlew with United Airlines
LHR
-
SFO
Feb 2026
United has a cool arrival lounge in london but it is a bit hard to find, after customs look left
ZeynepFlew with Scandinavian Airlines
CPH
-
SFO
Dec 2025
The lines are long. Make sure to get there at the recommended time
Verified travelerFlew with ITA Airways
FCO
-
LAX
Jan 2026
Be prepared for unintentional mistakes and rudeness due to the language barrier. If you’re on the taller, broader side, there will be 13 hours of discomfort with smaller seating and very tight bathrooms. The food is unsatisfactory so bring supplements.
PeteFlew with ITA Airways
FCO
-
SFO
Nov 2025
“Comfort economy” is worth it. Noise cancelling headphones/earbuds are important, along with an eye mask.
Verified travelerFlew with Iberia
MAD
-
LAX
Jun 2025
Arrive early to the airport, it takes a long time to check in and reach the boarding gates
MichelleFlew with Aer Lingus
DUB
-
SFO
May 2025
Make sure you arrive well ahead of the flight. We were lucky that security lines were pretty short but they could be very long and you do US customs and security in Dublin.
PatrickFlew with Lufthansa
MUC
-
LAX
May 2025
Arrive early. There are a lot of flights and a lot of steps before getting to your gate.
IanFlew with Iberia
BCN
-
LAX
Jan 2025
Be aware that checked in bags are EUR70 per bag. You can board the plane via stairs either at the front or back. I thought the experience was ok a 13 hour flight
Verified travelerFlew with SWISS
ZRH
-
LAX
Dec 2024
Don't pack too much, as the carry-on back size is smaller than most other airlines.
AlastairFlew with British Airways
LHR
-
SFO
Feb 2025
Make sure your free checked luggage is for outward and return flights.
Verified travelerFlew with British Airways
LHR
-
SAN
Sep 2024
Flight overall is good. Service is very good. Bring yourself some snacks, in case the food isn’t up to your taste.
Verified travelerFlew with SWISS
ZRH
-
LAX
Sep 2024
Have Swiss app it keeps you updated pretty instantly of any delays or gate changes
MeganFlew with Iberia
LHR
-
LAX
Sep 2024
Pack light and know you can always get stuff when you land.
NinaFlew with Aer Lingus
DUB
-
SFO
Nov 2024
Make sure you include extra time to pass through US Border Control if you’re flying to the US! Also Aer Lingus bag drop closes 75 mins before flight departure for long haul so bear that in mind!
Verified travelerFlew with United Airlines
LHR
-
SFO
Sep 2024
Download all your music. Add shows and movies to your queue. Bring short so you can relax. Bring long charger cords.
PGFlew with Condor
FRA
-
LAX
Oct 2024
Make sure you have plenty of time to get through the Frankfurt Airport if you are flying internationally.
MajFlew with Scandinavian Airlines
CPH
-
LAX
Sep 2024
Bring snacks! Other than the 2x international meals, everything else is for purchase.
SunnyFlew with Turkish Airlines
IST
-
SFO
Nov 2024
Turkish lounge is so good, however receptionists are anything but receptive: they were inattentive and rude x 4 Airport is very large for a tight international transfer if inbound flight is 30 min late
Verified travelerFlew with United Airlines
AMS
-
SFO
Jul 2024
Fly either Business class or Premium Plus. Realize Business is unaffordable for most but Premium Plus is worth the extra fee.
SimonFlew with British Airways
LHR
-
LAX
Jun 2024
If flying business class I’d research which cabin your aircraft operates. BA have some old business class on the 380 and new business class on the 777. (And 350). The new cabin is so much better. But the food just isn’t as good as it used to be
AmirFlew with TAP AIR PORTUGAL
LIS
-
SFO
Jul 2024
For any flight that's part of a Multi-City flight plan, don't miss it. Otherwise, all your remaining flights on that plan will be terminated.
KaraFlew with Scandinavian Airlines
CPH
-
LAX
Aug 2024
Make sure you request food restrictions! Otherwise they will make you purchase if you are unable to eat their free meal
GzimFlew with Lufthansa
MUC
-
SAN
Aug 2024
Buy your own food, choose seating where you have your own row or someone your flying with.
AmrFlew with United Airlines
MUC
-
LAX
Aug 2024
Boarding takes long time and traveling from T2 is far away from T1
Verified travelerFlew with American Airlines
LHR
-
SFO
Mar 2024
Heathrow is vast, allow plenty of time to drop bags and go through security. At San Francisco the immigration takes a bit of time and we had to wait around 1.5hrs, bare this in mind when booking car rental. The is a shuttle train from the airport to the car rental area which is very slick and efficient.
HenryFlew with United Airlines
FRA
-
SFO
Apr 2024
connection took much longer than I expected; need 20 minutes between taking a shuttle bus and pass through custom before you get on your flight
Ana-MariaFlew with Iberia
LHR
-
SFO
Mar 2024
In London triple check your flight they have multiple leaving for the same destination once - it is easy to get them confused
Verified travelerFlew with British Airways
MAD
-
SFO
May 2024
Terminal 4 in Madrid is not well signed to tell where passengers need to go after each step. Planes are far from the Terminal. Baggage check in is slow.
RubenFlew with Air Tahiti Nui
CDG
-
LAX
Jan 2024
Fly this airline. Get to LAX early. 4 hrs. Its jyst enough time.

FAQs for booking flights from Europe to California

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

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

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

  • Which airlines fly most frequently to California?

    Europe and California are connected by different airlines. The airlines that fly that route the most regularly are United Airlines (208 flights per week), Lufthansa (175 flights per week), and Air Canada (154 flights per week).

  • How many airports are there in California?

    There are 29 airports in California. The busiest airport is Los Angeles Airport (LAX), with 40% of all flights arriving there.

  • 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 Los Angeles Los Angeles Airport (LAX), with an average flight price of $726.

  • What is the cheapest day to fly to California?

    Based on KAYAK data, the cheapest day to fly to California is Thursday where round-trip tickets can be as cheap as $964. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Tuesday, where round-trip prices are $1,139 on average.

  • 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 $999 on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to California is generally in the afternoon, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is $999.

  • What is the cheapest flight to California?

    The cheapest ticket to California from Europe found in the last 3 days was to Los Angeles, at $434 round-trip. The most popular route is Amsterdam (AMS) to Los Angeles (LAX) and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 3 days was $434.

  • What is the cheapest month to fly from Europe to California?

    The cheapest month for flights from Europe to California is February, when tickets cost $808 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are July and April, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $1,134 and $1,026 respectively.

  • How far in advance should I book a flight from Europe to California?

    To get a below average price on the flight from Europe to California, you should book around 5 weeks before departure, which saves you about 24% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 22 weeks before departure.

  • How many cities have direct flights to California?

    From Europe, there are direct flights to California from 16 cities. The city with the most direct flights is London, with 955 direct flights each week.

  • How many direct flights to California are there each day?

    There are around 334 direct flights from within Europe to California every day. Most flights (48%) depart in the afternoon.

  • How many direct flights to California are there each week?

    Each week there are around 2,333 direct flights from within Europe to California. The most common day for departures is Friday, with 15% of flights taking off on this day.

  • How long is the flight to California?

    An average nonstop flight from Europe to California takes 13h 45m, covering a distance of 5721 miles. The shortest route is London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Las Vegas (LAS) with an average flight time of 10h 40m.

  • How many long-haul flights are there to California each week?

    There are not any medium-haul (3-6 hour flight duration) or short-haul (up to 3 hour flight duration) flights to California. Instead, there are 2,333 long-haul flights (6-12 hour flight duration), with the most arriving from London.

  • What are the most popular destinations in California?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is Los Angeles (51% of total searches to California). The next most popular destinations are San Francisco (21%) and Las Vegas (11%). Searches for flights to Ontario (7%), to Burbank (3%) and to San Diego (2%) are also popular.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from Europe to California

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Europe 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.
7.4
Turkish AirlinesOverall score based on 4394 reviews
7.3Comfort
7.5Entertainment
7.5Food
7.3Boarding
7.8Crew
Airline reviews

Be honest of what you sell: This was sold as Business Class on all three legs, while the JetBlue plane didn't even have business class seats, and wanted $164 for extra legroom seats.

4.0 OkayAnonymous, May 2026
RSW - JFK
Read more Turkish Airlines reviews

Be honest of what you sell: This was sold as Business Class on all three legs, while the JetBlue plane didn't even have business class seats, and wanted $164 for extra legroom seats.

Great food, and lots of it. They made us come to the gate two hours before the flight and you were stuck in the enclosure until you boarded with no bathroom or food or drink. My seat in business class was very claustrophobic, I could barely get into it and a large board blocked the window and made it even more claustrophobic

Turkish Business Class is a wonderful experience, and the best inflight dining experience I’ve had to date.

The crew was amazing and the food was really good too

Some of the best service I’ve ever seen on an international flight! The staff were super friendly and accommodating. The food was excellent with lots of choices and attention to detail. The seats are kind of old and narrow, but I have wide shoulders. The only area for improvement was making the cabin a little cooler.

It was fantastic. I really enjoyed it. It’s comfortable the flight attendant. Respect you anything you ask for they gave you except the water.

We were experiencing delayed for 4 hours and of course they took us to Turkish airlines lounge but we could not rested up since there is no bedroom. It was tiring and long day for us🙏 Especially we didn’t fly until 5:45am morning for Miami🙏😢

On Turkish it is all about the food and the service. I am overwhelmed with the quality and variety of the dining service offered on business class. I prefer the updated A350 to the older B777 cabin layout, but both are comfortable. Flights left and arrived on time with updates from the captain. I will definitely fly with them again.

Excellent service. Friendly and attentive flight attendants, can lay back in business class and be pretty comfortable, and delicious food. Flight on time departing and arriving.

I will say the same as my previous comment. Great job over all! From 1-10, ten be the best… I will give 9!

My daughter always gets sick when we order the gluten free meal option. Internet didn’t work as advertised.

All went smoothly. That's what I want on a long flight.

I expected more, but they will nickel and dime you for everything. I did not enjoy flying with this airline.

Curious and efficient service ! First time flying with SAS and very pleased!

I wish they have given us explanations for the delays. And the rebooking process in Copenhagen was too long. I had to wait about 4 hours before they assign me a hotel. From there the handling process (accommodation, transportation and meal) was excellent.

Our trip plan from Kayak stated we were flying SAS. That was not true. The first leg was a Delta flight. We wasted 25 minutes before finding out to check in with the correct airline. Then our SAS flight for the second leg arrived 25 minutes late, and our third leg flight with SAS closed the gate knowing the flight delay was SAS’s fault, and that this flight would only be backed up 5 minutes. The final kicker was that between Delta and SAS, they lost all our checked luggage.

Since our earlier flight was delayed, we missed this flight and were rerouted on Lufthansa 2 days later.

Scandinavian Airlines is terrible. Flight was late. Lost luggage. Rude flight attendants. Terrible experience.

The flight was very cold, and the seats were rather uncomfortable. The food has been better on our other SAS experiences. Most significantly, the luggage with most of my wife's personal items and clothes didn't make the flight. Hoping for a quick resolution, but no real opportunity to speak with a Human has us concerned.

Ancient aircraft (busted armrests, poor cabin temperature with no option for passenger control). Garbage everywhere. Risible checking of safely conditions on landing. Also, late.

6 1/2 hours from Tampa to SFO on a Boeing 737. Cramped. No Service. No real food. One pass for coffee at the beginning and a second pass THREE hours later. And check-in in Tampa was nasty even by United standards. And I am at almost TWO million miles on United. It's a non-stop. But terrible service.

First class ticket gets you no seat back entertainment? I have to bring my own laptop to see a movie? And most of their movies have ADS? No thank you. Worse: Tiny snacks only on a 2 hr flight?

Late plane. Only one crew on the ground so we b had to wait for Denver flight to come in, board, and depart. At 78 yrs of age I was not pleased trying to get my connection. What really made me angry was the notification you sent me to hurry up or I would miss my connection. Why tell me to hurry up when you got me in late. It was not a good way of treating customers.

No complaints other than luggage carousel was incorrectly guiding passengers to the wrong carousel on the screen.

Seats were not super comfortable and food was not good at all. If I had a chance I would definitely fly a different airline. Of course they are better than any budget airline, but not by much.

Flew steerage class. Short on leg room unless you pay more. No window unless you pay more. Etc. United is trying to squeeze every cent from you. It doesn’t make for any loyalty.

Outstanding service, efficient & friendly crew, flight was safe, comfortable & on time

Outstanding service, great food, friendly & efficient crew, safe & comfortable flight

Staff were not attentive, wifi did not work, cut my head in the bathroom due to the position of the soap on the sink, had blood running down my face, told staff, they had no expression no sympathy, didn't even say "sorry", they said "oh we will have a look at that" about 10 mins later the purser brought me a bandaid, still no sorry.... Shocking

The crew was great. Very friendly and responsive. The plane was old, small and tight. We ran out of overhead space and I had to check. Middle seat was particularly tight.

The legroom was lacking and the entertainment system lacked adequate selection of older films. Modern films are generally not very good.

Perfect airline, super friendly, great service, tasty food. Would fly again.

The flight attendants were wonderful - one man put my carry on in the bin for me. Very attentive service. Loved the blanket and pillow waiting for me in economy. Food was excellent which is a surprise given the reputation of any airline food. Wine was fine with the meals. Delighted with the new movies - flight went by very quickly. I would definitely fly Lufthansa again.

Flight was delayed by several hours and then cancelled due to weather. But Staff was very helpful getting me on a different flight. United should offer food coupons and tooth brush and paste for stranded passengers

Service was excellent. Flight was only about half full, which meant we had tons of room to stretch out. Boarding area was nice and well organized, flight attendants were super friendly and attentive and we loved the 3 snacks!

My flight was cancelled, but it was not Kayak's fault. Kayak did require me to pay for the ticket twice to two different venders who paid Lufthansa. Kayak/Lufthansa owes me for the first booking I made first was fraudulent on the part of the subcontracting ticket seller. There will be litigation over this issue under the current passenger protection laws.

flight was half full, plenty of empty seats, was able to lie down across 4 seats, food was good, arrived on time

Was never allowed on and not refunded the full amount of the ticket plus charged a $300 processing fee.

Terrible. Our flight was completely cancelled with no options to rebook until 4 days later.

Generally good. Not their fault but the design of the Boeing 747 had seating supports directly in line with my legs. So my legs always had to straddle this support which caused body misallignment. Such poor design from Boeing. There was no USB port for me to charge my phone. The screen touch control was very poor.

Business class lounge for my gate was closed and no email was sent, causing me to walk back and forth to different gates, etc for over 20 minutes one way. Flight entertainment was mediocre with very poor choices especially for business class cabin. Original flight was cancelled and rebooking was difficult and no reason given for cancellation.

Very comfortable flight and simple and directed one way and back. Amazing price.

We loved our flight attendant, Emma from Scotland, the meal and entertainment offerings were wonderful, the flight was smooth, and enough leg room to stretch. We would fly with you again!

Los Angeles to London. 25th of April 2026. Business class. I was flying backwards with a complete stranger snoring next to me. In Business class. Males and females, strangers lying next to each other. Seats were backwards. I paid for comfort. I got dizziness and stress.

24 hour delays aren’t even heard in 3rd world countries with archaic transportation systems. I’m never flying American Airlines again.

Long line with check in at the DIA British Airway counter.

The flights were on time. Cabin crew were nice. The food was terrible! Checking in was not easy using my phone.

Crew were fantastic and the aircraft was extremely comfortable, but outdated. Headphone jacks were worn out and sound normally only came out of one ear unless positioned just right.

Departure was delayed leading to late arrival, 25 min wait for a gate. Basically, missed all our connections & had to be rebooted, which was a very long process.

Good flight, no turbulence. I felt safe and comfortable which is really important when I am just a passenger.

Everything you need to know for your flight to California

Cabin class types available on flights to Europe

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