$43 Find Cheap Flights from Illinois to California

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Low seasonJanuary
High seasonDecember
Cheapest flight$43
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 12% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 15% increase in price.
Flight from Chicago O'Hare Airport to Las Vegas

FAQs for booking flights from Illinois to California

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

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from Illinois 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 Illinois 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 Illinois 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 Illinois 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 Illinois 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 San Diego Airport (SAN), with an average flight price of $178.

  • What is the cheapest day to fly to California?

    Based on KAYAK data, the cheapest day to fly to California is Friday where round-trip tickets can be as cheap as $351. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Monday, where round-trip prices are $515 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 morning, when round-trip flights cost $344 on average. Morning departures are around 59% 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 $835.

  • What is the cheapest flight to California?

    The cheapest ticket to California from Illinois found in the last 72 hours was to Los Angeles, at $117 round-trip. The most popular route is Chicago Midway Airport (MDW) to Los Angeles (LAX) and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $117.

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

    The cheapest month for flights from Illinois to California is August, when tickets cost $228 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are December and March, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $361 and $348 respectively.

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

    To get a below average price on the flight from Illinois to California, you should book around 3 weeks before departure. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 5 weeks before departure.

  • How long is the flight to California?

    An average nonstop flight from Illinois to California takes 4h 55m, covering a distance of 1671 miles. The shortest route is Moline (MLI) to Las Vegas (LAS) with an average flight time of 3h 22m.

  • What are the most popular destinations in California?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is Las Vegas (26% of total searches to California). The next most popular destinations are Los Angeles (23%) and San Francisco (12%). Searches for flights to San Diego (10%), to Santa Ana (7%) and to Ontario (6%) are also popular.

Top 5 airlines serving from Illinois to California

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Illinois 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 4278 reviews
8.6Crew
7.1Food
8.2Boarding
8.0Comfort
7.6Entertainment
Airline reviews

It was a perfect flight in all aspects! Both legs!

10.0 ExcellentAnonymous, Apr 2025LGB - SMF
Read more Southwest reviews

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.

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 hell hole of an airport. It is the new LaGuardia. Everything Cobbled together. Security gates closed. Terri directional signage

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

The plane arrived 25 minutes late, and the Wi-Fi was slower than it usually is.

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 ;)

The agents was very rude and they charged me $50 for a carry-on bag saying that it was too big and then I saw someone going on a plane with the same size bag as me

For the most part united was a good experience, how ever when they came by with the snacks and water, they completely passed by my wife and I. As we were in separate rows. On a 5 hr flight we were not offered water

Fantastic crew. Flight was delayed at last minute but we were given updates every 20 minutes and the crew was so friendly and considerate. I miss the touch screens on the back of the seats, wish they would bring that back though.

Awful. Worst airline I have ever been on. Crew were among the rudest people I have ever dealt with. United staff members were rude and disrespectful. My flight was delayed, causing me to miss a connecting flight. I understand things happen, but when staff start lying about what actually happened, that is when I have an issue. Just be honest, really it isn’t that hard. I’m being very honest with this review and I don’t find this difficult what so ever. In fact, because of United Airlines, my Christmas holiday was off to a really rocky start. As someone who has traveled across the world, it has only been United that I have had a truly awful experience.

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

Plane was pretty clean, staff was friendly and helpful, flight left about on time arrived early. Took a long time to board and get off the plane - carry on items didn't have enough room so people had to move all around to find places.

The service and food needs to improve to catch up with other international flights

Would have been good to have a meal since it was a 5.5 hour 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.

Since you have to pay for overhead bags then they shouldn't be running out of space and asking individuals who paid to remove stuff from the overhead

Cancelled flight after I arrived at airport after 75 min drive and parking. Next flight was 4 days in the future. Had to scramble and buy a much more expensive flight on another carrier.

Book with frontier airlines with the mentality that they'll cancel your flight, kick you off and lose your luggage. Anything besides that is a win. Compare prices with other airlines (to include luggage) and if frontier is still worth it, book it but know all of their policies.

You get what you pay for nothing essentially but a hard uncomfortable seat that doesn’t recline and kids screaming all around you and chaotic boarding and limited check bag weight allowance when compared to other airlines

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.

The seats were hard molded plastic covered in plastic vinyl. And the scam to charge people extra to sit together. Don’t they know we can just ask someone to trade seats. And watching the staff separate young children from parents… super classy. We had to guilt them into offering up our seats. This companies policies suck. Don’t give them your money.

Everything went as planned. Crew was great. Seats were still not that comfortable.

No frills for sure. No gate announcements about flight delay, not even water to drink on the flight.

The plane was clean, the crew was friendly and helpful. It’s a low cost airline so there was no food, drinks or in flight entertainment but we didn’t expect any of these things. In the room for improvement department, they should install USB ports in seats to charge mobile devices.

Book cheap flights from Illinois to California

Recent round-trip flight deals

7/14Mon
nonstopSpirit Airlines
3h 58mORD-LAS
7/22Tue
nonstopSpirit Airlines
3h 38mLAS-ORD
$88
7/14Mon
nonstopSpirit Airlines
3h 58mORD-LAS
7/21Mon
nonstopSpirit Airlines
3h 29mLAS-ORD
$91
7/12Sat
nonstopFrontier
4h 20mORD-SAN
7/16Wed
nonstopFrontier
4h 23mSAN-ORD
$117
7/23Wed
nonstopFrontier
4h 20mORD-SAN
7/26Sat
nonstopFrontier
4h 23mSAN-ORD
$118
10/28Tue
1 stopAmerican Airlines
5h 54mSTL-LAS
11/1Sat
1 stopAmerican Airlines
6h 55mLAS-STL
$145
7/15Tue
nonstopSouthwest
3h 50mMDW-LAS
7/22Tue
nonstopSouthwest
3h 30mLAS-MDW
$159
8/19Tue
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 21mORD-SAN
8/26Tue
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 23mSAN-ORD
$161
7/8Tue
nonstopSouthwest
3h 55mMDW-LAS
7/15Tue
nonstopSouthwest
3h 35mLAS-MDW
$169
7/4Fri
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 39mORD-SFO
7/13Sun
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 16mSFO-ORD
$198
8/29Fri
nonstopUnited Airlines
3h 58mORD-LAS
8/31Sun
nonstopUnited Airlines
3h 48mLAS-ORD
$212

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Recent one-way flight deals

7/14Mon
nonstopSpirit Airlines
3h 58mORD-LAS
$43
7/11Fri
nonstopSpirit Airlines
3h 58mORD-LAS
$47
8/13Wed
nonstopFrontier
4h 20mORD-SAN
$59
7/26Sat
nonstopFrontier
4h 20mORD-SAN
$61
10/28Tue
1 stopAmerican Airlines
5h 31mSTL-LAS
$72
8/9Sat
1 stopAmerican Airlines
5h 58mSTL-LAS
$73
7/15Tue
nonstopSouthwest
3h 50mMDW-LAS
$80
9/13Sat
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 20mORD-SAN
$81
7/2Wed
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 39mORD-SFO
$90
9/30Tue
nonstopSouthwest
4h 35mMDW-SFO
$90

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Last minute flights from Illinois to California

Last minute flight, train and bus deals

6/21Sat
nonstopSpirit Airlines
4h 04mORD-LAS
6/27Fri
nonstopSpirit Airlines
3h 28mLAS-ORD
$170
6/20Fri
nonstopSpirit Airlines
4h 04mORD-LAS
6/27Fri
nonstopSpirit Airlines
3h 28mLAS-ORD
$184
6/20Fri
nonstopFrontier
4h 12mORD-SAN
6/23Mon
nonstopFrontier
4h 03mSAN-ORD
$209
6/21Sat
multi-stopFrontier
11h 19mORD-ONT
6/23Mon
multi-stopFrontier
20h 44mONT-ORD
$210
6/21Sat
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 52mORD-SFO
6/30Mon
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 21mSFO-ORD
$353
6/21Sat
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 29mORD-SNA
6/28Sat
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 11mSNA-ORD
$355
6/21Sat
multi-stopSouthwest
9h 10mORD-SFO
6/29Sun
multi-stopSouthwest
8h 05mSFO-ORD
$376
6/21Sat
multi-stopSouthwest
9h 10mORD-SFO
6/28Sat
multi-stopSouthwest
9h 30mSFO-ORD
$382
6/17Tue
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 27mORD-SNA
6/24Tue
multi-stopUnited Airlines
6h 23mSNA-ORD
$451
6/17Tue
multi-stopUnited Airlines
6h 12mORD-SNA
6/24Tue
multi-stopUnited Airlines
6h 23mSNA-ORD
$456

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Everything you need to know for your flight to California

Cabin class types available on flights to Illinois

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

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