$60 Find Cheap Flights from Illinois to California

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Low seasonJanuary
Cheapest flight$60
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 5% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 7% lower on average.
Flight from Chicago O'Hare Airport to Ontario

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 airlines fly most frequently to California?

    Illinois and California are connected by different airlines. The airlines that fly that route the most regularly are United Airlines (290 flights per week), Air Canada (247 flights per week), and American Airlines (216 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 Airport (LAX), with an average flight price of $249.

  • 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 $329. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Monday, where round-trip prices are $439 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 $321 on average. Morning departures are around 48% 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 $648.

  • 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 $145 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 $145.

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

    The cheapest month for flights from Illinois to California is September, when tickets cost $213 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are March and January, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $380 and $369 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, which saves you about 28% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 7 weeks before departure.

  • How many cities have direct flights to California?

    From Illinois, there are direct flights to California from 1 city. This city is Chicago and there are 2,186 direct flights each week.

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

    There are around 313 direct flights from within Illinois to California every day. Most flights (41%) depart in the evening.

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

    Each week there are around 2,186 direct flights from within Illinois to California. The most common day for departures is Sunday, with 16% of flights taking off on this day.

  • How long is the flight to California?

    An average nonstop flight from Illinois to California takes 4h 49m, covering a distance of 1676 miles. The shortest route is Moline (MLI) to Las Vegas (LAS) with an average flight time of 3h 24m.

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

    There are not any long-haul (6-12 hour flight duration) or short-haul (up to 3 hour flight duration) flights to California. Instead, there are 2,186 medium-haul flights (3-6 hour flight duration), with the most arriving from Chicago.

  • What are the most popular destinations in California?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is Las Vegas (37% of total searches to California). The next most popular destinations are Los Angeles (17%) and San Francisco (14%). Searches for flights to San Diego (8%), to Ontario (6%) and to Santa Ana (5%) are also popular.

Reviews of the 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 4328 reviews
8.1Boarding
7.5Entertainment
7.0Food
8.6Crew
8.0Comfort
Airline reviews

The Air hostess were very rude on my flight from Houston to Austin . Their regular communication itself felt a they are shouting at people.

4.0 Okaysangeetha, Apr 2026
AUS - SJC
Read more Southwest reviews

The Air hostess were very rude on my flight from Houston to Austin . Their regular communication itself felt a they are shouting at people.

Boarding was easy. The seats are small and fairly uncomfortable

The problem with the seat assignments is that there were a lot of rows in the front that were empty but my row at the back was full. Just not so pleasant.

No food or entertainment, just a quick 40 minute flight. A little bumpy due to Santa Ana winds but pilot has no control over that. Good flight and landing!

Good but I prefer choose your own seat. With the new assigned seats they should board from the back I see no advantage to this new boarding. Just like every other airline

Mediocre. Boarding is now unpleasant. The employees, once friendly and nice, are now regularly speaking sternly to passengers, badgering them to do things right so they can take off on time and gate check bags because they don't have enough overhead bin space. The pretzel snack was crushed flat and broken into even smaller pieces, which happens frequently lately. Drink service was suspended before they reached my row.

The charges were ridiculous for an hour flight and the turbulence was very scary.

3 hour delay. Had to change plans and was still delayed.

The flight crew was extremely rude and especially not helpful when our flight was delayed.

The boarding and seat assignment system no longer works for me, but I know it is being replaced. Otherwise, I am good with the overall experience.

Packed in plane small uncomfortable seats elbow to elbow nobody wants to be in that situation for the money they paid

Checking in united could not figure out my star alliance gold. Baggage did not get marked priority and didn't receive boarding passes. When got to SFO lounge personal fixed everything Immediately

Flight left on time, arrived early, pleasant staff provided water, coffee, etc. access to bathrooms was reasonable and were well maintained. blankets were available, lots of entertainment options. LUGGAGE SERVICE WAS GREAT. I got my one checked bag quickly and was able to make a bus connection for a 2 hour bus ride saving me from waiting another 1.5 hours.

Terrible, if possible won't be flying again anytime soon!

Wonderful in-seat entertainment with seatback screens and huge selection of quality movies. The ability to bluetooth connect headphones was amazing.

Horrible service no Wi-Fi connection on both leg of the flight and they are refusing to fix bad service

I will never fly ANA again. They lost one of my large pieces of checked luggage, the heaviest one with the most valuable items in it, and they said they will not send me an email unless they can't find it, even though the paper they gave me to track the status of my lost luggage requires a code from an email they are supposed to send me so I can do baggage tracing. They claim to be an international airline, but they also insist on calling a Japanese telephone number to confirm where to send the lost baggage if they find it. It is impossible to find an actual contact email address for customer support on their website, and their AI chatbot is unhelpful, directing you to a webpage that says it is for contact information but does not have any actual email addresses or phone numbers listed on it. My seat in economy did not recline at all, even though I was not sitting in an exit row nor the very back row. I had to sit in the fully upright position for over ten hours of international travel. Awful experience overall.

Flight delayed for more than 16 hrs and no effort was spent to provide an alternate

Overall we had a good experience during our flight from San Francisco to Houston.

it was a very short flight so my expectations were low.

Wifi was spotty. Tray table was very dirty when I sat down.

The WiFi would not connect enough for me to do my actual work. It permaspooled, disconnected, said it was connected, then wouldn't open an email... it was frustrating. I am not a tall person, 5'4" - and I felt cramped with little room to reach into my bag under the seat in front of me. I feel sorry for anyone taller than me having to fly. the one positive thing I will add, is the overhead bins are roomy enough to manage more bags than other carriers.

Going non stop to lax like I paid for. Not stopping in MCI for gas. Too long of delays

Delayed for mechanical and no updates on what was happening and how long the delay might be.

A first class seat should fit a fat person, and this doesn't. The trays in the armrest are less functional than an ordinary tray in the back of the seat.

The experience at checkin for my American Airlines flight from Sacramento to LAX was very good including the assistance I received in getting my bags checked in and boarding passes printed. Was pleasantly surprised the my bags were checked through all the way to my destination at Clark International Airport in Angeles, Philippines.

Smooth flight. From the early boarding and all were on board before departure time and arrived early in ONT. Great crew. Thank you!!!!

The flight was significantly delayed for 6.5 hours because of snow. There was no communication once the plane returned to the gate regarding when the flight would resume. Other flights were departing while our flight was being unloaded for reasons unknown. Our flight also seemed out of the queue regarding further deicing, refueling, and waiting to Taxi to the runway.

They are always late and seats was also not having working charger

did not have enough meal for first class passengers so offer us snack

No WiFi, no outlets to charge phones, no complimentary beverages on a 6 hour flight

Flight was delayed more than 3 hours, and the metro had stopped running by the time we got to the terminal well past midnight, so I was stranded, alone, with no way to get home until the metro started up the next morning.

My flight was cancelled I missed time at work and got a parking ticket

Crew was very nice. Take off and landing were great. Economy seats are not comfortable. Extra cost for snacks.

The flight was delayed by 2 hours and we had no food or water or chargers

Horribly late because they had no crew!!! And then jet bridge didn’t work!! Then we arrived at a gate at lax miles away that we had to take a shuttle to a terminal!! I was over 3 hours late to getting the LA! Should have been here at 8:30 and at an appointment at 10:30 and arrived and left lax at 11 am!! Horrible experience!!!

Once again, the staff seem to think they are above the customers and treat everyone with disdain, belittling people.

Flight was canceled 8 hours before departure for lack of operational control and prepositioning of a plane. Then had the audacity to say it was because of weather, however there was no weather here in California or New Orleans or in between. It was the weather in Florida, Florida it had nothing to do with our flight path just the plane was supposed to fly us. 8 hours is more than enough time to move a plane anywhere in the US. That left me with a bill of 1200 dollars to re book a flight oh and kayaks insurance what a joke. Probably will never use kayak or spirit ever again terrible companies terrible customer service. I’ll also let everyone and anyone know this was an abomination and only for the customer. Also will be making a report to the DOT on bad business practices on behalf of kayak and spirit as well as the BBB. Do better, take care of your customers and don’t suck

The airplane had a strange noise that was constant throughout the flight. Thankfully I had noise-cancelling over-ear headphones that muted much of it.

it was terrible. flight was cancelled hours before the flight without a given reason and no other booking available .

They switched our terminal 3 times and we were delayed for four plus hours!!!

It was an early flight and most people napped/slept and the crew let us which was nice.

The crew acted like they had never done this and kept barking passive aggressive orders at people. + the security line + the delay + sitting on the tarmac for 2 hours + none of the apps or signage updating with correct times

More inflight connection. And leg space is horrible. And the paying for baggage I'd ridiculous!!!

My flight was originally from SAT to MCO connecting from MCO to ORD. We got diverted to ATL and than Frontier staff there was sooo un helpful first they said they couldn’t give us any accommodation since our flight first got delayed that cancelled and now it’s 221am and I am still in ATL since they said they need to create a new flight my final destination is ORD and I have been delayed twice and cancelled. With no real help the frontier app didn’t work no email updates over all such a horrible experience

There's no seats that lean back with little leg space i wad uncomfortable the entire flight. Your charges for extra baggage is despicable and costly!!

Flight was canceled. Most upsetting was message from Kayak, stating that the flight was canceled and click with Kayak for details regarding rebook, refund details. THERE'S NO INFORMATION PROVIDED BY KAYAK EXCEPT THAT FLIGHT IS CANCELED. AND NOW THIS SURVEY TO FIND OUT HOW WAS THE FLIGHT !!!!!!!

Our flight was canceled. I will never use Kayak nor Frontier for travel again. The entire experience was a headache.

Better than expected. Staff were friendly and nice on both flights.

Terrible. The canceled my entire flight when I requested a refund for a trip frontier canceled trip one way.

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.