$43 Find Cheap Flights from Michigan 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 John Wayne (Santa Ana)

FAQs for booking flights from Michigan to California

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

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from Michigan 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 Michigan 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 Michigan 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 Michigan 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 Michigan 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 $146.

  • 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 $347. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Sunday, where round-trip prices are $461 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 $286 on average. Morning departures are around 14% 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 $443.

  • What is the cheapest flight to California?

    The cheapest ticket to California from Michigan found in the last 72 hours was to Los Angeles, at $100 round-trip. The most popular route is 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 $100.

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

    The cheapest month for flights from Michigan to California is August, when tickets cost $361 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are March and December, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $802 and $609 respectively.

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

    To get a below average price on the flight from Michigan to California, you should book around 2 weeks before departure. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 6 weeks before departure.

  • How long is the flight to California?

    An average nonstop flight from Michigan to California takes 5h 03m, covering a distance of 1789 miles. The shortest route is Chicago Greater Rockford Airport (RFD) to Las Vegas (LAS) with an average flight time of 3h 32m.

  • 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 (22%) and San Francisco (13%). Searches for flights to Santa Ana (8%), to San Diego (8%) and to Ontario (7%) are also popular.

Top 5 airlines serving from Michigan to California

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Michigan 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 4287 reviews
7.1Food
8.6Crew
8.0Comfort
7.6Entertainment
8.2Boarding
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.

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

Crew was friendly Love the entertainment in the seat head rest.

This had nothing to do with Delta… The flights were on time and flawless. The service was excellent. We purchased seats in (aisle/middle) comfort plus since this was a cross country flight. Unfortunately, the woman seated at the window was 300+ pounds and, as might be expected, covered up about a third of the middle seat also. there was absolutely nothing that Delta could have done about that… I just don’t know what the answer should be. If you purchase a seat, you should should be able to use the entire seat and not just the portion that someone else is not sitting/oozing in. Disappointing…there should be something that could be done….I'm just not sure what solution could be.

Seats are much much more comfortable than United, which is what I usually fly

If I pay extra for "comfort+" I expect leg room where I can stretch my legs. I was seated with an attendant's seat blocking my feet. Knee space was fine but my feet had less room than the non-"comfort+" seats. Also, don't go cheap on food when you have flights of 3+ hours. It's insulting.

Only one side of the heafphone jack work. Crew was friendly and helpful.

Great. Flight departed early and arrived early. Deplaning and baggage claim ww were quick.

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.

Book cheap flights from Michigan to California

Recent round-trip flight deals

7/8Tue
nonstopSpirit Airlines
4h 00mORD-LAS
7/8Tue
nonstopSpirit Airlines
3h 29mLAS-ORD
$93
7/1Tue
1 stopSpirit Airlines
8h 36mORD-SAN
7/9Wed
1 stopSpirit Airlines
12h 06mSAN-ORD
$94
9/17Wed
nonstopSouthwest
3h 45mMDW-LAS
9/19Fri
nonstopSouthwest
3h 30mLAS-MDW
$158
7/20Sun
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 04mORD-LAS
7/23Wed
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 05mLAS-ORD
$159
7/29Tue
nonstopSouthwest
3h 55mMDW-LAS
7/31Thu
nonstopSouthwest
3h 35mLAS-MDW
$159
9/3Wed
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 22mORD-SAN
9/13Sat
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 17mSAN-ORD
$161
8/22Fri
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 20mORD-SAN
8/26Tue
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 13mSAN-ORD
$186
7/1Tue
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 42mORD-SFO
7/5Sat
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 27mSFO-ORD
$188
7/8Tue
1 stopDelta
6h 05mORD-LAS
7/9Wed
1 stopDelta
8h 45mLAS-ORD
$237
7/8Tue
1 stopDelta
6h 27mMDW-LAS
7/8Tue
1 stopDelta
6h 05mLAS-MDW
$237

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Recent one-way flight deals

7/1Tue
1 stopSpirit Airlines
11h 01mORD-SNA
$43
7/9Wed
nonstopSpirit Airlines
4h 01mORD-LAS
$44
9/2Tue
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 06mORD-LAS
$80
8/17Sun
nonstopSouthwest
3h 50mMDW-LAS
$80
8/20Wed
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 20mORD-SAN
$81
8/19Tue
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 21mORD-SAN
$82
7/2Wed
nonstopSouthwest
3h 55mMDW-LAS
$90
10/16Thu
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 33mORD-SFO
$91
7/23Wed
1 stopDelta
9h 05mMDW-LAS
$119
9/3Wed
2 stopsDelta
11h 02mORD-BUR
$120

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Last minute flights from Michigan to California

Last minute flight, train and bus deals

6/16Mon
nonstopSpirit Airlines
4h 04mORD-LAS
7/20Sun
nonstopSpirit Airlines
3h 29mLAS-ORD
$160
6/16Mon
nonstopFrontier
4h 14mORD-LAS
6/20Fri
nonstopFrontier
3h 56mLAS-ORD
$177
6/16Mon
multi-stopSouthwest
8h 00mORD-SFO
7/9Wed
multi-stopSouthwest
7h 55mSFO-ORD
$316
6/15Sun
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
8h 30mDTW-LAX
6/23Mon
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
7h 10mLAX-DTW
$320
6/17Tue
nonstopSouthwest
3h 55mMDW-LAS
6/24Tue
nonstopSouthwest
3h 35mLAS-MDW
$323
6/17Tue
multi-stopDelta
7h 23mORD-LAS
6/23Mon
multi-stopDelta
5h 35mLAS-ORD
$343
6/16Mon
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 16mORD-SNA
7/7Mon
nonstopAmerican Airlines
4h 17mSNA-ORD
$348
6/14Sat
multi-stopDelta
6h 11mORD-SNA
6/17Tue
multi-stopDelta
10h 48mSNA-ORD
$361
6/17Tue
multi-stopUnited Airlines
6h 12mORD-SNA
6/26Thu
nonstopUnited Airlines
4h 21mSNA-ORD
$433
6/17Tue
multi-stopUnited Airlines
6h 12mORD-SNA
6/24Tue
multi-stopUnited Airlines
6h 23mSNA-ORD
$438

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Everything you need to know for your flight to California

Cabin class types available on flights to Michigan

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

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