$42 Find Cheap Flights from New York State to California

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Low seasonJanuary
High seasonDecember
Cheapest flight$42
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 Newark Liberty Airport to Las Vegas

Flights from New York to California: the best tips from KAYAK users

Insights shared by verified travelers who flew the route from New York to California 
LuisFlew with DeltaJFK-SFOMar 2025
It’s a long flight, come prepared to either watch movies, read or sleep.
HowardFlew with Alaska AirlinesJFK-SANMay 2025
Must have a tablet to watch videos. Bring a seat cushion.
Verified travelerFlew with American AirlinesJFK-LAXJan 2025
Be there on time it really need two hours for security checkups
Verified travelerFlew with Qantas AirwaysJFK-LAXNov 2024
there was an instance where a non speaking couple didnt know when to board. people cut in front of them and the crew didnt respond. it would be nice if there were translators available to assist when needed. i get that you want people on board as quickly as possible. sometimes, it's like herding cats. but do assist the people who dont understand the language.
JulieFlew with Alaska AirlinesJFK-SFOOct 2024
Leave early. JFK can be messy. I couldn’t find healthy food choices so eat before you arrive.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesJFK-SANOct 2024
Landing in La Guardia or Newark (New Jersey) is more convenient for commuting to Manhattan.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesJFK-SFOJun 2024
SFO is one of the most convenient and pleasant airports. When flying Alaska Air make sure to bring your food and a larger water bottle that usual (you get only two drink services (one small cup each) for a 6 hour flight.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesJFK-PSPMar 2024
Bring an iPad with lots of shows downloaded. The terminal at jfk is nice and small, easy to go thru security. Palm Springs airport is amazing. You step out and feel like you’re on vacation.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesJFK-SFOMay 2024
The airport food was limited and expensive. Best to bring a sandwich from outside…
LaurenFlew with JetBlueJFK-LAXDec 2023
Be very careful that you don’t misplace anything. If you have to go through TSA multiple times, be sure to retrieve ALL your things even if it means you have to hold up the line unfortunately. Otherwise, there will be zero help to retrieve your things afterwards even though there are so many cameras.

FAQs for booking flights from New York State to California

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from New York State 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 New York State to California.

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from New York State 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 New York State 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 New York State 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 New York State 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 New York State 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 Palm Springs Airport (PSP), 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 Monday where round-trip tickets can be as cheap as $373. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Sunday, where round-trip prices are $505 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 $391 on average. Morning departures are around 37% 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 $625.

  • What is the cheapest flight to California?

    The cheapest ticket to California from New York State found in the last 72 hours was to Los Angeles, at $128 round-trip. The most popular route is Buffalo (BUF) to Los Angeles (LAX) and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $128.

  • What is the cheapest month to fly from New York State to California?

    The cheapest month for flights from New York State to California is May, when tickets cost $324 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are December and June, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $651 and $538 respectively.

  • How far in advance should I book a flight from New York State to California?

    To get a below average price on the flight from New York State to California, you should book around 3 weeks before departure. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 17 weeks before departure.

  • How long is the flight to California?

    An average nonstop flight from New York State to California takes 7h 34m, covering a distance of 2413 miles. The shortest route is Buffalo (BUF) to Las Vegas (LAS) with an average flight time of 4h 40m.

  • What are the most popular destinations in California?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is Los Angeles (31% of total searches to California). The next most popular destinations are Las Vegas (18%) and San Francisco (17%). Searches for flights to San Diego (7%), to Ontario (7%) and to Burbank (5%) are also popular.

Top 5 airlines serving from New York to California

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from New York 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
8.1Boarding
7.8Comfort
7.1Entertainment
8.5Crew
Airline reviews

Horrible! No blanket or pillow available! We had bulkhead seats but the seats were worn out and no cushion old. No meal or even a sandwich for our 5 hour flight just a little bag of pretzels. Crabby attendant female with long brown hair. We will not book Alaska Airlines again

4.0 OkayAnonymous, Jun 2025KOA - SAN
Read more Alaska Airlines reviews

Horrible! No blanket or pillow available! We had bulkhead seats but the seats were worn out and no cushion old. No meal or even a sandwich for our 5 hour flight just a little bag of pretzels. Crabby attendant female with long brown hair. We will not book Alaska Airlines again

On time, smooth take off and landing, efficient boarding. Gate staff excellent, stewardess grumpy, but civil enough.

No WiFi available. It was too late to order food also. Guy next to me was huge (not fat) so had his shoulder & thigh next to me the whole way. Plane was delayed leaving PDX due to 8 other planes waiting. Not my best Alaska airlines flight.

I do wish the the actual airplane I flew on was bigger. But, I made it work.

It is very bad they do not give you money back

always delayed. toilet is too stinky worse than smells in sf homeless distriction

It was too cold for the first quarter of the flight.

I loved that we boarded orderly and quickly, that I had an opportunity to check my bag free at the gate, that there was plenty of seat/leg room, there was smooth takeoff and landing, the attendants were pleasant and helpful, and that we arrived on time!!

The only problem was the time delay. Kudos to the counter agent in Seattle. Very helpful and gracious.

Check in, they should have told me that upon arrival i needed to exit the secure area and re-check in with Eva Air. I wasn't sure what to do upon arrival at S.F.

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.

My flight was 6 pm 6/6. Every hour they delayed it again - air condition issues then no pilot then the crew had worked too many hours and cancelled the flight at 11 pm. Sent customers to NJ a 45 minutes uber ride to a hotel. Had to be back by 5 am for a 7 am flight and again no pilot etc with another three hours of delays.

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

I am very bothered by the events today. I can't believe the flight attendants allowed someone to take my seat and made me move. It was embarrassing. I was in the right. The lady just didn't want move. I can't believe delta would allow this to stand and disrespect my rights as a passenger. The lady complained about her leg and that she couldn't move. Firstly somehow she was able to make it to row 24. Not sure how much her leg could have hurt. Secondly, I'm in plenty of pain myself. I just finished chemotherapy a several weeks ago. My body is constantly sore. Yet deltas flight attendants didn't appropriately protect my rights. In the end they found me a seat on the plane but I want to understand how delta can operate this way. They in essence allowed a bully to get their way.

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.

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.

Communication since no reason or explanation was given for 3 hrs delay

The flight departed more than 1 hour late. Leg room is bigger than most airlines

Excellent. Although they used to greet me as a mosaic member and provide a free drink, early boarding helps me to keep coming back to JetBlue.

No music app working: no economy meal on five hour flight; hour on tarmac at the end waiting for a gate. Flight itself was smooth and easy.

Communication with the customer and stay is important. Staff off with a minor inconvenience but it worked out of course. Also this was a very old Mint Class plane. They snuck this one in on us. The updated aircraft are much better.

The flight itself was fine, but the boarding process was extremely frustrating. There is no one scanning boarding passes - passengers just scan themselves and enter the jetway. By the time my husband and I got on the plane and were halfway to our seats they determined there were too many bags on the plane and everything at that point needed to be checked. This created a lot of unnecessary chaos. They should have alerted people before getting on the plane that they would need to start checking bags instead of waiting until people were already on the plane.

The best flight I’ve had in a while. The plane was like 25% capacity, if that. Smoothest boarding and deplaning process I’ve ever experienced. Wish all flights were this smooth.

Traveling with JetBlue from NYC was convenient as accessing JFK airport was straightforward via the LIRR to the AirTrain. Maneuvering through the terminal was hassle-free, which was a pleasant start to the journey. However, the flight experience itself left much to be desired. The seating arrangement was notably uncomfortable; despite securing a window seat, space felt cramped. This was exacerbated by the middle seat passenger encroaching on my area, which made the flight less enjoyable. Additionally, while the in-flight entertainment system initially seemed like a reprieve, the sound outlet on my seat was inoperable. This issue turned what could have been a manageable three-hour flight into a rather tedious ordeal, as I was unable to use the entertainment system effectively. While JetBlue provided a smooth process in terms of airport logistics, the on-board experience highlighted areas in need of improvement, particularly in terms of comfort and entertainment system maintenance.

Over 2 hour delay for a 50-minute flight is unacceptable, especially in normal weather. Very poor communication via app

In-flight staff was very helpful and excellent. However, the flight was delayed by 90 minutes. Also the boarding process should be expedited in case of delayed flights. This will help the passengers trying to make international connections.

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

Book cheap flights from New York State to California

Recent round-trip flight deals

6/25Wed
1 stopSpirit Airlines
10h 22mEWR-LAX
7/9Wed
1 stopSpirit Airlines
10h 15mLAX-EWR
$92
6/25Wed
1 stopSpirit Airlines
10h 22mEWR-LAX
7/1Tue
1 stopSpirit Airlines
7h 56mLAX-EWR
$94
9/1Mon
nonstopJetBlue
5h 30mJFK-LAS
9/5Fri
nonstopJetBlue
4h 59mLAS-JFK
$145
7/22Tue
nonstopAmerican Airlines
5h 31mJFK-LAS
8/9Sat
nonstopAmerican Airlines
5h 12mLAS-JFK
$151
8/10Sun
nonstopJetBlue
5h 54mJFK-LAS
8/14Thu
nonstopJetBlue
5h 01mLAS-JFK
$157
8/5Tue
nonstopAmerican Airlines
5h 31mJFK-LAS
8/9Sat
nonstopAmerican Airlines
5h 12mLAS-JFK
$167
7/21Mon
nonstopDelta
5h 36mJFK-LAS
7/26Sat
nonstopDelta
5h 23mLAS-JFK
$179
7/5Sat
nonstopDelta
5h 54mJFK-LAS
7/9Wed
nonstopDelta
5h 35mLAS-JFK
$189
6/25Wed
1 stopUnited Airlines
7h 27mLGA-LAS
7/2Wed
1 stopUnited Airlines
7h 42mLAS-LGA
$209
7/1Tue
nonstopUnited Airlines
6h 07mEWR-SFO
7/4Fri
nonstopUnited Airlines
5h 28mSFO-EWR
$219

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nonstopSpirit Airlines
5h 35mEWR-LAS
$42
6/25Wed
1 stopSpirit Airlines
10h 22mEWR-LAX
$44
9/4Thu
nonstopJetBlue
5h 37mJFK-LAS
$72
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nonstopJetBlue
5h 37mJFK-LAS
$73
9/4Thu
1 stopAmerican Airlines
7h 43mLGA-LAS
$82
11/1Sat
1 stopAmerican Airlines
7h 33mLGA-LAS
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8/31Sun
nonstopDelta
6h 24mJFK-SFO
$92
9/24Wed
1 stopUnited Airlines
8h 24mEWR-LAS
$94
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$99
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6/17Tue
nonstopAmerican Airlines
5h 30mJFK-LAS
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nonstopAmerican Airlines
5h 10mLAS-JFK
$191
6/17Tue
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5h 45mJFK-LAS
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5h 05mLAS-JFK
$217
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$225
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multi-stopDelta
8h 05mLGA-LAS
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multi-stopDelta
7h 14mLAS-LGA
$247
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multi-stopAlaska Airlines
17h 03mJFK-LAS
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multi-stopAlaska Airlines
20h 29mLAS-JFK
$277
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multi-stopAlaska Airlines
9h 25mEWR-LAS
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16h 24mLAS-EWR
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multi-stopDelta
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5h 04mLAS-EWR
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nonstopUnited Airlines
6h 40mEWR-SFO
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nonstopUnited Airlines
5h 42mSFO-EWR
$463
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5h 38mJFK-LAS
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nonstopJetBlue
5h 16mLAS-JFK
$487

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Everything you need to know for your flight to California

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