$39 Find Cheap Flights from Orange County to California

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1 adult, Economy, 0 bags

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Good to know

Low seasonJanuary
Cheapest flight$39
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 2% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 13% increase in price.
Flight from John Wayne (Santa Ana) to Las Vegas

Flights from Orange County to California: the best tips from KAYAK users

Insights shared by verified travelers who flew the route from Orange County to California 
RonaldFlew with Alaska Airlines
SNA
-
SFO
Apr 2025
The airport security can take a long time, the bathrooms are not always available near the gates due to construction, repairs, remodels.
BryanFlew with Southwest
LGB
-
SJC
Oct 2024
Because it's a smaller airport, you can arrive at the airport a lot sooner if you're not checking a bag.
CongFlew with United Airlines
SNA
-
SFO
Nov 2024
Nothing really, being clothes that are easily taken off like shoes at the security will always save time
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska Airlines
SNA
-
SFO
Feb 2024
Long Beach and SNA are convenient airports for flying out of Orange County. I wish I knew about the size of the plane which caused a fee for checking one small bag that normally was a carry on for other airlines such as SouthWest.

FAQs for booking flights from Orange County to California

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

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from Orange County 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 Orange County 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 Orange County 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 Orange County 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 Orange County 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?

    Orange County and California are connected by different airlines. The airlines that fly that route the most regularly are United Airlines (215 flights per week), Delta (192 flights per week), and Air New Zealand (173 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 39% 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 San Francisco Airport (SFO), with an average flight price of $213.

  • What is the cheapest flight to California?

    The cheapest ticket to California from Orange County found in the last 72 hours was to San Francisco, at $138 round-trip. The most popular route is Santa Ana (SNA) to San Francisco (SFO) and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $138.

  • What is the cheapest month to fly from Orange County to California?

    The cheapest month for flights from Orange County to California is September, when tickets cost $239 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are February and October, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $604 and $515 respectively.

  • How many cities have direct flights to California?

    From Orange County, there are direct flights to California from 1 city. This city is Los Angeles and there are 2,711 direct flights each week.

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

    There are around 388 direct flights from within Orange County to California every day. Most flights (37%) depart in the afternoon.

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

    Each week there are around 2,711 direct flights from within Orange County to California. The most common day for departures is Sunday, with 18% of flights taking off on this day.

  • How long is the flight to California?

    An average nonstop flight from Orange County to California takes 6h 08m, covering a distance of 260 miles. The shortest route is Santa Ana (SNA) to Las Vegas (LAS) with an average flight time of 1h 00m.

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

    There are not any long-haul (6-12 hour flight duration) or medium-haul (3-6 hour flight duration) flights to California. Instead, there are 2,711 short-haul flights (up to 3 hour flight duration), with the most arriving from Los Angeles.

  • What are the most popular destinations in California?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is San Francisco (42% of total searches to California). The next most popular destinations are Las Vegas (36%) and San Jose (6%). Searches for flights to Sacramento (5%), to Reno (5%) and to Oakland (3%) are also popular.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from Orange County to California

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Orange County 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 4333 reviews
8.1Boarding
8.6Crew
8.0Comfort
7.5Entertainment
7.0Food
Airline reviews

Boarding was easy. The seats are small and fairly uncomfortable

8.0 ExcellentNicole, Mar 2026
LGB - OAK
Read more Southwest reviews

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.

The lead steward kept singing about "San Francisco" and hotel California---more annoying than humorous....needs work. Flight was smooth and on time.

The ticketing counter in SD was a mess. The lady handling the First-Class check-in seemed overwhelmed until a supervisor replaced her. It took almost 20 minutes to get once couple checked in, and then she started walking around the counters while 7 people just stood in line. Once her supervisor arrived, she announced she was going on break, never to engage with customers again.

Four hour delay. Missed our event. And they offered me $75. Absolutely shameful.

I have been flying commercial for decades. I was in one of the ladder boarding groups, had my bag tagged because they thought there was not going to be enough space for it in the overhead bins. I politely asked one of the attendance if I could try to find a space- she said I could and I did. I then took the bag tag off and gave it to one of the other attendants as I was told to do by the first one. He, in a curt, anal, and disrespectful manner, told me that I needed to take my bag down from the overhead bin and check it. This was a situation I’ve never encountered before. The attendant’s attitude was confrontational and belittling in front of other onlooking passengers as if daring me to challenge him. I am a physician who takes care of patients day in and day out. Not wanting to make a scene, I calmly told him, “do what you need to do.” he took my bag down from the overhead bin, put the back tag back on it, and checked it only to make room for another bag that was also supposed to be technically checked by a following passenger. The same male attendant later came up to me and said “you shouldn’t have showed me the bag tag,” as if conveying that he was just following protocol was a justification for treating me like a kid out of line. I cared about this because it took 15 minutes from my life to then retrieve the bag at baggage claim and it also felt like really poor customer service. I understand the need for protocols. This is also a service industry, and we the passengers are the clients. We should be made to feel welcome and respected and our life in transit made as easy as it can be within reason. This attendant clearly needs to be reminded of that. Of note, an older female fellow passenger sitting next to me agreed with this assessment.

You sent me an email saying boarding was at 9:29 and AA sent one that was 8:29 on Sunday morning. I had to call AA to get that it was indeed 8:29.

Good as usual. Just wished my seat was assigned at online check in. Thanks anyways

I bought tickets MONTHS ago for a flight that left SAN at 14:30. That is what it says on our tickets. I was never notified of any time changes. During online check-in. I discovered the flight time had been changed to 15:45. This was unacceptable and had I been notified, I would have changed flights, or airlines. That departure time was unworkable with our plans. We called Alaska and asked for an explanation. They said flight time was changed 11/08/25. No proof of notification could be offered. We asked to be moved to an earlier flight. After much pleading, the rep said she would allow a “one time exception..” While I appreciate being moved, this was YOUR fault Alaska Airlines.

I love Alaska! We arrived on the later side without seat assignments only to find the had oversold the flight by 1. The attendants worked extra hard to find a way for our party of 7 to stay together and we made it on the flight! Loved the free WiFi also!

The he whole flight was very smooth on every aspects.

Due to plane delays on both legs of my flight home, I had to be rerouted from Santa Rosa to Las Vegas on Skywest and then to DCA on American. SkyWest airlines sat on runway in Las Vegas for 20 minutes waiting for gate to clear. My boarding pass for American that I was given by Alaska was incomplete and the Las Vegas airport lacked signage and departure boards. I barely made my flight bc it was so confusing. American Airlines has a much better wireless connection. I’ll never fly Alaska again. It clearly has problems.

I paid for wifi and it never worked... it was miserable. I couldn't access my shared files to work on the plane, it didn't work on my phone. I paid for nothing but frustration and continual refreshing, hoping it would work

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.

Very disappointing given gate agent behavior. Filed a formal complaint with United.

Flight delayed. WiFi connectivity very poor if not existant. Last minute arrival forced me to run to catch my connection.

The power at the seat didn't work and the seat itself was difficult to adjust - this was a business class seat. Flight attendant gave me miles to compensate. The attendant was very professional and on top of his game the entire flight.

the whole trip was smooth, and as comfortable as flying is these days. flight crew was friendly and very courteous and helpful.

First class ticket gets you a choice of chips or nuts. . Just like economy Southwest. Also no screen in the seats. This is first class???!

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 .

Remind customers of the need to have passport or new ID for boarding.

The flight never took off and we spent 7 hours at the airport

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

It was ok. It was expensive to check 2 bags ($75.00 per bag), and then it took a long time to wait for shuttle to take us from one terminal to the terminal where the plane was taking off at LAX. And all of this for a flight where we had to pay for any food or drink that was not water.

When I wanted to check in 3 hours prior to boarding time, the employees mentioned “a little over an hour delay” so I waited for an hour then I went to go look for food in the terminal and most people from that flight were in the same area looking for food. Finally I decided after food to check to see if it’s anytime closer and now it’s 2 mins until boarding closes?! What are you kidding me? I didn’t receive anything via sms about boarding now nor via email or on the intercom. I luckily made it through, barely, and then there’s no room for my carry on mind you I’m in the very first row so I had to place my purse in one further row back and my carry on sections down. Not sure who pays for better seats to get your stuff placed all over the plane but that was the worst experience I’ve ever had flying with anyone.

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

i was unable to check in the flight. refund requested

I think Frontier was very good at communication. Their app worked very well. Loading was great and the flight was nice and easy.

This airline sucks. They offer low rates then charge you for everything, the app does not work well, the seats are the most uncomfortable. Maintenance issues on the flight, and you still have to sit through their credit card commercials. People are nice enough but does not make up for overall poor experience.

Great for the price. No wifi or entertainment, but gate agents and crew were fantastic and we boarded quickly and left on time.

Everything you need to know for your flight to California

Cabin class types available on flights to Orange County

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