$81 Find Cheap Flights from Orange County to Illinois

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Good to know

Low seasonJanuary
Cheapest flight$81
Best time to beat the crowds but there is an average 2% increase in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 3% lower on average.
Flight from John Wayne (Santa Ana) to St. Louis

FAQs for booking flights from Orange County to Illinois

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from Orange County to Illinois?

    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 Illinois.

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

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

    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 Illinois 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 Illinois?

    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 Illinois 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 Illinois?

    Orange County and Illinois are connected by different airlines. The airlines that fly that route the most regularly are Air Canada (99 flights per week), Virgin Australia (98 flights per week), and Air New Zealand (95 flights per week).

  • How many airports are there in Illinois?

    There are 12 airports in Illinois. The busiest airport is Chicago O'Hare Airport (ORD), with 91% of all flights arriving there.

  • Which is the cheapest airport to fly into in Illinois?

    Prices will differ depending on the departure airport, but generally, the cheapest airport to fly to in Illinois is Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport (ORD), with an average flight price of $334.

  • What is the cheapest day to fly to Illinois?

    Based on KAYAK data, the cheapest day to fly to Illinois is Wednesday where round-trip tickets can be as cheap as $405. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Sunday, where round-trip prices are $546 on average.

  • What is the cheapest time of day to fly to Illinois?

    The cheapest time of day to fly to Illinois is generally in the evening, when round-trip flights cost $381 on average. Morning departures are around 19% more expensive than evening flights, on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to Illinois is generally in the morning, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is $454.

  • What is the cheapest flight to Illinois?

    The cheapest ticket to Illinois from Orange County found in the last 72 hours was to Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport, at $260 round-trip. The most popular route is Santa Ana (SNA) to Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport (ORD) and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $260.

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

    The cheapest month for flights from Orange County to Illinois is August, when tickets cost $358 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are March and January, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $474 and $447 respectively.

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

    To get a below average price on the flight from Orange County to Illinois, 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 5 weeks before departure.

  • How many cities have direct flights to Illinois?

    From Orange County, there are direct flights to Illinois from 1 city. This city is Los Angeles and there are 993 direct flights each week.

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

    There are around 142 direct flights from within Orange County to Illinois every day. Most flights (55%) depart in the morning.

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

    Each week there are around 993 direct flights from within Orange County to Illinois. The most common day for departures is Sunday, with 20% of flights taking off on this day.

  • How long is the flight to Illinois?

    An average nonstop flight from Orange County to Illinois takes 8h 04m, covering a distance of 1648 miles. The shortest route is Long Beach (LGB) to Chicago Midway Airport (MDW) with an average flight time of 3h 45m.

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

    Each week, there are 953 medium-haul flights (3-6 hour flight duration) and 40 short-haul flights (up to 3 hour flight duration) to Illinois. There aren't any long-haul flights (6-12 hour flight duration).

  • What are the most popular destinations in Illinois?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is Chicago (93% of total searches to Illinois). The next most popular destinations are St. Louis (5%) and Peoria (1%). Searches for flights to Moline (1%), to Bloomington (0%) and to Evansville (0%) are also popular.

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

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Orange County to Illinois? 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 11672 reviews
8.1Boarding
7.8Comfort
8.5Crew
7.1Food
7.0Entertainment
Airline reviews

My Alaska Airlines return flight, although worked out in the end, didn't start off well. The initial plane that my family and I boarded was grounded because of a mishap that happened to one of the engines and everyone on board had to disembark the plane. Thankfully we were accommodated with a another plane but our initial flight was supposed to have departed at 11 pm San Diego time for Orlando but instead we ended up leaving at 1:40 am San Diego time. All Passengers were informed that part of the delay was that the plane had to be inspected by the captain, the food had to be stocked and the individuals responsible for fueling the plane left for the evening and had to be summoned to return to fill up our. The Alaska Airlines crew at the airport and on the plane were awesome and apologetic. I know that the crew wasn't responsible for the mishap of the engine but I think in the future the airline should offer a complimentary drink or (1) item of food other than pretzels, nuts or chips to all passengers since we're not to blame for the extreme set backs. The airline in general is good and I recommend to all flyers.

6.0 GoodJames, Jan 2026
SAN - MCO
Read more Alaska Airlines reviews

My Alaska Airlines return flight, although worked out in the end, didn't start off well. The initial plane that my family and I boarded was grounded because of a mishap that happened to one of the engines and everyone on board had to disembark the plane. Thankfully we were accommodated with a another plane but our initial flight was supposed to have departed at 11 pm San Diego time for Orlando but instead we ended up leaving at 1:40 am San Diego time. All Passengers were informed that part of the delay was that the plane had to be inspected by the captain, the food had to be stocked and the individuals responsible for fueling the plane left for the evening and had to be summoned to return to fill up our. The Alaska Airlines crew at the airport and on the plane were awesome and apologetic. I know that the crew wasn't responsible for the mishap of the engine but I think in the future the airline should offer a complimentary drink or (1) item of food other than pretzels, nuts or chips to all passengers since we're not to blame for the extreme set backs. The airline in general is good and I recommend to all flyers.

Alaska is a great airline. Unfortunately, our flight was canceled in a really late hour and it caused a lot of hardship in my travel process.

Did not have In flight service on my round trip due to turbulence. I did not partake in In flight entertainment. Flight descending into LAX was very turbulent. It would have been nice if the pilot communicated with us during that rough descent into LAX to ease the minds of some of us more nervous flyers.

More comfortable than the flight to Los Angeles. But food was mediocre again. Attendants kind and courteous.

The snack pretzels have garlic. just use normal pretzels. Tomatoijuice instead of only bloody mary mix

Late leaving so threatened our connection in Vegas to Seattle. We did make up time and made our connection.

I behave had better flights this one was old and poor

They canceled my flight with only a couple hours before checking in at the airport and offered no alternatives to get home.

I had entered my TSA pre number when I bought the ticket but TSA pre was not on my boarding pass. I went to find an agent at check in and there was only one agent one duty for first class and a line of people waiting for check in/baggage with no agent manning that area.

I haven’t flown in over 20 years and had my grandkids, so I had lots of questions. They were very polite and helpful . Thank you.

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.

San Diego airport is brand new, spacious, airy and very smooth checkin at SW baggage drop.

It was rough. The staff was unprofessional, the choice of on board drinks terrible, it was cramped in space at every airport, they always ran out of overhead bin space so they pressured people to check bags for free or we couldn’t leave on the plane— so I did check my bag to help, and they nearly lost my bag. My bag did not arrive on the luggage belt, another man on my flight and I had to waste our time going to the baggage office to search for our bags. I would only fly southwest again if it was my last choice. Also, my flights were consistently delayed over and over again— at one point they straight up told us we were waiting for the pilot to arrive.

Crew could have been friendlier, maybe I'm spoiled by SW crews. In flight wifi was good. Would be nice to have more food offerings on a 4 plus hour flight

Ever since Southwest starting charging for bags, passengers don't want to pay to check their bags, so the gate agents have to beg people to check their roller bags now because there's "not enough space". This was a terrible business move by Southwest.

Sacrament staff are always polite and helpful. Airport is easy to maneuver and boarding is straightforward.

Excellent. Would encourage Southwest to keep current boarding procedures with free style seating. Makes for a fantastic experience

As always, the entire Southwest experience was wonderful, from online booking to flight to baggage retrieval. Very grateful.

The weather could have been better. There was a 40 minute ATC delay in SFO because of marine fog and a micro cell storm delayed landing and take-off at Nashville. The gate was changed 5 minutes from boarding from gate B3 to gate C23 at Nashville airport.

Perfect flight. Smooth flight. Arrived 20 minutes early at destination. Excellent service.

The flights were on time which was great give. It was holiday travel season and there’d been some weather issues. The only complaint and this is every time with United is the terrible seat design. The head rest is not built for comfort and having my neck bent forward for a cross country trip reminded me while I try not to take United flights as a rule.

Everything was absolutely wonderful from check in to baggage claim. Staff was very professional and sweet. Will definitely recommend United to family and friends.

They did the one thing that really matters - got to Chicago early.

The flight was on time. I generally don’t drink or eat on short flights and the seats were good and the flight attendants were friendly. That’s all I expect

It was nice to have gotten up upgraded to first class with a meal on a three hour flight

Very bad! They kept delaying my flight and wouldn’t do anything about it

Door to door, the crew and staff were amazing. It was a stressful travel day with delays, but they were focused on customers and doing what they could to get us to our destinations.

Flight was delayed only slightly before takeoff due to traffic control. However, the flight arrived early to ORD. Good flight. United has been very reliable for me.

Another delayed flight. When the delays exceed the duration of the flight, it’s a problem.

The boarding process needs to be fixed. The zone don't work, especially when there is hardly anyone in zones 3, 4,and 5, leaving the majority of the passengers backed up in the aisle, especially because passengers seated near the front are blocking passengers who are seated in the rear of the plane. It would also help if the size of carry on bags was more strictly enforced.

Awful. They won’t help me with anything. I booked on American but they abdicated to Iberia. The ticket was overpriced. Everything negative

I enjoyed the extra leg room compared to other airlines. The first stewards made my daughter’s birthday special by giving her an extra snack. Then the last one coming home from Chicago to Appleton made our night really enjoyable Thanks for making our trip enjoyable

It was good..clean, comfy seat. Friendly warm welcoming crew. Was able to check my cabin luggage at the gate which I was able to pickup in a decent time from baggage claim. The app gave all updates from delays to baggage claim info. Overall smooth flight.

It was a typical flight. We had a delay which seems to be the normality now. And we had no in flight service due to conditions.

After we landed we sat on the tarmac for 1.5 hours waiting to get to our gate. Ridiculous.

Terrible. Flight delayed for more than 8 hours with only a $12 meal voucher provided for the inconvenience. The airplane did not have breaks on arrival yet they still made us go through the motions and board on time knowing we could not take off then sit for 40+ minutes before having to get of the time. A complete waste of my time. I cannot believe they can stay business with these shenanigans. I’ll avoid this company like the plague moving forward as the lack of accountability is disgraceful.

This was the best 2 flights I have had with American out of SGF. Great crew both flights.

Excellent - explanations were clear staff was nice and flight was comfortable

Lost bag and 2 days no word leaving for cruise no clothes or stuff

spirit delayed my first flight 9 hours and then cancelled my flight back home. Very disappointed with their service.

A Spirit agent caused me to miss my flight. The company has not responded for request of refund. Stay away from Spirit.

Late taking off. ATC sent us circling around Chicago for almost an hour, after landing taxied for 40 minutes.

I arrived two hours early, and at 9:20 I was still queuing for security.

I waited for 4+ extra hours to even board when i was fighting off a cold. So i was sitting there in the airport with a fever and chills while spirit wasted my time. Then once on the plane we had at least an extra hour of taxiing before and after takeoff. Really poor airline, no amenities to speak of, and a lack of organization that will just ruin your experience.

Got to LAX at 3:20 am, the counter personnel did not start to check in bags till 3:40 am. I patiently waited at the priority check in line as they started to take people from the general line. After about 15 minutes of waiting, I approached the lady exactly in front of the priority line and asked her if they would be taking people from the priority line or if I would need to switch to waiting in the general line. She responded “yes”, I then asked her yes to what? And she yelled back at me loudly “I SAID YES!” Needless to say, I waited at the end of the line of the general line. I could have been told the priority line would not be called upon and could have queued in the general line ahead of many people that arrived to cue after I did

Terrible. They cancelled the flight at the last minute after I had checked in at the airport and then told me they could only put me on a flight after 7 days. Pathetic.

Terrible they canceled the flight very sheepishly and ended up costing me 1200 dollars and kayak and xcover are doing nothing

No free snacks or drinks. Freezing. Uncomfortable. No plugs or entertainment. If you fly to LA the make you change terminals with a slow bus. Awful trip that took forever. Terrible airline- maybe the worst I’ve ever flown.

Flight was on time. Friendly crew. Gate agents in the other hand were very unfriendly.

Everything you need to know for your flight to Illinois

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.