SFO

$81 Find Cheap Flights from Orange County to San Francisco - Compare and Save

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight to San Francisco departing on 9/5. Fares are subject to change and may not be available on all flights or dates of travel. Click the price to replicate the search for this deal.
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1 adult, Economy, 0 bags

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Flight Deals

Cheap Flights from Orange County to San Francisco

 
Here are some of the best deals found on KAYAK recently from the most popular airlines for round-trip flights from Orange County to San Francisco that are departing in the next months. While these flights were available on KAYAK in the last 72 hours, prices and availability are subject to change and deals may expire.
Discover the best prices for you by selecting your travel dates on KAYAK.

Recent round-trip flight deals from Orange County to San Francisco

Fri, Aug 28 - Sun, Sep 6
Frontier Logo
1:16 pm - 2:53 pm
SNA
-
SFO
1h 37mnonstop
Frontier Logo
5:26 pm - 7:03 pm
SFO
-
SNA
1h 37mnonstop
$168Frontier
Sat, Sep 5 - Sun, Sep 6
Frontier Logo
3:53 pm - 7:56 pm
SNA
-
SFO
4h 03m
1 stop
Frontier Logo
5:26 pm - 7:03 pm
SFO
-
SNA
1h 37mnonstop
$169Frontier
Wed, Sep 23 - Thu, Sep 24
Multiple Airlines Logo
7:30 am - 2:29 pm
SNA
-
SFO
6h 59m
1 stop
Multiple Airlines Logo
2:04 pm - 3:48 pm
SFO
-
SNA
1h 44mnonstop
$174Multiple Airlines
Thu, Sep 24 - Tue, Sep 29
Multiple Airlines Logo
6:00 pm - 7:39 pm
SNA
-
SFO
1h 39mnonstop
Multiple Airlines Logo
3:15 pm - 5:40 pm
SFO
-
SNA
26h 25m
1 stop
$174Multiple Airlines
Sat, Aug 22 - Sat, Aug 22
Alaska Airlines Logo
12:15 pm - 1:51 pm
SNA
-
SFO
1h 36mnonstop
Alaska Airlines Logo
4:20 pm - 6:01 pm
SFO
-
SNA
1h 41mnonstop
$212Alaska Airlines
Wed, Aug 26 - Wed, Aug 26
Alaska Airlines Logo
4:59 pm - 6:32 pm
SNA
-
SFO
1h 33mnonstop
Alaska Airlines Logo
8:51 pm - 10:30 pm
SFO
-
SNA
1h 39mnonstop
$212Alaska Airlines
Tue, Oct 13 - Wed, Oct 14
United Airlines Logo
3:06 pm - 4:38 pm
SNA
-
SFO
1h 32mnonstop
United Airlines Logo
10:17 am - 12:03 pm
SFO
-
SNA
1h 46mnonstop
$217United Airlines
Sat, Sep 5 - Sat, Sep 5
United Airlines Logo
7:05 am - 8:37 am
SNA
-
SFO
1h 32mnonstop
United Airlines Logo
7:10 pm - 8:51 pm
SFO
-
SNA
1h 41mnonstop
$217United Airlines
Sat, Sep 12 - Tue, Sep 15
American Airlines Logo
6:45 am - 1:55 pm
SNA
-
SFO
7h 10m
1 stop
American Airlines Logo
8:00 am - 12:31 pm
SFO
-
SNA
4h 31m
1 stop
$237American Airlines
Tue, Aug 25 - Tue, Sep 1
American Airlines Logo
6:45 am - 12:49 pm
SNA
-
SFO
6h 04m
1 stop
American Airlines Logo
12:23 pm - 6:45 pm
SFO
-
SNA
6h 22m
1 stop
$237American Airlines
Useful Info

Good to know

Low season

January

Cheapest flight

$81
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 13% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 15% lower on average.
Flight from John Wayne (Santa Ana) to San Francisco

Flights from Orange County to San Francisco: the best tips from KAYAK users

Insights shared by verified travelers who flew the route from Orange County to San Francisco 
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.
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 San Francisco

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

    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 San Francisco.

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

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

    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 to San Francisco with an airline and back to Orange County with another airline.

  • What is KAYAK's "flexible dates" feature and why should I care when looking for a flight from Orange County to San Francisco?

    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 to San Francisco from Orange County up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from Orange County to San Francisco

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Orange County to San Francisco? 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.
7.9
Alaska AirlinesOverall score based on 12761 reviews
7.0Food
7.8Comfort
8.5Crew
7.0Entertainment
8.1Boarding
Airline reviews

The flight was very late departing the gate, for unknown reasons.

8.0 ExcellentPaul, Jul 2026
SAN - SFO
Read more Alaska Airlines reviews

The flight was very late departing the gate, for unknown reasons.

Our flught was rerouted to another airport 60 minutes from our destination. We were told we would get Lyft vouchers to get us to our original destination. We did get vouchers, but when we arrived at the rerouted airport, we realized the vouchers were for a Lyft ride from the starting airport to our original destination. We were lead to believe that once we arrived at the rerouted airport, we could use the voucher from there. Nope. So we got stuck with a $100, 1-hour Uber ride. The flight staff was annoying. We were seated near the rear, and for the entire flight, both attendants were gossiping about some drama on Facebook. And they weren't being quiet about it. The back dozen rows or so could easily hear their entire conversation. I've flown Alaska Airlines many times before and have never had problems. This was an awful experience.

delay was longer than the entire flight. I didn’t stop flying with delta for this.

It might not have been their fault, but there was a two hour delay due to weather. Then we boarded and were about to leave when they said there were more problems at the destination, took us back to the gate where we had to fully deplane. But then five minutes later, they said everything was fine and to get back on the plane. This was the part that pissed everybody off.

Overall it was fine, however one of my two checked bags did not arrive and I was told it was left in Palm Springs. I don't understand how one of the two bags made it through fine but the other got lost .

Was notified the departure would be late. Later on it was suddenly on time. Traffic by LAX was horrendous, and I missed the flight.

This was likely the smallest, oldest plane I've been on. It didn't handle turbulence well and we were all jostled a lot more than I'm used to. At least it was a short flight.

I liked the crew. There was no food flight to short

2 FLIGHT DELAYS? what an inconvenience to stay @the airport HALF THE DAY😳from 1pm till boarding @ 4pm pass 😠exhausting !

Flight was delayed - we left at 11:30 pm instead of 10:30 and it was extremely inconvenient. It affected both the day of the flight and the next day

You. Changed my AIRLINE, CONFIRMATION CODE, TERMINAL. AND GATE COMM N CATION. WAS POOR AND SUBOPTITMUM AND RIDICULOUS MY AIRLINE WAS HAWAIIN. ,THEN SUDDENLY. YOU SAY IT WAS ALASKA Give me a break,,Black is not White I could not check in over the phone...all I received was Error. And info from Hawaiian air agent saying tooooo many people were trying to check in causing the problem On the other hand I am alive

I like that you have eliminated plastic cups, bottles and straws. The crew was conscientious about separating the used paper cups from the trash. This change to paper is a great move and makes me want to choose Alaska when I fly.

Overall it was a good flight. The thing I most appreciated was that you eliminated plastic cups and water bottles and stir sticks and had paper cups, wood stir sticks and cans. Plus, I saw that the airline staff were actually keeping the used paper cups separate and unfolding the used cardboard meal boxes and keeping those items separate from the trash. Good for them! This makes me want to support Alaska Airlines and fly Alaska again. Thank for taking this step in working to reduce single use plastics! Kudos!

Departure was two hours late! Better than four hours late on our first flight

Late boarding, full flight. Absolutely no food and barely a bag of pretzels. No video screens and slim pickings of movies. No live tv and poor selection of shows.

I was unable to get a check im and get a boarding pass. I tried at the desk of the flight operator Alaska, was told to go to Hawaiian and almost had to go back to Alaskan. In the end inwas told to go thru security and directly to the gate without checking in. It would have been more helpful to have the details rather than walking all over the terminals trying to check in.

Both flights were late 2+ hours with ZERO communication from the airlines or their staff. No offers for compensation. WiFi didn’t work for streaming and they said to only use browsing but that didn’t work either. Waste of $$. No drinks only boxed water or apple juice. No snack. One of the worst flight experiences I’ve ever had.

Boarding was chaotic. Microphone not working properly and second agent was distracted from task with baggage and late arrivals.

I'm was impressed with their service. Everything was great

Great plane, seats, and crew. Super smooth experience and delicious coffee

The staff was extremely helpful and friendly at all times! They went above and beyond to get us into an earlier flight in San Diego to make our connection in SFO possible, because our original flight did actually not make it! I did so much appreciate the UA team and how they made this possible. We also didn’t have seats together on the long flight to Singapore, but they found us seats together last moment with no additional cost! Nobody sat next to us, so that we were able to sleep! Thanks to UA for improving their service and Underpricer for booking this trip! Please be careful: 1,5 hrs for transfer in San Francisco might not be enough time in the future

Seat pitch is horrible especially on the 15 hour flight. Gate crew at SFO was Outstanding. The flight crew was also great.

Late plane. Only one crew on the ground so we b had to wait for Denver flight to come in, board, and depart. At 78 yrs of age I was not pleased trying to get my connection. What really made me angry was the notification you sent me to hurry up or I would miss my connection. Why tell me to hurry up when you got me in late. It was not a good way of treating customers.

Boarded plane and then delayed 1.5 hours while on the plane

Really good 😊 the woman at the gate entrance was a little rude checking in our carry-on but i dont think she worked for the airline, she worked for the airport at sacramento, other than that amazing.

The gate was too far away for the connecting flight

Very poor the plane itself was really old, slight smell that couldn’t be named. I didn’t even get a boarding pass UNTIL AFTER clearing security! Even then, they said when I get to my connected flight I’ll get my 2nd boarding pass there! A bit ridiculous!

Do not like the feeling of being in the basic economy. Everyone should feel good no matter what.

Horrible. Delayed on both planes several times. No attempt to fix it

Delays!!! Maintain your planes so your customers don’t have to sit on their assess for over an hour on the tarmac!! Also, United app is buggy. Videos did not load. Overall a miserable experience. Flight crew was awesome though.

Horrible. No AC. No Air inside the plane. We had to deplane twice! It is late almost 5 hrs in total. I almost passed out and about to call 911. I asked the crew to be honest and open the door. The lady next to me was lay down in the floor due to heat and no air inside the plane. I got headaches, can’t wait the replacement flight about midnight Dallas time. I end it up rebook for next day flight and stay overnight using my own pocket in a hotel nearby due to headaches and can’t breath. I still have a headache this morning. Still not decided yes how to file this issue to AA and/or FAA.

Initial flight had an engine overheat - returned to DFW. Had another plane ready, but crew timed out. Had to wait 5h for boarding. Fully boarded and pilot says plane is not flight worthy. Deplane and go to the other end of the terminal. Wait an hour to board third plane because the crew couldn’t leave the second plane because no wheelchairs were brought to remove passengers. Finally take off and there is no catering (in flight service) even in first class. Very much an AA failure.

The flight attendant was very polite and attentive. The food was good.

Was put into a seat right behind the toilet that had no entertainment possible but did have plenty of leg room over noisy part of plane.

Flight: Started on time. Comfortable flight. Arrived on time. Crew: Very cordial and helpful. Drinks and snack was served with a smile. Overall enjoyed the trip. Regards, Hari Doss Chanchala Doss

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.

Great. Quick and quiet and east. The breakfast choices were a welcome surprise!

This was a horrible experience. For a first class experience, my chair was held together by 3M tape - and I have a photo. The crew weren’t very attentive, somewhat dismissive and forgot my drink and snack, the chair reclined about 3 inches on a 6-hour cross country flight. I was also not informed that there was no lounge available in Newark airport because of renovations, so all around this was one of the worst experiences and I would actively avoid both American and Alaska Air going forward.

Long 5 hour and 45 min flight and only one drink service and cookie snack

Extraordinary service in business class, and very good breakfast and snacks. A really lovely flight.

Charges unexpected. For seat that didnt recline. Please reverse extra seat and carryon charge. Bad business that is a bait and switch.

I couldn’t check in because the app didn’t work. It took 3 Frontier employees at the counter to get me checked in. Flight left 3 hours after departure time

Horrible! The short distance flight ended up taking 5 hrs! There was a 3 hr delay for the flight to take off and there was a 70 min wait on the tarmac for some bogus reason that the pilot said the gate he was supposed to board was taken up. After a 30 min wait he said the plane that was supposed to push out of the gate called a medical emergency and 40 min later he ended up boarding another gate. For the initial 3 hr delay there was no information/alert about the gate or delay in the app or the boards up until the boarding time and even beyond! Had to walk all the way to the end of the terminal to find the frontier staff to ask what was going on. Avoid this airline at all costs! If you have carryon bags or checked bags , their prices come equivalent to the prices of more reliable airlines. They are the worst in timeliness at 60% (reported as delayed) this year (check the data) by a high margin even compared to the second worst airline. If you are ok with having a miserable flight experience with the odds close to flip of a coin, feel free to try them. If you value your time , money and flying experience, stay away.

Our flight was delayed by four hours without notice, the app for getting my boarding pass is super confusing, and I wasn’t able to check a suitcase without paying for a higher cost package

First the gate was a total nightmare-no chairs anywhere! So over crowded and only one bathroom and nightmare of food service - took forever and NOT one place to sit. No inflight entertainment and had to pay 60.00 for a small carry on. I will never fly Frontier again!

Flight was 3 hours late leaving. Poor communication from the staff about delays. Impossible to get in touch with customer service (by design). And it actually didn't come out to be much cheaper than a non-budget airline! Not worth the headache, I'm never flying Frontier again

See my previous comment which is mostly about our flight from Phoenix to SFO

The check in at the airport was awful. Told I need to pay for a bag. The item was taken at screening. I went back to get my $ back and they gave me a coupon with a QR code that doesn’t work. Worst costumer service ever!!!!!

4 hour delay because they used our aircraft to fly a different segment (per the captain)

absolutely horrific. delayed flights, overbooking. over charging. nightmare service beyond words. stay away.

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