$83 Find Cheap Flights from Raleigh to California

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from Raleigh to California departing on 11/2. 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.
1 adult
1 adult, Economy

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These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from Raleigh to California.
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from Raleigh to California.
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Cheap Flights from Raleigh to California

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours
Los Angeles
Los Angeles1 stop$180
San Francisco
San Franciscononstop$289
San Diego
San Diego1 stop$205
San Jose
San Jose2 stops$271
Palm Springs
Palm Springs1 stop$337
Fresno
Fresno1 stop$353
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo1 stop$442
Bakersfield
Bakersfield1 stop$328
Reno
Reno1 stop$213
Sacramento
Sacramento1 stop$177
Los Angeles
Los Angeles1 stop$180
San Francisco
San Franciscononstop$289
San Diego
San Diego1 stop$205
San Jose
San Jose2 stops$271
Palm Springs
Palm Springs1 stop$337
Fresno
Fresno1 stop$353
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo1 stop$442
Bakersfield
Bakersfield1 stop$328
Reno
Reno1 stop$213
Sacramento
Sacramento1 stop$177

Book Cheap Raleigh to California Plane Tickets

 
Here are some of the best deals found on KAYAK recently from the most popular airlines for round-trip flights from Raleigh to California 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 Raleigh to California

Thu, Nov 6 - Sun, Nov 9
Frontier Logo
5:51 pm - 6:49 pmRDU-ONT
27h 58m1 stop
Frontier Logo
1:46 pm - 9:11 pmONT-RDU
28h 25m1 stop
$158Frontier
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Thu, Oct 2 - Sun, Oct 5
Frontier Logo
6:06 pm - 6:35 pmRDU-ONT
27h 29m1 stop
Frontier Logo
7:15 pm - 10:03 amONT-RDU
11h 48m1 stop
$159Frontier
Find Deal
Tue, Nov 11 - Fri, Nov 14
Delta Logo
7:00 am - 9:12 amRDU-LAS
5h 12mnonstop
Delta Logo
10:12 pm - 5:30 amLAS-RDU
4h 18mnonstop
$197Delta
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Tue, Nov 11 - Fri, Nov 14
Delta Logo
2:22 pm - 9:28 pmRDU-LAS
10h 06m1 stop
Delta Logo
10:12 pm - 5:30 amLAS-RDU
4h 18mnonstop
$207Delta
Find Deal
Tue, Oct 21 - Tue, Oct 28
Southwest Logo
7:35 pm - 11:00 pmRDU-LAS
6h 25m1 stop
Southwest Logo
5:30 am - 5:00 pmLAS-RDU
8h 30m2 stops
$222Southwest
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Tue, Oct 14 - Tue, Oct 28
Southwest Logo
4:45 pm - 11:10 pmRDU-SAN
9h 25m1 stop
Southwest Logo
7:30 pm - 8:00 amSAN-RDU
9h 30m2 stops
$262Southwest
Find Deal
Wed, Oct 15 - Wed, Oct 15
American Airlines Logo
6:00 am - 11:26 amRDU-SAN
8h 26m1 stop
American Airlines Logo
9:26 pm - 8:11 amSAN-RDU
7h 45m1 stop
$277American Airlines
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Sat, Oct 25 - Wed, Oct 29
United Airlines Logo
9:00 am - 11:48 amRDU-SFO
5h 48mnonstop
United Airlines Logo
7:30 am - 3:34 pmSFO-RDU
5h 04mnonstop
$289United Airlines
Find Deal
Wed, Oct 22 - Wed, Oct 29
American Airlines Logo
5:25 pm - 9:36 pmRDU-ONT
7h 11m1 stop
American Airlines Logo
11:59 pm - 10:49 amONT-RDU
7h 50m1 stop
$293American Airlines
Find Deal
Tue, Oct 14 - Mon, Oct 20
United Airlines Logo
7:00 am - 9:45 amRDU-SFO
5h 45mnonstop
United Airlines Logo
12:43 am - 11:31 amSFO-RDU
7h 48m1 stop
$299United Airlines
Find Deal
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for Raleigh to California flights

Get data-powered insights and trends into flights from Raleigh to California to help you find the cheapest flights, the best time to fly and much more.

What is the cheapest Raleigh to California flight route?

Data is based on round-trip flight searches on KAYAK over the past month.

The cheapest ticket to California from Raleigh found in the last 72 hours was to San Diego, at $129 round-trip. The most popular route is from Raleigh (RDU) to San Francisco (SFO), and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $289.

Can I save money by flying with a layover from Raleigh to California?

The average round-trip price for all non-stop flights, flights with one layover, and flights with two layovers for the route found by users searching on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks.

No, with an average price for the route of $356, prices are generally cheapest when you fly direct.

What is the cheapest month to fly from Raleigh to California?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for round-trip flights from Raleigh to California, removes the top 0.1% to account for outliers, and then takes the median of all values for each month.

The cheapest month for flights from Raleigh to California is August, when tickets cost $351 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are December and February, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $466 and $426 respectively.

What’s the cheapest day of the week to fly from Raleigh to California?

The average price of all round-trip flights from Raleigh to California clicked on KAYAK for each day over the last 12 months.

Your flight ticket price will generally be cheaper if you fly to California on a Wednesday and more expensive on a Sunday. On your return trip to Raleigh, you should consider flying back on a Saturday, and avoid Sundays for better deals.

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

To calculate weekly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each week before departure over the last year for round-trip flights from Raleigh to California, removes the top 0.1% to account for outliers, and then takes the average of all the values for each week.

To get a below average price on the flight from Raleigh to California, you should book around 4 weeks before departure, which saves you about 20% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 6 weeks before departure.

Good to know

Low seasonFebruary
Cheapest flight$83
Best time to beat the crowds but there is an average 3% increase in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 14% increase in price.
Flight from Raleigh to Ontario

FAQs - booking California flights

  • Where are the most common layovers between Raleigh and California?

    Most flights from Raleigh-Durham International Airport to California will have at least one layover, but layovers on this route could be almost anywhere in the country. Some of the most common layovers on this path are at Denver International Airport (DEN) and Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC).

  • Does Raleigh-Durham International Airport have any lounges for passengers?

    Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) has a handful of lounges that passengers can use while waiting for flights to California. The American Airlines Admirals Club, Delta SkyClub, and United Club are all good options.

  • Which airlines welcome pets on flights from Raleigh to California?

    Several airlines will allow you to bring pets on board when you’re flying from Raleigh to California. American Airlines is one of the best in the business when it comes to accommodating pets. Your pet just needs to be small enough to fit into a soft-sided 18 x 11 x 11-inch kennel, and you must have a health certificate for your pet from your veterinarian issued within 10 days of your travel date.

  • What steps can I take to make a flight from Raleigh to California more sustainable?

    To make a flight from Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) to California more sustainable, look into flying with an airline like American Airlines or Delta. They’ve both committed to becoming carbon-neutral by 2050 and have strong sustainability plans in place.

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

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from Raleigh 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 Raleigh 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 Raleigh 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 Raleigh 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 Raleigh to California up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

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

    The cheapest time of day to fly to California is generally at night, when round-trip flights cost $419 on average. Morning departures are around 13% 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 $508.

Top tips for finding cheap flights to California

  • Looking for a cheap flight? 25% of our users found tickets from Raleigh to the following destinations at these prices or less: San Francisco $258 one-way - $389 round-trip
  • Before you even think about trying to book a flight from Raleigh, NC, to California, you should decide which airport in California you want to fly to. You’ll have to ability to take off from Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) and head to a number of airports in California, including Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), San Francisco International Airport (SFO), and San Diego International Airport (SAN). Smaller airports like Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) and Palm Springs International Airport (PSP) will also be options.
  • You’ll be able to fly from Raleigh to quite a few airports in California, but unfortunately, you won’t be able to fly direct in most cases. Many airlines, such as American Airlines, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, and United Airlines, will make at least one stop between North Carolina and California. Some will also make two or even three stops. Make it your mission to find a flight plan that only includes one stop whenever possible.
  • No matter how many stops a flight makes between Raleigh and one of the airports in California, you will likely spend at least 8 or 9 hours on a plane when you’re on your way to the West Coast. Because of this, you should look into the possibility of securing a first-class ticket for your flight. Some airlines like Frontier won't offer true first-class tickets, but others, like American Airlines and Delta, will be more than happy to extend first-class options.
  • Most of the airlines that travel from Raleigh to California will charge you baggage fees if you choose to check bags at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. American Airlines, for example, will charge you for each bag you check. You might be able to trim your travel costs by leaving your luggage at home and only bringing a carry-on bag that doesn't exceed 18 x 14 x 8 inches.
  • Raleigh-Durham International Airport isn’t a hub for Delta, but it is considered a “focus city” for the airline. It’s why Delta tends to have more flights taking off from RDU and heading to California than other airlines. You may want to take advantage of this since it could help you find more convenient flight times.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from Raleigh to California

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying from Raleigh to California. Airline scores are aggregated from all reviews left by passengers on KAYAK after flying with an airline. KAYAK doesn’t show reviews that are older than 5 years. Learn how KAYAK collects reviews.
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Raleigh 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 4242 reviews
8.0Comfort
8.1Boarding
7.0Food
8.6Crew
7.5Entertainment
Airline reviews

Very smooth checking in our luggage with a super pleasant SW agent. I enjoyed a fun entertaining movie.

10.0 ExcellentGordon, Jul 2025GEG - OAK
Read more Southwest reviews

Very smooth checking in our luggage with a super pleasant SW agent. I enjoyed a fun entertaining movie.

First time traveling on Southwest since bag fees were implemented. Usual good service. Just more expensive now.

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.

I will be flying again Southwest Airlines. Friendly crew, comfortable and affordable.

I was uncomfortably cold on the plane. Other than that it was uneventful and therefore as enjoyable as a plane ride can be.

Flight was delayed, 30+ bags had to be gate checked. Crew were very friendly!

Food was surprisingly good but the WiFi was not great

My flight was extremely cold. I had a jacket and a cover was left in each seat. The cover was extremely thin and I have a disability, fibromyalgia and arthrithis and AC air is the worst. I closed my vent and my husbands vent and it still was frigid. I asked the attendant if I could get another cover and she quickly almost dismissively and totally unconcerned stating, (I quote) (one per chair) and walked off so quickly that I didn't get a chance to explain to her that I literally have adisability. I didnt want to make a seen so I set on that flight for over 5 hours in pain, joints locking up and extremely uncomfortable. When my fibromyalgia flares up my joints not only ache but they will lock up also and it takes me days to get back to my regular self even though I take medication for it. I felt like it would not have hurt anyone at all for her to just give me an extra cover because I'm sure they have all types of medical issues in people that fly every day.

Not a "Delta" issue, but a JFK issue: We booked a connecting flight with 3 1/2 hours between to clearn immigration and customs. Our inbound flight (BCN to JFK) was on the taxiway 45 minutes which ate into our layover time. Immigtration was insanely quick with the CBP MPC app; however, clearing TSA (again, after we were ALREADY cleared in Spain on the inbound international flight) took over 95 minutes. This left us with 10 minutes before boarding the connecting flight (JFK to SAN) to walk to the far end of Terminal 4 and try to find food. We didn't find any food that could promise to serve us in under 10 minutes so we boarded the Delta flight after coming off a plance and an 8-hour flight knowing that we wouldn't be served any food on the next 5 1/2 hour flight. I feel like Delta needs to put pressure on the JFK TSA to open more screening stations (by our count, we saw only 5 scanners open and a line of - as we said - over 90 minutes. The insult is that we WERE ALREADY SCREENED through TSA, but as you come off one flight into the USA, you have to go through the whole process again. It seems like if you have a connecting flight, there should be a way to pass through immigration and customs without needing to return through TSA.

There are 4 flights in consecutive gates with about the same departure time. Two flights were boarding at the same time. One was delayed or boarding would be happening at the same time. I am not sure what Delta and LAX need to do to have a better layout at the end of Terminal 2

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

The flight was comfortable with the exit row and great service

Plane was crowded and even when we hit altitude, the plane was hot, not enough air flow.

1. when we went to check in, our 2 first class seats had been CANCELED and the flight was sold out. This was done without our prior knowledge. It was all we could do to restore one first class seat for my wife and I flew economy. 2, Our flight home was scheduled to leave at 10:30 pm. Due to tsunami warnings, the roads were closed and our flight status was uncertain as to whether it would leave as scheduled. It was announced that it would now leave at 11:20 pm and the roads were now open since the tsunami had come and gone. We made a mad dash to the airport and checked in. Delays were announced at 12:30 pm, 1:30 am, 2:30 am and at 3:30 am it was canceled. Since this was a flight due to natural (tsunami) causes, there was no compensation. We were told to return at 1:00 pm the next day and our baggage would be kept on the plane since the same plane was going to leave at 1:00 pm. We had to return to our hotel for the rest of the night. The same plane did not leave at 1:00 pm and our baggage was gone! All in all, it was a miserable performance by UA. Information was hard to obtain and no one knew what was going on and what was going to happen. Hundreds of passengers slept on the floor, chairs, etc. No food and no water was made available to the passengers. It was a situation where UA could care less what was going on. As a one million mile flyer, I had not experienced anything like this before and it was hugely disappointing!

Boarded plane and then delayed 1.5 hours while on the plane

Horrific. They missed my connecting flight to San Diego. I didn’t get there until Monday at 9am when I had a mandatory court settlement conference scheduled at 6am since we had parties on the east coast. This caused many issues. All because United apparently forgot to hold the doors open until my flight landed that only had a 10 minute delay. This was the last flight to Southern California. So I couldn’t even rent a car to finish the trip. United cannot be trusted when traveling on specific days and times since weather didn’t have anything to do with the delays.

My flight was delayed a very short period of time but they did not hold my connecting flight to San Diego, also through United. So they closed the doors before we got off our plane. They would only have to help the door open for another five to ten minutes. So I missed a court deadline for a manditory mediation settlement conference for my client. I had to get an associate to be there in person and be on the phone with him relaying what he needs to do the entire time. The court was very upset with me and so was my client. United cannot be trusted.

We were given vouchers we couldn’t use with a 5.5 hour delay

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.

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 😁

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

The stewardess hit me with the food kart twice on the head and didn't say I'm sorry once. The same stewardess gave me a warm Apple Juice with No ice. The Flight was delayed for Departure 6 times, starting from 2:36pm, finally taking off 7:50pm. I was late picking up my child from the sitter by 3 hours.

Did not get the seat I selected and paid for.

My flight was delayed for several hours. Sitting at gate 16 for several hours, I got a text from Kayak the gate changed to 9 before it was announced. Very bad communication at each gate from American Airlines employees. I received 10 notifications of delay from Kayak. My vacation started off horrible! I will write to American Airlines corporate office also.

Delayed flight that lead to a missed connection and a 5-hour trip became a 12-hour flight 🙄

There is no room, no gluten free options, or any free internet/entertainment. You have to bring your own tablet or smartphone because there are no screens.

Amazing food, great staff, with one noticable detail missing ...but no seat entertainment in any of aircraft ...I am not a fan

Boarding gate in Honolulu was staffed with a great clerk with a soothing voice despite the flight delay of over an hour. Flight attendants in the plane were all grumpy, not pleasant looking bunch. Their sour attitude showed throughout the flight. Inly able to get a select few movies started. Most of the movie links in the “free entertainment” did not work.

This flight never occurred because AA couldn’t get their act together.

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.

Seats were new and comfortable. Staff was fine. Missed my connection due to weather -which wasn’t their fault- but got no help at all. Gate staff sent me to customer service, which was and stayed unstaffed. Sign with QR code directed me to call or chat. Chat was useless. Call was returned after an hour. No itinerary offered by Frontier could get me home in less than 30 hours. Rebooked with another airline and got a partial refund that came to about 10 percent of what I paid to get home.

Finally a Frontier on time and efficient. I've had problems before with your airline, but this time everything went fine.

The experience was good. No frills but I got there safe and sound and on time.

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

sluggish boarding and arrival procedures, fake nice flight attendants, and lots of delays.

Disaster. They lied every step of the way. We ended up being delayed due to crew and then allegedly abandoned the flight because of a curfew at LGA. No rebooking to LGA at any reasonable time. No hotel. No meal vouchers. Had to sleep in the airport and fly to Newark instead. Will never fly Frontier again.

What I expected, nickeled and dined and a frontier flight attendant loudly complained about her job and lack of communication as she headed to the gate on her cell phone. Not professional.

As every law enforcement agency I could imagine surrounded the plane and we didn’t disembark for 2 hours and then had to stick around for another hour to go get our personal belongings after leaving them behind and being bused away from the plane, it was scary and inconvenient. We were given no information as to why this was happening. Lack of communication with passengers was disappointing.

After boarding and un-boarding twice over 6+hours, the flight was canceled.

Severe turbulence. Captain never came on to reassure passengers after things settled down.

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