SAN - DSM

$136 Find Cheap Flights from San Diego to Des Moines

This is the cheapest round-trip flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from San Diego to Des Moines departing on 2/27. 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, 0 bags

KAYAK searches hundreds of travel sites at once for deals on flights to Des Moines

 
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from San Diego to Des Moines.
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from San Diego to Des Moines.
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Everything you should know

Cheapest round-trip
$136
Overall average: $362
Frontier
Fri 2/27Thu 3/5
SAN - DSM • 1 stop
Cheapest one-way
$146
Typical prices: $149-$312
Frontier
Thu 4/2
SAN - DSM • 2 stops
Top airlines
Frontier
Cheapest • from $136 (round-trip)
Southwest
Best reviews • 8.0 score
Airline reviews
Airline reviews
+1
+1
Airline reviews
Airline reviews
+1
When to book
5 weeks
in advance
Our data shows that travelers who book at least 5 weeks in advance save around 56% compared to booking last minute.
Insights
Insights
Insights
Insights
When to travel
November
Cheapest • 32% price drop
April
Most popular
Good to know
Good to know
+1
+1
Good to know
Good to know
+1
Start a new search
KAYAK searches 100s of sites at once to find you the best travel deals.
We hope you love your trip to Des Moines!
Flight Deals
Booking Insights
Flight Deals

Cheap Flights from San Diego to Des Moines (SAN-DSM)

 
Here are some of the best deals found on KAYAK recently from the most popular airlines for round-trip flights from San Diego to Des Moines 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 San Diego to Des Moines

Fri, Feb 27 - Thu, Mar 5
Frontier Logo
8:35 am - 7:04 pm
SAN
-
DSM
8h 29m
1 stop
Frontier Logo
7:27 pm - 8:05 am
DSM
-
SAN
14h 38m
1 stop
$136Frontier
Thu, Feb 19 - Thu, Feb 26
Frontier Logo
6:25 am - 6:47 pm
SAN
-
DSM
10h 22m
1 stop
Frontier Logo
7:27 pm - 12:08 am
DSM
-
SAN
6h 41m
1 stop
$150Frontier
Fri, Feb 20 - Mon, Feb 23
Frontier Logo
8:35 am - 6:19 pm
SAN
-
DSM
7h 44m
1 stop
Frontier Logo
7:17 pm - 12:08 am
DSM
-
SAN
6h 51m
1 stop
$171Frontier
Fri, Feb 27 - Mon, Mar 2
Frontier Logo
8:35 am - 7:04 pm
SAN
-
DSM
8h 29m
1 stop
Frontier Logo
7:17 pm - 12:08 am
DSM
-
SAN
6h 51m
1 stop
$175Frontier
Fri, Feb 20 - Mon, Feb 23
Frontier Logo
8:35 am - 6:19 pm
SAN
-
DSM
7h 44m
1 stop
Frontier Logo
7:17 pm - 12:08 am
DSM
-
SAN
6h 51m
1 stop
$180Frontier
Fri, Feb 20 - Mon, Feb 23
Frontier Logo
6:25 am - 6:19 pm
SAN
-
DSM
9h 54m
1 stop
Frontier Logo
7:17 pm - 9:41 pm
DSM
-
SAN
28h 24m
1 stop
$183Frontier
Fri, Feb 20 - Mon, Feb 23
Frontier Logo
8:35 am - 6:19 pm
SAN
-
DSM
7h 44m
1 stop
Frontier Logo
7:17 pm - 8:24 pm
DSM
-
SAN
27h 07m
2 stops
$200Frontier
Thu, Feb 19 - Thu, Feb 26
Multiple Airlines Logo
6:25 am - 3:24 pm
SAN
-
DSM
30h 59m
2 stops
Multiple Airlines Logo
7:27 pm - 7:40 am
DSM
-
SAN
14h 13m
1 stop
$207Multiple Airlines
Fri, Feb 20 - Mon, Feb 23
Frontier Logo
8:35 am - 6:19 pm
SAN
-
DSM
7h 44m
1 stop
Frontier Logo
7:17 pm - 8:24 pm
DSM
-
SAN
27h 07m
2 stops
$209Frontier
Fri, Feb 27 - Thu, Mar 5
Frontier Logo
6:25 am - 7:04 pm
SAN
-
DSM
10h 39m
1 stop
Frontier Logo
7:27 pm - 2:11 pm
DSM
-
SAN
20h 44m
2 stops
$218Frontier
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for San Diego to Des Moines flights

Get data-powered insights and trends into flights from San Diego to Des Moines to help you find the cheapest flights, the best time to fly and much more.

What’s the cheapest day of the week to fly from San Diego to Des Moines?

The average price of all round-trip flights from San Diego to Des Moines clicked on KAYAK for each day over the last 12 months.

If your flying dates are flexible, you should consider flying to Des Moines on a Sunday, as we generally find the cheapest rates on that day for this route. On the other hand, Monday is the most expensive day to fly from San Diego to Des Moines. For your return ticket, we recommend flying on a Monday and avoiding Tuesdays for the best deals.

What is the cheapest month to fly from San Diego to Des Moines?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for round-trip flights from San Diego to Des Moines, 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 San Diego to Des Moines is November, where tickets cost $253 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are March and December, where the average cost of round-trip tickets is $546 and $466 respectively.

Can I save money by flying with a layover from San Diego to Des Moines?

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 $286, prices are generally cheapest when you fly direct.

How far in advance should I book a flight from San Diego to Des Moines?

To calculate weekly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each week before departure over the last year for round-trip flights from San Diego to Des Moines, 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 San Diego to Des Moines, you should book around 5 weeks before departure, which saves you about 56% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 8 weeks before departure.

Good to know

Low seasonMarch
Cheapest flight$136
Best time to beat the crowds but there is an average 46% increase in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 1% lower on average.
Flight from San Diego to Des Moines

When to book flights from San Diego to Des Moines

Are your dates flexible? Find out the best times to travel from San Diego to Des Moines based on our flight data from the last year. Discover the cheapest month and even day to fly.
Estimated round-trip price
KAYAK looks at all historical flight data for each date to provide a predicted price for one-way trips or round-trips with a duration up to 40 days. While we try to provide actual minimum prices for each date, some prices are predictions and actual prices may differ.

FAQs for booking flights from San Diego to Des Moines

  • What is the cheapest flight from San Diego to Des Moines?

    In the last 3 days, the lowest price for a flight from San Diego to Des Moines was $146 for a one-way ticket and $136 for a round-trip.

  • Do I need a passport to fly between San Diego and Des Moines?

    A passport is not required to fly from San Diego to Des Moines.

  • Which aircraft models fly most regularly from San Diego to Des Moines?

    The Airbus A320-100/200 is the aircraft model that flies most regularly on the San Diego to Des Moines flight route.

  • Which airline alliances offer flights from San Diego to Des Moines?

    SkyTeam, Star Alliance, and oneworld are the airline alliances operating flights between San Diego and Des Moines, with SkyTeam being the most commonly used for this route.

  • Which is the best airline for flights from San Diego to Des Moines, Southwest or Delta?

    The two airlines most popular with KAYAK users for flights from San Diego to Des Moines are Southwest and Delta. With an average price for the route of $436 and an overall rating of 8.0, Southwest is the most popular choice. Delta is also a great choice for the route, with an average price of $324 and an overall rating of 7.9.

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from San Diego to Des Moines?

    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 San Diego to Des Moines.

  • How does KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy my flight ticket from San Diego to Des Moines?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight to Des Moines from San Diego 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 San Diego to Des Moines?

    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 Des Moines with an airline and back to San Diego with another airline. Booking your flights between San Diego and DSM can sometimes prove cheaper using this method.

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

    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 Des Moines from San Diego 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 San Diego to Des Moines

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying from San Diego to Des Moines. 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 San Diego to Des Moines? 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 4268 reviews
7.0Food
8.1Boarding
8.6Crew
8.0Comfort
7.5Entertainment
Airline reviews

Great flight but super high price. Glad it was a business trip and not personal

10.0 ExcellentPieter, Jan 2026
LGB - DAL
Read more Southwest reviews

Great flight but super high price. Glad it was a business trip and not personal

3 hour delay. Had to change plans and was still delayed.

We got exit row seats both flights. Everything was running on time

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.

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.

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

The food was terrible this time. Otherwise pleasant, quiet, on-time.

It was a pretty standard flight... until the almost hour and a half spent on the taxi way. I get that the weather has been poor but the delay had nothing to do with the weather and more to do with a plane with several issues tying up the gate. I get that that happens from time to time but this has been EVERY flight I've been on for the past 5 years and I fly 3 to 5 times a year. This isn't just United... it's American, it's Delta. It's an issue with the entire industry. I work for UPS and packages on a cargo plane get better service than people do these days. Anymore I HATE flying.

The flight crew where really good. Better then the crew from BNE to SFO

left on time, reasonable boarding process arrived early luggage came out quickly

I’m so sorry, I can’t remember her name, I believe it was Dimpti. She was stellar, also a mature Asian flight attendant, lots of flowers in her hair, just as amazing! But literally the crew was AWESOME . Only downside is there weren’t any charging outlets. Maybe I needed to ask a flight attendant , but it would’ve been nice to have one easily accessible.

I boarded flight UA#1318 at Sacramento International Airport going back to Houston TX. The flight was scheduled at 5:10am. I was able to check in virtually using the United Airlines app. When I entered the airport, there was no one outside assisting with checked bags as it was for Delta Airlines. Immediately upon entering, there was a LONG, EXTREMELY LONG line to the kiosks to get boarding passes. I stand in line to get boarding passes then had to move to ANOTHER EXTREMELY LONG line to get my bags checked in. While standing in this line, we noticed an agent taking customers to 3 at a time to her station to check their bags in. Lucky for me, she called me back, checked my bags for me and I was on my way. I then encountered another long line at the TSA check and to avoid I ending up having to sign up for CLEAR to bypass it. So glad, I did.,...Both of my flights were great with no issues, butthe check in progress at Bush Airport was so much smoother. Check-in at SMF airport needs to be anaylzed and corrected. Do better United, I know you can....thanks

Pushed back only to get deplaned due to a tire damaged by ground crew. They did at least go pretty fast. The bathrooms should be banned under the Geneva convention. No room to even sit straight on the toilet. The under-seat entertainment units block what little leg room there is.

United airlines has the best customer experience from booking to arrival. I always fly United airlines. The mileage program is excellent

Older aircraft, no meal, only food was for purchase. Not impressed United.

Not pleasant trip cross country when the entertainment and WiFi system not working. No entertainment for entirety of route. Staff was rather nonchalant in that they dismissed the problem due to age of plane. It would have been nice to know this up front so I could have come prepared to read or download movies before boarding Coincidentally or not, there was a similar issue with the entertainment system on my previous flight I took on my fist leg of the trip. There are no seat TVs, so you must rely on the app when it works. United can do better. Also, what use it it to pay for boarding group 2 when half of the passengers are in the same line as you?

The entertainment options were at best, fair. It was exactly the same as my outbound flight. It would have been more entertaining if there were some series from Apple TV, HBO, Showtime or other carriers for me to catch up with.

The flight was on time and arrived early. The crew were friendly and helpful.

Overall experience was great. Flights were almost on time in departing and we arrived at our destination as scheduled. No issues with amenities or flight crew. Everything went well as as expected. Will fly again with American Airlines in the future!

The boarding by groups is pointless. The first two groups worked fine, but almost Noone boarded in goups three thru five leaving the vast majority boarding when group six was called. It defeated the purpose of spreading out the crowd.

Horrible. Both legs of my flight were delayed more than 6 hours. No compensation, no screens on the plane, and the plane was not clean.

The flight was smooth, the pilot kept us informed about delays and we arrived more of less on time

The flight was flawless and we even arrived between 20 and 25 minutes early!

Always seated jammed in rear of aircraft Admirals Club food at DFW terminal D was absolute worst food experience and I pay $600/year to eat this dried out junk

Mostly good. Flight was crowded but Airline personnel were very friendly & accommodating. It would be good to have savory snacks rather than just sweet Biscoff cookies.

It was a red eye flight, so no meals were provided, but it was fine with snacks. The seats felt cramped and almost too narrow.

It was fine. Nobody was outstandingly friendly but no one was rude and everything was smooth . The captain thanked us for flying but no one greeted me as I walked on the plane or as I exited which is the least they could do lol

Clean, friendly, roomy. But check-in from the phone link was terrible. Repeated attempts wouldn’t save at the final step. Just kept spinning! It was very frustrating. Finally, I used the app (vs website link) to check-in which worked very smoothly on the first attempt.

Check in on the web portal was cumbersome! After several attempts I finally got the boarding pass.

Excellent flight and even arrived 23 min early. No entertainment , or wi fi on board, but I downloaded a couple of movies beforehand which kept me entertained. Really like flying Allegiant airlines.

WE were delayed about an hour and never any communications from the employees working the gate. We also were moved to a total of three gates.

I love how they show love to their customers and care about them too.

I liked how when I got on board how fast we ended up taking off but what I truly disliked was how uncomfortable the seats were. There was truly never a time that I could ever get comfortable during both of my flights. The seats could get away during shorter flights but flights 3 hour plus makes it hard to enjoy.

The crew was great and the flight was very smooth. Can’t really judge food since I did not get any because it costs money. The seat was comfortable for what we bought. Thanks!

Crew was great. No entertainment and food and beverage was for purchase only, even water

It was canceled. The flight wasn’t rescheduled, everyone had to figure out their own new arrangements. They said we would get refunded our original fare and receive an additional $150. We received links for $100 only and they expired before we could activate them.

Very well recently! Frontier is improving and less harrassing customer on luggages! Positive!

Good for a budget airline! It was easy to get on, staff was really nice. Can’t say anything about the food or entertainment because it wasn’t available, which is fine.

I am writing to express my disappointment with my recent Frontier Airlines flight. I was charged $99 at the gate because my bag was said to be too large, yet once onboard there was no available overhead bin space, and I was required to place the bag under the seat in front of me anyway. This made the charge feel unnecessary and unfair. Additionally, before the flight even took off, I was asked to move from the seat I paid for into a middle seat so another passenger and her cat could have my seat to themselves. I was not offered compensation or an explanation for being moved from a paid seat. Between the unexpected bag fee and being forced to give up my seat, this experience fell well below acceptable customer service standards. I would appreciate a review of this situation and appropriate compensation.

It was costly and difficult to check in. $85 to take a small suitcase with me, carry on or checked and $75 on the return trip, Plus $25 if I didn't check my self in check in $25, because I couldn't do it on the kiosk. Small very uncomfortable seats, waited on the runway for near an hour each way. It was my worst flight to date.

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.

It didn’t happen. I booked it and then was told it wasn’t available and then forced to pay far higher prices for a worse option

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.

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.

Cancelled flight after I arrived at airport after 75 min drive and parking. Next flight was 4 days in the future. Had to scramble and buy a much more expensive flight on another carrier.

I liked the turn-style feature at gate 209B at LAX. Very efficient process. The gate staff also made several, clearly directed announcements so I felt very informed.

Everything you need to know for your flight from San Diego to Des Moines

Information on your arrival and departure airports