$46 Find Cheap Flights from San Diego to Illinois

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from San Diego to Illinois departing on 5/29. 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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KAYAK searches hundreds of travel sites at once for deals on flights to Illinois

 
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from San Diego to Illinois.
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from San Diego to Illinois.
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Best Illinois Flight Deals from San Diego

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours

Chicago
Chicago1 stop$83
Moline
Moline1 stop$240
Peoria
Peoria1 stop$289
Bloomington
Bloomington1 stop$405
St. Louis
St. Louis1 stop$188
Chicago
Chicago1 stop$83
Moline
Moline1 stop$240
Peoria
Peoria1 stop$289
Bloomington
Bloomington1 stop$405
St. Louis
St. Louis1 stop$188

Cheap Flights from San Diego to Illinois

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

Recent round-trip flight deals from San Diego to Illinois

Recommended round-trip deals departing in the coming months from the most popular airlines that fly from San Diego to Illinois.
Discover the best prices for you by selecting your travel dates on KAYAK.
Spirit Airlines Logo
5:43 pm - 5:25 amSAN-ORD
9h 42m1 stop
Spirit Airlines Logo
9:02 pm - 7:13 amORD-SAN
12h 11m1 stop
$83Spirit Airlines
Find Deal
Thu, May 29 - Mon, Jun 2
Spirit Airlines Logo
6:58 pm - 5:25 amSAN-ORD
8h 27m1 stop
Spirit Airlines Logo
9:02 pm - 7:13 amORD-SAN
12h 11m1 stop
$88Spirit Airlines
Find Deal
Thu, May 29 - Mon, Jun 2
Frontier Logo
4:53 pm - 10:56 pmSAN-ORD
4h 03mnonstop
Frontier Logo
1:56 pm - 4:08 pmORD-SAN
4h 12mnonstop
$136Frontier
Find Deal
Wed, Jun 25 - Tue, Jul 1
Frontier Logo
4:53 pm - 10:56 pmSAN-ORD
4h 03mnonstop
Frontier Logo
1:56 pm - 4:08 pmORD-SAN
4h 12mnonstop
$137Frontier
Find Deal
Tue, Jun 17 - Tue, Jun 24
American Airlines Logo
6:15 am - 12:31 pmSAN-ORD
4h 16mnonstop
American Airlines Logo
9:49 am - 12:10 pmORD-SAN
4h 21mnonstop
$237American Airlines
Find Deal
Wed, Jun 4 - Wed, Jun 11
Southwest Logo
5:55 pm - 11:55 pmSAN-MDW
4h 00mnonstop
Southwest Logo
7:25 am - 9:40 amMDW-SAN
4h 15mnonstop
$237Southwest
Find Deal
Wed, Jun 4 - Sat, Jun 7
American Airlines Logo
12:23 pm - 9:51 pmSAN-MLI
7h 28m1 stop
American Airlines Logo
7:10 am - 1:35 pmMLI-SAN
8h 25m1 stop
$240American Airlines
Find Deal
Sat, Aug 30 - Sun, Aug 31
Southwest Logo
8:50 pm - 5:20 amSAN-MDW
6h 30m1 stop
Southwest Logo
7:25 am - 9:40 amMDW-SAN
4h 15mnonstop
$247Southwest
Find Deal
Wed, Jun 4 - Sat, Jun 7
United Airlines Logo
2:04 pm - 8:19 pmSAN-ORD
4h 15mnonstop
United Airlines Logo
1:15 pm - 3:37 pmORD-SAN
4h 22mnonstop
$257United Airlines
Find Deal
Tue, May 27 - Tue, Jun 3
United Airlines Logo
2:04 pm - 10:45 pmSAN-STL
6h 41m1 stop
United Airlines Logo
5:27 pm - 10:14 pmSTL-SAN
6h 47m1 stop
$257United Airlines
Find Deal
Fri, May 30 - Sat, Jun 14
Useful Info

KAYAK's insights & trends for San Diego to Illinois flights

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

What is the cheapest San Diego to Illinois flight route?

The cheapest price for flight routes found by users searching on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks for round-trip flights from San Diego to Illinois.

The cheapest ticket to Illinois from San Diego found in the last 72 hours was to Chicago, at $170 round-trip. The most popular route is from San Diego (SAN) to Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport (ORD), and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $170.

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

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 $711, prices are generally cheapest when you fly direct.

What is the cheapest month to fly from San Diego to Illinois?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for round-trip flights from San Diego to Illinois, 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 Illinois is October, when tickets cost $340 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are December and June, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $471 and $440 respectively.

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

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

When flying from San Diego to Illinois, you should consider leaving on a Thursday and avoid Sundays if you are looking for the best rates. For your return to San Diego, you’ll find the best rates on Tuesdays and the most expensive ones on Sundays.

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

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 Illinois, 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 Illinois, you should book around 4 weeks before departure. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 17 weeks before departure.


Good to know

Low seasonJanuary
High seasonJune
Cheapest flight$46
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 17% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 3% lower on average.
Flight from San Diego to Chicago O'Hare Airport

FAQs - booking Illinois flights

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from San Diego 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 San Diego to Illinois.

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

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

    The cheapest time of day to fly to Illinois is generally in the evening, when round-trip flights cost $454 on average. Morning departures are around 21% 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 $550.

Top tips for finding cheap flights to Illinois

  • Looking for a cheap flight? 25% of our users found tickets from San Diego to the following destinations at these prices or less: Chicago $165 one-way - $316 round-trip

Top 5 airlines serving from San Diego to Illinois

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying from San Diego to Illinois. 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 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
SouthwestOverall score based on 4294 reviews
7.6Entertainment
8.0Comfort
8.2Boarding
8.6Crew
7.1Food
Airline reviews

It was a perfect flight in all aspects! Both legs!

10.0 ExcellentAnonymous, Apr 2025LGB - SMF
Read more Southwest reviews

It was a perfect flight in all aspects! Both legs!

Great flight, 47 passengers on a 180 seat plane. Stewardess was pleasant and cheerful.

I liked the crew member who gave flight instructions on "in case of a problem:. The seats are so small that only a young teenager could sit in middle seat.

Great flight staff. Ease of boarding. Overall, very uneventful and easy trip.

Flight was awfully bumpy and landing was a bit jolting. I was in the restroom when snacks and drinks were served and was not asked if i wanted any. I had to ask for water finally.

Employees were kind and funny, as always! Flight was late but no announcements were made for people with tight connections to help them transition quickly. No service due to turbulence.

I recently flew Southwest from San Jose to Honolulu. I was very impressed with the flight crew, especially the flight attendant in charge of the front of the plane. She came through the aisle at least five times for drinks and water, and two times for snacks. I have not seen such service since I flew first class. Also, for the first time, they gave us the correct baggage claim number, and the luggage came out quickly. I can't wait for Southwest to have assigned seating! I absolutely hate the Cattle Call boarding procedure and the mad dash to get seats and overhead bins. However, the boarding was efficient.

We had a nice flight. Boarding was easy, our seats were comfortable and the on board service was pleasant.

Service was great, boarding and exiting went smoothly, and the flight was very pleasant.

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.

Smooth flight. Boarding was chaotic. Could not hear the gate agent over the intercom. People were lined up in the wrong lines. Groups one and two were told to board through line one and group 3 through line 2. All very confusing. Once in the air, the flight was smooth. There was no entertainment option on this aircraft, even though it was a larger aircraft.

Overall poor for me I paid extra for seats with leg room and my regional flights exit row seats have less leg room then the others that's money that could have been saved and on my final flight home the flights air was not operating it was unbearably hot in the cabin I will be contacting United and filing a DOT complaint

There's just no way to sit fully upright and comfortably in these seats. There needs to be 2 more inches of room, and that's not something that only one person on the flight needs - the whole flight needs 2 more inches of room. If that means you sell 6 less seats, so be it. It's too close for anyone. Forcing people to pay for "premium" economy just to get "barely enough space to breathe" isn't really an answer to that.

The crew were very nice. The Chocolate is good and v there’s no entertainment. Thanks

The crew were very nice. I would have appreciated a pillow for comfort. I had a special meal that was sloppy, but the salad was great. Thanks

The plane was in Moline all night. Consequently, we assumed an on time departure at 8:15am. Unfortunately, and as is the normal case with United in Moline, we departed 2.5 hours late. When the crew came, it was discovered that there was very little heat in the plane. Seems this should have been checked hours before the crew arrived. Then when we boarded and the plane was to be de-iced, the United de-icing truck was not working! We awaited the American Airlines truck. All of this caused us to miss our connection in Chicago. My suggestion is never take United Airlines flight from Moline. We have been disappointed 80% of the time and have vowed to not take United again from Moline.

Flight was delayed two hours. No snacks and no tv screens. My bag got stuck in Chicago

The aircrew was solid, the flight was chill, I had no issues. The gate agent was not the best. I was trying to use a military bag upgrade to move my bag from under the seat to the overhead bins and he told me there’s no overhead bins on the plane, argued with me why booking put a military member in basic economy (I don’t really understand this) and made it an issue to even try to help me stating I’d have to call reservations to get a bag upgrade. When every other agent with United can add it at the gate, this man couldn’t be bothered.

They canceled our flight and left us stranded to figure it out

Everything was very good. Was able to change a make run flight leaving on direct earlier in the app -seamless!!! Well done

To start, I’d like to say that every American Airline personnel I interacted with on the ground, especially flight crew, was very friendly and did their best to help me out. Despite this, however, my experience with the airline was an entire mess. The 7:19 PM flight was heavily delayed due to weather, and pushed to 10:30 AM the next morning. Because of this, I had to spend the night inside of the airport. At some point later in the night, I got an email saying that the flight had been canceled. I called the support number, and the representative on the other line told me that the flight was still on and that I didn’t need to rebook. The next morning, no one came to the gate to open the door for the crew until almost 11 AM. By this time the flight crew had been waiting for over an hour, and they had called management to get someone to open the door for them multiple times. Around 11:30, the gate screen had changed to a different flight. I ended up buying a last minute ticket with Southwest airline just to get to Chicago, because the next flight with American wasn’t until 7:19 pm that day. Now, earlier that morning my suitcase had been sent ahead of me to ORD. I went to baggage claim to ask them if I could have my suitcase forwarded to where I was staying. The representative at SDF baggage claim said they could and put the claim in for me. As I was going back through TSA, I got an email that the airline had found my suitcase, but the next step was to send it BACK to SDF. I called the airline support number again, and I made it clear that my suitcase needed to stay in Chicago and to not come back to SDF. The representative told me that they would hold my suitcase at ORD and that it wasn’t going to be forwarded anywhere. Once I got there, I found that they had loaded my suitcase onto a plane to send it back to SDF. Thankfully, I had gotten to the baggage claim counter in time for them to put in a request to bring my suitcase back up. My refund with the airline is processing already, but because of this entire experience and miscommunication at every turn of the way, I will not book with American Airlines in the future.

The plane was late and then sat on the runway for almost 45 minutes before taking off.

Crew professional. Easy bag drop off. On time. Good entertainment.

Everything was great. Boarding, early departure, early arrival, and deplaning were smooth. Smooth flight.

Per usual, flight status, staff courtesy and professionalism were excellent

Everything was on time, we arrived early, everything worked well.

The only thing is if Wi-Fi is available after you land and taxi to the gate. It takes forever to get to the gate, and having the Wi-Fi continue would be great to bide the time at least 5 minutes before you arrive at the entrance. That is my only comment; otherwise, everything was good.

Had to wait on pilot and crew to depart and had to wait to arrive at the gate because they only had 2 crews working. Delays, delays....Planes just keep getting smaller and tighter and they nickle and dime for everything. When will an airline actually wake up and make flying more enjoyable?

I paid for what I got which was cheap, I brought my own entertainment. I knew what to expect, so I could be prepared. If you’re flying economy, check in early like me. I have no problems with my flight, was on time, staff were friendly, and overall good experience.

Seating was horrible. Small seats. Access to flight information and extras very iser unfriendly. Kept losing internet after paying for it. Staff in madison was as unprofessional and unhelpful.

I mean, it’s Spirit. But it was frustrating to have our flight canceled, get bumped to a later flight, and then Spirit was unwilling to check our bag until 4 hours before our flight… tell us we could not sit in the waiting area’s chairs… and really negative experience getting checked in and dropping the bag.

Not having it be changed after we bought the flight tickets from a direct flight getting in at a reasonable time to a connecting flight red eye of 9 hours, so that we would lose our 35 dollars in nonrefundable insurance would've been great! Our country really does need low-cost carrier options, but this type of "service" ain't it. Fortunately, had a little better success with them flying to and from San Juan PR last month at least.

terrible service, no room for a dog underfoot, a broken chair that is impossible to sit on and all this costs a lot of money

Terrible-extreme delay with very little communication, plane was overfull, luggage was returned on baggage claim in filthy condition.

Lower cost is the reason to fly Spirit. Should give free baggage with credit card.

Very difficult. Flew out on Dec 24th and it was a mess. They know it is going to be the busiest time of the year and they had no organization. Finally they called for people going on certiam flights so they could get them thru thw line then we had to rush to our gate to get in li e to board.We missed our flight do to being stuck at the border of Mexico. They would not work with us to make an affordable price so we had to wait a day with no where to go and pay 280 more for our flights. I would think that a complimentary drink would be nice. But we had to pay 4.49 for a coke. Not an overall good experience

I’ve now flown Spirit a few times and while the general perception of Spirit I feel is poor, I’ve had a great experience each time. They do charge extra for everything but you should know that going in

Horrible. Take off was delayed by an hour. They were letting people board d the plane right before takeoff. I was delayed an hour when I arrived and late for my meeting. Spirit is NEVER on time.

The gate area was terrible at San Diego airport -way too crowded in a small space. Since my husband was driving to our destination, we did not have to take any luggage so my kids and I only had backpacks. Therefore everything was easy and smooth. And we didn’t have to pay up charges for everything and it was a short flight. I tried table was broken and it was a little cramped, but it was fine for what we needed. I probably would not fly spirit on a longer flight and if I had to take baggage.

The flight landed with a delay and we had to wait almost an hour to be off boarded. So typical of spirit.

The seats were awful, hard plastic covered in sheet vinyl. The airline tries to scam you into paying extra to get seat together when the flight wasn’t full. They were going to separate a family with young children but my wife who had a row to herself gave up her seat so the young mom could be with her young boys. I’m never giving this airline my money again.

It was a short flight so no food or entertainment….

Frontier had yet another flight cancellation. Have never made a complete round trip with this airline without at least one leg getting cancelled. Miserable flights - dirty, uncomfortable planes that apparently always have issues since I've had multiple delays and cancellations with them.

Flight was delayed 3 times, would have been nice to have received text message instead of email notifications. Frontier app wasn’t even updated accordingly, no gate number disclosed. No agent at front desk of gate to inform of delay. Very confused and left if the dark

The flight itself was ok and the pilot was very communicative. However, our flight was delayed for almost 3 hours, the gate was changed 3 times and there was no communication as we were waiting. The flight staff was overall a little crabby...I understand as they probably had a long day but we all did.

They changed the timing , first delayed by 4 hours then went back to 40 mins late, we had to run back to airport to not miss our flight. This is ridiculous

No frills for sure. No gate announcements about flight delay, not even water to drink on the flight.

After waiting several minutes to be acknowledged by 3 employees on their phones, was told we had missed our flight because the doors were closed at that literal moment. Had they given any actual service or help while we were standing there we would have been on with time to spare. More than 10 people were turned away in this fashion claiming there was no way they could let us on the plane, even though it was still sitting connected to the terminal. After the desk agents let us know they didn't care about the situation we were forced to pay more than twice the price of our original tickets as no credits were given for the price of the "missed" flight. And the icing on the cake was after being treated poorly, fleeced for another few hundred dollars for new tickets? We waited on the next plane for 25 minutes passed the "doors closed" time, letting almost an extra dozen passengers on board. You're company has lazy, disinterested employees and your lack of any real help will ensure this was the first and last time we fly Frontier. Awful.

I loked walking out on the tarmac to board and no first class. I didn't like that they have no snacks or onboard wifi to bide your time.

It was a redeye flight, so every passenger just wanted to sleep, but through the entire flight, the flight crew made announcements over the loudspeaker at maximum volume every few minutes making sleep impossible. For example: it’s 2am, and the crew decides to give an extremely detailed announcement about snacks and beverages for sale. And 3am is the perfect time to wake up everyone with a lengthy announcement about how to get a coffee refill and how to take advantage of new offer from frontier for a credit card.

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