SFO - CNS

$408 Find Cheap Flights from San Francisco to Cairns

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 Francisco to Cairns departing on 9/4. 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

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

 
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from San Francisco to Cairns, as well as popular online travel agencies
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from San Francisco to Cairns, as well as popular online travel agencies
Travelers love KAYAK
41,299,237 searches in the past 7 days on KAYAK

Save 20% or moreCompare multiple travel sites with one search.

Track pricesNot ready to book? Create a price alert for when prices drop.

Bundle and saveSave money when you bundle your flight + hotel.

Filter your dealsChoose cabin class, free Wi-Fi and more.

Flights Deals
Useful Info
Flights Deals

Cheap Flights from San Francisco to Cairns (SFO-CNS)

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

Thu, Jul 31 - Thu, Aug 7
 Logo
10:55 pm - 10:50 pmSFO-CNS
30h 55m2 stops
 Logo
6:45 am - 1:45 pmCNS-SFO
24h 00m2 stops
$1,154
Find Deal
Sat, Aug 2 - Sat, Aug 9
 Logo
7:40 pm - 11:05 amSFO-CNS
22h 25m2 stops
 Logo
4:35 pm - 10:33 amCNS-SFO
34h 58m2 stops
$1,167
Find Deal
Tue, Aug 19 - Sun, Aug 31
 Logo
9:40 am - 10:50 pmSFO-CNS
44h 10m2 stops
 Logo
11:40 am - 3:20 pmCNS-SFO
20h 40m1 stop
$1,192
Find Deal
Fri, Oct 31 - Sun, Nov 16
Qantas Airways Logo
9:15 pm - 11:50 amSFO-CNS
21h 35m1 stop
Qantas Airways Logo
12:35 pm - 3:55 pmCNS-SFO
21h 20m1 stop
$1,384Qantas Airways
Find Deal
Fri, Oct 31 - Sun, Nov 16
Qantas Airways Logo
9:15 pm - 11:50 amSFO-CNS
21h 35m1 stop
Qantas Airways Logo
2:50 pm - 9:40 pmCNS-SFO
24h 50m2 stops
$1,388Qantas Airways
Find Deal
Tue, Aug 19 - Sun, Aug 31
Air New Zealand Logo
10:05 pm - 10:45 amSFO-CNS
19h 40m1 stop
Air New Zealand Logo
6:00 am - 1:14 pmCNS-SFO
24h 14m3 stops
$1,419Air New Zealand
Find Deal
Sat, Nov 1 - Wed, Nov 26
Air New Zealand Logo
6:39 pm - 11:00 amSFO-CNS
47h 21m3 stops
Air New Zealand Logo
6:00 am - 3:08 pmCNS-SFO
27h 08m3 stops
$1,488Air New Zealand
Find Deal
Sun, Jul 27 - Sat, Aug 9
Fiji Airways Logo
7:57 pm - 11:25 amSFO-CNS
22h 28m2 stops
Fiji Airways Logo
12:25 pm - 6:54 pmCNS-SFO
23h 29m2 stops
$1,541Fiji Airways
Find Deal
Sun, Jul 27 - Sat, Aug 9
Fiji Airways Logo
10:55 pm - 11:25 amSFO-CNS
19h 30m1 stop
Fiji Airways Logo
12:25 pm - 6:54 pmCNS-SFO
23h 29m2 stops
$1,542Fiji Airways
Find Deal
Sat, Sep 20 - Sat, Sep 27
United Airlines Logo
11:00 pm - 3:55 pmSFO-CNS
23h 55m1 stop
United Airlines Logo
6:00 am - 8:15 amCNS-SFO
43h 15m2 stops
$1,695United Airlines
Find Deal
Useful Info

KAYAK's insights & trends for San Francisco to Cairns flights

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

Which airlines provide the cheapest flights from San Francisco to Cairns?

The cheapest round-trip price for the route for each airline clicked by KAYAK users in the last 72 hours.

In the past 3 days, the cheapest round-trip tickets from San Francisco to Cairns were found on Qantas Airways ($1,384) and Air New Zealand ($1,419).

Good to know

Low seasonJuly
High seasonJune
Cheapest flight$408
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 44% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 32% lower on average.
Flight from San Francisco to Cairns

When to book flights from San Francisco to Cairns

Are your dates flexible? Find out the best times to travel from San Francisco to Cairns 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 Francisco to Cairns

  • What is the cheapest flight from San Francisco to Cairns?

    In the last 3 days, the lowest price for a flight from San Francisco to Cairns was $408 for a one-way ticket and $1,154 for a round-trip.

  • Do I need a passport to fly between San Francisco and Cairns?

    Yes, you'll most likely have to show a valid passport before boarding the plane in San Francisco and on arrival in Cairns.

  • Which aircraft models fly most regularly from San Francisco to Cairns?

    We unfortunately don’t have that data for this specific route.

  • Which airline alliances offer flights from San Francisco to Cairns?

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

  • Which is the best airline for flights from San Francisco to Cairns, Fiji Airways or Qantas Airways?

    The two airlines most popular with KAYAK users for flights from San Francisco to Cairns are Fiji Airways and Qantas Airways. With an average price for the route of $749 and an overall rating of 8.0, Fiji Airways is the most popular choice. Qantas Airways is also a great choice for the route, with an average price of $1,541 and an overall rating of 7.5.

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

    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 Francisco to Cairns.

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

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

    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 Cairns with an airline and back to San Francisco with another airline. Booking your flights between San Francisco and CNS 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 Francisco to Cairns?

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

Reviews of the top 3 airlines serving from San Francisco to Cairns

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying from San Francisco to Cairns. 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 Francisco to Cairns? 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
Fiji AirwaysOverall score based on 202 reviews
8.1Boarding
7.9Comfort
8.5Crew
7.5Entertainment
7.5Food
Airline reviews

They will look to squeeze every penny they can out of you!! Pick your seat$$...bring luggage$$$$... if they could charge you for the air on the plane they would!!

4.0 OkayChristopher, Jun 2025NAN - SYD
Read more Fiji Airways reviews

They will look to squeeze every penny they can out of you!! Pick your seat$$...bring luggage$$$$... if they could charge you for the air on the plane they would!!

.very good and as I needed wheelchair assistance all staff excellent.. only suggestion is get rid of those plastic chairs hard to ride in and staff have trouble compared to others. Everything else very good experience. Will use Fiji Air again.

In-flight entertainment options could use a refresh, Consider a tie-up with Spotify for more current music and with IMDB or other service for newer selections/movie ratings.

See previous comments. Didn’t take this flight because my other flight was so delayed. Ending up on two other flights as a result and was more than a day late.

6 hour delay and they didnt try to make up any time during an over 10 hour flight

Very good; seat made ready for bed after meal, a plus since one airline covered the seat at the start.

Entertainment was not good. Seems like liquor should’ve been advertised only beer and wine was even though I saw others getting liquor didn’t realize I could. And the food to me could’ve been a little bit.

Food choices perhaps not the best. Only offered beer and wine, when it appeared other liquor was available. Entertainment wasn’t so good.

They charged me over a $1000 dollars to bring two surfboard bags as check baggage. Inappropriate and I would avoid flying sgain

The experience on Fiji Airways was absolutely amazing. Streamlined. All staff was amazing. Pleasant. Friendly. Extremely helpful.

The wifi was out. Otherwise it was great flight. Richard, as CSM, was excellent.

Was bumped to a later flight because of inefficiency on part of the airline.

The Emerits/Qantas flight was cancelled to Wellington. We need a refund. Had to buy another airline ticket. How do we get the refund. Still not in Wellington.

Delayed QF59 flight once again, Qantas doesn't fail in maintaining there delayed departures and arrivals. USB points do not work nor do the power point sockets on the plane, Qantas staff admitted that on the flight. Don't expect to your charge devices. Saving grace, was the ice cream. Bottom line, if you expect to fly to HND and make it on time avoid Qantas and if you're interested in ice cream - visit 7/11.

Pretty excellent. I don’t know what the pilot could have done better with the bumping ( there was a storm) nor what happened to my ears coming down into bendigo. It doesn’t happen coming down into Sydney just the return flight. I wonder why?

Loved the staff. The economy seats could have been bigger.

Airport and crew experience was excellent. We had to queue for the runway - no one’s fault, but it did mean we were 30 minutes late leaving

Overall good experience with flight and airport wheelchair staff. Also got Indian food in the flights

I liked the service, the menu, and the comfort of the seats! Even tho we were seated by the bathrooms, the reclining seats and movie selection was very good, my husband and I didn’t mind at all

Very good as always, stand out airline. The passengers whom choose to stuff baggage that otherwise should be checked-in is a real bother but that's not the airlines doing. A real frustration that passengers just don't want to check-in luggage. This is a pet hate unfortunately.

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.

Very comfortable (upgraded to business class). The audio on my screen didn’t work, but I managed to play the audio through my phone while watching the screen.

Flight was late as pilot crew had to land at different airport in their previous flight. Passengers boarded and had to wait for pilots inside plane. Series of incomplete and unnecessary announcements by an annoying voice, rather than complete, informative announcements.

Breakfast was not loaded at SFO due to catering company change. Seems like a major airline at a major hub would have thought of something else or warned passengers to pick up food before boarding a 3 hour flight.

Boarding seemed to be organized bedlam. For what ever reason, preboarding took longer than 20 minutes. Made the plane 20 minutes late taking off. Luckily we arrived on time. Flight crew seemed very friendly. Only slight turbulence.

They hired a new catering company the same day of my flight. They botched the job by not delivering the right carts and after THREE HOURS waiting, the flight crew timed out (flight was 19 hours long and FAA rules state crew can’t work more than 14 hours long). So they CANCELED OUR FLIGHT!! Worst experience ever. Avoid UAL at all costs.

The personnel were professional and friendly. The Boeing 737 Max 9 is too claustrophobic and was very warm at both airport gates, and still warm in the air.

While the staff was pleasant and helpful, the following observations are for your awareness. There was some delay on the tarmac on take off and landing. The paid lunch/food offerings were limited. Entertainment was only available on WiFi at a cost.

get E+, a must for 5 hours flight if you are tall

Liked fold flat bed. Didn’t like having no window. Didn’t like poor choice of food and being served dinner very late, hours after take off of a 7:40pm flight. Servers not friendly. Food horrible in business class.

Everything you need to know for your flight from San Francisco to Cairns

Information on your arrival and departure airports

Not what you’re looking for? Find thousands of other hotels, flights, car rentals and package deals with KAYAK.