$61 Find Cheap Flights from San Francisco 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 Francisco to Illinois departing on 4/18. 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 Illinois

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

Cheap Flights from San Francisco to Illinois

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours
Chicago
Chicago1 stop$229
Moline
Moline1 stop$309
Peoria
Peoria1 stop$325
Bloomington
Bloomington1 stop$394
Champaign
Champaign1 stop$487
Springfield
Springfield1 stop$496
St. Louis
St. Louis1 stop$270
Decatur
Decatur1 stop$329
Marion
Marion2 stops$640
Paducah
Paducah2 stops$517
Chicago
Chicago1 stop$229
Moline
Moline1 stop$309
Peoria
Peoria1 stop$325
Bloomington
Bloomington1 stop$394
Champaign
Champaign1 stop$487
Springfield
Springfield1 stop$496
St. Louis
St. Louis1 stop$270
Decatur
Decatur1 stop$329
Marion
Marion2 stops$640
Paducah
Paducah2 stops$517

Book Cheap San Francisco to Illinois Plane Tickets

 
Here are some of the best deals found on KAYAK recently from the most popular airlines for round-trip flights from San Francisco 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.
Discover the best prices for you by selecting your travel dates on KAYAK.

Recent round-trip flight deals from San Francisco to Illinois

Mon, Mar 16 - Tue, Mar 24
Frontier Logo
6:00 am - 12:57 am
SFO
-
ORD
16h 57m
1 stop
Frontier Logo
7:31 pm - 9:38 pm
ORD
-
SFO
28h 07m
1 stop
$229Frontier
Mon, Apr 13 - Sat, Apr 25
Frontier Logo
10:08 pm - 10:14 pm
SFO
-
MDW
22h 06m
2 stops
Frontier Logo
6:00 am - 5:34 pm
MDW
-
SFO
13h 34m
1 stop
$230Frontier
Fri, May 8 - Sat, May 9
Delta Logo
12:05 am - 8:42 am
SFO
-
MDW
6h 37m
1 stop
Delta Logo
1:59 pm - 8:37 pm
MDW
-
SFO
8h 38m
1 stop
$233Delta
Tue, Mar 31 - Sat, Apr 4
Southwest Logo
11:25 pm - 5:30 am
SFO
-
MDW
4h 05mnonstop
Southwest Logo
12:35 pm - 5:45 pm
MDW
-
SFO
7h 10m
1 stop
$234Southwest
Sat, May 2 - Sat, May 9
Delta Logo
6:00 am - 4:26 pm
SFO
-
MDW
8h 26m
1 stop
Delta Logo
1:59 pm - 8:37 pm
MDW
-
SFO
8h 38m
1 stop
$237Delta
Sat, Apr 18 - Wed, Apr 22
Southwest Logo
5:40 am - 5:15 pm
SFO
-
MDW
9h 35m
2 stops
Southwest Logo
9:00 pm - 11:35 pm
MDW
-
SFO
4h 35mnonstop
$239Southwest
Thu, Apr 9 - Thu, Apr 16
United Airlines Logo
11:52 pm - 9:58 am
SFO
-
MLI
8h 06m
1 stop
United Airlines Logo
7:34 pm - 1:35 am
MLI
-
SFO
8h 01m
1 stop
$309United Airlines
Wed, May 6 - Tue, May 12
United Airlines Logo
12:45 am - 10:04 am
SFO
-
PIA
7h 19m
1 stop
United Airlines Logo
1:35 pm - 6:38 pm
PIA
-
SFO
7h 03m
1 stop
$325United Airlines
Tue, Mar 17 - Wed, Mar 25
American Airlines Logo
11:30 am - 11:37 pm
SFO
-
MLI
10h 07m
2 stops
American Airlines Logo
2:02 pm - 9:38 pm
MLI
-
SFO
9h 36m
1 stop
$364American Airlines
Mon, Jul 27 - Sat, Aug 8
American Airlines Logo
2:54 pm - 11:33 pm
SFO
-
MLI
6h 39m
1 stop
American Airlines Logo
1:34 pm - 6:12 pm
MLI
-
SFO
6h 38m
1 stop
$379American Airlines
Booking Insights

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

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

What is the cheapest San Francisco to Illinois flight route?

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

The cheapest ticket to Illinois from San Francisco found in the last 72 hours was to Chicago, at $217 round-trip. The most popular route is from San Francisco (SFO) to Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport (ORD), and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $217.

Can I save money by flying with a layover from San Francisco 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 $369, prices are generally cheapest when you fly direct.

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

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for round-trip flights from San Francisco 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 Francisco to Illinois is September, when tickets cost $291 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are November and December, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $437 and $421 respectively.

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

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

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

How far in advance should I book a flight from San Francisco 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 Francisco 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 Francisco to Illinois, you should book around 4 weeks before departure, which saves you about 47% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 10 weeks before departure.

Good to know

Low seasonJanuary
Cheapest flight$61
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 3% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 5% lower on average.
Flight from San Francisco to St. Louis

FAQs - booking Illinois flights

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

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from San Francisco 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 Francisco 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 Francisco 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 Francisco 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 Francisco 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 at night, when round-trip flights cost $409 on average. Morning departures are around 6% more expensive than evening flights, on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to Illinois is generally in the afternoon, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is $450.

Top tips for finding cheap flights to Illinois

  • Looking for a cheap flight? 25% of our users found tickets from San Francisco to the following destinations at these prices or less: Chicago $177 one-way - $330 round-trip

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from San Francisco to Illinois

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying from San Francisco 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 Francisco 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
Alaska AirlinesOverall score based on 11984 reviews
7.8Comfort
7.1Food
8.5Crew
8.1Boarding
7.0Entertainment
Airline reviews

Nice crew, healthy snacks and drinks available. Flight to Seattle was short and comfortable.

10.0 ExcellentAnonymous, Feb 2026
SFO - SEA
Read more Alaska Airlines reviews

Nice crew, healthy snacks and drinks available. Flight to Seattle was short and comfortable.

had to be rerouted due to a medical emergency onboard. Alaska crew treated the patient with utmost respect and continued to keep the passengers updated the entire way through, which I appreciate. But it took 4 hours from landing until we were able to be airborne again, causing us to not get into SFO until ~2 am. I understand it was a tough situation for everyone, but that was an indecent wait.

I love Alaska! We arrived on the later side without seat assignments only to find the had oversold the flight by 1. The attendants worked extra hard to find a way for our party of 7 to stay together and we made it on the flight! Loved the free WiFi also!

Delay for switching planes. Then delay after delay (mechanical) after boarding so that we were almost 3 hrs late, getting in at 230am. Crew was good.

The he whole flight was very smooth on every aspects.

I paid for wifi and it never worked... it was miserable. I couldn't access my shared files to work on the plane, it didn't work on my phone. I paid for nothing but frustration and continual refreshing, hoping it would work

The stewardess are very nice and pleasant, Someone onboard had a medical attention, and they attended that person non-stop all throughout the flight, and yet, did not forget to serve and help other passengers.

The Alaska Airlines app made it very difficult to find my boarding pass. It was very frustrating to use! The flight itself was flawless.

The flight was excellent and very friendly and helpful staff. Will travel again and recommend to friends. Thank you

Did not have In flight service on my round trip due to turbulence. I did not partake in In flight entertainment. Flight descending into LAX was very turbulent. It would have been nice if the pilot communicated with us during that rough descent into LAX to ease the minds of some of us more nervous flyers.

Flight boarded late after announcing on time boarding. Flight arrived only a little late despite late departure. Had trouble connecting to WiFi

The Southwest experience has definitely taken a dive from its early days. You can no longer deferentiate from other airlines. Air travel is too expensive. Southwest is no longer budget friendly. They have lost me as a loyal customer.

The charges were ridiculous for an hour flight and the turbulence was very scary.

The seats are now more narrow. I paid for front row the seats in the front are even more narrow than before.

The wifi on the plane is great. The only issue that I have is that I prefer an aisle seat and on my trips this week, I was either in the middle or window. If we can work to secure aisle seating, I will be thrilled. Nice trip.

All good except once again bags took an hour at Midway Airport Happens all the time. Ridiculous

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

The seats were comfortable, and the boarding process was pretty smooth.

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

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

Staff were good. My seat was in need of repair, but for a short flight was not problematic. Usual basic snack and drink setup that you'll find on any US carrier. Over, a decent, basic flight.

Flight delayed for more than 16 hrs and no effort was spent to provide an alternate

it was a very short flight so my expectations were low.

Very disappointing given gate agent behavior. Filed a formal complaint with United.

Terrible. No customer service, no food, no drinks on a 6 hour premier economy booking.

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

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.

The worst Airline ever. They centered my second flight and leave me in NY. They don’t have any representatives at the airport and they don’t respond to calls. Basically I got stuck. I will never purchase through there again.

The chicken wrap was tiny ($13 for what looked like a 1/3 of a normal wrap?) and disgusting.

It was good experience this time. The flight was on time.

There was a delay with the plan which cause the flight to leave later and once arrived in Chicago there was another delay and some passengers missed their connecting flights

The gate agent had a really bad attitude and refused to help me get on the standby list. She just handed me a card and said I needed to call a number. I asked her to help with the AA app on my phone and she just shrugged and said she didnt know. After a few phone calls, I eventually just went to a different gate agent on the other side of the terminal and got the help I needed.

Overall, my last three trips on American Airlines have all been either delayed or "rescheduled" due to mechanical issues. At least on delay caused me to miss two possible connecting flights each later than the first. My last option for my last connection required the assistance of the onsite service desk (O'Hare Airport). The wait time for the service desk was such that it jeopardized getting booked on the last connecting flight available for the night. Suffice it to say, my latest experiences with American Airlines have caused me extensive loss of productive business and personal time and can therefore be classified as significantly less than satisfactory.

Waiting for gate in RDU for more than 20mins is crazy.

American Airlines was great and worked very hard to change my ticket so I could get an earlier, direct flight back to Dallas. However, I was informed that Kayak made mistakes with my itinerary and classified my ticket as desiring to be on the earlier flight instead of taking the necessary step of calling AA to get me on the standby list. This ended up keeping me from being added to the standby list and delayed me getting home by 6 hours. I am happy to discuss this further with Kayak so they can correct their procedures so this won't happen again.

Waited for oxygen tanks for 30 minutes after boarding was complete.

We flew in first class. The crew did not offer drinks before the flight took off, but they treated us well during the flight. The food was excellent. There was actually too much food served, but it was nice to have all the options.

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.

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.

This company socks. It's fraud. They canceled our flight yesterday, and today we were late because of a really long line at the check in bag. At the rebook station, there was ton of people. The workers were all rude. I am gonna make a report to FTC.

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.

The single worst check in experience I could imagine. I’ll never do any business with Frontier or any affiliated company

Too many extra fees, uncomfortable, little leg room. Will not recommend this airline.

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.

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

We were delayed three times ,and that destroyed my plans, and reservations

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.

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

Information on your arrival and departure airports