Frontier's Economy Bundle includes a carry-on and seat choice.
Frontier's Premium Bundle offers priority boarding and extra legroom seats.
Planning a trip from San Francisco to San Diego? KAYAK’s data-powered insights will help you find cheap flights. Learn the best time to fly, how early to book your ticket, and other tips to secure great prices.
When planning a flight from San Francisco to San Diego, there are several strategies that can help save money. Generally, Tuesdays and the month of May offer the most affordable flight options.
Booking Advance: Aim to book your flight around 70 days in advance for the best rates.
Cheapest Airline: Consider flying with Frontier, as it is generally the cheapest airline for this route.
Direct or Layover: Direct flights are typically more expensive, so consider a flight with a layover to save money.
Specific Route: The cheapest route is directly from San Francisco (SFO) to San Diego (SAN).
Flight Type: Direct flights are typically more expensive, so consider flights with layovers to save money.
This feature is powered by ChatGPT: an OpenAI-developed artificial intelligence model trained with KAYAK proprietary data and third-party data not verified by KAYAK.
Low season | February |
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High season | November |
Cheapest flight | $39 |
Direct departures
San Francisco to San Diego
Monday
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, Southwest, +1 more
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, +2 more
1
Tuesday
Alaska Airlines, Southwest, United Airlines, +1 more
Alaska Airlines, Southwest, +2 more
1
Wednesday
Alaska Airlines, Southwest, United Airlines, +1 more
Alaska Airlines, Southwest, +2 more
1
Thursday
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, Southwest, +1 more
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, +2 more
1
Friday
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, Southwest, +1 more
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, +2 more
1
Saturday
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, Southwest, +1 more
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, +2 more
1
Sunday
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, Southwest, +1 more
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, +2 more
1
Direct returns
San Diego to San Francisco
Monday
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, Southwest, +1 more
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, +2 more
1
Tuesday
Alaska Airlines, Southwest, United Airlines, +1 more
Alaska Airlines, Southwest, +2 more
1
Wednesday
Alaska Airlines, Southwest, United Airlines, +1 more
Alaska Airlines, Southwest, +2 more
1
Thursday
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, Southwest, +1 more
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, +2 more
1
Friday
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, Southwest, +1 more
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, +2 more
1
Saturday
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, Southwest, +1 more
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, +2 more
1
Sunday
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, Southwest, +1 more
Alaska Airlines, Frontier, +2 more
1
Staff at Gate desk were helpful. My connecting flight from the first part of my trip Kona to Seattle was late. I had to run through SeaTac Seattle to catch my flight to San Jose. They made an exception to let me board. On my return trip San Jose to San Diego and San Diego to Honolulu the same thing happened. One flight arrived late and I had to run through the terminal to catch my connection. There are no Gluten-free & Vegan options meals and snacks to purchase.
Staff at Gate desk were helpful. My connecting flight from the first part of my trip Kona to Seattle was late. I had to run through SeaTac Seattle to catch my flight to San Jose. They made an exception to let me board. On my return trip San Jose to San Diego and San Diego to Honolulu the same thing happened. One flight arrived late and I had to run through the terminal to catch my connection. There are no Gluten-free & Vegan options meals and snacks to purchase.
boarding was late worst was going back LAX to SFO delayed not once ? but TWICE😡I was at the airport practically almost 5 hours of previous time , very inconvenient! i would have spend longer time with family , I was wanting to avoid TSA line? but it just got me to spend unwanted time @ d airport
Plane boarded and left on time or very close to the stated departure. Arrived on time. Staff was subdued. Could not hear the flight attendant too well. No announcement from the pilot which is always nice. Biggest complaint absolutely no little snacks! But the important thing is we left and arrived on time and we survived.
Departing flight to San Diego was delayed. Return flight from SD to SBP was delayed. Not terrible but not ideal
Delayed flight both ways. Then, on the return flight, we were stuck on the tarmac for at least 30+ minutes. Idk what happened, but this was a bad experience.
Coffee or tea service would be nice for an evening flight, water or juice not good enough.
Big delay of over 7 hours on next leg of trip with Alaska. Would have been nice to have food or something
All good. Great food and entertainment when there isn’t any on a one hour flight
The flight was delayed over two and a half hours thus causing me to miss my best friend’s funeral. All because the flight crew had to get more rest. That was the reason stated. I understand however very unfortunate. Glad everyone is well rested and resting in peace.
All good except both the outbound and return flights were delayed about 1 1/2 hrs.
As always, the entire Southwest experience was wonderful, from online booking to flight to baggage retrieval. Very grateful.
The weather could have been better. There was a 40 minute ATC delay in SFO because of marine fog and a micro cell storm delayed landing and take-off at Nashville. The gate was changed 5 minutes from boarding from gate B3 to gate C23 at Nashville airport.
The cabin was quiet for the redeye flight. The area was clean. The staff was great. The 787 Max was in good condition. Drawbacks were that the seat widths were tight for some passengers. The seat padding was at best average and for a long flight uncomfortable.
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.
First class ticket. They ran out of food and I sat hungry watching the others eat
Kayak sold me a ticket after check in time. Could not check in. Could not get on flight.
Everything was great except having to check in at Alaska. That was a surprise and took extra time and effort. Should have been explained somewhere maybe on the HA electronic ticket.
I accidentally made this purchase and they wouldn’t refund me even though I called immediately to cancel it.
You. Changed my AIRLINE, CONFIRMATION CODE, TERMINAL. AND GATE COMM N CATION. WAS POOR AND SUBOPTITMUM AND RIDICULOUS MY AIRLINE WAS HAWAIIN. ,THEN SUDDENLY. YOU SAY IT WAS ALASKA Give me a break,,Black is not White I could not check in over the phone...all I received was Error. And info from Hawaiian air agent saying tooooo many people were trying to check in causing the problem On the other hand I am alive
I could not believe that on a 5 hour plus flight we were not given a complimentary meal . That should be illegal. Or it would be nice to be informed beforehand that a complimentary meal would not be provided. The wording in the email I got about pre ordering food was phrased in a way that made the food seem like it would be free. Very misleading! Also during boarding we were informed there would be empty seats we could move to if we wanted, all we had to do was wait for an announcement, however an announcement was never made. Then when we tried to change seats ourselves we were singled out over the loud speaker and told we could not move without asking. Then the flight was about to take off , so we didn’t have time to ask . Then we were told we could not move to the exit row because you had to pay for those seats, but we were not told where we could move. Also no one was in the exit rows so , if something happened no one would be there to assist the passengers. Also people should be allowed to move there if the airline wasn’t able to sell them. One passenger asked if he could pay for the upgrade and the flight attendant said she did not have the capability to charge for the seat on her mobile device, so the airline ended up losing possible income anyways . So why not let people move there during flight if you have no way to charge them? Then the landing was bumpy and awful and many passengers complained out loud when we landed .
I like that you have eliminated plastic cups, bottles and straws. The crew was conscientious about separating the used paper cups from the trash. This change to paper is a great move and makes me want to choose Alaska when I fly.
Attendants seemed un-engaged and indifferent when asked for assistance.
Overall it was a good flight. The thing I most appreciated was that you eliminated plastic cups and water bottles and stir sticks and had paper cups, wood stir sticks and cans. Plus, I saw that the airline staff were actually keeping the used paper cups separate and unfolding the used cardboard meal boxes and keeping those items separate from the trash. Good for them! This makes me want to support Alaska Airlines and fly Alaska again. Thank for taking this step in working to reduce single use plastics! Kudos!
Ok but why they need to sell the ear buds?
Stuck on tarmac for two hours plus a 5.5 hour flight. Rude flight attendant. And no meals, not even for purchase!
I learned that seating towards the end of plane that a line forms for the restroom and people use your chair as a hand railing, bumping your seat consistently. I was seated in the aisle. I think that next time if I am towards the back row I would want to sit in the middle or window seat.
Everything was great. Only thing that could’ve made it better was buy on board options for hot food, but the snacks were decent. The flight attendants were great. I had no complaints. I was able to make it to my destination safely
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.
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.
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
Compared with other carriers business class for an overnight was not worth the extra expense.
Great for the price. No wifi or entertainment, but gate agents and crew were fantastic and we boarded quickly and left on time.
Decent clean onboard experience. Okay discount airline experience. Unfortunately, any customer service interactions are difficult and unhelpful. There is no service. Also, a premium seat only gets you premium boarding if you line up first. Once they start general boarding you must go to the back of the line. Not very premium
The crew was mostly okay. The flight attendant who answered our questions was curt and unhelpful unfortunately. He seemed upset and I understand having off days.
Very bad! No good service delayed my second connection flight
They canceled flight. Hard to believe there was even a plane incoming for us to get on
Plane was down graded and I lost my uncharged exit row with more leg room. No mention or offer of refund from podium. Flight attendant was nice to explain this happens often and that I could request a refund via online form submission. I did this and have heard nothing back.
Horrendous. I do not recommend Frontier. The passengers lack manners and decency, and the flight attendants lack professionalism. If I wasn’t in a bind to fly with 48 hours notice for a job interview, I would not have selected a flight with Frontier and I never plan to fly with them in the future.
The seats were hard molded plastic covered in plastic vinyl. And the scam to charge people extra to sit together. Don’t they know we can just ask someone to trade seats. And watching the staff separate young children from parents… super classy. We had to guilt them into offering up our seats. This companies policies suck. Don’t give them your money.
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.
Everything went as planned. Crew was great. Seats were still not that comfortable.
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