$54 Find Cheap Flights from Santa Ana 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 Santa Ana to Illinois departing on 8/20. 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 Illinois

 
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from Santa Ana to Illinois.
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from Santa Ana to Illinois.
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Cheap Flights from Santa Ana to Illinois

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours
Chicago
Chicago1 stop$124
Moline
Moline1 stop$278
Peoria
Peoria1 stop$289
Bloomington
Bloomington1 stop$377
St. Louis
St. Louis1 stop$219
Chicago
Chicago1 stop$124
Moline
Moline1 stop$278
Peoria
Peoria1 stop$289
Bloomington
Bloomington1 stop$377
St. Louis
St. Louis1 stop$219

Book Cheap Santa Ana 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 Santa Ana 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 Santa Ana to Illinois

Wed, Aug 20 - Sat, Aug 23
Spirit Airlines Logo
8:30 pm - 4:50 amSNA-ORD
6h 20m1 stop
Spirit Airlines Logo
5:35 pm - 9:21 pmORD-SNA
5h 46m1 stop
$124Spirit Airlines
Find Deal
Wed, Aug 20 - Sat, Aug 23
Spirit Airlines Logo
8:30 pm - 4:50 amSNA-ORD
6h 20m1 stop
Spirit Airlines Logo
5:35 pm - 9:21 pmORD-SNA
5h 46m1 stop
$125Spirit Airlines
Find Deal
Wed, Sep 17 - Wed, Sep 24
Frontier Logo
12:58 pm - 9:06 amSNA-STL
18h 08m1 stop
Frontier Logo
7:55 pm - 11:07 amSTL-SNA
17h 12m1 stop
$225Frontier
Find Deal
Wed, Oct 29 - Tue, Nov 4
Frontier Logo
12:01 pm - 9:07 amSNA-STL
19h 06m1 stop
Frontier Logo
7:52 pm - 11:16 amSTL-SNA
17h 24m1 stop
$228Frontier
Find Deal
Wed, Sep 3 - Sat, Sep 6
Alaska Airlines Logo
6:45 am - 5:34 pmSNA-STL
8h 49m1 stop
Alaska Airlines Logo
3:35 pm - 10:30 pmSTL-SNA
8h 55m1 stop
$267Alaska Airlines
Find Deal
Sat, Aug 23 - Tue, Aug 26
United Airlines Logo
4:15 pm - 11:53 pmSNA-STL
5h 38m1 stop
United Airlines Logo
1:39 pm - 8:28 pmSTL-SNA
8h 49m2 stops
$284United Airlines
Find Deal
Tue, Aug 26 - Tue, Sep 2
American Airlines Logo
3:05 pm - 11:16 pmSNA-PIA
6h 11m1 stop
American Airlines Logo
10:07 am - 2:19 pmPIA-SNA
6h 12m1 stop
$289American Airlines
Find Deal
Tue, Aug 26 - Tue, Sep 2
American Airlines Logo
6:45 am - 6:09 pmSNA-PIA
9h 24m2 stops
American Airlines Logo
10:07 am - 2:19 pmPIA-SNA
6h 12m1 stop
$294American Airlines
Find Deal
Wed, Sep 3 - Sat, Sep 6
United Airlines Logo
7:30 am - 4:53 pmSNA-STL
7h 23m1 stop
United Airlines Logo
8:20 am - 8:28 pmSTL-SNA
14h 08m2 stops
$358United Airlines
Find Deal
Fri, Sep 5 - Mon, Sep 8
Alaska Airlines Logo
12:30 pm - 11:59 pmSNA-STL
9h 29m2 stops
Alaska Airlines Logo
3:35 pm - 9:42 pmSTL-SNA
8h 07m1 stop
$360Alaska Airlines
Find Deal
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for Santa Ana to Illinois flights

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

What is the cheapest Santa Ana 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 Santa Ana to Illinois.

The cheapest ticket to Illinois from Santa Ana found in the last 72 hours was to Chicago, at $269 round-trip. The most popular route is from Santa Ana (SNA) to Chicago O'Hare Intl Airport (ORD), and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $269.

Can I save money by flying with a layover from Santa Ana 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.

Yes, flying with a layover may cost you more time, but you can also save money on the route, with a 2 stops layover the cheapest option at $689 on average.

What is the cheapest month to fly from Santa Ana to Illinois?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for round-trip flights from Santa Ana 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 Santa Ana to Illinois is August, when tickets cost $348 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are December and March, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $504 and $475 respectively.

What’s the cheapest day of the week to fly from John Wayne (Santa Ana) to Illinois?

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

Your flight ticket price will generally be cheaper if you fly to Illinois on a Wednesday and more expensive on a Sunday. On your return trip to John Wayne (Santa Ana), you should consider flying back on a Wednesday, and avoid Sundays for better deals.

How far in advance should I book a flight from Santa Ana 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 Santa Ana 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 Santa Ana to Illinois, you should book around 4 weeks before departure, which saves you about 28% 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$54
Best time to beat the crowds but there is an average 3% increase in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 1% increase in price.
Flight from John Wayne (Santa Ana) to Chicago O'Hare Airport

FAQs - booking Illinois flights

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from John Wayne (Santa Ana) 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 John Wayne (Santa Ana) to Illinois.

  • How does KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy my flight ticket from John Wayne (Santa Ana) to Illinois?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from John Wayne (Santa Ana) 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 John Wayne (Santa Ana) 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 John Wayne (Santa Ana) 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 John Wayne (Santa Ana) 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 John Wayne (Santa Ana) 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 $332 on average. Morning departures are around 29% 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 $475.

Top tips for finding cheap flights to Illinois

  • Looking for a cheap flight? 25% of our users found tickets from John Wayne (Santa Ana) to the following destinations at these prices or less: Chicago $217 one-way - $316 round-trip

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from Santa Ana to Illinois

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying from Santa Ana 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 Santa Ana 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 10000 reviews
7.8Comfort
8.5Crew
7.1Food
7.1Entertainment
8.1Boarding
Airline reviews

Departing flight to San Diego was delayed. Return flight from SD to SBP was delayed. Not terrible but not ideal

4.0 OkaySean, Jul 2025SBP - SAN
Read more Alaska Airlines reviews

Departing flight to San Diego was delayed. Return flight from SD to SBP was delayed. Not terrible but not ideal

I always heard this was a terrible airline but I was happy to experience otherwise. The seats were more comfortable than delta. They did board late and gate was a little chaotic, which is to be expected for a budget airline. I would definitely do it again for that price.

My email notifications were silenced, so I didn't get word that the departing flight had changed gates. It wasn't until I noticed that few people had gathered for the flight that I checked the airport schedule board, 20 minutes before boarding. I then told several people at the old gate of the change. If I was to receive a text I would have been notified of the change earlier, Or to hear an announcement over the airport intercom.

Canceled flight. No communication of this prior. Rescheduled to next day. Our good seats we purchased months ago turned into last row middle. No apology, reason, nor compensation for time and $ spent.

delayed flight 3 hours, then took 45 min to get to gate and another 10 min to open door

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.

The plane was put out of service and had to wait for a new plane to be assigned. No one had any information and the information on the screens was never updated. The call wait time was 2 hours and the estimated time for text assistance was 55 minutes which was a lie because after 55 minutes nothing happened. I understand that delays happen but to not have anyone available to provide any update or reassurance was just negligent. Also, what is the point of having an 800 number if no one answers it and don’t get me started on the text message system. Ridiculous!

Great flight, no bumps to speak of, pleasant crew, good inflight entertainment choices

Coffee or tea service would be nice for an evening flight, water or juice not good enough.

Very expensive for short flights. Can’t communicate with Alaska Air about passport issue at check-in. Also no replies to my text messages. Wanted to extend our vacation for two more days but this expensive flight ticket is called SAVER and I couldn’t make changes or cancel or get a credit even, so I paid another airline for the return trip. Extremely disappointed.

Weather delay in Chicago?. No sense of urgency to make connection in Chicago for our connecting flight that wasn't delayed. Connection was missed.

Not a great experience. We paid for the upgrade for premium economy seats and seated ourselves in very comfortable seats. Someone came along with the same seat on their boarding pass. The aircraft had been changed and as a result we were booted out and sent further back to small uncomfortable seats. After complaining we were moved to emergency row seats, which gave us more leg room but the seats don’t recline. For people in our 70’s we found having to sit upright from California to NJ very uncomfortable. Not sure why they chose to move senior citizens instead of the two people that were allowed to take the more comfortable seats. Not happy.

Overall it was good. I missed my connection but I was put on another flight.

Overall a very poor experience - booked premium economy tickets but due to last minute flight delays , all my itinery went for a toss and had to fly economy class with no access to lounge or any compensation by united airlines to make up for the flight delays . i had expected better experience than that from united.

It was fine, definitely older planes with no charging or anything. There’s no entertainment set up on board, but it is nice that they allow you to access the in flight entertainment from your phone without having to pay for the Wi-Fi and they do offer free texting.

I liked that the flight was nonstop from ORD to CIU for $200 round trip.

The schedule to Moline changed 5 times. The gate changed 6 times. That is a pathetic way to run an airline. No wonder that no one in our company flies on United Express to or from Moline. Changes happen most of the time. I learned my lesson on this trip…never again!

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.

The first flight was better in terms of the aircraft.

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.

Our flight was 1.5 hours delayed. There was no weather for the inbound flight, so I don't understand why. This meant a VERY late arrival and only a quick nap before my morning flight.

Couldn’t get the door on the plane to close leading to a nearly 2 hour delay. But, hey at least they didn’t cancel the flight.

The flight was fine and the crew awesome. The problem is ORD and AA. Computers went down, ORD fell apart and a 40 min flight turned into a 3 hour trip. Guess the answer is to not try and fly to ORD after noon. But, as I said, crew was awesome and did everything they could to lesson the flight time.

The flight was fine but the 8 hour delay in Chicago was awful - 5 gate changes and repeated delays without an explanation. No vouchers. Nothing.

Most miserable flight ever. We waited almost 2 hours on the runway because the flight was oversold. American offered $1200 credit. Then there was some nonsense about weight distribution. Ridiculous. No food for 8 plus hours on the flight. I will be writing a letter.

The flight was 2 hour delayed, otherwise everything was excellent. The delay was due to the hourly limit requirement so given that as a reason, I'm happy with the flight!

Not sure the logic of the boarding in Groups. I was loaded first on the aisle. Then the guy in the middle. Then the guy by the window. Constantly holding up the other people boarding behind them with us blocking the aisle and this happened in most of the other rows

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.

Had a issue with catching flight due to airline, was unable to board flight

Spirit is a very uncomfortable travel experience. It’s cheap but you are squeezed into the seats like canned meat.

The seat belt was lengthy enough that I did not need an extender. Courteous and helpful flight attendants.

As expected. Nothing jumps out at me as bad or wrong, but the flight was fine. No complaints with pilot or crew. The flight left on time and arrived earlier than stated. Overall, I will continue to plan on flying with Spirit.

I liked how cheap it was but both my flights were delayed heavily

Good on that leg. When I arrived in Detroit I had to wait over an hour for luggage.

Horrible considering I didn’t go and I bought travel insurance and I didn’t receive a refund.

While on the flight we had a delay and had to sit on the plane while maintenance fixed it. It’s ended up taking an hour and a half longer to leave than expected. I had an unruly passenger sitting behind me that vaped during the flight and was rude and loud for the majority of the flight.

Spirit is by far the worst airline to travel with, period. Seats are cardboard, flight attendants need anger management and if you ask for water, you’re basically a criminal. I don’t care how much it costs but I will travel with an airline who actually cares about their customers. Oh and one more thing, the next time your gate agent puts his foot on someone’s baggage's scale, I hope they get what’s coming next, a viral video of your scams. You suck Spirit, do better.

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.

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.

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.

The crew was delayed because they came on another flight that was delayed due to weather 10pm flight left at 1.30 am The airline made no effort to align alternate crew

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

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