Heightened sanitation
Daily cleaning, installation of cabin HEPA filters on flights from Santa Barbara to Chicago
Low season |
October | Best time to beat the crowds with an average 20% drop in price. |
---|---|---|
High season |
March | Most popular time to fly with an average 27% increase in price. |
Average price round-trip |
$379 | (avg. price over the last 2 weeks) |
Good deal round-trip |
$248 | or less |
Good deal one-way |
$176 | or less |
United Airlines has waived its change and cancellation fees on flights from Santa Barbara to Chicago. Confirm policy on booking site.
Entry restrictions
The United States has restricted the entry of all foreign nationals who have passed through or have been in China, Iran, Most European Countries (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City), the UK, Ireland, Brazil and South Africa in the past 14 days.
With the exception of certain travelers which includes certain family members of US citizens or permanent residents including; spouses, children (under the age of 21), parents (provided that his/her US citizen or permanent resident child is unmarried and under the age of 21), and siblings (provided that both the sibling and the US citizen or permanent resident are unmarried and under the age of 21);
There is also an exception for travelers with the following visas: A-1, A-2, C-1, C-1/D, C-2, C-3, CR-1, CR-2, D, E-1 (as an employee of TECRO or TECO or the employee's immediate family members), G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4, IR-1, IR-4, IH-4, NATO-1 through NATO-4, or NATO-6 visa;
Members of the US Armed Forces, spouses, and children of members of the US Armed Forces;
Travelers with invitation of the USA government for a purpose related to the containment/mitigation of the Coronavirus (COVID-19);
Travelers with documents issued by the US Department of Homeland Security, US Customs and Border Protection, or US Department of State indicating that the traveler is exempt from the restriction;
B1 crew crewmembers that are engaged in lightering, Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) activity, wind farm activity, private air/sea crew and other similar crewmember activities;
Students with an F-1 or M-1 visa and their F-2 and M-2 dependents, if they arrive from or have been in Ireland, the UK or Schengen Area in the past 14 days.
Entry requirements
All travelers, 2 years of age or older (including US citizens and transit passenger) must present a negative COVID-19 viral or antigen test result issued 72 hours prior to departure or have a proof of recovery from the virus within the last 90 days prior to boarding the plane.
Exemptions or waiver to the testing requirements may be granted by the CDC on an extremely limited basis when emergency travel (like an emergency medical evacuation) must occur to preserve someone’s life, health against a serious danger, or physical safety and testing cannot be completed before travel.
US citizens and permanent residents arriving from the UK must present a medical certificate with a negative COVID-19 PCR or antigen test result issued within 72 hours prior to departure.
Quarantine requirements
Travelers are advised to get tested 3-5 days after travel and stay home and self-quarantine for 7 days after travel. Even if they test negative, they must still stay home and self-quarantine for the full 7 days. If the test is positive, isolate to protect others from getting infected.
Travelers who did not get tested, are advised to stay home and self-quarantine for 10 days after travel.
All other info
Travelers are subject to COVID-19 measures set by the state/territory of their final destination. For more information go to CDC website.
There are currently 1,095 active cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in US and 0 deaths as of Feb 24 2021
Please see our Coronavirus (COVID-19) Travel Restrictions page for more information on restrictions worldwide.
An average nonstop flight takes 4h 00m, covering a distance of 1812 miles.
There are 7 (nonstop) flights between Santa Barbara and Chicago per week, averaging 1 per day.
In the past 3 days, the cheapest one-way tickets were found on Alaska Airlines ($141) and American Airlines ($157), and the lowest round-trip tickets have been found on Alaska Airlines ($281) and American Airlines ($316).
No.
United Airlines flies 7 times weekly (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday).
From Santa Barbara to Chicago, Tuesday is the cheapest day to fly on average and Friday is the most expensive. Flying from Chicago back to Santa Barbara , the best deals are generally found on Monday, with Wednesday being the most expensive.
When flying out of Santa Barbara you will be using Santa Barbara, often referred to as Santa Barbara Airport. You will be landing at one of these airports: Chicago O'Hare Intl.
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 Santa Barbara to Chicago.
KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight to Chicago from Santa Barbara is likely to change within 7 days, so travelers know whether to wait or book now.
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 Chicago with an airline and back to Santa Barbara with another airline.
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 Chicago from Santa Barbara up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.
Scores according to KAYAK customer reviews
Pros: "Movie options and healthy food"
Pros: "Alaska is the friendliest airline, throughout every touchpoint we have with them."
Pros: "Very good price for what you get"
Cons: "More filling snack like cheese and crackers or nuts and a fruit"
Cons: "Need to turn off lights. Being under a florescent light for 4 hours sucks. Turn it off. Let me sleep."
Pros: "Um rude staff who couldn’t even be bothered to tell us where we would claim our bags, with ORD being a bit unclear for Alaska Airlines. Seriously, just communicate and be polite human beings."
Pros: "Arrived 30 min early"
Cons: "Having a gate at ORD. Waited on runway for 1.5 hours"
Cons: "The food options"
Cons: "There was grease under the seat in front which has ruined my shoes. They have to be thrown out now. Very unhappy with this outcome."
Pros: "Good timing"
Cons: "All went well"
Pros: "Love that they have free movie choices and free earphones. Also, loved the menu for drinks and food!"
Pros: "Friendly employees, smooth flight and great landing. Great price, fair baggage fees and also was allowed a free carry on. In flight snacks and entertainment options were nice too. This was my first time on your airlines and I will for sure be flying with you again in the future."
Cons: "We were delayed for 40 min and had a last minute gate change"
Pros: "Horrible. Airlane changed Gates at least 5 times. Delayed for hours. Waited more than 1 hour to get our bags at Chicago."
Cons: "See above"
Cons: "Great crew! Smooth flight. Need more hot options for food"
Pros: "Nothing"
Cons: "Missed connecting flight"
Pros: "Several great movie options."
Cons: "No free, little packs of food, and very small options list that was overpriced."
Pros: "Even though plane was full, comfortable"
Cons: "needed appropriate food for red eye Miss warm cookies and milk"
Pros: "All good with Alaska and Virgin America"
Cons: "No free food was offered. Movies were not free."
Pros: "timeliness, courteous, comfortable, charging outlets at every seat."
Cons: "weak movie selection"
Pros: "Pleasant attendants"
Cons: "All good"
Pros: "Boarding in order of seat numerical order (big numbered rows board first)"
Cons: "N/A"
Pros: "Boarding was efficient, seat was comfortable. I appreciate that food and drinks were offered often."
Cons: "One particular flight attendant purposely ignored me when I tried to ask for cream and sugar for my coffee which she did not offer when handing out drinks. Then she looked right at me twice as I tried to give her my garbage which she was collecting, but she ignored me again and left me holding my garbage until a different flight attendant came much later and took it without incident. It made me wonder if it was because I looked Asian- she was helpful and polite to the white women next to me. I was polite and was not being difficult in any way. I'm half white, but was often treated like this in Illinois when I was growing up. She should have been professional and if she had I would have rated the trip as excellent."
Pros: "The crew and the flight was awesome. Came in 50 minutes early!!!-"
Cons: "The screaming children I was surrounded by. No fault of the airline tho... The food smelled a lot better than it tasted tho... All three bites..."
Pros: "I have been very pleased flying Alaska Airlines."
Cons: "This flight was rather turbulent but not the fault of the airline. Still on time."
Pros: "I really liked that Alaska Airlines are on time. Also that they board the back of the plane first after first class."
Cons: "There was a little snafu with my connecting flight from Seattle to Portland. My luggage did not make it on the plane but my husband's did. I was misinformed at the airport after I put a claim in as to when it would be delivered."
Cons: "the lost my luggage"
Pros: "Same as above."
Pros: "Very professional staff yet personable, helpful with questions r/t the flight. Great flight and great landing! I love that you do not have to pay for every single thing and that the weight limit on luggage is still at 50 lbs! Definitely will use this airline again!"
Pros: "I've always had a good experience with Alaska Air."
Pros: "Everyone was very friendly and they made sure to fit all carry on bags in the cabin rather than having any of them checked. Boarding from the rear of the plane was a different approach, but a nice change."
Pros: "That I made it to Chicago at some point, however late."
Cons: "Flight was delayed even before we started boarding. There were weight restrictions, so people were moved around. When served lunch, there was nothing else but pasta. Found that odd for First Class passengers. I had to rush to finish my movie as they had to collect players ahead of landing - found that unnecessary. Then there was delay right before landing."
Pros: "I liked the choices of food and the movies!"
Cons: "I thought it took too long to get the laptops out. I didn't finish my movie."
Cons: "Seating felt a little more cramped than usual."
Cons: "Barely any free snacks, aside from water. Everything either needed to be paid for or was advertised in a way that eventually got annoying and overwhelming. I felt less like I was on an airplane and more at one of those promotion things where you have to sit in an uncomfortable chair for three hours listening to a guy in a suit talk about boats before you can get a free fast pass ticket to a ride at Disneyland."
Pros: "I like a lot the treatment"
Pros: "We left a little late but arrived early, great job Alaska!"
Cons: "See above."
Pros: "Everything was conducted professionally and calmly."
Cons: "The weather was bad, but the airline does not control that. ;)"
Pros: "Wonderful seat and attendants."
Pros: "The flight attendants were fantastic! The ine giving the safety speech was funny and made you pay attention. Great job all around on that flight!!!"
Pros: "Having an exit row"
Pros: "Nice clean airplanes. Quick and timely flights."
Pros: "Pilot information/anoucements."
Pros: "Not much at all really. Getting off the plane was nice."
Cons: "I didn't like being at the airport all day to be within 15 minutes of boarding and all of the sudden the flight was delayed 5+ hours. I could have gotten a hotel for the night again. Then after we get on the flight we have to sit in Seattle for an hour and a half because they had to fuel the plane up and switch crews. Not impressed."
Pros: "Very clean, on time, smooth flight. Overall, really great, thanks."
Pros: "The flight was fine. Typical of any other airline company."
Cons: "They managed to lose my box of fish on a Direct flight from Anchorage to Chicago. I might be more understanding if I had connecting flights. Unacceptable..."
Pros: "Every airline has the same basic situation to manage. When I fly Alaska, I always feel that everyone who works for Alaska works to do the best that they can and pass it on to their customers. I hope that they continue growing. They would be my first choice to fly everywhere."
Pros: "sat in exit row"
Cons: "no blanket available"
Pros: "Friendly , kind, crews"
Cons: "No good entertainment ,prefer personal t.v sreen"
Pros: "The service was fantastic and so was the food!!!!! Loved the movie options as well."
Pros: "All good, except poor prep on food"
Cons: "As above"
Pros: "Not much"
Cons: "Seating horrible"
Pros: "Over a hour late"
Cons: "Over a hour late"
Cons: "Seating ---- to tight"
Pros: "Newest aircraft, great customer service"
Cons: "Nothing"
Cons: "Seats are hard, narrow and generally uncomfortable."
Pros: "On time and arrived early!"
Cons: "Seats are getting more and more uncomfortable"
Cons: "gate assignment took too long"
Pros: "We liked the effiency and politeness of the staff. We enjoyed the movies, the food was better than normal."
Cons: "We were very unhappy at having to pay extra for our seats after we had booked the airfare. Especially on the way to Paris when there were so many extra available seats! I counted 50 available seats!"
Pros: "Cerainly boarding is easy and the seats are quite comfort in business class."
Cons: "the service, considering this was the highest level of service on these flights was less than I would have expected"
Cons: "Horrible long delays."
Cons: "The seats were so close together! I was between two men, and one was spitting tabaco into a cup. It was terrible."
Cons: "Not much offered on domestic flights."
Pros: "Nothing"
Cons: "Personnel; lack of customer service"
Cons: "Kayak repeatedly listed the departure gate as D36 when it was D17."
Cons: "It was cancelled"
Cons: "The tsa in chicago was very unorganized. The tsa workers were extremely rude."
Pros: "On time"
Cons: "Very cold on board"
Pros: "Was able to store my carry on and arrived early"
Pros: "Individual entertainment. Wowww!"
Cons: "Seat was a bit tiny. Free food snacks were not quite good."
Cons: "Lots of time changes. 1 piece of luggage sent wrong destination."
Pros: "AA Dreamliner was awesome"
Cons: "Holding terminal had no food establishments"
Pros: "Quick and easy boarding"
Cons: "Uncomfortable seats"
Pros: "Great service and friendly stafg"
Cons: "Loved the yourt for breakfadt...rest of it was ok"
Pros: "Fact we got there"
Cons: "Poor customer handling at Laguardia and no info why we were being delayed."
Pros: "The service and the food was great and getting to watch new release movies was a pleasant bonus"
Cons: "We did not get the seats we purchased but we did get a refund"
Pros: "Fast boarding."
Cons: "Slow on return of gate checked bags. A little late in getting off the ground."
Cons: "No power outlets. A bag of chips in 1st class is pretty weak. Compared to Europe flights we can from, aircraft felt like 1960's Aeroflot."
Pros: "Badly handled dealy situation"
Cons: "Airplane very clean like new"
Pros: "Only 30 minutes or so to ORD from GRB Paid with AA points at 7,500 miles each way for a weekend in Chicago"
Cons: "Paid for extra legroom, got a seat that didn't recline :("
Pros: "Everything was on time and luggage arrived at my final destination"
Cons: "Free wifi would be amazing :)"
Cons: "."
Pros: "Great attendants. Easy ride. Easy take off, easy landing."
Cons: "We departed late due to something going on in the runway. No free wifi option."
Pros: "Good air and great stewardesses"
Pros: "Smooth"
Pros: "Nothing"
Cons: "Everything"
Pros: "wifi was great"
Pros: "Fast check in, timely take off & arrival Excellent and friendly service"
Cons: "NA"
Pros: "Worst experience food is very bad"
Pros: "The staff were very friendly and informative"
Cons: "It felt a bit cramped, but overall nice seats and movie screens"
Pros: "1/2 empty"
Pros: "Staff members went above and beyond expections; accomodating some seating reassignment requests, charging customer phones, and being very responsive overall."
Cons: "It would have been nice to at least have USB chargers in economy class."
Pros: "On time"
Cons: "All well"
Pros: "On time. Friendly."
Cons: "Very late"
Pros: "Sears had more room than as medal, service and hospitality much improved over as. Dinner and breakfast were scrumptious and drink choices were abundant."
Pros: "All good"
Pros: "Nothing"
Cons: "Turbulence"
Pros: "Lousy pretzels. We had no choice in a snack!"
Cons: "Seats are for skinny high school kids who are only 5'2"."
Pros: "Great service. Free Internet and movi9"
Cons: "Seat next to the restroom"
Pros: "Cleanliness of plane"
Pros: "Great staff. Great safety explanation. Smooth fight"
Cons: "Nothing. Everything was great. I'll definitely try to stick with united for my future travels"
Pros: "arrived on time despite delayed departure"
Pros: "Flights was ontime"
Cons: "Plane was too hot, and then way to cold. This seems to be a re-occurring problem. I am not sure why the plane can't just be set to be be 68-72 degrees. There is no need for it to be above 80 or less than 60."
Pros: "Excellent service and friendly staff"
Cons: "Absolutely not enough room to stretch your legs"
Pros: "Lots of turbulence"
Pros: "The O'Hare bathrooms, which I shaved in? Everything else about the flights and the airports were awful, like of course"
Cons: "Delayed three times"
Pros: "Nice plane for a small one"
Cons: "Bumpy ride."
Cons: "Two time delayed"
Pros: "Staff was friendly and everything was timely. The operator on the phone was also great. Had the best deals for flights from Atlanta to Chicago for same day purchase."
Cons: "The seats on the Boeing 737 were very uncomfortable."
Pros: "Polite and pleasant attendants"
Cons: "nothing"
Pros: "Wheels up to wheels down took under 20 minutes."
Cons: "I'm 6'4" and if I would've had to sit on that plane much longer I would've been quite sore. Seats are small, space is exceedingly limited. But, it was a regional jet, so this was to be expected. Nonetheless, other airlines' regional jets haven't been quite so cramped."
Pros: "The price"
Cons: "I was unable to board because I didn't see the boarding time. This should be available even if it is just an estimated time. This way if I am running late I know what time I have to be there."
Cons: "Departure from Chicago was delayed"
Cons: "The very very long delay"
Pros: "Check-staff was very gracious."
Pros: "No problems"
Cons: "Little bumpy but bad weather"
Pros: "Friendly service, nice and comfortable."
Pros: "Food was good"
Cons: "Dinner was served within 1 hr of takeoff and breakfast 1-2 hrs of landing. Nothing served inbetween. There was about 10-11 hrs of nothing. No drinks or snacks served. Very poor service in compairison to other international flights I have taken."
Pros: "Staff was very nice"
Cons: "Two flights, two delays."
Cons: "I cancelled it and it appears it didn't really cancel"
Cons: "Seats were not very comfortable."
Cons: "Was told I could sit next to my travel partner but when we went to check in at the boarding gate, we did not have seats together...."
Pros: ". We got back 30minutes early then schedule!"
Pros: "Pilot got is there 25 min early"
Pros: "Cost Ease of booking"
Cons: "delays (weather based )"
Pros: "On time."
Pros: "Everything else was fine"
Cons: "Not a lot of smiles"
Pros: "Still deciding"
Cons: "All flights were late."
Pros: "Quick check in!"
Cons: "Delayes"
Pros: "Piolet communication, safe smooth landing inspite of horible turbulence."
Cons: "4hr delay, late on serving snacks, small aircraft, no tv, no phone charge system in the seats like other airlines/planes has."
Pros: "Trip was on time and a good experience overall."
Cons: "No Coffee"
Cons: "Lack of comfortable space. :-("
Pros: "I like the complementary soda. The boarding groups system is smart."
Cons: "I don't care for the wifi options. Loud children."
Pros: "Excellent"
Pros: "On time"
Pros: "As pleasant as possible."
Cons: "Nothing negative to note."
Pros: "Attendant was attentive to her job."
Cons: "The aircraft is uncomfortable."
Pros: ".The attendant was caring and efficient."
Cons: "The boarding process seems to be a cluster of misguided sheep. The aircraft is uncomfortable even for us thinner patrons."
Cons: "The plane was just small and I'm a big guy."
Pros: "I was so comfortable and I got to sleep"
Pros: "Very friendly and great service. Gave us drinks twice."
Pros: "It was night time. The passengers were tired sleepy. I loved it. I needed that."
Cons: "Well what I don't like has nothing to do with the company. Turbulence, that's like a bumpy road with no bottom. Jesus!!!"
Pros: "The service for wheel chair people was excellent"
Airlines flying from Santa Barbara to Chicago have enacted additional safety measures and adjusted policies to better accommodate travelers. Policies vary by airline.
Heightened sanitation
Daily cleaning, installation of cabin HEPA filters on flights from Santa Barbara to Chicago
Mandatory masks
Masks required on board, masks provided on flights from Santa Barbara to Chicago
Social distancing seating
Middle seats unavailable to book on flights from Santa Barbara to Chicago
Pre-flight testing
Testing for antibodies, testing for symptoms for flights from Santa Barbara to Chicago
Flexible cancellations
Waiving of change fees. Search flexible flights from Santa Barbara to Chicago