$171 Find Cheap Flights from Santa Barbara 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 Barbara to Illinois departing on 12/20. 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, 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 Santa Barbara to Illinois, 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 Santa Barbara to Illinois, as well as popular online travel agencies
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Cheap Flights from Santa Barbara to Illinois

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours
Moline
Moline1 stop$379
Bloomington
Bloomington1 stop$469
St. Louis
St. Louis1 stop$319
Moline
Moline1 stop$379
Bloomington
Bloomington1 stop$469
St. Louis
St. Louis1 stop$319

Book Cheap Santa Barbara 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 Barbara 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 Barbara to Illinois

Sat, Feb 14 - Tue, Feb 17
United Airlines Logo
5:00 am - 2:50 pmSBA-ORD
7h 50m1 stop
United Airlines Logo
8:45 am - 1:18 pmORD-SBA
6h 33m1 stop
$280United Airlines
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Sat, Feb 14 - Tue, Feb 17
American Airlines Logo
12:39 pm - 11:40 pmSBA-ORD
9h 01m2 stops
American Airlines Logo
1:30 pm - 6:23 pmORD-SBA
6h 53m1 stop
$290American Airlines
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Sat, Jan 24 - Wed, Feb 4
Alaska Airlines Logo
7:20 am - 11:55 pmSBA-ORD
14h 35m2 stops
Alaska Airlines Logo
8:00 am - 7:47 pmORD-SBA
13h 47m2 stops
$313Alaska Airlines
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Tue, Dec 9 - Sat, Jan 17
Delta Logo
8:25 am - 6:33 pmSBA-STL
8h 08m1 stop
Delta Logo
7:00 am - 12:16 pmSTL-SBA
7h 16m1 stop
$319Delta
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Fri, Feb 13 - Tue, Feb 17
United Airlines Logo
5:00 am - 2:50 pmSBA-ORD
7h 50m1 stop
United Airlines Logo
4:05 pm - 9:16 pmORD-SBA
7h 11m1 stop
$319United Airlines
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Sat, Feb 14 - Tue, Feb 17
American Airlines Logo
6:12 am - 6:30 pmSBA-ORD
10h 18m2 stops
American Airlines Logo
10:48 am - 6:23 pmORD-SBA
9h 35m2 stops
$322American Airlines
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Wed, Dec 10 - Sun, Jan 18
Delta Logo
5:40 am - 6:33 pmSBA-STL
10h 53m2 stops
Delta Logo
7:00 am - 12:16 pmSTL-SBA
7h 16m1 stop
$324Delta
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Sat, Jan 24 - Wed, Feb 4
Alaska Airlines Logo
7:20 am - 11:55 pmSBA-ORD
14h 35m2 stops
Alaska Airlines Logo
8:00 am - 1:57 pmORD-SBA
7h 57m1 stop
$328Alaska Airlines
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Tue, Feb 24 - Fri, Feb 27
Southwest Logo
3:00 pm - 12:15 pmSBA-ORD
19h 15m2 stops
Southwest Logo
2:15 pm - 11:30 pmORD-SBA
11h 15m2 stops
$416Southwest
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Wed, Apr 8 - Sun, Apr 12
Southwest Logo
5:30 am - 6:50 pmSBA-ORD
11h 20m2 stops
Southwest Logo
6:15 pm - 10:35 pmORD-SBA
6h 20m1 stop
$492Southwest
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Booking Insights

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

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

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

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for round-trip flights from Santa Barbara 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 Barbara to Illinois is June, when tickets cost $369 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are January and November, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $749 and $574 respectively.

What’s the cheapest day of the week to fly from Santa Barbara to Illinois?

The average price of all round-trip flights from Santa Barbara 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 Saturday and more expensive on a Monday. On your return trip to Santa Barbara, you should consider flying back on a Monday, and avoid Thursdays for better deals.

Good to know

Low seasonJanuary
Cheapest flight$171
Best time to beat the crowds but there is an average 21% increase in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 18% lower on average.
Flight from Santa Barbara to Chicago

FAQs - booking Illinois flights

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from Santa Barbara 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 Santa Barbara to Illinois.

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from Santa Barbara 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 Santa Barbara 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 Santa Barbara 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 Santa Barbara 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 Santa Barbara 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 $431 on average. Morning departures are around 1% cheaper than evening flights, on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to Illinois is generally in the evening, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is $466.

Reviews of the top 4 airlines serving from Santa Barbara to Illinois

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying from Santa Barbara 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 Barbara 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
SouthwestOverall score based on 4241 reviews
7.0Food
8.6Crew
8.0Comfort
8.1Boarding
7.5Entertainment
Airline reviews

Ever since Southwest starting charging for bags, passengers don't want to pay to check their bags, so the gate agents have to beg people to check their roller bags now because there's "not enough space". This was a terrible business move by Southwest.

8.0 ExcellentGreg, Oct 2025OAK - BUR
Read more Southwest reviews

Ever since Southwest starting charging for bags, passengers don't want to pay to check their bags, so the gate agents have to beg people to check their roller bags now because there's "not enough space". This was a terrible business move by Southwest.

Sacrament staff are always polite and helpful. Airport is easy to maneuver and boarding is straightforward.

Excellent. Would encourage Southwest to keep current boarding procedures with free style seating. Makes for a fantastic experience

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.

Worst experience I had on Southwest. Still better than most, but the seating was barely tolerable.

It was okay. The plane was delayed from earlier in the day, but they kept updating the departure time, sometimes later, sometimes earlier. That was stressful. Once we finally got on and took off, it was fine. I was supposed to have a connection in Chicago to Los Angeles, and the time for so late I was rebooked to arrive in LA 3 hours late. The departure time to Chicago later became early enough to have taken my original connection and arrive earlier but that wasn't an option.

Delayed flight. Nicest crew member was a SW pilot flying seated next to me who kindly move to seat the final passenger. Flight extra delayed. My cup of refreshment of ginger ale was so packed with ice it was literally 2 sips.

No trays in our seats, we sat in first row, purchased a business class fare. Had to hold our drinks and snack in our hands. No plugs for our cell phones. Had to pay for it a drink cocktail each. Seats so uncomfortable.

Staff were friendly and happy. Delta could make sure passengers that don't have the app know of changes. Without Kayak I would not have known about the change of gate or the delay. Kayak was faster to notify me.

The flight used a B767 with a very old interior from before 2014. The entertainment system did not work at all during the flight despite attempts to reset the system. It was like they flew this route just to be competitive.

Delayed flight (1hour) plus a long layover after an overnight flight with no backup plane available.

Cramped seating for me. Luckily it wasn’t a long flight

Flight delayed for two and half hours and then canceled altogether due to mechanical issues. No mechanic onsite to fix so had to send one from LAX.

My husband upgraded our seats and I don't know if it was due to the type of planet was or if they didn't upgrade our seats. We were supposed to be in I believe comfort seats and they were just as tight as any other seat- no leg room and we are very tall people but at least it wasn't extremely cold. My husband did put in a complaint about our seating because he paid extra and if we would have known that the space and the tightness would have been the same, we just would have gotten the emergency row emergency row seats that we normally get. We love Delta but both our flights coming home we're not good. Oh I forgot to mention that on our flight to Hawaii our luggage wheels got broke and we had to purse new luggage on vacation then we never had this problem so we didn't know protocol and reported it after we got home only for them to tell is we only had 24hrs to report the damage. Not sure what was going on with Delta this vacation trip.

Crew was excellent. Comfort seats not as nice as other kinds of planes.

It was a great flight and the stewards and stewardess were all kind and accommodating!! The seats were comfortable and entertainment screen excellent!

There are 4 flights in consecutive gates with about the same departure time. Two flights were boarding at the same time. One was delayed or boarding would be happening at the same time. I am not sure what Delta and LAX need to do to have a better layout at the end of Terminal 2

There was a security issue at the airport and we were unable to land. We circled endlessly and then landed at another airfield for fuel. We then circled the airport again, almost landed but didn’t fully touch down before circling again. I am thankful to the crew for keeping us safe- the issue was the airline and staff at the airport getting us seats on our connecting flights. That part was hours of searching for someone and getting in double my steps.

Flight was delayed only slightly before takeoff due to traffic control. However, the flight arrived early to ORD. Good flight. United has been very reliable for me.

Another delayed flight. When the delays exceed the duration of the flight, it’s a problem.

After boarding the plane in Chicago, the passengers were told that there was a technical problem with the plane. Passengers remained on the plane as they tried to fix the problem. After what was probably an hour passengers were told that there was a need to change planes as the problem was not solved. Passengers disembarked and boarded another plane. After taxing to the runway and waiting for takeoff, passengers were told that owing to the thunderstorm the flight was unable to take off but would try and reroute. After some time passengers were told there wasn't enough fuel for the new route and the plane had to return to the gate for additional fuel. after another log delay the flight got underway. On the plane there was food, drinks, ice or entertainment. We were a glass of water, which appeared rationed. Flight arrived about 5 hours late. The pilot was fantastic and communicated with the passengers throughout the ordeal.

Better WiFi. I cannot understand that in 2025, United is so behind on a technology that is now a necessity and still painfully unreliable, slow and keeps disconnecting.

Trip was great. A wild landing in Ottawa with the wind and rain, but the pilot did a great job. Always love flying United.👍

Excellent experience. Starting with the agent at the Premier bag drop who noticed I was very early for my scheduled flight and offered to rebook me on an earlier flight with my seat preference. She would not let me leave the counter until she knew that all of the changes and new boarding pass showed up on my United app. At the gate, the flight boarded quickly such that we departed early and the flight was smooth. We arrived 20 minutes early at ORD and I was able to be home in time for dinner. One of the best flights I've had.

Salina to travers city was great! But the sept 24 Tranverse city was not! Traverse city to chichago was cancelled, i went to Denver & got to Salina 6 hours later!

See previous note about the passenger in Denver who threw my husband's bag out of the overhead bin in order to maker room for his own. And the flight attendant back up the new passenger.

Flight attendant in first class gave poor service (like he didn't want to be there) and food was awful. We sat waiting for gate upon arrival over 45 mins.

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

It was good..clean, comfy seat. Friendly warm welcoming crew. Was able to check my cabin luggage at the gate which I was able to pickup in a decent time from baggage claim. The app gave all updates from delays to baggage claim info. Overall smooth flight.

It was a typical flight. We had a delay which seems to be the normality now. And we had no in flight service due to conditions.

After we landed we sat on the tarmac for 1.5 hours waiting to get to our gate. Ridiculous.

Terrible. Flight delayed for more than 8 hours with only a $12 meal voucher provided for the inconvenience. The airplane did not have breaks on arrival yet they still made us go through the motions and board on time knowing we could not take off then sit for 40+ minutes before having to get of the time. A complete waste of my time. I cannot believe they can stay business with these shenanigans. I’ll avoid this company like the plague moving forward as the lack of accountability is disgraceful.

This was the best 2 flights I have had with American out of SGF. Great crew both flights.

Excellent - explanations were clear staff was nice and flight was comfortable

Lost bag and 2 days no word leaving for cruise no clothes or stuff

Any flight to ORD after about 2pm this summer has been challenging. Flight was delayed getting in (coming from ORD) and that led to it not leaving before a ground stop due to lightening before they could fuel the plane, and so forth. They made up some time but we were still late in arriving at ORD, and that led to missed connections.

Food was ok, but not as good as I have had before on AA.

Pretty good. The food was just mediocre, the boarding and crew were good.

Everything you need to know for your flight from Santa Barbara to Illinois

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