$138 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 4/14. 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$447
St. Louis
St. Louis1 stop$343
Moline
Moline1 stop$447
St. Louis
St. Louis1 stop$343

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

Wed, Apr 22 - Sat, Apr 25
Alaska Airlines Logo
2:53 pm - 1:13 pm
SBA
-
ORD
20h 20m
1 stop
Alaska Airlines Logo
3:52 pm - 11:45 pm
ORD
-
SBA
9h 53m
1 stop
$265Alaska Airlines
Wed, Apr 22 - Fri, Apr 24
Alaska Airlines Logo
6:00 am - 7:03 pm
SBA
-
ORD
11h 03m
1 stop
Alaska Airlines Logo
8:48 pm - 6:19 pm
ORD
-
SBA
23h 31m
1 stop
$267Alaska Airlines
Wed, Apr 15 - Sat, Apr 18
Delta Logo
4:53 pm - 8:37 am
SBA
-
ORD
13h 44m
2 stops
Delta Logo
7:35 am - 11:59 am
ORD
-
SBA
6h 24m
1 stop
$270Delta
Wed, Apr 15 - Sat, Apr 18
Delta Logo
4:53 pm - 8:37 am
SBA
-
ORD
13h 44m
2 stops
Delta Logo
1:29 pm - 10:48 pm
ORD
-
SBA
11h 19m
2 stops
$275Delta
Wed, Apr 15 - Sat, Apr 18
Southwest Logo
5:30 am - 6:50 pm
SBA
-
ORD
11h 20m
2 stops
Southwest Logo
7:00 am - 5:35 pm
ORD
-
SBA
12h 35m
2 stops
$281Southwest
Wed, Apr 22 - Fri, Apr 24
Southwest Logo
5:30 am - 6:50 pm
SBA
-
ORD
11h 20m
2 stops
Southwest Logo
6:15 pm - 10:30 pm
ORD
-
SBA
6h 15m
1 stop
$285Southwest
Tue, May 12 - Sat, May 16
American Airlines Logo
4:11 pm - 12:02 am
SBA
-
STL
5h 51m
1 stop
American Airlines Logo
5:20 am - 12:12 pm
STL
-
SBA
8h 52m
1 stop
$349American Airlines
Fri, Jul 3 - Sat, Jul 11
American Airlines Logo
12:38 pm - 11:30 pm
SBA
-
MLI
8h 52m
1 stop
American Airlines Logo
7:20 am - 11:48 am
MLI
-
SBA
6h 28m
1 stop
$447American Airlines
Tue, Apr 7 - Sat, Apr 11
United Airlines Logo
12:30 pm - 10:57 pm
SBA
-
PIA
8h 27m
1 stop
United Airlines Logo
6:30 am - 11:13 am
PIA
-
SBA
6h 43m
1 stop
$459United Airlines
Sat, Aug 22 - Wed, Aug 26
United Airlines Logo
12:35 pm - 10:52 pm
SBA
-
PIA
8h 17m
1 stop
United Airlines Logo
2:33 pm - 9:52 pm
PIA
-
SBA
9h 19m
2 stops
$464United Airlines
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 Santa Barbara to Illinois flight route?

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

The cheapest ticket to Illinois from Santa Barbara found in the last 72 hours was to Chicago, at $269 round-trip. The most popular route is from Santa Barbara (SBA) 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.

What is the cheapest time of day to fly to Illinois?

The average price for all round-trip flights from Santa Barbara to Illinois depending on the time of departure, clicked by users on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks.

The cheapest time of day to fly to Illinois is generally in the morning, when round-trip flights cost $387 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 $387.

Can I save money by flying with a layover from Santa Barbara 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 $385, prices are generally cheapest when you fly direct.

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 $274 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are November and October, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $555 and $542 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 Wednesday and more expensive on a Tuesday. On your return trip to Santa Barbara, you should consider flying back on a Saturday, and avoid Mondays for better deals.

Good to know

Low seasonFebruary
Cheapest flight$138
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 15% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 5% 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.

  • How many flights are there between Santa Barbara and Illinois per day?

    There is a maximum of 1 nonstop flight a day that takes off from Santa Barbara and lands in Illinois, with an average flight time of 4h 00m. The most common departure time is 12:00 pm and most flights take off in the morning. Each week, there are 7 flights.

Top tips for finding cheap flights to Illinois

  • Looking for a cheap flight? 25% of our users found tickets from Santa Barbara to the following destinations at these prices or less: Chicago $158 one-way - $328 round-trip

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 4319 reviews
7.0Food
8.0Comfort
7.5Entertainment
8.6Crew
8.1Boarding
Airline reviews

Boarding was easy. The seats are small and fairly uncomfortable

8.0 ExcellentNicole, Mar 2026
LGB - OAK
Read more Southwest reviews

Boarding was easy. The seats are small and fairly uncomfortable

The problem with the seat assignments is that there were a lot of rows in the front that were empty but my row at the back was full. Just not so pleasant.

Good but I prefer choose your own seat. With the new assigned seats they should board from the back I see no advantage to this new boarding. Just like every other airline

WiFi was not working and didn’t have a beverage service

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

My flight was canceled on Sunday. Rebooking took three hours. Had to pay for accommodations another night. New flight was delayed for 5 hours, all that was sent was a 12 dollar food voucher, which doesn’t tell you how to use it. Then when we landed we had to sit on the plane for an hour before we could get off.

I was in first class and literally the men behind me were so aggressively loud I moved myself to economy. This has become so common on Delta - people using audio without headphones, and men on 12am / late night flights drinking and yelling to talk to each other which prevents anyone around them from resting. Pretty crazy to have to move from first to economy (poorer service, less comfort...). Wild wild. Looking into other airlines.

There was an unruly family behind us that made the short flight miserable!!! The cabin crew did nothing to contain it.

Flight was delayed by 3-hours and their fix was… complimentary pretzels.

The crew, and fellow passengers, were super gracious and kind. There seemed to be plenty of bin space even though the plane was full. It’s nice to get a glass of wine with dinner in Premiere seating, and there was a lot of food.

Everything I mentioned earlier - the airbus was more comfortable indeed and the experience was further enhanced.

Flight delay was frustrating, also you cannot checkin online without delta app, web browser check-in throw errors

The plane was an older model, so it wasn’t as comfortable as others. The flight attendants were not helpful during onboarding. It was a full flight so there was chaos finding space for baggage.

Awesome! On time flight, early arrival, and a complimentary upgrade!

Got on the plane and sat there for an hour before departure.

Economy plus was so cramped I could not use my laptop. It was beyond bad.

Wonderful. Quick boarding. Early departure and we arrived 30 minutes early at our destination. Unfortunately, when you arrive early, there is still a departing aircraft at our gate. We had to park for 30 minutes until the gate was clear. So our early arrival was not really early at the gate. Otherwise it was a quick and smooth flight. Appreciated the efficiency.

Crew was great (professional, attentive, prompt). Snacks for 4 hrs flight is deplorable.

United Airlines is my preferred airlines and I am thankful for Gary who also help support me on the phone to switch my flight literally last min.

Seated dude next to me even though lots of empty rows. But main thing was we sat on the tarmac after landing for 30 minutes because of, in the words of the dude who sat next to me, “operational incompetence”. We got changing directions about where to pick up gate checked bags. Pilot and flight attendant were awesome though.

It was a pretty standard flight... until the almost hour and a half spent on the taxi way. I get that the weather has been poor but the delay had nothing to do with the weather and more to do with a plane with several issues tying up the gate. I get that that happens from time to time but this has been EVERY flight I've been on for the past 5 years and I fly 3 to 5 times a year. This isn't just United... it's American, it's Delta. It's an issue with the entire industry. I work for UPS and packages on a cargo plane get better service than people do these days. Anymore I HATE flying.

Perfect flight. Smooth flight. Arrived 20 minutes early at destination. Excellent service.

The flights were on time which was great give. It was holiday travel season and there’d been some weather issues. The only complaint and this is every time with United is the terrible seat design. The head rest is not built for comfort and having my neck bent forward for a cross country trip reminded me while I try not to take United flights as a rule.

Everything was absolutely wonderful from check in to baggage claim. Staff was very professional and sweet. Will definitely recommend United to family and friends.

They did the one thing that really matters - got to Chicago early.

Jill was the flight attendant in first class she was fabulous!! Best flight attendant I have had in years.!! And I fly every other week. Other can learn from her!!

As a first class customer, there was no power the entire flight which limited my ability to work. I find this unacceptable. The first 11 rows on the left side of the plan were out. I was only offered the option to charge my phone which was not the issue because my laptop was out of power. I asked if there was anything that can be done for me, and the answer was, "no". I was not offered any type of compensation for this AA problem which caused me unnecessary stress due to inability to address business issues on an already challenging travel day. Flight attendants tried to reset the power once but that was the extent of their support. Very disappointing for the lack of expected services on a flight. Please contact me with customer focused response to this complaint.

There was no inflight service. Once we landed we were delayed to find a gate for an hour and a half which was 1/2 the total time in the air.

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.

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

Information on your arrival and departure airports