$130 Find Deals on Flights from Santa Barbara - Compare and Save

1 adult
1 adult, Economy, 0 bags

Save 21% or more on flights. Compare deals from all over the web.

Never overpay with our price tracking tools.

Filter searches by price, airline and more to find your best flights.

Flight Deals
Booking Insights
Flight Deals

Find Cheap Flights from Santa Barbara

Where can I fly from Santa Barbara?Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 5 days
Sort by: Cheapest
United States
United States
0h 45mNonstop
from $117per person
Canada
Canada
4h 16m2 stops
from $386per person
Mexico
Mexico
5h 08m2 stops
from $481per person
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for flights from Santa Barbara

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

Which are the most popular places to fly to from Santa Barbara?

Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular place to fly from Santa Barbara is New York (12% of total searches). The next most popular destinations are Denver Intl (9%) and Dallas (7%).

What are the most popular international flights out of Santa Barbara?

There are many international destinations you can fly to from Santa Barbara. The most popular international destinations among KAYAK users are Mexico City, San José del Cabo and Puerto Vallarta.

Which cities can I fly to direct from Santa Barbara?

There are loads of places you can fly direct to from Santa Barbara. The most popular destinations for direct flights among KAYAK users are Chicago, San Diego, Portland, San Francisco and Denver. On average, the cheapest of these destinations on KAYAK over the last 2 weeks for a return flight was San Diego at $58, while the most expensive was Chicago, at $398.

What is the longest direct flight from Santa Barbara?

The longest direct flight you can take from Santa Barbara is to Chicago, with a duration of 4h 19m. The next longest is Dallas/Fort Worth Airport at 3h 22m, followed by a flight to Seattle at 2h 37m.

What are the cheapest places to fly to from Santa Barbara?

The cheapest destination for a flight from Santa Barbara found on KAYAK in the last two weeks was San Francisco and cost $58. The next cheapest destinations were San Diego at $101 and Las Vegas at $105.

Good to know

Low season

January

Cheapest flight

$71
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 25% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 13% lower on average.
Flight from Santa Barbara to San Francisco

Flights from Santa Barbara: the best tips from KAYAK users' own experiences

Insights shared by verified travelers who flew from Santa Barbara to anywhere 
DAVIDFlew with United Airlines-Sep 2026
The SBA airport food options are very limited as the airport is small (6 gates). Cozy country feel to the airport.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska Airlines-Jun 2026
Check your flight the night before! My flight was canceled and rebooked but it is a common thing to have flights cancelled. The airport is small so going through TSA is fairly quick.
Odessa DelainaFlew with American Airlines-Dec 2024
Do not arrive more than 1 1/2 hours before departure. There wasn’t anyone to accept baggage and no seating available.

FAQs for booking flights out of Santa Barbara

  • Where are some places I can fly to nonstop from Santa Barbara?

    There are several US cities you can reach via nonstop flights from Santa Barbara, most of these being in the western part of the US. You can fly to Oakland (OAK), Sacramento (SMF), Las Vegas (LAS), Denver (DEN), Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), Dallas (DFW), Portland (PDX), Phoenix (PHX), or Seattle (SEA).

  • Does Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) have a service animal relief area?

    Yes, SBA does have a relief area for pets and service animals, but it is important to note that the only one is located landside, just past the side entrance of the terminal. This means that once you pass through security, there is no place for your pet or service animal to relieve itself.

  • How can I make my flight from Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) more sustainable?

    Those worried about sustainability on their journey should consider using public transport to arrive at the airport and to leave their destination airport. You should also consider booking direct flights to your final destination to cut down on takeoffs and landings during your trip. The most sustainable airlines operating from SBA are Alaska Airlines and American Airlines, so if possible, book your trip with them.

  • Does Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) have services for those with limited mobility?

    Yes, SBA is an ADA-compliant airport. Upon arrival, you will have access to accessible parking, wheelchair assistance, a service animal relief area, and access to the Hidden Disability Sunflower Program if needed. If you need to use these services, you should contact your airline in advance. 

  • What is Santa Barbara also known as?

    Santa Barbara Airport’s airport code is SBA. It can also be referred to as Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Municipal.

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from Santa Barbara?

    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.

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from Santa Barbara 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?

    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 your destination with an airline and back to Santa Barbara with another airline.

  • What is KAYAK's "flexible dates" feature and why should I care when looking for a flight from Santa Barbara?

    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 up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

Top tips for finding a cheap flight out of Santa Barbara

  • Looking for a cheap flight? 25% of our users found tickets from Santa Barbara to the following destinations at these prices or less: Denver $205 one-way - $396 round-trip; Phoenix $226 one-way - $385 round-trip; San Francisco $150 one-way - $257 round-trip
  • Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) serves not only the city of Santa Barbara, California, but also other nearby cities like Naples, Isla Vista, and Conception. This airport is not currently a hub for any major airlines.
  • If you are leaving early in the morning from Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), it is a good idea to book a hotel room nearby to skip the stressful morning transfer. There are not any hotels directly at the airport, but there are many nearby that offer free shuttles to the terminal, including Hampton Inn Goleta/Santa Barbara.
  • If you are flying out of Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) and will need to park your car at the airport while you’re gone, you have several options to choose from: long-term parking, short-term parking, and economy parking. Long-term parking and economy parking will be the best and cheapest options for longer trips. It is not possible to reserve a space in advance.
  • If you are trying to reach the east coast of the US, you should be aware that there are currently no direct flights to that area of the country. Depending on the airline you travel with, you will likely have a layover in another west coast city or in Dallas (DFW) before reaching your final destination.
  • There are four airlines that operate from the Santa Barbara Airport (SBA): Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. Southwest serves the widest range of destinations, while both Southwest and United often serve the largest number of daily departures.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from Santa Barbara to Worldwide

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Santa Barbara to Worldwide? 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 4195 reviews
7.0Food
7.5Entertainment
8.1Boarding
8.0Comfort
8.6Crew
Airline reviews

The Southwest airline was ok. A big thank you to Kayak team (David), who worked with me on Sunday afternoon to rebook my travel from Burbank, CA, to CVG. My original flight on Sunday was delayed, so I had to cancel Sunday flight and rebook my travel to Monday. Could not have done it without help from David from Kayak team. Ante Soda GE Aerospace

10.0 ExcellentAnte, Aug 2026
Read more Southwest reviews

The Southwest airline was ok. A big thank you to Kayak team (David), who worked with me on Sunday afternoon to rebook my travel from Burbank, CA, to CVG. My original flight on Sunday was delayed, so I had to cancel Sunday flight and rebook my travel to Monday. Could not have done it without help from David from Kayak team. Ante Soda GE Aerospace

Seated at front bulkhead for a smidge extra leg room away from home and on flight back home. Away crew was very proactive about assuring our carryons had space close behind us (because no seat in front of us our personal items had to be in a small bin overhead). They actively required passengers place overhead luggage on its side so more items could fit in bins. Home crew made no such efforts. I had to struggle back rows to get overhead bags upon landing, no crew help then either, and some disgruntled passengers as I and others retrieved our bags. There was a system that worked pretty well. The home bound crew just didn't feel like working.

Red eye from San Diego. Temperature of the cabin was way too warm and the air duct flowed very little air.

I think Southwest is the number one airline that anyone can fly I have flown for the first time Frontier and what a joke and their customer service United was a very strange experience I'm only sticking to Southwest from here on out for sure

Great job Southwest! My family doesn't fly often but we felt safe the whole time.

Flight was delayed, full flight and I had to change gates. Southwest flights are always late later in the day.

Was fine, delayed and feels like southwest is always late

The entire experience from boarding to landing was amazing! The crew were very friendly. Will definitely be back.

Delayed flight, lack of information, boarding process is a mess as is the carryon luggage causing issues when leaving the plane….just a poor experience.

Comfortable. Easy. No problems. Just wish they had gf options for snacks.

This was the best flight I’ve ever been on- solely for the purpose that our pilot gave us a tour of the west coast. He didn’t need to do that but he did and it made the experience spectacular. Well done.

Seat didn’t recline at all- very uncomfortable after three hours

Trip from SNA to SFO and back was riddled with DELAYS.

Very good. Plane was newly renovated so everything was very clean

Flight there was massively delayed but never updated on the app. Flight home was massively delayed but also never reported until after we arrived at the airport.

I love the service! I was hoping they would keep the Ontario to Santa Rosa route.

Service OK except could not make out much of what the pilot said when making announcements. Wish they would have had seat back screens. Charging ports were conveniently located. Overall very average experience. Far from the best, but I've had worse.

Gate agent and flight crew were amazing! Only issue was landing and waiting on the run way for 30 mins to deplane.

Over all it was great. My original flight was canceled but they quickly rebooked me. I was frustrated because I had to cancel my entire plans for the day but all considered, not bad. The crew tried to keep us calm while we sat in the plane for was felt was an hour or so but they could use a bit of a script. The seats were comfortable and I would give it another try.

If they actually let me fly. I was rerouted to United and there was no Alaska airlines reps at all. Then the lady who worked the delta counter told me to go away and figure things out myself. Horrible experience.

DL482 did not wait for about 10 of us including a mother and 3 children when we were in the same terminal on DL486, where we were switching from waiting for a jet bridge fix, to moving to a neighboring gate. I understand taxiing delays are ok either but man. We only needed 5 more minutes. DL482 did not adjust from their times at all. This was my first time with Delta.

Delta is getting worst by the minute. Where this was at one point my only go to airline, it has become like a budget airline

The internet on these planes stinks. Need to get starlink

Very bad multiple confusion and miscommunication which i ended up missing my flight.

Even though we arrived early and checked in, for some unexplained reason, our bags were removed from the plane and put on the next flight. It took over 12 hours after arriving to get our bags.

Internet connectivity still seems to be touchy on these flights, making it difficult to rely on it for getting work done.

Delta is always late. Ruined our first day of a short vacation. Timing is important. We pay to stay on an itinerary

My son’s suitcase was left behind at SFO and did not make the flight.

Seats were not bad enough and uncomfortable good legroom in the emergency exit row we were in, but we were forbidden to hold my grandson on my lap for a little while, and the stewardess passed us saying it was against regulations which makes little or no sense when you’re 36,000 feet. The food snacks were really bad. Tasteless tasted like wallpaper, but we’re supposed to be protein bars, and the announcements were all completely incoherent because of the noise of the airplane and the lowness and crackly nature of the PA system.. this was disgraceful. No one in our party could understand a word of what the captain or the flight attendant were saying —not a word! The landing was a little hairy in a pretty stiff crosswind -we bounced before the plane stabilized on the runway

Flight team was great and we even arrived ahead of plan!

Return Premium Economy section to the smaller section with comfortable seats. Add internet, upgrade the meals, and upgrade/update the Movies and Music onboard.

We paid extra to check our bags ($90*2=$180) but our luggage remained in Frankfurt. VERY DISAPPOINTED as we were promised that our luggage would go to our destination. We had to pay 90€ to take a taxi back to the airport in Split the next day to get our bags so we would not miss our next step on our trip. We think we should be reimbursed for our checked bags. How can we coordinate this?

Boarding, time to take off, in flight offerings, and staff were all great. I recommend using UA for this short flight.

This was an auto-rebook due to being delayed from an earlier UA connecting flight. The boarding was fine, but they sat me in a middle seat when my original booking was a window seat. Overall, the flight was fine as it still got me to my final destination.

The flight out of Fresno boarded 1.5 hour past scheduled and made me miss my connecting flight from SFO to SEA.

I missed the flight due to maintenance issues. This is the second flight I’ve missed in four days because United allows such little time between layovers. Very disappointing

My return flight to Honolulu (UA 1170) was on a 777-200. I’d forgotten the weird seating arrangement in first-class (2-2-2); I was in 1B, so I faced the passenger in 1C. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the flight computer, so we left LA an hour late (6:05pm). The meal I chose was Korean BBQ Glazed short rib. It was served with a nice salad and fried rice. This meal was better than breakfast on the outgoing leg. All in all, a decent flying experience. Ratings: 777: 3.75, food: 3.5, service: 5 (out of 5).

I paid $380 for my one-way ticket from California to Minnesota. The fair did not include online check-in. I received instructions from their app to check in at a kiosk. At the kiosk, the boarding pass would not print until an actual person came to verify that I had a personal item and not a carry-on item, On the plane, the person next to me was drunk and allowed to continue to order alcohol. United is garbage I’d rather fly spirit.

Delays!!! Maintain your planes so your customers don’t have to sit on their assess for over an hour on the tarmac!! Also, United app is buggy. Videos did not load. Overall a miserable experience. Flight crew was awesome though.

My fi t er t esed to Denver was cancelled and need to schechedule

On time and stellar premium class service. Not liking non LCD display in seat backs - miss the convenience of not using your own device.

It was my first time flying with Alaska Airlines and it was a pleasure!

Plane had mechanical issues. We had to de plane and board a different plane and were an hour late

More space for economy, and the bathroom size is only for people with size XS

We enjoy the professionalism and cleanliness of the staff and aircraft. We are grateful to the experiences pilots and flight crew

Our experience with American Airlines was extremely disappointing and honestly made an already exhausting international journey much worse. After flying all the way from Melbourne and dealing with significant jet lag, the American Airlines experience at LAX was the last thing we needed. The terminal and boarding area felt very old and uncomfortable, with little to no air conditioning and only old fans running in the area. Boarding was also through outdoor stairs rather than a jet bridge, which felt especially inconvenient after such a long journey. Even though we were traveling First Class, the onboard experience was surprisingly poor. There were no meaningful snack options, no decent coffee available to order, and the aircraft was so small that there was barely enough overhead space for carry-on luggage. The staff experience was also disappointing and lacked the warmth or attentiveness we had experienced on our international flights. To make matters worse, the flight departed late, extending an already very long travel day. Overall, the combination of the outdated terminal, uncomfortable boarding process, limited First Class service, small aircraft, poor staff experience, and delay made this an extremely unpleasant final leg of our journey. It significantly worsened our exhaustion and jet lag rather than making the connection home easier. Unfortunately, this experience was bad enough that I do not plan to travel with American Airlines again in the future.

I was so hungry. No meals. Staff very nice. Seat arms armed too tight and didn’t go up. I was scheduled for First class, but was put on Standby, even though I made my reservation a while ago. Thank you.

Gate 461 the worst in LAX Boarding lacks professionalism And as usual, your food sucks.

Terrible planning. And even worse gate agents. Absolutely rude behavior.

The flight was smooth, the pilot kept us informed about delays and we arrived more of less on time

More options for your flight from Santa Barbara

Complete your trip to Worldwide with a hotel stay or car rental