$613 Find Cheap Flights from South Africa to California

1 adult
1 adult, Economy, 0 bags

KAYAK searches hundreds of travel sites at once for deals on flights to California

 
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results for flights to California
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results for flights to California
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Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for flights to California

Get data-powered insights and trends for flights to California to help you find the cheapest flights, the best time to fly and much more.

What is the cheapest month to fly from South Africa to California?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for flights from South Africa to California, 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 South Africa to California is March, when tickets cost $975 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are April and July, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $1,209 and $1,192 respectively.

How far in advance should I book a flight from South Africa to California?

To calculate weekly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each week before departure over the last year for round-trip flights to California, 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 South Africa to California, you should book around 2 weeks before departure, which saves you about 2% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 26 weeks before departure.

Good to know

Low seasonJanuary
Cheapest flight$613
Best time to beat the crowds but there is an average 1% increase in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 3% increase in price.
Flight from Durban to San Francisco

FAQs for booking flights from South Africa to California

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from South Africa to California?

    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 South Africa to California.

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from South Africa to California 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 South Africa to California?

    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 South Africa to California 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 South Africa to California?

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

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from South Africa to California

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying to California. Airline scores are aggregated from all reviews left by passengers on KAYAK after flying with an airline from South Africa to California. 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 South Africa to California? 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.
7.9
DeltaOverall score based on 8451 reviews
7.2Food
8.5Crew
7.8Entertainment
7.8Comfort
8.1Boarding
Airline reviews

Everything went smoothly, although the usual gripes about airline travel were still present: the boarding process is inefficient, the snack selection is limited, and so on. Since there was extra space on the flight, the gate agent rearranged many people's seats to put people on the aisles and windows, leaving the middle seats empty, as much as possible, which was pretty great.

10.0 ExcellentDavid, Apr 2026
DTW - SFO
Read more Delta reviews

Everything went smoothly, although the usual gripes about airline travel were still present: the boarding process is inefficient, the snack selection is limited, and so on. Since there was extra space on the flight, the gate agent rearranged many people's seats to put people on the aisles and windows, leaving the middle seats empty, as much as possible, which was pretty great.

While they turned off most cabin lights to allow people to sleep, I was bothered by how bright the side lights still were. It was still quite bright for me in a window seat, when I wish I could have slept!

One of the flight attendants was a little cranky. I appreciated the free wifi and plug to charge my laptop

WiFi didn’t work most of the time. The usb chargers would work only occasionally for 5 mins and wouldn’t charge after that. Had to keep trying repeatedly at each of the seats in the row.

The crew bent over backwards to thank us for flying and make us comfortable. The food service was quick and efficient. The Captain communicated and said goodbye and thank you as we departed. They really stood out!

Generally on time departures and arrivals, clean planes, sky miles membership provides great benefits (complimentary upgrades, etc).

my mom urmila patel needed a wheelchair which was not available on the curbside. she needed to walk almost 50 meters inside (at the risk of falling) and then had to wait in line to get a wheelchair (this is not ok). Once obtained she had to seat in it for 30-45 minutes for someone to take her in thru the checkin process (which was fairly smooth and easy). the lady who helped her with her checkin process was very courteous and helpful

Staff at the check-in counter were friendly, happy and helpful. They tagged our bags and sent us to “bag drop off” but were not very clear about where that was. The airport was busy we headed off in what we thought was the right direction until a gentleman waved us down and actually came after us. He was the baggage handler for Delta and recognized our “deer in the headlights “ look-he brought us to the right area (which was marked as the Southwest Airlines Drop Off) and sent us on our way. Wonderful guy, low key and working with a big smile on his face. Loved it. Loved him.

Arlene was a great flight attendant. I also liked how one of the other flight attendants gave us a heads up about snacks and asked everyone to remove their headphones when it was their turn to order. Good idea.

I haven’t flown economy in over 20 years but it was not bad. Room by my feet for my bag and seat was roomy enough. Surprised in a good way.

Turkish Business Class is a wonderful experience, and the best inflight dining experience I’ve had to date.

The crew was amazing and the food was really good too

Some of the best service I’ve ever seen on an international flight! The staff were super friendly and accommodating. The food was excellent with lots of choices and attention to detail. The seats are kind of old and narrow, but I have wide shoulders. The only area for improvement was making the cabin a little cooler.

It was fantastic. I really enjoyed it. It’s comfortable the flight attendant. Respect you anything you ask for they gave you except the water.

We were experiencing delayed for 4 hours and of course they took us to Turkish airlines lounge but we could not rested up since there is no bedroom. It was tiring and long day for us🙏 Especially we didn’t fly until 5:45am morning for Miami🙏😢

On Turkish it is all about the food and the service. I am overwhelmed with the quality and variety of the dining service offered on business class. I prefer the updated A350 to the older B777 cabin layout, but both are comfortable. Flights left and arrived on time with updates from the captain. I will definitely fly with them again.

Excellent service. Friendly and attentive flight attendants, can lay back in business class and be pretty comfortable, and delicious food. Flight on time departing and arriving.

I will say the same as my previous comment. Great job over all! From 1-10, ten be the best… I will give 9!

had to wait 1 hour once boarded. so we were 1 hour late arriving.

They are absolutely impossible to get hold of. A death in the family caused us to delay our departure. They are impossible to get through to and after waiting 41/2 hours I was told they would not consider helping us. They cancelled our return flight and have not reimbursed anything. I strongly urge readers to consider a different airline.

First class ticket gets you no seat back entertainment? I have to bring my own laptop to see a movie? And most of their movies have ADS? No thank you. Worse: Tiny snacks only on a 2 hr flight?

Late plane. Only one crew on the ground so we b had to wait for Denver flight to come in, board, and depart. At 78 yrs of age I was not pleased trying to get my connection. What really made me angry was the notification you sent me to hurry up or I would miss my connection. Why tell me to hurry up when you got me in late. It was not a good way of treating customers.

No complaints other than luggage carousel was incorrectly guiding passengers to the wrong carousel on the screen.

Seats were not super comfortable and food was not good at all. If I had a chance I would definitely fly a different airline. Of course they are better than any budget airline, but not by much.

Flew steerage class. Short on leg room unless you pay more. No window unless you pay more. Etc. United is trying to squeeze every cent from you. It doesn’t make for any loyalty.

Outstanding service, efficient & friendly crew, flight was safe, comfortable & on time

Outstanding service, great food, friendly & efficient crew, safe & comfortable flight

Staff were not attentive, wifi did not work, cut my head in the bathroom due to the position of the soap on the sink, had blood running down my face, told staff, they had no expression no sympathy, didn't even say "sorry", they said "oh we will have a look at that" about 10 mins later the purser brought me a bandaid, still no sorry.... Shocking

The crew was great. Very friendly and responsive. The plane was old, small and tight. We ran out of overhead space and I had to check. Middle seat was particularly tight.

The flight was delayed from take off because only one runway was operational in San Francisco.

American delayed the flight for a crew rest period. The delay occurred late in the evening - the earliest i can find is 10:20 pm. With a 6 am flight anyone on the flight would have already have been asleep (unless you are insane, a vampire or on drugs) and at least for me i was already on the way to the airport at 445 am the next morning when i discovered they delayed the flight until 9 am. Given the incoming flight was in the air at 6 pm the evening before this should have been figured out a lot more timely that was there only crew to use. Just frustrating given there is no consideration for customer experience anymore in flying.

Flight: Started on time. Comfortable flight. Arrived on time. Crew: Very cordial and helpful. Drinks and snack was served with a smile. Overall enjoyed the trip. Regards, Hari Doss Chanchala Doss

To have arrived on time and not 3 hours late after having already spent $100 to change to an earlier flight, only to arrive back home close to the original flight time.

American Airlines is a miserable experience. It is predictably miserable, in the sense that every time I fly American, I brace myself for the certainty that it will be unpleasant and uncomfortable. But it is unpredictable in the sense that I never know if the flight will be on time or delayed nine hours (both happened to me this week). I never know if I will be able to sit in the seat that I selected when I purchased the ticket or if I will be told by Customer Service (!!!) that I must relocate from first class to a seat in the back of the aircraft with no explanation (both happened to me this week). Will the food be frozen and half defrosted, or scalding hot? Will the drinks be warm? Will the flight attendants be surly and mean? Will the toilets be cramped and foul? Will the seats be narrow and uncomfortable? Will there be a real electric outlet at the seat, or just an unreliable USB-2 port? Will there be enough seats in the boarding lounge or just a few? Will the boarding process be smooth and efficient, or will the gate agents mess it up and delay it needlessly for 30 or 40 minutes? Will the catering and cleaning crew be prompt or will they take an extra 30 minutes? Will the brakes on the aircraft work properly, or will the pilot delay takeoff for four hours while the ground crew attends to what can only be described as routine maintenance that should have been done the night before? I've eexperienced every one of these unpleasant things this year, 2026. The only thing I can reliably count on is that American will find a new way to make the experience of flying as miserable as they possibly can.

Wifi was spotty. Tray table was very dirty when I sat down.

The WiFi would not connect enough for me to do my actual work. It permaspooled, disconnected, said it was connected, then wouldn't open an email... it was frustrating. I am not a tall person, 5'4" - and I felt cramped with little room to reach into my bag under the seat in front of me. I feel sorry for anyone taller than me having to fly. the one positive thing I will add, is the overhead bins are roomy enough to manage more bags than other carriers.

Buying ticket from kayak instant booking was a huge mistake, never to be repeated again! The Kayak didn’t book the tickets directly, it handed it off to a third party Underpricer, that booked a code shared American Airlines flight operated by Cathay Pacific!! When managing the booking American Airlines would recognize the itinerary but wouldn’t let me do anything stating, the flight is operated by Cathay Pacific so go to their website. Cathay Pacific would recognize the itinerary, neither by reservation ID or ticket number…asking to reach out to the third party Underpricer….calling Underpricer resulted in no help like seat requests, mileage number or upgrade request, 15hr layover accommodation voucher guidance…so net in net avoid booking through three layers of intermediaries

Going non stop to lax like I paid for. Not stopping in MCI for gas. Too long of delays

Flight was on time. Cabin attendants made no recognition of my name or being an Advantage Executive Platinum member.

Delayed for mechanical and no updates on what was happening and how long the delay might be.

Los Angeles to London. 25th of April 2026. Business class. I was flying backwards with a complete stranger snoring next to me. In Business class. Males and females, strangers lying next to each other. Seats were backwards. I paid for comfort. I got dizziness and stress.

24 hour delays aren’t even heard in 3rd world countries with archaic transportation systems. I’m never flying American Airlines again.

Long line with check in at the DIA British Airway counter.

The flights were on time. Cabin crew were nice. The food was terrible! Checking in was not easy using my phone.

Crew were fantastic and the aircraft was extremely comfortable, but outdated. Headphone jacks were worn out and sound normally only came out of one ear unless positioned just right.

Departure was delayed leading to late arrival, 25 min wait for a gate. Basically, missed all our connections & had to be rebooted, which was a very long process.

Good flight, no turbulence. I felt safe and comfortable which is really important when I am just a passenger.

Somone switched seats to sit near friend causing us to be disconnected (3) business class. Very disappointed. Staff did nothing.

A shout-out to the flight attendent, Lauren, who was the main person assisting me. She was amazing - perfect balance of bright, cheerful, engaging, yet formal

1st class seats NOT REALLY 1st class or business class but like premier economy. Should be listed as such or named something else. I have flown 1st class with other airlines and they are nothing like it at all.

Everything you need to know for your flight to California

Cabin class types available on flights to California

Cabin classes available on flights to California. Prices are the lowest found on KAYAK over the last 7 days. Price and availability is not guaranteed.