$617 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
Travelers love KAYAK
41,299,237 searches in the past 7 days on KAYAK

Save 23% or moreCompare multiple travel sites with one search.

Track pricesNot ready to book? Create a price alert for when prices drop.

Bundle and saveSave money when you bundle your flight + hotel.

Filter your dealsChoose cabin class, free Wi-Fi and more.

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 February, when tickets cost $960 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are July and December, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $1,178 and $1,134 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 4% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 21 weeks before departure.

Good to know

Low seasonJanuary
Cheapest flight$617
Most popular time to fly with an average 6% increase in price.
Flight from Johannesburg 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 8039 reviews
7.9Comfort
8.5Crew
7.8Entertainment
8.1Boarding
7.2Food
Airline reviews

I really liked the legroom. I am 6’4”.a at For some reason our seats were not together and using the app to fix it didn’t work. Passengers were nice enough to move for us but you should absolutely ensure a parent sits with their child.

6.0 GoodJason, Jan 2026
BOS - SFO
Read more Delta reviews

I really liked the legroom. I am 6’4”.a at For some reason our seats were not together and using the app to fix it didn’t work. Passengers were nice enough to move for us but you should absolutely ensure a parent sits with their child.

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.

They changed planes and the new plane couldn’t carry enough fuel to fly across the country so we had to stop in Kansas City to refuel. Flight was delayed .

Flight was too crowded and seats are too small, especially since passengrs are getting larger. Having a middle seat is ALWAYS tough! Woman on my left was large & kept creeping in to my space. Flight personnel were great! Have more savory rather than sweet snacks please.

The crew took good care of us. The flight from ATL to SFO is a longer one, and there were multiple beverage offerings. I like the 757's that Delta uses. Good airplane that is comfortable. I do wish Delta would separate Priority boarding from the better seats. I would gladly take a smaller seat in an open row than be jammed into Comfort just to get priority boarding, just to make sure I don't have to check a bag.

The crew was not very visible. This might be a good thing for people who wanted to sleep but seemed odd when compared to the Atlantic crossing where they are more present in the cabin. The Food (beef) was not good. Tough and tasteless. Would love to see more choices on a long flight like that.

Gate agent rushed to fill hot jetway with crowd so it took over 12 minutes to go from gate to plane. Just like a discount airline Pooly prepared cabin and third time that claim of rough air prevented any cabin service. Friends on a Southwest flight at similar time had service.

The flight crew was friendly. I tried to adjust my seat online ahead of time but no option existed without additional fees. My friend asked at the gate about a seat change and was able to make it happen. That was great! The flight crew moved a very tall gentleman and his companion which allowed us to have more space which was nice. Overall, good experience. Appreciated the blanket and pillow.

I was uncomfortably cold on the plane. Other than that it was uneventful and therefore as enjoyable as a plane ride can be.

Food was surprisingly good but the WiFi was not great

Not consistent with the food quality (I mean taste not freshness)

Safe and stable made me sleepy and I slept and dreamt 😂😂😂😂

Food was really mediocre for premium economy in comparison to other airlines… the crew was nowhere to be found… 14 hour flight…

I don’t like that an equipment change caused my seat to change from 23A to 44A. The boarding was also delayed. The crew were excellent, however and very attentive. The food was not bad.

Worst airlines either. First leg was delayed because of crew not available. My connection was missed so they booked me automatically the next day! But, impossible to get anyone on site, web site does not let me access my reservation anymore, confirmed by useless agents over the phone. My 2-leg trip with part in business class arriving at 4:10pm ends up in an awful 3-leg arriving at 9pm the next day with no way to even choose the seats and of course at the very end of the plane. I can understand problems arrive but the way Air France handle it is just unacceptable. You are on your own. Apparently getting you to your destination is the only thing they consider their duty. The customer experience and fatigue is none of their concern. And I have a status with them. I will reconsider my priorities when flying with Air France and encourage everyone to do the same.

Our flight crew were terrific. And they handle a difficult passenger with finesse.

Excellent, Lima to Paris. But Paris to Amsterdam, delayed, missed my flight and KLM treated its missed flights passengers very badly, terribly bad. No hotel accommodation given. Passengers were told to find their own hotel accommodation and claim at reasonable rate and left the booth and literally with armed Police Officers listening to passengers complains. For three hours, after moving by Uber from hotel to hotel and calling and booking online, no hotel was available. I had to return to the airport and seat/sleep on the benches, suffering the cold, and rats running around until my new allocated flight the next day. It was the most terrible KLM treatment even seen and being a Business Class passenger. Still mentally suffering to date as a result.

3 hour delay but out of their control. App said I get vouchers but when I applied for them, they were nowhere to be found in my account

I don't understand the concept of paying to get your personal luggage onboard and then asked to check it in.... either sell the space or don't, its a hassle to carry those all through the airport just to make a check in at the last minute.

The food was great and the service and attitude was amazing!!

Teeny tiny bathrooms, crew was not realistic about when we'd arrive.

On the way my flight entertainment wouldn’t work the screen went black and no matter how many times I tried to turn it on it wouldn’t. Food was surprisingly good but the tray tables were tiny so you couldn’t get anything else on the table. The seats hardly go back and are not overly comfortable. Wouldn’t fly United again.

Unbelievably poor service from flight attendants. They didn’t even do water service on a four hour flight. Just disrespectful.

Flight was late - I was downgraded from first class to coach

Movie selection is good. Crew did not understand mileage program and were no help. Sick later. Food?

United needs to step up their game. Delayed flight leaving Seattle, San Francisco. Older aircraft, not very comfortable.

The flight attendants were very rude, beyond comprehension. I took a business class from London to SFO for the first time on United. When I asked for a second piece of bread during dinner, the serving attendant threw a 3rd bread on my plate and said, “here. You can have this one too”! I couldn’t believe the rudeness of the attendant. Most all attendants were very rude, unhelpful, sing the food was absolutely disgusting. Never fly United internationally in business class. My flight back to SFO was a nightmare!!

Plane boarded early a quickly, was mostly full. We left close to on time. And landed early.

7 hours delayed due to operational issues on United’s end. Basically laziness.

Flight from Rome to SFO was excellent compared To our flight to Europe from SFO. The food was much tastier. You can see how UNITED is skimping, though. Instead of getting something mid flight you had to ask for it. It was not automatically served. There was a cookie at the end of the arrival meal, for example that tasted like it just came out of a box. They used to serve a little container of nuts, now … a tiny container of nuts, mixed with pretzels. This was business class that you really have to pay for! But this is minor complaints compared to the overall. My major complaint is the position of the even numbered seats by the windows. You have to turn around to see your window & the positioning as some other controls are harder to get at. This is compared to the odd number seat that are perfectly aligned.

Requested food options were always finished. Supplied food items were good but of course not the desired choices.

The airport staff never announced that boarding has started. Both at iad or Islamabad or Istanbul.

Very bad experience with turkish airline tk 0001. Very uncomfortable seats and food ran out and crew was not helpful

The airline could improve its business class seats and privacy in line with its competitors.

To be prepared for being treated with disrespect by the ground crew.

Seats too much and for the price we paid eve thought economy we still had to pay $169 to check a ba that’s ridiculous and also my daughter needed water so she can take her medicine we push the boton for the attendant to get us water they never came we push it 3 times no one came and ask what we needed . Am not happy with the service at all I will not fly with TK anymore

Boarding experience was a mess- both to and from Istanbul airport. No one knew anything. They asked everyone to line up according to their sit numbers- it was unbelievable. Business class had a separate line, but it was hard to find- I had to go through all that mess before finding it. Would not recommend

Excellent food and service on my international flight. Most notable is the food provided by Turkish even for coach passengers is very good.

They can my date of travel and let me standard in Istanbul for three days stop over and only pay for one day in a hotel with only one breakfast for three days.

the flight was cancelled and I was rebooked twice, once 26 hours later, then another 24 hours later. In total the flight was delayed for 40 hours. Never again will I use kayak or Turkish Airlines for my travel.

The flight crew was kind, flexible, and accommodating. The seats on the plane were extremely uncomfortable.

Check-in experience, for business call please provide a premium experience

Lost my luggage, ran out of food choices in business class, ground crew was completely unapologetic.

Excellent. The crew and flight were great. Checking in was easy and everyone was very helpful.

Entertainment devices on A380 need to be fixed, the seats might do with updates.

Everything. Employees offered to help me because I had to use a cane.

Check-in and boarding were great. On flight staff were rude and disrespectful. Paid for extra room and found it incredibly cramped. Bathrooms kept in poor condition. Overall negative experience.

Great seat in premium economy, great food and drinks throughout lots of in flight entertainment. 1 hour 40 min delayed flying out , 2 1/2 hour wait at passport control in tampa

Plane was extremely delayed, but not all of it was BA fault (some was). Worst part was lack of room - this had as much space as an Allegiant flight. I thought transatlantic usually gave you an extra inch or two, but not this one. Entertainment system sporadically worked and didn’t have great options. Overhead bins are old and tiny, not as good as aunties new planes.

My seat cushion was poor. The cushion was compressed and was uncomfortable for such a long flight.

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.