$211 Find Cheap Flights from South America to California - Compare and Save

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Cheap Flights from South America to California

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 5 days
Sort by: Cheapest
Los Angeles
8h 50mNonstop
from $431per person
Las Vegas
9h 21m2 stops
from $462per person
Ontario
10h 05m2 stops
from $494per person
San Jose
10h 58m2 stops
from $539per person
San Francisco
10h 20m2 stops
from $581per person
San Diego
15h 51m2 stops
from $682per person
Santa Ana
15h 17m2 stops
from $872per person
Useful Info

Good to know

Low season

February

Cheapest flight

$211
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 12% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 8% increase in price.
Flight from Bogotá to Las Vegas

Flights from South America to California: the best tips from KAYAK users

Insights shared by verified travelers who flew the route from South America to California 
Verified travelerFlew with LATAM Airlines-Aug 2026
Mine was a "redeye" flight, so available entertainment was irrelevant. Advice: bring a sweater or jacket for the air conditioner.
KimoFlew with LATAM Airlines-Jun 2026
The boarding and security screening process was inefficient and chaotic. Give yourself extra time and get to the departure gate early.

FAQs for booking flights from South America to California

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from South America 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 America to California.

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from South America 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 America 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 America 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 America 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 America to California up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

  • Which airlines fly most frequently to California?

    Delta connects South America to California with 22 flights per week. LATAM Airlines also offers 22 flights per week, while Cathay Pacific follows with 18 flights per week.

  • How many airports are there in California?

    There are 29 airports in California. The busiest airport is Los Angeles Airport (LAX), with 41% of all flights arriving there.

  • Which is the cheapest airport to fly into in California?

    Prices will differ depending on the departure airport, but generally, the cheapest airport to fly to in California is Los Angeles Airport (LAX), with an average flight price of $774.

  • What is the cheapest flight to California?

    The cheapest ticket to California from South America found in the last 5 days was to Los Angeles, at $457 round-trip. The most popular route is Sao Paulo Guarulhos Intl Airport (GRU) to Los Angeles (LAX) and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 5 days was $457.

  • What is the cheapest month to fly from South America to California?

    The cheapest month for flights from South America to California is November, when tickets cost $391 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are January and August, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $567 and $507 respectively.

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

    To get a below average price on the flight from South America to California, you should book around 2 weeks before departure, which saves you about 10% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 20 weeks before departure.

  • How many cities have direct flights to California?

    From South America, there are direct flights to California from 3 cities. The city with the most direct flights is Lima, with 67 direct flights each week.

  • How many direct flights to California are there each day?

    There are around 15 direct flights from within South America to California every day. Most flights (76%) depart at night.

  • How many direct flights to California are there each week?

    Each week there are around 103 direct flights from within South America to California. The most common day for departures is Wednesday, with 17% of flights taking off on this day.

  • How long is the flight to California?

    An average nonstop flight from South America to California takes 15h 43m, covering a distance of 5226 miles. The shortest route is Lima (LIM) to Los Angeles (LAX) with an average flight time of 8h 50m.

  • How many long-haul flights are there to California each week?

    There are not any medium-haul (3-6 hour flight duration) or short-haul (up to 3 hour flight duration) flights to California. Instead, there are 103 long-haul flights (6-12 hour flight duration), with the most arriving from Lima.

  • What are the most popular destinations in California?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is Los Angeles (54% of total searches to California). The next most popular destinations are Las Vegas (20%) and San Francisco (19%). Searches for flights to San Diego (6%), to San Jose (2%) and to Sacramento (0%) are also popular.

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

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from South America 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.
7.6
Copa AirlinesOverall score based on 1542 reviews
6.9Food
7.4Comfort
8.1Crew
7.8Boarding
6.9Entertainment
Airline reviews

Flight Crew Review The crew was absolutely amazing from start to finish! They were friendly, professional, attentive, and genuinely made the flight feel comfortable and enjoyable. Every interaction was pleasant, and they went above and beyond to make sure passengers were taken care of. You could really tell that they cared about providing great service. I truly appreciate their kindness and professionalism and would be happy to fly with this crew again!

10.0 ExcellentAnonymous, Aug 2026
Read more Copa Airlines reviews

Flight Crew Review The crew was absolutely amazing from start to finish! They were friendly, professional, attentive, and genuinely made the flight feel comfortable and enjoyable. Every interaction was pleasant, and they went above and beyond to make sure passengers were taken care of. You could really tell that they cared about providing great service. I truly appreciate their kindness and professionalism and would be happy to fly with this crew again!

stood in line to check in luggage for nearly an hour. very poor service and not excusable

Same as the previous flight as far as comfort and food. Entertainment didn’t have a watchable screen so everything would need to be watched on your own device in which they didn’t have a charging port that accommodated my iPhone. Seats were very uncomfortable. Staff was very friendly.

Do not book it’s a scam! They stole $1200 from me

Flight got delayed; had to go through security three times.

A lot things happened in this trip.The fly should be less stress.

Had to go through security at the gate again. Had to take off shoes and go through the whole thing again even though we have global entry. They asked us to check in items bought at duty free during our layover and since we checked our luggage at the original departure airport, they forced us to check in a small backpack. None of this ever happened with other airlines. In addition, no vegetarian food option and no snacks during a 7 hr flight. Luggage limits are unusually small. This is unacceptable. Will NEVER fly Copa again and will tell friends and family to avoid this airline.

I upgraded myself to Business Class at the last minute so I had a DREAMS window seat. Seeing as I've never flown Business before everything was novel and fun for me and it made the 7 hour flight much more enjoyable for sure.

Horrible food. No wine or any other alcohol is served on the flight. Water is not served often and they refused when I asked for water in two cups. On the other hand, both going and coming back flights were on time.

it was great! Boarded on-time, reasonable leg room, pleasant staff, decent food. The only thing is we were directed to Terminal 2 when the gate was actually in Terminal 1. Smooth ride. Landed early. Got off plane easily and quickly.

I missed my original flight due to miscommunication and it was a challenge to communicate with service personnel, since my Portuguese is limited. However they got me food and a hotel overnight and a seat on the next available flight.

It was a bit unnerving to know that flights are generally oversold. We chose not to pay extra to reserve a specific seat, without realizing that that makes us vulnerable to being bumped. Everything else about the flight was great.

Nothing I like, I missed this connection b/c of an earlier flight delay. I had to stay one more night and I paid out my own pocket. LATAM failed to send me to a safe and decent hotel.

It was delayed for 2 hours. Then when we arrived they took us on a very uncomfortable bus and left us there. The bus driver wouldn't let us out because no one from Latam was there. Everything was disaster.

The plane broke down at the Lima stopover and they offered to put me on a flight the be t day but I had to be back in LA that morning and so I had to buy another ticket from Avianca and United for $2k I asked LATAM for compensation and received none. Very bad experience

Plane never left the ground. Mech issues - entire trip was rerouted through united.

The seats are getting smaller and smaller. Very uncomfortable trip. More than in other airlines

Horrific checkin procedure with neither Delta nor Latam figuring out how to check me in. 4 hrs on customer support with both and both airlines pointing to each other who should do checking. I was not checked in until morning of flight, which for international flight is concerning.

Very courteous crew, the food was good and the flight was on time.

Our yoga retreat was cancelled and besides not refunding is, they would not even let us change dates or locations. As a matter of fact they wouldn’t even talk to us and kept referring to the travel agent, who said they couldn’t change anything and it was up to the airline to do so. They passed the buck until it was too late to do anything about it. Avoid Latham and Budget Air for your travel plans.

Even though the incoming flight was delayed by 20 minutes they managed to get us to SFO 15 minutes early.

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

Good experience. Staff was friendly and helpful. Flight was slightly delayed due to airport construction, but they still arrived on time.

This is the worst airline I’ve ever been on in my life and I’ve been probably on 75% of them. I said 15 years ago I would never go on United again. I was an idiot. I booked a flight with them from Las Vegas to San Francisco and of course they screwed that up and cost me a day flying all over the world trying to get to Thailand. My luggage was gone for 35 hours all because they couldn’t make their route on time

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

My email and credit card were used fraudulently for this trip, so no, I did not take this flight.

Airplane is not very clean, food quality and taste was not good. Lufthansa used to be good but nowadays went down. Overall experience is just okay, wouldn't fly again, prefer Turkish airlines.

I did bought anything… I don’t understand how this book appears to me . Ridiculous

My flight from Honolulu (UA 1221) was on a very old 757, no video monitors anywhere. If you wanted to watch a movie, you needed to do so using the United app on one’s phone. WiFi was $8 for Mileage Plus members; I demurred, choosing to spend my time reading a novel using the Kindle app on my Samsung S26. The meal was okay … Breakfast on any domestic airline is so-so as a rule and this one was no exception. The best part of the meal was the fruit plate and the warm croissant. The highlight: The flight left on time and arrived early.

The plane left over an hour late. I missed my connection going to Tokyo. They haven’t sent my bag to Thailand, where I ended up. It took me over 32 hours to get here. Very bad experience so far. I hope they can fix this and get my bag to me, within 24 hours it doesn’t look good at this time.

American Airlines put the food on the wrong plane which had already taken off by the time we took off so we had no food on the plane.

I believe my father had a good flight. What was not good, was the associate who helped us during Step 2 of check-in. After getting his boarding passes and bag tags, we proceeded to Step 2 where we were met with Carol. This was around 3:15-20pm at Phoenix Sky Harbor. She weighed my father’s checked bag which was 2lbs over, she recommended removing a pair of jeans to correct this. My father asked/joked if “she could just let him go” and she fairly rudely responded something along the lines of, “I don’t own the airline so no I can’t do that”. From this point on I just want to assume she was having a bad day. I spent my life raised in a business and front-facing customer service so I understand previous clients can make you feel irritated. How she continued to act leads me to believe she was really careless about her job or racially biased/straight-up racist. After we moved the 2lbs to his other bag, she told us she believed he would need to claim his bag at his connecting flight in Hong Kong, before it could go to his final destination, Malaysia. This thoroughly confused us as we are fairly frequent international travelers and 95% of the time the bag is sent to its final destination without this requirement. Last time we traveled to Malaysia was less than a month ago, so again we’re fairly confused. Multiple times she used a fairly aggressive tone of “I know what YOU THINK, this is what I believe”. The multiple “YOU THINK” as if we didn’t understand what she was saying was rude and insulting, and her tone came along with a insincere smile, hence the feeling of she was racially biased. Despite the fact that she might have been having a bad day previously, it is AA’s airline’s duty to train their employee about international bag protocol, as clearly AA is a major partner of internationally traveling airlines. Carol made the experience overall unenjoyable sending my father off and made us both question AA’s training of their employees.

Old dirty plane but great lie flat seats in business class

The seats cushion on my seat (exit row) needs to be replaced. It felt like I was sitting on a bar rather than a seat cushion. Also, I was in the middle seat and I sat next to an oversized guy (window seat) and he took up about 25% of my space. Otherwise, the experience was good. :)

Worst experience ever, extremely disorganized airline with super rude crew for first class passengers. I have submitted feedback to AA customer care online that this was my worst experience traveling in over 30 years

The plane was late getting to Ontario by half an hour which makes it inconvenient when you have people waiting for you.

I have to sit in the middle for more than five hours because the first flight was delayed. Terrible experience. No more American Airlines.

The boarding process was slow and we had a delay on the tarmac, not the fault of the airline. They had ZERO food options available for purchase which shouldn't happen.

Once again the staff of American Airlines is kind, helpful, efficient, and professional.

Awful! We boarded and then sat on the plane for 50 mins before having to deplane due to a maintenance issue which should have been addressed before boarding. Then we had to change terminals as there was no other plane for us at the current terminal. Then we waited another 2 and a half hours to board again only to wait for 50 mins on the plane again for the snacks to be brought from the broken plane. And once we were on the flight we still only got the complimentary cookie and soda or water. No food vouchers provided even though we had waited over 3 hours for our flight.

Better seats, allow us to upgrade, terrible website, poor telephone service, better equipment

Horrible experience with Avianca, they delayed their flight and when we arrived to NYC, AVIANCA took 1 hr y 30 mins to park the airplane and all passenger get off the plane, it made me lost all my trains to get back home and I came back to my place at 3 am instead of 12 am. On the top of that their plane seat are so uncomfortable and is not enough space and killed my legs and knees, Avianca used to be good when it was a Colombian company, now after Brasilian company bought them, their service quality is bad and their flights are delayed and oversold.

It was horrible. My experience with Avianca. I didn’t know it was Pakistan international Airlines but anyway, whatever it is it is bad horrible you guys need to upgrade everything in those planes. And you guys charge $130 for a carry-on did they wanna let me in with my carry-on that I travel everywhere with the luggage you guys are such a dog thank you

The fees for baggage were outrageous. $130 for carry on and $150 for check in for an international flight. The seats did not recline. We were not even offered water. Had we known all of this, we would not have booked Avianca at all.

I was shocked flying to El Salvador that they only give you water. Everything else you have to pay for. There is no wifi or entertainment and it’s an international flight. At least back in the day they had tvs on the plane and everyone watched the same movie. Also seats do not recline, even comfort or plus.

I did not like anything, first time I use company and for sure it will be the last time, they charge for simple operations that any other average airline wouldn't charge.

The good thing is the flight was on time and the crew was really nice. They can work better the arriving with staff

The inflight entertainment did not work on a 6 hour flight The cel phone chargers did not work There was a 45 minute wait for the luggage to get off the plane.

They could offer free food and drink like other international flights.

Flight attendants to show up on time, offer drinks and food.

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