$334 Find Cheap Flights from South Pacific to California

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Low seasonJanuary
Cheapest flight$334
Best time to beat the crowds but there is an average 2% increase in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 22% increase in price.
Flight from Auckland to San Francisco

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

Insights shared by verified travelers who flew the route from South Pacific to California 
Verified travelerFlew with United AirlinesSYD-LAXJan 2025
Bring some extra food! Long flight, you don’t get enough and quality is mediocre. No free snacks in between meals except for mini pretzels.
Verified travelerFlew with Qantas AirwaysBNE-LAXOct 2024
Qantas is definitely the way to go!!! Great service and boarding process stress free. The website is extremely helpful for booking and very user friendly. Make sure you have all of your documents though. Honestly, I didn't need to worry about bringing extra snacks or entertainment despite the long flight. Maybe bring along an extra bottle of water if you tend to get thirsty.
Verified travelerFlew with Air New ZealandAKL-LAXNov 2024
If you can, and you’re a grown adult, pay the few extra dollars for premium economy. You won’t regret it
AurianneFlew with United AirlinesSYD-SFOSep 2024
Ensure you have 2-3 hours layover You’ll likely need unless you don’t mind missing your next flight
DonnaFlew with Qantas AirwaysSYD-SFODec 2023
We got off a cruise so were at the airport over 7hrs before our flight. We paid for the day pass at the Premium Club. Totally worth it! It was quiet and offered food, drinks, showers and when they closed, we were able to go to the downstairs lounge which opened at 6:30. This lounge was much larger and had a bigger selection of food and beverages. Would definitely go there again.
SidFlew with United AirlinesAKL-SFOJan 2024
wear layers as our flight over was freezing and return flight back was back sweat hot

FAQs for booking flights from South Pacific to California

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

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

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

    South Pacific and California are connected by different airlines. The airlines that fly that route the most regularly are Air New Zealand (55 flights per week), American Airlines (54 flights per week), and United Airlines (53 flights per week).

  • How many airports are there in California?

    There are 30 airports in California. The busiest airport is Los Angeles Airport (LAX), with 40% 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 $601.

  • What is the cheapest day to fly to California?

    Based on KAYAK data, the cheapest day to fly to California is Tuesday where round-trip tickets can be as cheap as $1,194. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Saturday, where round-trip prices are $1,326 on average.

  • What is the cheapest time of day to fly to California?

    The cheapest time of day to fly to California is generally in the afternoon, when round-trip flights cost $900 on average. Morning departures are around 13% more expensive than evening flights, on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to California is generally in the morning, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is $1,293.

  • What is the cheapest flight to California?

    The cheapest ticket to California from South Pacific found in the last 72 hours was to San Francisco, at $350 round-trip. The most popular route is Auckland (AKL) to Los Angeles (LAX) and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $483.

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

    The cheapest month for flights from South Pacific to California is March, when tickets cost $988 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are December and January, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $1,598 and $1,374 respectively.

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

    To get a below average price on the flight from South Pacific to California, you should book around 7 weeks before departure, which saves you about 13% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 25 weeks before departure.

  • How many cities have direct flights to California?

    From South Pacific, there are direct flights to California from 6 cities. The city with the most direct flights is Sydney, with 169 direct flights each week.

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

    There are around 77 direct flights from within South Pacific to California every day. Most flights (50%) depart in the morning.

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

    Each week there are around 538 direct flights from within South Pacific to California. The most common day for departures is Friday, with 16% of flights taking off on this day.

  • How long is the flight to California?

    An average nonstop flight from South Pacific to California takes 18h 14m, covering a distance of 7249 miles. The shortest route is Papeete (PPT) to Los Angeles (LAX) with an average flight time of 7h 45m.

  • 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 538 long-haul flights (6-12 hour flight duration), with the most arriving from Sydney.

  • What are the most popular destinations in California?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is Los Angeles (55% of total searches to California). The next most popular destinations are San Francisco (21%) and Ontario (9%). Searches for flights to Las Vegas (6%), to San Jose (2%) and to Long Beach (2%) are also popular.

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

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from South Pacific 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.
8.0
Fiji AirwaysOverall score based on 205 reviews
8.5Crew
8.1Boarding
7.4Entertainment
8.0Comfort
7.5Food
Airline reviews

Again, Fijian hospitality was genuine, very comfortable, only improvement would be the entertainment. Why Do they only have 5 episodes of TV shows and from like season three...

10.0 ExcellentMatthew, Aug 2025NAN - CNS
Read more Fiji Airways reviews

Again, Fijian hospitality was genuine, very comfortable, only improvement would be the entertainment. Why Do they only have 5 episodes of TV shows and from like season three...

Fiji Airways was amazing, will definately be lfying them again. The "Fijian hospitality" is not a catch phrase, it is genuine. the only things that could be improved is the entertainment. Not a great choice of movies, and the TV shows only have about 5 or so episodes, and often of a random season.

They will look to squeeze every penny they can out of you!! Pick your seat$$...bring luggage$$$$... if they could charge you for the air on the plane they would!!

.very good and as I needed wheelchair assistance all staff excellent.. only suggestion is get rid of those plastic chairs hard to ride in and staff have trouble compared to others. Everything else very good experience. Will use Fiji Air again.

In-flight entertainment options could use a refresh, Consider a tie-up with Spotify for more current music and with IMDB or other service for newer selections/movie ratings.

See previous comments. Didn’t take this flight because my other flight was so delayed. Ending up on two other flights as a result and was more than a day late.

6 hour delay and they didnt try to make up any time during an over 10 hour flight

Very good; seat made ready for bed after meal, a plus since one airline covered the seat at the start.

Entertainment was not good. Seems like liquor should’ve been advertised only beer and wine was even though I saw others getting liquor didn’t realize I could. And the food to me could’ve been a little bit.

Food choices perhaps not the best. Only offered beer and wine, when it appeared other liquor was available. Entertainment wasn’t so good.

Not a comfortable trip, the seats are not good, and they look old.

Not entirely positive. It’s frustrating that everything is done through the united app. One of our flight attendants on our trip from San Francisco to MSP continually had trouble hearing people so she flipped her hair into people’s faces

I flew United from San Francisco to Auckland. My connecting flight from Auckland to Christchurch was canceled with no explanation. I was finally told the cancellation was due to fog. Even though it was clear when we landed. I am from San Francisco, I know what fog is! And I didn't see any fog. I was told the next available flight was 7 hours later. Unacceptable, they should have had a flight ready to go as soon as it was deemed safe to take off.

Our original flight was cancelled from SFO to AKL on 6/16/25. So we had to stay overnight at a hotel after a 12-hour layover plus 3-hour delay before the cancellation. Then had to fly to LA and then to AKL the following day losing an entire day of our vacation in NZ, that we can never get back.

Two hours was not enough time to transition from the international to domestic terminal. You have to go through customs, a biological hazard check, gather your luggage, take a bus to the domestic terminal and recheck your luggage. The bus was slow and crowded and the lines to recheck your bags were very long. We missed our connecting flight. Initially, the Air New Zealand officials were not helpful at all in helping to get us on another flight. Told us we would have to buy another ticket for a flight 11 hours later. Found another agent that was more helpful. He helped arrange to get us on standby for another flight three hours later. Had to ride in jump seats next to the flight attendants, but at least we eventually got to out destination.

Full flight. Flight attendants were harried. Otherwise, fine for the typical cramped seating conditions in coach.

The 10hr flight was a comfortable as it could be in row 57. The food was just very bad….bland and soggy!

The business class upgrade meant a good sleep on the way home after a long week away. Excellent service, great food, and comfortable seat/bed for the journey.

I love the “boarding from the back” idea - it’s so much better than the “Zones” idea that many others use. Also, the inflight wifi was a first for me! Very nice to have on a 13-hour flight!

Again, Air New Zealand was great. They kept bathrooms clean, food was actually very good, New Zealand wines a big hit

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

My flight was extremely cold. I had a jacket and a cover was left in each seat. The cover was extremely thin and I have a disability, fibromyalgia and arthrithis and AC air is the worst. I closed my vent and my husbands vent and it still was frigid. I asked the attendant if I could get another cover and she quickly almost dismissively and totally unconcerned stating, (I quote) (one per chair) and walked off so quickly that I didn't get a chance to explain to her that I literally have adisability. I didnt want to make a seen so I set on that flight for over 5 hours in pain, joints locking up and extremely uncomfortable. When my fibromyalgia flares up my joints not only ache but they will lock up also and it takes me days to get back to my regular self even though I take medication for it. I felt like it would not have hurt anyone at all for her to just give me an extra cover because I'm sure they have all types of medical issues in people that fly every day.

Not a "Delta" issue, but a JFK issue: We booked a connecting flight with 3 1/2 hours between to clearn immigration and customs. Our inbound flight (BCN to JFK) was on the taxiway 45 minutes which ate into our layover time. Immigtration was insanely quick with the CBP MPC app; however, clearing TSA (again, after we were ALREADY cleared in Spain on the inbound international flight) took over 95 minutes. This left us with 10 minutes before boarding the connecting flight (JFK to SAN) to walk to the far end of Terminal 4 and try to find food. We didn't find any food that could promise to serve us in under 10 minutes so we boarded the Delta flight after coming off a plance and an 8-hour flight knowing that we wouldn't be served any food on the next 5 1/2 hour flight. I feel like Delta needs to put pressure on the JFK TSA to open more screening stations (by our count, we saw only 5 scanners open and a line of - as we said - over 90 minutes. The insult is that we WERE ALREADY SCREENED through TSA, but as you come off one flight into the USA, you have to go through the whole process again. It seems like if you have a connecting flight, there should be a way to pass through immigration and customs without needing to return through TSA.

There are 4 flights in consecutive gates with about the same departure time. Two flights were boarding at the same time. One was delayed or boarding would be happening at the same time. I am not sure what Delta and LAX need to do to have a better layout at the end of Terminal 2

5 hours of delay that could've been much shorter if Delta had taken the 1 hour delay they imposed on the flight before boarding to run any of the plane checks required for flight to find the hydraulic issue that required nearly 3 hours to fix. $24 of meal credit buys a sandwich and a soft drink. Poor communication within the terminal about what gate we'd be re-boarding from and when we'd be re-boarding.

The entertainment and wifi mostly didn't work on this flight.

Terrible entertainment system - kept freezing and audio kept cutting out. Snacks were mediocre at best for a 5 hour flight.

I am still upset that my bag was lost on a recent trip to Rome ; we were inconvenienced and out €150 Euros ; delta has refused to reimburse us

My flight from Dallas to Sydney was cancelled. My entire trip was rerouted to include the following: Hartford to Washington DC Washington DC to JFK JFK to Auckland Auckland to Christchurch I paid for an aisle seat on the flight to Auckland and was asked if I would take a window seat to accommodate a family. The agent at the podium failed to mention that the family had a 3 month old baby and that a bassinet would be used during the 16 hour flight. The only way I could get out of my seat was to crawl under the bassinet of the sleeping baby. I think it is wrong that I was no given the choice to sit in another seat, that the agent knew what she was doing and chose to not properly disclose my seating arrangement. Terrible treatment.

they ran out of fruit for breakfast and so I just had a yogurt instead. other than that the flight was good

Poor! This flight was delayed 14 hours. There was no assistance in helping customers find other routes to their destination, nor any other kind of support. It was a chaotic experience. I'm not likely to fly with AA going forward.

We were upgraded and after just a short delay in attending to a safety check we were on our way. Would definately fly Qantas International on their Dreamliner again.

I tried to check in online but was unable to do so. I stood in line for nearly two hours to check in. American Airlines was understaffed. When I finally got to the kiosk to check in, I was still unable to check in. No AA staff was available to help. Finally one of the airport security agents who was helping passengers became of lack of AA Staff told me: “I think the reason you can’t check in is that you are starting your name with an upper case letter when you write it. Just write it with all lower case letters.” That did allow me to check in. HOW COULD ANYONE POSSIBLY KNOW THAT IF THEY USE AN INITIAL UPPER CASE LETTER TO SPELL THEIR OWN NAME, AA WOULD NOT ALLOW THEM TO CHECK IN?????? Then I had to wait in line over half an hour again to drop off my baggage. Although I arrived at the airport 3 hours early, by the time I got to the gate, they had already started boarding.

Was bumped to a later flight because of inefficiency on part of the airline.

Inflight entertainment, poor that there are no headrest screens on aircraft used for an international flight.

Touch screens were very difficult to use, generally being laggy and unresponsive- it was quite an art to get it to play the thing you wanted rather than some thing at random. Selection of films and Tv was good when touchscreen decided to finally respond.

Their aircraft are old and amenities lack way behind other international carriers leaving from BNE. Even in economy

Friendly staff, surprisingly good premium economy seats allowing good sleep/ snooze opportunity and very good menu.

The flight was comfortable with the exit row and great service

Plane was crowded and even when we hit altitude, the plane was hot, not enough air flow.

1. when we went to check in, our 2 first class seats had been CANCELED and the flight was sold out. This was done without our prior knowledge. It was all we could do to restore one first class seat for my wife and I flew economy. 2, Our flight home was scheduled to leave at 10:30 pm. Due to tsunami warnings, the roads were closed and our flight status was uncertain as to whether it would leave as scheduled. It was announced that it would now leave at 11:20 pm and the roads were now open since the tsunami had come and gone. We made a mad dash to the airport and checked in. Delays were announced at 12:30 pm, 1:30 am, 2:30 am and at 3:30 am it was canceled. Since this was a flight due to natural (tsunami) causes, there was no compensation. We were told to return at 1:00 pm the next day and our baggage would be kept on the plane since the same plane was going to leave at 1:00 pm. We had to return to our hotel for the rest of the night. The same plane did not leave at 1:00 pm and our baggage was gone! All in all, it was a miserable performance by UA. Information was hard to obtain and no one knew what was going on and what was going to happen. Hundreds of passengers slept on the floor, chairs, etc. No food and no water was made available to the passengers. It was a situation where UA could care less what was going on. As a one million mile flyer, I had not experienced anything like this before and it was hugely disappointing!

I found the staff to not be very attentive at all. When paying for Business Class you expect a certain type of service and that was not found. They were almost rude even

Ok. Get a different kosher caterer. The food was odd.

Our experience on United Airlines was extremely poor. The plane was extremely cold throughout our entire flight- which multiple people complained about- and we had to wait 2 hours to get a blanket which was too thin and barely helped warm us up. As well as this, none of the entertainment features were working so we had to sit through a roughly 10 hour flight with nothing to keep our attention, including the actual flight path screen. It was an extremely disappointing experience and I would hope that this gets fixed if we ever choose United Airlines again.

I really enjoyed flying with United airlines amazing experience , good customer service and great food

1.It will be better if sandwich is warm. 2.The food is too salty. 3.Breakfast needs some vegetables or fruits.

Boarded plane and then delayed 1.5 hours while on the plane

It was all good flight was on time, service was good I enjoyed a few movies and everything was smooth

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