$422 Find Cheap Flights from Switzerland to California - Compare and Save

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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 flight to California?

The cheapest ticket to California from Switzerland found in the last 5 days was to Los Angeles, at $616 round-trip. The most popular route is Zurich (ZRH) to San Francisco (SFO) and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 5 days was $697.

What is the cheapest month to fly from Switzerland to California?

The cheapest month for flights from Switzerland to California is September, when tickets cost $599 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are January and July, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $1,056 and $850 respectively.

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 $915 on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to California is generally in the afternoon, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is $915.

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

To get a below average price on the flight from Switzerland to California, you should book around 2 weeks before departure, which saves you about 22% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 17 weeks before departure.

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 San Francisco Airport (SFO), with an average flight price of $826.

Good to know

Low season

January

Cheapest flight

$422
Best time to beat the crowds but there is an average 1% increase in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 19% increase in price.
Flight from Geneva to San Francisco

Flights from Switzerland to California: the best tips from KAYAK users

Insights shared by verified travelers who flew the route from Switzerland to California 
JanieFlew with SWISS-Jan 2026
If you need to do an overnight layover, Grand Hyatt at SFO is perfect and has a 24 hour cafe!
Verified travelerFlew with SWISS-Dec 2024
Don't pack too much, as the carry-on back size is smaller than most other airlines.
Verified travelerFlew with SWISS-Sep 2024
Have Swiss app it keeps you updated pretty instantly of any delays or gate changes

FAQs for booking flights from Switzerland to California

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

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

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

  • What is the cheapest day to fly to California?

    Based on KAYAK data, the cheapest day to fly to California is Wednesday where round-trip tickets can be as cheap as $856. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Tuesday, where round-trip prices are $1,018 on average.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from Switzerland to California

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Switzerland 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.
7.5
SWISSOverall score based on 2043 reviews
7.7Boarding
8.3Crew
7.4Comfort
6.8Entertainment
7.1Food
Airline reviews

The service was impeccable both ways. I’m very happy to have had the opportunity to fly Swiss Air.

10.0 ExcellentAnonymous, Aug 2026
Read more SWISS reviews

The service was impeccable both ways. I’m very happy to have had the opportunity to fly Swiss Air.

I have no Comment. Super clean, Fantastic Crew, Food was delicious. Also wanted to add the Zurich Airport. Super nice people everything is in order super clean.

I like it very much it was a good experience with an excellent service

The crew and service was excellent. The food and entertainment were very good but not excellent.

Great flight. I didn't watch the entertainment. I used my iPad the whole flight. But, staff was great, smooth flight, comfortable seat (business seat 7A) and food was really good (I'm a vegetarian).

Even though I paid extra for more room, we were very cramped and the seats were hard. Also, when we checked in they did not post the gate we were to arrive at even though we were half an hour away from boarding. The agent did not know either. Actually, the flight from Porto to Zurich did to have the gate posted, and there were very few agents in the boarding areas who could help us. I would never fly Swiss Air again.

horrible.. they cause such a problem and my daughter 14 years old was stranded in san francisco

All the flight to USA were arranged to E terminal whereas from Dubrovnik arriving on Zurich is on A80, have to walk all the way from A to E, even need transfer bus , for short transfer time like in an hour, we have to work fast, as soon as arrived at E, it is about time to boarding, pretty tight schedule, I hope Zurich airport can make some rearrangement so that transfer people do not have to walk long way. For short transfer time people, such as 50 min, this is even impossible if still like this.

Lots of water brought around by staff which is very important to stay hydrated on a long flight. There provided swiss chocolate icecream! The attention to detail is obvious. They really want to make their passengers entertained and comfortable.

Crew was wonderful, snacks were so good and quite a variety for free, food was mediocre, big selection of movies and they kept lavatories pretty clean throughout the flight

The flight was excellent. Their was no service as we boarded, the flight attendants spent about 30 minutes just taking and not really caring that the cabin was about 80 degrees and did not offered any beverage to first class passengers or any passenger. The flight from DEN to ONT is not long but not under an hour, we received one drink and bag of chips if you were lucky. I was in first class…. I did leave my hat on the plane and it only took less than five minutes for a United rep to locate and bring it to me.

The app logs you out right when you are boarding requiring all passwords and reservation number for the flight. Super annoying

The pre-order only approach for fresh food is really challenging

the seat has a problem. the back had a hole.

Old 757 with poor entertainment system. United no longer partners with United for free text and email. O'Hara an absolute disaster! Limited gates clauses two hour delay. Unfortunately this appears to be the norm.

The entire experience convinced my wife, Cathy, and me that traveling Polaris on United is the only way we’ll fly in the future. From check-in and baggage drop to the end of the 12-hour flight, the customer service was exceptional, with numerous staff members exemplifying the very best in care. On board, Andre, our primary crew chief, was sincerely friendly, a consummate professional, and, along with Freddy, one of his team members, truly among the best of the best. The captain even came through the cabin to chat with passengers—a wonderful personal touch, especially on such a long journey.

The SFO lounge closes at 12 midnight. My flight took off at 2AM

I feel bad, but Swiss airlines is not an airlines I will ever fly again. Their cabins are basic, seats are extremely uncomfortable, crew is a hit or a miss with service. What's worse is how they make you feel they are there to make money and not make your travel needs be met or make your travel a pleasure. They charge for 2nd bags, seat selection and felt like a budget arinines frontier/spirit airline attitude and approach. Their business class is from the early 2000s, basic. Additionally, planes going to India, are old, falling apart and not maintained. Even the crew mentioned this is typical of the airline having older planes going to India. Panels detached and loose or stuck with duct tape, seats scruffed up and dirty, seatbelts roughed up. The scariest thing was when I saw a window panel next to where I was sitting loose and dangling. The crew mentioned it's only cosmetic and assured the integrity of the plane was inspected by the maintenance crew. This is where they confessed about planes going to India being old. I UNFORTUNATELY would NOT recommend Swiss airlines to anyone and will NEVER fly with them again!

Ability to watch movies.No earbud sound system.Marginal beverage service.Unexplained late take off resulting in VERY tight connection in LA which proved maximally stressful.

United Premium Plus or Premium Economy was almost twice the price as regular Economy, but the value is much worse. The seat is a bit wider and more comfortable. but not by much. The food was not good, felt like cheap fast foods on a little bit of silverware. The flight attendance service was the worse, not much attention to passenger, no helping of any kind. All in all, United Premium Plus is not worth its price, and was much worse than its Asian or Europe counter parts.

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.

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.

No food. I paid over $1.000 for my ticket for nuts and espresso beans.

My flight in Dallas had maintenance issues. Which caused us to missed our connecting flight in LA. We had to stay overnight in Los Angeles. American Airlines booked us a hotel. The hotel was the Holiday Inn. It was horrible. The whole hotel smelled like weed and there were people rambling all night long up and down the hallways. The carpets in the hallway and the room has stains. There was dirt on the floor. It was so nasty that I slept in my clothes.

Great. Clean. Seats comfortable. Food was free. Had new release movies.

The airplane I love and I love I came back safe thank you American airlines

The seats on Lufthansa’s international business class on the A350-900 is the worst product in the market. Our chief purser was AMAZING though. She is the best FA I have had in many years.

I have very bad experience with United because Vince two weeks that I did not receive my luggage yet

Good and they are leaving at time and arriving on time

The flight attendants were wonderful - one man put my carry on in the bin for me. Very attentive service. Loved the blanket and pillow waiting for me in economy. Food was excellent which is a surprise given the reputation of any airline food. Wine was fine with the meals. Delighted with the new movies - flight went by very quickly. I would definitely fly Lufthansa again.

Generally good. Not their fault but the design of the Boeing 747 had seating supports directly in line with my legs. So my legs always had to straddle this support which caused body misallignment. Such poor design from Boeing. There was no USB port for me to charge my phone. The screen touch control was very poor.

Patrick and the whole crew were amazing! Hope to have this team for all my European trips.

Smooth flight with enough time for connection. Ran out of meal options. In-flight and gate staff were friendly and helpful. Good service overall.

They don’t give information on why a flight is delayed in a timely manner. Very frustrating.

The plane (Mitsubishi CRJ) felt old, creaking and not very new. The crew was okay. Hot water provision was broken so hot beverages could't be served.

Best flight attendants ever! Very customer and service oriented, courteous, professional and helpful.

Incredible. The upgrade to Business was a phenomenal way to end my trip, beyond grateful for the generosity and hospitality.

I was sent an email that said my card payment was not verified. When I spoke to an agent , he said my card was not verified and the flight I thought I had to booked was no longer available so I booked another flight on another airline(United). Later I got flight updates , etc., concerning my supposed first flight. So if I was charged for this flight on British Airways/American airlines, I need a refund.

Generally very good. I think their service is better than some other big names I used to travel with. Their food variety is second to none - and you can place order beforehand. Their seating design is a bit awkward for service, I'd say. Flight attendants must be tall enough - long legs and arms - to reach the window seat passenger while crossing over the isle passenger. Also appreciated the variety on entertainment.

Lovely big plane. Excellent take off and landing. Cabin crew were so nice. Flight in time no delays

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.

The crew has always been great on BA. They are very friendly and accommodating. I like that they have vegetarian options already in the menu. And the free wine is a nice perk.) I noticed (both directions of my trip) minor upgrades/ replacements needed on the plane itself (touch screen didn't work with touch; bathroom light didn't go on). However, this is one of my favorite airlines.

There was a delay for the San Francisco-London flight, but we were all informed via text and email. The staff was very friendly and nice and the food was good. I do recommend that the airline offer something without eggs or something vegan for the vegetarian meal option. A lot of Indians are lacto-vegetarian, while some could be allergic to eggs/dairy.

Crew were nice, food was good. Boarding was horrendous. We were driven around the airport in a bus forced to climb a long flight of very steep stairs with no adequate handrails to board the plane . In many many years of flying to the US I have never been required to do this . There was no assistance for those needing help getting up the stairs to the plane. A fellow passenger helped me. No idea how other elderly, physically limited passengers or those with young children managed . It was a full flight with crowds trying to get up the stairs. It was an accident waiting to happen.

Horrible, the plane is just old and junky...Filthy restroom, seat was as hard as rock. The food, mystery side dish, inedible..geez..just Horrible. Never flying BA again

the service on Business class should be improved to be at par with industry leaders like Cathay Pacific and Singapore AIrlines. A lot of room for improvement.

Everything you need to know for your flight to California

Cabin class types available on flights to California