$63 Find Cheap Flights from Tampa to California

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These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from Tampa to California.
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from Tampa to California.
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Cheap Flights from Tampa to California

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours
Los Angeles
Los Angeles1 stop$181
San Francisco
San Francisco1 stop$273
San Diego
San Diego1 stop$182
San Jose
San Jose2 stops$193
Palm Springs
Palm Springs1 stop$329
Fresno
Fresno1 stop$256
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo1 stop$248
Bakersfield
Bakersfield1 stop$239
Arcata
Arcata1 stop$328
Redding
Redding1 stop$398
Reno
Reno1 stop$207
Sacramento
Sacramento1 stop$196
Los Angeles
Los Angeles1 stop$181
San Francisco
San Francisco1 stop$273
San Diego
San Diego1 stop$182
San Jose
San Jose2 stops$193
Palm Springs
Palm Springs1 stop$329
Fresno
Fresno1 stop$256
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo1 stop$248
Bakersfield
Bakersfield1 stop$239
Arcata
Arcata1 stop$328
Redding
Redding1 stop$398
Reno
Reno1 stop$207
Sacramento
Sacramento1 stop$196
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for Tampa to California flights

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

What is the cheapest Tampa to California flight route?

Data is based on round-trip flight searches on KAYAK over the past month.

The cheapest ticket to California from Tampa found in the last 72 hours was to Santa Ana, at $176 round-trip. The most popular route is from Tampa (TPA) to Los Angeles (LAX), and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $289.

Can I save money by flying with a layover from Tampa to California?

The average round-trip price for all non-stop flights, flights with one layover, and flights with two layovers for the route found by users searching on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks.

Yes, flying with a layover may cost you more time, but you can also save money on the route, with a 2 stops layover the cheapest option at $955 on average.

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

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for round-trip flights from Tampa 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 Tampa to California is September, when tickets cost $299 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are December and March, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $443 and $419 respectively.

What’s the cheapest day of the week to fly from Tampa to California?

The average price of all round-trip flights from Tampa to California clicked on KAYAK for each day over the last 12 months.

If your flying dates are flexible, you should consider flying to California on a Thursday, as we generally find the cheapest rates on that day for this route. On the other hand, Monday is the most expensive day to fly from Tampa to California. For your return ticket, we recommend flying on a Wednesday and avoiding Sundays for the best deals.

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

To calculate weekly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each week before departure over the last year for round-trip flights from Tampa 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 Tampa to California, you should book around 3 weeks before departure, which saves you about 40% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 11 weeks before departure.

Good to know

Low seasonFebruary
Cheapest flight$63
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 3% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 12% increase in price.
Flight from Tampa to John Wayne (Santa Ana)

FAQs - booking California flights

  • If I want to visit Disneyland Resort, which airport should I fly to?

    The popular southern California destination, Disneyland Park and Resort in Anaheim, California, is served by Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Visitors who drive from the airport to Disneyland should plan for a 50 minute to one hour commute, which may vary based on traffic and rush hours. Disneyland provides shuttle service to and from Los Angeles International Airport, which can accommodate groups of up to 9 passengers.

  • Which airport in California is closest to Napa Valley?

    Vacationers who are eager to tour and visit California’s famous wine country regions of Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley, and others, should plan to fly to San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The wine country region is located approximately 50 miles north of San Francisco and is best reached by driving from the airport.

  • Are there any lounges available when I fly from Tampa to California?

    Tampa International Airport (TPA) offers the Delta Sky Club and American Airlines Admirals Club lounges. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) offers the “Be Relax Spa.” Both Los Angeles International Airport and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) offer numerous airline lounges including Delta Sky Club, American Airlines Admirals Club, and United Club, while San Francisco Airport also offers American Express’ The Centurion Lounge.

  • How can I make my flight from Tampa to California more sustainable?

    Travelers concerned with their environmental impact can do things such as packing a lightweight travel bag and booking direct flights, which reduce fuel consumption. Beyond that, airline choice is a factor in traveling sustainably. Alaska Airlines is a great choice for sustainable travel, as they have reintroduced in flight recycling. Alaska Airlines was the first American airline to provide plastic-free in flight water service, along with recyclable paper cups.

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

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from Tampa 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 Tampa 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 Tampa 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 Tampa 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 Tampa 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 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 $318 on average. Morning departures are around 9% cheaper than evening flights, on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to California is generally in the evening, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is $495.

Top tips for finding cheap flights to California

  • Looking for a cheap flight? 25% of our users found tickets from Tampa to the following destinations at these prices or less: Las Vegas $104 one-way - $172 round-trip; Los Angeles $198 one-way - $349 round-trip
  • Passengers traveling between Tampa, Florida, and California can find many options to top destinations such as Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO). As these are California’s two major airports, there are many direct flights from Tampa International Airport (TPA).
  • Los Angeles International Airport is the hub for a number of major airlines in the U.S., such as Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines and American Airlines. These airlines provide frequent flights from Tampa. When you fly to Los Angeles International Airport attractions such as Hollywood theme parks, sightseeing at Pacific coast beaches, and Downtown L.A.'s centers of industry are all within a short ride from the airport.
  • San Francisco, in the Bay Area, is also a top destination in California, and San Francisco International Airport serves as a hub for United Airlines and Alaska Airlines. United Airlines offers nonstop service from Tampa to San Francisco International Airport.
  • Known as the center of the American tech industry, the Silicon Valley, in the south Bay Area, is also served by San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC). Travelers can find flights to from Tampa to San Jose Mineta International Airport on various airlines including Spirit Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and JetBlue. These flights will typically have one layover.
  • San Diego, in Southern California, is another popular destination. Alaska Airlines offers nonstop service between Tampa International Airport and San Diego International Airport (SAN). While San Diego International Airport is not a hub, it is a focus city for both Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines, and it is the busiest commercial single runway airport in the U. S.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from Tampa to California

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying from Tampa to California. Airline scores are aggregated from all reviews left by passengers on KAYAK after flying with an airline. 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 Tampa 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
Alaska AirlinesOverall score based on 10000 reviews
8.5Crew
7.8Comfort
7.0Entertainment
8.1Boarding
7.1Food
Airline reviews

Agent boarding us in San Diego lectured me on showing up on time for the flight, and said that if I had been three minutes later, he would have denied myself and my wife boarding. Our trusted traveler numbers were not in the system, even though I entered them when I bought the tickets. Our food orders were not in the system, even though I entered them prior to the flight. My wife requires a wheelchair, and that was delayed on both flights.

4.0 OkayAnonymous, Aug 2025SEA - SAN
Read more Alaska Airlines reviews

Agent boarding us in San Diego lectured me on showing up on time for the flight, and said that if I had been three minutes later, he would have denied myself and my wife boarding. Our trusted traveler numbers were not in the system, even though I entered them when I bought the tickets. Our food orders were not in the system, even though I entered them prior to the flight. My wife requires a wheelchair, and that was delayed on both flights.

It was fine—the seats are not very comfortable and the aisles are very narrow. Nothing different from other airlines

Unfortunately 4 hour 40 minute delay because of airport then one hour into flight diverted back to Kona elderly man on plane got heart attack trying to get home some how

Seats are so small now that it's very hard even for a medium-sized person to be comfortable!!!

My experience would’ve been great because we were on a new plane, but they said as we boarded that the plane would be too new to have WiFi, which to me is unreasonable - newer planes should def have WiFi! It was a 5 hour flight from Anchorage to San Fran and because there was no WiFi, I had to take an unexpected half day off work, which was super annoying because I had a lot to do and we only found out a few minutes before takeoff.

Such great crew, from checkin to the plane. So friendly and helpful, I was genuinely impressed.

Hawaiian Airlines, like most US-based ones, constantly provide sub-par service and pack their planes to the max with all kinds of last-minute-purchase schemes. As a result, it makes every flight so uncomfortable and generates high health risk for its passengers. In one word, GREED rules the day!

Well the flight being delayed multiple time really was frustrating. But the crew and flight was good.

Staff at Gate desk were helpful. My connecting flight from the first part of my trip Kona to Seattle was late. I had to run through SeaTac Seattle to catch my flight to San Jose. They made an exception to let me board. On my return trip San Jose to San Diego and San Diego to Honolulu the same thing happened. One flight arrived late and I had to run through the terminal to catch my connection. There are no Gluten-free & Vegan options meals and snacks to purchase.

generally good. No snacks or drinks on the flight 3379 from Portland to San Jose, CA. Sad.

If we are going to have to pay for luggage, make it easier to do. Put something on the app during check-in so I don't need to do it at the kiosk. I've done it twice recently and I ended up having to pay at the desk because something went wrong at the kiosk in Tampa.

Very smooth checking in our luggage with a super pleasant SW agent. I enjoyed a fun entertaining movie.

First time traveling on Southwest since bag fees were implemented. Usual good service. Just more expensive now.

It was a perfect flight in all aspects! Both legs!

Boarding process, crew were good. But the seats were so uncomfortable that was all I could focus on. I literally had to sit forward so that all 3 of us could fit in row. I will try to avoid Southwest in the future for any flights over 60 minutes.

Great flight, 47 passengers on a 180 seat plane. Stewardess was pleasant and cheerful.

Great experience flying Southwest. The crew was really kind and helpful, and very friendly with our toddler.

Plane late from DC to Austin 30 minutes. Crew made up much of the time enroute to San Diego.

Flight was awfully bumpy and landing was a bit jolting. I was in the restroom when snacks and drinks were served and was not asked if i wanted any. I had to ask for water finally.

Fine, but how to board on SW versus othrr airlines, is just lame. Goood staff though and all was solid otherwise.

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

For a 69 year old with health problems I had the worse experience, no wheelchair when I entered a lady told me to sit and wait while a gentleman told me I had to walk to the Delta station, which I did. I had a carry on and a bag, and I was traveling with my service dog, which was on his carrier and the lady charged me for my carry on luggage, beside all the waiting cause of the delay, I had to walk to get my luggage cause no wheelchair showed up, I am so disappointed. I will get in touch with the company. I got home at 3:00 am, not good for my health situation.

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

It is clear that someone knew, and competent, is in charge of food at United Airlines at least for the international flights. I was flying in coach, but the choices of the dinner were excellent. Tasty, and appropriate size. I had the beef, which was a little bit like a shepherds pie, and it was good. Nothing comparable has been served on a United flight in years. It will not be confused with three star food, but it is very good for airline food. Even better was the breakfast choice between a cinnamon roll and a breakfast sandwich. I chose the breakfast sandwich which was absolutely delicious and which I would happily order again at my local Starbucks or Panera. It is clear that someone knew indifferent is in charge of the food and it’s about time.

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!

Boarded plane and then delayed 1.5 hours while on the plane

online check in was not available so i had to get to airport extra early. The flight was delayed and my luggage was lost. I had an argument with the person behind me who wanted to keep her bag on the floor and not allow my seat to recline on a 9hr plus flight. So overall, lots and lots of areas for improvement.

Horrific. They missed my connecting flight to San Diego. I didn’t get there until Monday at 9am when I had a mandatory court settlement conference scheduled at 6am since we had parties on the east coast. This caused many issues. All because United apparently forgot to hold the doors open until my flight landed that only had a 10 minute delay. This was the last flight to Southern California. So I couldn’t even rent a car to finish the trip. United cannot be trusted when traveling on specific days and times since weather didn’t have anything to do with the delays.

My flight was delayed a very short period of time but they did not hold my connecting flight to San Diego, also through United. So they closed the doors before we got off our plane. They would only have to help the door open for another five to ten minutes. So I missed a court deadline for a manditory mediation settlement conference for my client. I had to get an associate to be there in person and be on the phone with him relaying what he needs to do the entire time. The court was very upset with me and so was my client. United cannot be trusted.

We were given vouchers we couldn’t use with a 5.5 hour delay

Really good 😊 the woman at the gate entrance was a little rude checking in our carry-on but i dont think she worked for the airline, she worked for the airport at sacramento, other than that amazing.

My flight was delayed for several hours. Sitting at gate 16 for several hours, I got a text from Kayak the gate changed to 9 before it was announced. Very bad communication at each gate from American Airlines employees. I received 10 notifications of delay from Kayak. My vacation started off horrible! I will write to American Airlines corporate office also.

Delayed flight that lead to a missed connection and a 5-hour trip became a 12-hour flight 🙄

There is no room, no gluten free options, or any free internet/entertainment. You have to bring your own tablet or smartphone because there are no screens.

Amazing food, great staff, with one noticable detail missing ...but no seat entertainment in any of aircraft ...I am not a fan

Boarding gate in Honolulu was staffed with a great clerk with a soothing voice despite the flight delay of over an hour. Flight attendants in the plane were all grumpy, not pleasant looking bunch. Their sour attitude showed throughout the flight. Inly able to get a select few movies started. Most of the movie links in the “free entertainment” did not work.

This was a horrible experience. For a first class experience, my chair was held together by 3M tape - and I have a photo. The crew weren’t very attentive, somewhat dismissive and forgot my drink and snack, the chair reclined about 3 inches on a 6-hour cross country flight. I was also not informed that there was no lounge available in Newark airport because of renovations, so all around this was one of the worst experiences and I would actively avoid both American and Alaska Air going forward.

Boarding was very efficient. Everyone got on board and we got on our way very quickly. It was frustrating that the entertainment app was not functioning properly. I was not able to activate some of the movies offered. The crew on this flight appears to be pretty grumpy. They had no smile on their faces. I felt like they were doing us a favor for being there.

Loved the staff, boarding and drink options! Wish the comfort of the seat could have been better nevertheless

Honestly, I haven’t flown American in years, probably due to the pandemic and my being unable to travel for certain periods in the last two years, but it was a good experience to dig out or obtain a new American Airlines account after many years of traveling for business with American in the past.

Long 5 hour and 45 min flight and only one drink service and cookie snack

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