$45 Find Cheap Flights from Washington to California

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Low seasonJanuary
Cheapest flight$45
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 12% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 16% increase in price.
Flight from Portland to Las Vegas

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

Insights shared by verified travelers who flew the route from Washington to California 
MarisaFlew with American AirlinesSEA-LAXJun 2025
Take Alaska Airlines - Clear was great to have at both airports, especially seattle where there was a large security line
Verified travelerFlew with Hawaiian AirlinesSEA-ONTJun 2025
Make sure to be there on time because the bag drop off can be a little complicated and it takes quite some time to get to the gate.
ShuraFlew with Alaska AirlinesSEA-BURApr 2025
Don’t . Delta has all the gates together for easy transfers and much more food and beverage selection
RobertFlew with United AirlinesSEA-SFOMar 2025
If you’re picking up a rental car it’s not very clear that you have to take the train. Signage can be improved at SFO.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesSEA-PSPDec 2024
Be courteous of your fellow travelers. Remember the carry on baggage rules. Keep your jackets out of the storage bin on full flights. Don't move other people's luggage from one bin to another. Step out of the isle as quickly as you can. Be sure you're in the seat(s) assigned to you.
OksanaFlew with Alaska AirlinesGEG-SANFeb 2025
Arrive early, the registration kiosks may not work and registration will take more than an hour.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesSEA-ONTOct 2024
SeaTac lets you make an appointment to get through security. SpotSaver. No cost. Online.
ReidFlew with United AirlinesSEA-LAXOct 2024
SeaTac does not have a very good or equitable system for security lines. First class passengers don’t have a TSA precheck option, while there are only 2 TSA precheck lines on opposite sides of the terminal. Highly recommend getting TSA plus Clear, as the airport heavily favors this combination, with each section of the terminal having one of these options. I almost missed my flight because the only TSA precheck line was about 45 minutes long.
BruceFlew with Alaska AirlinesSEA-LAXNov 2024
Tight interline connection at LAX - barely made the flight. Directions from AS arrival gate to separate AA commuter terminal for AS codeshare flight connecting to TUS would have been nice.
KimberlyFlew with Alaska AirlinesSEA-SNAJul 2024
When going to Disneyland fly to this airport. Only 8 miles from Disneyland and super quick to check in and check out. Highly recommend this airport!
DavidFlew with Alaska AirlinesPAE-LAXJun 2024
Well I arrived 2 hours early, but everything was very empty and fast so maybe try to be there an hour early better.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesSEA-BURAug 2024
Burbank Airport is the best place to start your travels: small airport, short lines, and easy check in.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesSEA-SJCAug 2024
The airport is busy and a mess with construction. There is a train to take so account for extra time.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesSEA-SNAAug 2024
Flight was delayed 9-1/2 hours. Make sure you have somewhere to go in you have to check out of your hotel.
LauraFlew with Alaska AirlinesSEA-LAXJul 2024
LAX is a bit of a mess. Very long walk between terminals.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesSEA-FATMar 2024
Enjoy the flight. You can see Yosemite national park half dome and el capitan from left side window seat
LaurenFlew with DeltaSEA-LAXFeb 2024
If you have kids, bring your own screens. We were counting on the inflight entertainment and it was a definite letdown. Also, TSA Pre-check is only available at station 2, but wait times are posted at each station so you can see if it’s worth the walk.

FAQs for booking flights from Washington to California

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

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

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

    Washington and California are connected by different airlines. The airlines that fly that route the most regularly are Hawaiian Airlines (958 flights per week), Alaska Airlines (871 flights per week), and Qatar Airways (559 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 38% 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 Oakland Airport (OAK), with an average flight price of $176.

  • What is the cheapest day to fly to California?

    Based on KAYAK data, the cheapest day to fly to California is Friday where round-trip tickets can be as cheap as $267. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Monday, where round-trip prices are $372 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 $245 on average. Morning departures are around 18% 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 $337.

  • What is the cheapest flight to California?

    The cheapest ticket to California from Washington found in the last 72 hours was to Los Angeles, at $59 round-trip. The most popular route is Bellingham (BLI) to Los Angeles (LAX) and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $59.

  • What is the cheapest month to fly from Washington to California?

    The cheapest month for flights from Washington to California is August, when tickets cost $202 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are November and April, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $373 and $353 respectively.

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

    To get a below average price on the flight from Washington to California, you should book around 4 weeks before departure, which saves you about 47% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 5 weeks before departure.

  • How many cities have direct flights to California?

    From Washington, there are direct flights to California from 5 cities. The city with the most direct flights is Seattle, with 5,304 direct flights each week.

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

    There are around 852 direct flights from within Washington to California every day. Most flights (37%) depart in the afternoon.

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

    Each week there are around 5,962 direct flights from within Washington to California. The most common day for departures is Sunday, with 18% of flights taking off on this day.

  • How long is the flight to California?

    An average nonstop flight from Washington to California takes 2h 26m, covering a distance of 806 miles. The shortest route is Portland (PDX) to Reno (RNO) with an average flight time of 1h 25m.

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

    There are not any long-haul (6-12 hour flight duration) or medium-haul (3-6 hour flight duration) flights to California. Instead, there are 5,962 short-haul flights (up to 3 hour flight duration), with the most arriving from Seattle.

  • What are the most popular destinations in California?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is Las Vegas (24% of total searches to California). The next most popular destinations are Los Angeles (22%) and Ontario (13%). Searches for flights to San Diego (10%), to Santa Ana (7%) and to San Francisco (7%) are also popular.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from Washington to California

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Washington 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
7.8Comfort
8.1Boarding
8.5Crew
7.0Entertainment
7.1Food
Airline reviews

Loved the staff ease of flying snacks and free movies and WiFi

10.0 ExcellentAnonymous, Aug 2025SEA - ONT
Read more Alaska Airlines reviews

Loved the staff ease of flying snacks and free movies and WiFi

My 1.5 hr flight was 5.5 hrs delayed. We switched gates twice. We planed and deplaned once. Three total planes, two had “mechanical issues.” None of this even makes sense as the original plane was sitting at the gate since yesterday evening. Then when the second plane was finally brought to the gate from the hangar, it too needed repair. Don’t worry. They gave us a $12 foot voucher. All other flights in the same area of the terminal were hours delayed. It was an actual nightmare. This was after a few hours delay on my first flight a few days ago. And I thought that was bad.

I was in the middle seat in the last row but that wasn’t their fault. It is why I rated the flight as mediocre, also the landing was a little rough. The good was really good. The self service luggage belt at SEATAC stopped working right when I reached it. I was literally placing my bag on the small belt when the main belt stopped. I understand that it wasn’t just Alaska but the entire side of the terminal. It took the agents about 20 minutes to arrive at a game plan and it certainly wasn’t flawless but they arranged for our luggage to be taken to the plane the old fashioned way by hand. Understandably, the plane was late in leaving. The flight took the proper amount of time and instead of arriving at OAK at 1:45, we got there at 2:30. I took my time getting to baggage claim because I knew it would be late if it was there at all. Sure enough it wasn’t but there was an agent there to greet me and inform me about my luggage. Long story longer, they delivered my luggage to where I was staying which was an hour away from the airport. Alaska has instituted a delivery type tracking system through my email that kept me informed of where my luggage was the whole time. WELL DONE!!

I am always uncomfortable about the boarding process. I think every airlines has their own procedures for boarding but all of their procedures are inconvenient because it takes too much time to board. If you board people from back seat to front, I think you can reduce the time to boarding.

Good leg room, no problem with overhead storage and the staff was super helpful.

There was a delay, then we were boarded, then deboarded, then waited another hour for a new flight, then boarded again and arrived 2 hours later than expected while traveling with 3 young children.

Original flight was canceled, and the automatically booked second flight was immediately delayed. I arrived about 4 hours later than planned with only a $12 meal voucher that didn't fully cover a sandwich at airport prices.

It was very good and comfortable, Crew was also great

Good experience, although it was a little cramped being a tall person. Otherwise everything went smoothly and professionally though

Delay of more than 3 hours I didnt recieve neither a voucher for food Attention disaster

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.

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

Was as expected. Crowed planes. Too many carryons delaying takeoff. But the ride only took an hour and saved me a lot of time SFO is a not a great airport.

I will be flying again Southwest Airlines. Friendly crew, comfortable and affordable.

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

Easy boarding with an extremely kind attendant. Seats were spacious and we had 3 seats for 2 people so we could stretch out. Comfortable air flow and very attentive and hospital attendants. Bathrooms and food were the only negative. Bathrooms were so small you could hardly get in and close the door. I don’t think an obese person would fit or a person with a movement disability. Food was the trending food for flights, nonexistent. We spent $40 getting sandwich and snack at airport for our 6 hour flught.

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

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

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.

Boarding was mayhem. Late boarding by 15 minutes because of lack of staff (missing 1 flight attendant. We had to wait for an arrival of another plane before we could board). Flight was a little rough, but cannot blame on airlines.

Great experience…left a bit behind schedule but made up fir that in the air and landed 10 minutes early 😁

Great for the price. No wifi or entertainment, but gate agents and crew were fantastic and we boarded quickly and left on time.

sluggish boarding and arrival procedures, fake nice flight attendants, and lots of delays.

Disaster. They lied every step of the way. We ended up being delayed due to crew and then allegedly abandoned the flight because of a curfew at LGA. No rebooking to LGA at any reasonable time. No hotel. No meal vouchers. Had to sleep in the airport and fly to Newark instead. Will never fly Frontier again.

As every law enforcement agency I could imagine surrounded the plane and we didn’t disembark for 2 hours and then had to stick around for another hour to go get our personal belongings after leaving them behind and being bused away from the plane, it was scary and inconvenient. We were given no information as to why this was happening. Lack of communication with passengers was disappointing.

Decent clean onboard experience. Okay discount airline experience. Unfortunately, any customer service interactions are difficult and unhelpful. There is no service. Also, a premium seat only gets you premium boarding if you line up first. Once they start general boarding you must go to the back of the line. Not very premium

The ticketing agents were rude but then we had a great gate agent very nice we had to ride a buss out to where the plane was parked but it was in some back corner of the airport when we got to the plane the captain who was great btw was cleaning the plane because the same rude ticketing agent told them they we not contracted to vacuum the plane. The ride to las Vegas was fine We had a connecting flight to Dallas. The flight was fine but when we arrived in Dallas everyone who flew on any frontier airlines the picked up bags from baggage claim D15 had to wait over a hour for their bags to start we arrived at 11:30pm ish to the gate we didn't leave the baggage clamed till 12:50 am very not happy and i used to fly frontier 4 times a week for work in Denver i will not be using them again

Terrible communication with weather delay, lost baggage, near impossible to reach customer service

The crew was mostly okay. The flight attendant who answered our questions was curt and unhelpful unfortunately. He seemed upset and I understand having off days.

Flight was delayed one hour. Notification to the crowd waiting near the gate was terrible…announcements were unclear and very hard to hear and therefore understand. Frontier does NOT send texts to notify, only email. The reader board over the gate itself was NEVER updated to indicate the gate had been changed. It’s like a bunch of children are running things.

We’ve all seen the YouTube vids of out of control passengers. But this was an instance of a highly aggressive, bully flight attendant. Yelling in the face of a vet with PTSD who was texting their family. And no , we had not yet been instructed to put our phones in airplane mode. My suggestion is that you should pay whatever difference there is in order to avoid Frontier airlines. Additionally, after 3hrs trying to get customer service frontier offered a $25 voucher. I declined. This experience was so traumatic. To be verbally assaulted and abused by a flight attendant that has the power to say “boo” and I miss my flight ( which was to a family member’s funeral ). Frontier is unsafe and I cannot impress enough how much I discourage anyone ( esp those with any kind of disability like PTSD ) flying on Frontier.

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