R10 480 Find Cheap Flights to California

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from South Africa to California departing on 20/1. Fares are subject to change and may not be available on all flights or dates of travel. Click the price to replicate the search for this deal.
1 adult
1 adult, Economy, 0 bags

KAYAK searches hundreds of travel sites at once for deals on flights to California

 
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results for flights to California
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results for flights to California
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Cheap Flights to California

Cheapest return prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours
Los Angeles
Los Angeles1 stopR14 625
San Francisco
San Francisco1 stopR14 491
San Diego
San Diego1 stopR16 129
Fresno
Fresno2 stopsR21 912
San Jose
San Jose2 stopsR25 773
Los Angeles
Los Angeles1 stopR14 625
San Francisco
San Francisco1 stopR14 491
San Diego
San Diego1 stopR16 129
Fresno
Fresno2 stopsR21 912
San Jose
San Jose2 stopsR25 773

Book Cheap California Plane Tickets

 
Here are some of the best deals found on KAYAK recently from the most popular airlines for return flights to California that are departing in the next months. While these flights were available on KAYAK in the last 72 hours, prices and availability are subject to change and deals may expire.
Discover the best prices for you by selecting your travel dates on KAYAK.

Recent return flight deals to California

Sun, Feb 8 - Sat, Feb 21
Virgin Atlantic Logo
21:55 - 19:49
JNB
-
SFO
31h 54m1 stop
Virgin Atlantic Logo
11:47 - 19:00
SFO
-
JNB
21h 13m1 stop
R14 491Virgin Atlantic
Mon, Feb 2 - Sun, Feb 15
Virgin Atlantic Logo
21:30 - 17:55
CPT
-
LAX
30h 25m1 stop
Virgin Atlantic Logo
12:20 - 19:15
LAX
-
CPT
20h 55m1 stop
R14 625Virgin Atlantic
Tue, Jan 20 - Wed, Jan 28
Virgin Atlantic Logo
21:30 - 18:45
CPT
-
LAX
31h 15m1 stop
Virgin Atlantic Logo
11:12 - 19:15
LAX
-
CPT
22h 03m1 stop
R14 892Virgin Atlantic
Wed, Feb 4 - Wed, Feb 11
Turkish Airlines Logo
19:05 - 16:45
JNB
-
SFO
31h 40m1 stop
Turkish Airlines Logo
18:50 - 10:50
SFO
-
JNB
30h 00m1 stop
R15 393Turkish Airlines
Tue, Feb 10 - Tue, Feb 24
British Airways Logo
19:35 - 18:30
JNB
-
LAX
32h 55m2 stops
British Airways Logo
13:46 - 7:35
LAX
-
JNB
31h 49m2 stops
R15 895British Airways
Tue, May 12 - Mon, May 18
British Airways Logo
21:15 - 17:55
JNB
-
SNA
29h 40m2 stops
British Airways Logo
17:05 - 7:00
SNA
-
JNB
28h 55m2 stops
R15 962British Airways
Fri, Feb 20 - Fri, Mar 13
Turkish Airlines Logo
19:05 - 11:10
JNB
-
LAX
26h 05m1 stop
Turkish Airlines Logo
19:45 - 10:50
LAX
-
JNB
30h 05m1 stop
R15 978Turkish Airlines
Sun, Jan 25 - Sat, Feb 7
United Airlines Logo
22:00 - 23:57
JNB
-
SFO
35h 57m1 stop
United Airlines Logo
8:35 - 18:35
SFO
-
JNB
24h 00m2 stops
R16 279United Airlines
Mon, Jan 19 - Sun, Feb 1
United Airlines Logo
20:50 - 20:44
CPT
-
LAX
33h 54m2 stops
United Airlines Logo
7:01 - 18:00
LAX
-
CPT
24h 59m2 stops
R16 279United Airlines
Sun, Jan 11 - Sun, Jan 18
KLM Logo
23:59 - 22:16
JNB
-
LAS
32h 17m2 stops
KLM Logo
7:00 - 22:05
LAS
-
JNB
29h 05m2 stops
R24 385KLM
Booking Insights

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 month to fly from South Africa to California?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for flights from South Africa 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 South Africa to California is February, when tickets cost R15 728 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are July and December, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is R19 739 and R19 338 respectively.

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

To calculate weekly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each week before departure over the last year for round-trip flights 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 a flight from South Africa to California, you should book around 2 weeks before departure, which saves you about 5% compared to booking last-minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 19 weeks before departure.

Good to know

Low seasonSeptember
Cheapest flightR10 480
Best time to beat the crowds but there is an average 1% increase in price.
Most popular time to fly (4% more expensive on average)
Flight from Johannesburg to San Francisco

FAQs - booking California flights

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

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from South Africa to California is likely to change within 7 days, so travellers know whether to wait or book now.

  • What is the Hacker Fare option on flights from South Africa to California?

    Hacker Fares allow you to combine one-way tickets in order to save you money over a traditional return ticket. You could then fly from South Africa 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 Africa 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 Africa 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 Tuesday when return tickets can be as cheap as R17 602. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Friday, when return prices are R19 101 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 morning, when retur flights cost R15 752 on average. Morning departures are around 1% cheaper than evening flights, 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 R21 794.

Top tips for finding cheap flights to California

  • Enter your preferred departure airport and travel dates into the search form above to unlock the latest California flight deals.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines flying to California

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying to California. Airline scores are aggregated from all reviews left by passengers on KAYAK after flying with an airline from South Africa to California. 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 South Africa 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.
7,7
KLMOverall score based on 1434 reviews
7,1Entertainment
7,7Boarding
7,2Food
8,3Crew
7,6Comfort
Airline reviews

Flight was on time, staff are friendly and helpful onboard.

8,0 ExcellentShereen, Dec 2025
AMS - YUL
Read more KLM reviews

Flight was on time, staff are friendly and helpful onboard.

Terrible last row seats many seats available but no offer to move to better seat

Delay and had to run between flight to get my connection due to this delay but besides that the overall experience was ok. I arrived with just an hour of delay.

At the airport, terrible, I do not want to even remember it. It was too humiliating for a business class passenger.

They forgot to serve food and the crew was very unfriendly. Never experienced such a bad KLM flight. Usually fly from Toronto. New York was different.

Couldn’t get boarding pass in SLC even with help from a redcoat, so had to find a desk in AMS to get boarding pass. Technical problems so not sure why. Very inconvenient. The KLM app is not as user friendly as most apps. Also had to wait almost an hour on the tarmac for a fuel truck, which caused us to miss a connecting bus in LUX.

Over 1 Hr delay. No APU so no AC on ground. Plane was hot during boarding and then they closed the doors over 20 minutes before engine start so interior of plane was steamy hot and stuffy. Could have been helped by opening doors until ready to depart.

Ad experience - been flying many years with them but they are losing out to other carriers with their service and bagage / seating policy. My 2 12-yo kids were not placed with the parent. Absurdity.

Short flight so it was okay. Nice crew, all very pleasant and professional. We were near the back in row 27 so just as we got our drinks, we started our descent so had to drink very quickly!

KLM remains a quality flag carrier airline which maintains its standards whilst all their competitors are lowering theirs.

Food has been disappointing in both legs of flight to india

Great staff great experience, made a 2 hour delay very bearable

Great staff, great experience, made a 2 hour delay very bearable

Food was the worst I’ve had on a VA flight. Normally it’s a lot better

I was my pleasure to fly virgin on my birthday for my first solo trip ever 🫶🏼

These are one of the older seat arrangements facing away from the windows! Not particularly convenient sets. No storage spaces. NO COAT HANGING HOOKS. Inconvenient business class seat compared to any other airlines of similar class. Staff are excellent! Extremely professional, friendly. Food is good too.

Overall, flight was excellent but check in was very slow for Premium Economy. Economy queue was shorter but we weren't allowed to use it.

The staff was not very polite but the flight was very very nice and comfortable and the entertainment was great

Great crew - old style upper class seats on the older fleet now feels dated

Premium economy more comfortable than economy, but not by much. Did was awful, do not try the omelette. Flight crew were helpful. Flight was delayed by over an hour. Overall but bad, arrived safely and thank God.

Flight was late - I was downgraded from first class to coach

Movie selection is good. Crew did not understand mileage program and were no help. Sick later. Food?

United needs to step up their game. Delayed flight leaving Seattle, San Francisco. Older aircraft, not very comfortable.

The flight attendants were very rude, beyond comprehension. I took a business class from London to SFO for the first time on United. When I asked for a second piece of bread during dinner, the serving attendant threw a 3rd bread on my plate and said, “here. You can have this one too”! I couldn’t believe the rudeness of the attendant. Most all attendants were very rude, unhelpful, sing the food was absolutely disgusting. Never fly United internationally in business class. My flight back to SFO was a nightmare!!

Plane boarded early a quickly, was mostly full. We left close to on time. And landed early.

7 hours delayed due to operational issues on United’s end. Basically laziness.

Flight from Rome to SFO was excellent compared To our flight to Europe from SFO. The food was much tastier. You can see how UNITED is skimping, though. Instead of getting something mid flight you had to ask for it. It was not automatically served. There was a cookie at the end of the arrival meal, for example that tasted like it just came out of a box. They used to serve a little container of nuts, now … a tiny container of nuts, mixed with pretzels. This was business class that you really have to pay for! But this is minor complaints compared to the overall. My major complaint is the position of the even numbered seats by the windows. You have to turn around to see your window & the positioning as some other controls are harder to get at. This is compared to the odd number seat that are perfectly aligned.

The food quality sucks. One must starve if they do not eat flesh Or wheat based products Some variety would be expected. The trivial amount of snacks and or food is inhumane

Flight was timely, relatively comfortable, with decent entertainment and food served. Only problem encountered was with the free messaging which I highly appreciate, but it did not work from iphone to non-iphones.

The internet service I paid for didn’t work at all and the flight crew was not very friendly.

Seats too much and for the price we paid eve thought economy we still had to pay $169 to check a ba that’s ridiculous and also my daughter needed water so she can take her medicine we push the boton for the attendant to get us water they never came we push it 3 times no one came and ask what we needed . Am not happy with the service at all I will not fly with TK anymore

Boarding experience was a mess- both to and from Istanbul airport. No one knew anything. They asked everyone to line up according to their sit numbers- it was unbelievable. Business class had a separate line, but it was hard to find- I had to go through all that mess before finding it. Would not recommend

Excellent food and service on my international flight. Most notable is the food provided by Turkish even for coach passengers is very good.

They can my date of travel and let me standard in Istanbul for three days stop over and only pay for one day in a hotel with only one breakfast for three days.

the flight was cancelled and I was rebooked twice, once 26 hours later, then another 24 hours later. In total the flight was delayed for 40 hours. Never again will I use kayak or Turkish Airlines for my travel.

Worst experience with boarding once we left the wheel chair even traveling business we had to wait with all the crowd for the bus to take us to the plane then climb the stairs with our bags When you pay extra for comfort and convenience and you don’t get any is disappointing

Food is very turkish. No regard for other natinalities taste and preference. The entertainment can be improved- it was the same menu on 10/8/25 and 10/25/25. The boarding is the worst in the airline industry- I suggest you ask your staff to and watch how other airlines do it.

The best airline for international travel in terms of value you get in business class (service/cost)

I liked the overall flight experience. However, Turkish officials could do a better job at guiding non-Turkish speakers to their connecting flight gates in such a huge & vast airport.

Very small and cramped aisles and seats. Food was poor but the fresh hot roll and hummus was good. No cans of soda given but they had small bottles of water. Crew was nice and pleasant and kept bathroom clean.

Great seat in premium economy, great food and drinks throughout lots of in flight entertainment. 1 hour 40 min delayed flying out , 2 1/2 hour wait at passport control in tampa

Plane was extremely delayed, but not all of it was BA fault (some was). Worst part was lack of room - this had as much space as an Allegiant flight. I thought transatlantic usually gave you an extra inch or two, but not this one. Entertainment system sporadically worked and didn’t have great options. Overhead bins are old and tiny, not as good as aunties new planes.

My seat cushion was poor. The cushion was compressed and was uncomfortable for such a long flight.

Besides having a LONG layover in Philadelphia to begin with, our flight was delayed and left late. We spent 7 hours in the Philadelphia airport after being in the air 7 hours from Portugal to Philly. It turned into a 24 hour day of travel which was exhausting. I know you can't help weather but our layover was difficult as my husband is handicapped. The staff was EXTREMELY helpful with his wheelchair tho!!

I was in a bulkhead seat and my tray table wasn't level. Eating was difficult.

Audi visual not working for a whole group of seats in first class. How does a plane leave the main hub in such poor condition? How much that we can’t see so immediately is also compromised?

main meals are horrible but then you dont fly for the food

It was good. Couldn’t Check in online and select seats

It was great. Enough space and room for legs . Great service to.

⭐ British Airways Review — A Journey of Highs, Lows, and Lessons ⭐ I recently flew Business Class round-trip from Boston to Mumbai with British Airways, and my experience was a tale of two extremes — from disappointment to exceptional service, and then back to inconsistency. Boston → London: A Surprisingly Poor Start My journey began on a disappointing note. On a 6-hour Business Class flight, I was surprised to discover that there wasn’t a single proper vegetarian meal option available. I was offered a few bakery items only after repeatedly requesting something to eat. The flight attendant shrugged, offered no solution, and eventually — quite literally — threw some bread at me after much delay. This was not only disheartening, it was extremely surprising given my wonderful Business Class experience with BA last year. I stepped off that flight genuinely hungry and had to make a mad dash to the lounge just to get a proper meal. London → Mumbai: A Complete Turnaround The next sector restored my faith in British Airways. The entire crew was warm, welcoming, attentive, and genuinely caring. A special shoutout to Phiroze and the entire team serving the Business Class cabin — their professionalism, hospitality, and thoughtful service were extraordinary. They truly embodied what makes British Airways a global leader, and I am deeply grateful for the experience they provided. This is the BA I know and love. Mumbai → London: A Strange Meal Schedule This sector was generally fine, but the meal timing was puzzling. Lunch at 10:30 AM — for a Business cabin — felt unusual, and most passengers, including myself, barely touched it. The rest of the service was smooth, but the scheduling definitely needs a rethink. London → Boston: Mixed Experience Again The flight itself was decent, but the Business Lounge at Heathrow for this leg was a letdown. Arrived during lunch hours: no hot vegetarian options available Lounge area: dirty dishes everywhere Even after politely alerting the staff, the dishes were ignored and left uncleared For a premium cabin passenger — and at one of the world’s busiest international hubs — this was disappointing. Overall Impression My journey with British Airways felt inconsistent — two great sectors sandwiched between two that fell short of the BA standard. When BA is good, it is world-class. When it misses, the gap is noticeable. I genuinely hope the airline takes this feedback as constructive insight. I continue to believe in British Airways, and I commend the outstanding crew on the London → Mumbai sector — they were the highlight of my entire trip. With a little more focus on vegetarian meal availability, lounge service, and consistency across crews, BA can ensure every Business Class passenger experiences the premium journey they promise.

Everything you need to know for your flight to California

Cabin class types available on flights to California

Cabin classes available on flights to California. Prices are the lowest found on KAYAK over the last 7 days. Price and availability is not guaranteed.