£58 Find Cheap Flights from New York 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 New York to California departing on 13/11. 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 in flight searches from New York to California.
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from New York to California.
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Cheap Flights from New York to California

Cheapest return prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours
Los Angeles
Los Angelesdirect£141
San Francisco
San Franciscodirect£178
San Diego
San Diegodirect£172
Los Angeles
Los Angelesdirect£141
San Francisco
San Franciscodirect£178
San Diego
San Diegodirect£172

Book Cheap New York to California Plane Tickets

 
Here are some of the best deals found on KAYAK recently from the most popular airlines for return flights from New York 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 from New York to California

Sun, 7 Dec - Wed, 10 Dec
JetBlue Logo
06:00 - 08:43JFK-LAS
5h 43mdirect
JetBlue Logo
13:39 - 21:31LAS-JFK
4h 52mdirect
£122JetBlue
Find Deal
Sat, 13 Dec - Sat, 20 Dec
Frontier Logo
16:29 - 23:42JFK-LAS
10h 13m1 stop
Frontier Logo
21:34 - 05:30LAS-JFK
4h 56mdirect
£124Frontier
Find Deal
Thu, 11 Dec - Thu, 11 Dec
United Airlines Logo
18:20 - 21:16EWR-LAS
5h 56mdirect
United Airlines Logo
23:13 - 07:00LAS-EWR
4h 47mdirect
£143United Airlines
Find Deal
Mon, 26 Jan - Tue, 27 Jan
Spirit Airlines Logo
15:54 - 21:08EWR-LAX
8h 14m1 stop
Spirit Airlines Logo
07:00 - 15:25LAX-EWR
5h 25mdirect
£146Spirit Airlines
Find Deal
Thu, 4 Dec - Thu, 11 Dec
United Airlines Logo
17:14 - 20:10EWR-LAS
5h 56mdirect
United Airlines Logo
22:00 - 05:45LAS-EWR
4h 45mdirect
£147United Airlines
Find Deal
Thu, 20 Nov - Sun, 23 Nov
Spirit Airlines Logo
21:15 - 00:40EWR-LAX
6h 25mdirect
Spirit Airlines Logo
00:19 - 17:10LAX-EWR
13h 51m1 stop
£152Spirit Airlines
Find Deal
Tue, 17 Feb - Fri, 20 Feb
Alaska Airlines Logo
16:30 - 23:19JFK-LAS
9h 49m1 stop
Alaska Airlines Logo
07:00 - 19:04LAS-JFK
9h 04m1 stop
£158Alaska Airlines
Find Deal
Wed, 10 Dec - Sat, 13 Dec
Alaska Airlines Logo
16:35 - 22:27JFK-LAS
8h 52m1 stop
Alaska Airlines Logo
18:55 - 06:26LAS-JFK
8h 31m1 stop
£165Alaska Airlines
Find Deal
Sat, 24 Jan - Fri, 30 Jan
Delta Logo
07:40 - 11:14JFK-LAX
6h 34mdirect
Delta Logo
13:30 - 21:54LAX-JFK
5h 24mdirect
£172Delta
Find Deal
Wed, 10 Dec - Wed, 17 Dec
Delta Logo
18:00 - 21:25JFK-LAX
6h 25mdirect
Delta Logo
16:00 - 00:22LAX-JFK
5h 22mdirect
£180Delta
Find Deal
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for New York to California flights

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

What is the cheapest New York to California flight route?

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

The cheapest ticket to California from New York found in the last 72 hours was to San Diego, at £178 return. The most popular route is from New York John F Kennedy Intl Airport (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX), and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was £187.

Can I save money by flying with a stopover from New York to California?

The average return price for all direct flights, flights with one stopover, and flights with two stopovers for the route found by users searching on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks.

No, with an average price for the route of £337, prices are generally cheapest when you fly direct.

What is the cheapest month to fly from New York to California?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for round-trip flights from New York 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 New York to California is September, when tickets cost £237 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are December and April, when the average cost of return tickets is £358 and £294 respectively.

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

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

Your flight ticket price will generally be cheaper if you fly to California on a Monday and more expensive on a Saturday. On your return trip to New York, you should consider flying back on a Thursday, and avoid Tuesdays for better deals.

How far in advance should I book a flight from New York 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 New York 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 New York to California, you should book around 3 weeks before departure, which saves you about 43% compared to booking last-minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 17 weeks before departure.

Good to know - Cheap tickets from New York to California

Low seasonSeptember
Cheapest flight£58
Best time to beat the crowds (8% less expensive on average)
Most popular time to fly (31% more expensive on average)
Flight from New York John F Kennedy Airport to Las Vegas

Flights from New York to California: the best tips from KAYAK users

Insights shared by verified travellers who flew the route from New York to California 
LuisFlew with DeltaJFK-SFOMar 2025
It’s a long flight, come prepared to either watch movies, read or sleep.
HowardFlew with Alaska AirlinesJFK-SANMay 2025
Must have a tablet to watch videos. Bring a seat cushion.
AracelyFlew with Spirit AirlinesEWR-LAXDec 2024
Bring snacks and your own water bottle to stay hydrated.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesEWR-SANFeb 2025
My flight was not delayed, but my family had a flight earlier in the week that was, by 5 hours. My daughter says she'll never book a late afternoon flight as they seem most likely to be delayed. I personally like the timing and usually they cost less. Also, get on the plan with fully charged devices or a non-electronic form on entertainment.
Verified travelerFlew with American AirlinesJFK-LAXJan 2025
Be there on time it really need two hours for security checkups
Verified travelerFlew with Qantas AirwaysJFK-LAXNov 2024
there was an instance where a non speaking couple didnt know when to board. people cut in front of them and the crew didnt respond. it would be nice if there were translators available to assist when needed. i get that you want people on board as quickly as possible. sometimes, it's like herding cats. but do assist the people who dont understand the language.
JulieFlew with Alaska AirlinesJFK-SFOOct 2024
Leave early. JFK can be messy. I couldn’t find healthy food choices so eat before you arrive.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesJFK-SANOct 2024
Landing in La Guardia or Newark (New Jersey) is more convenient for commuting to Manhattan.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesEWR-LAXJun 2024
Make sure to get food before you get to the airport. Bring chargers for ur phone or your technological device.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesJFK-SFOJun 2024
SFO is one of the most convenient and pleasant airports. When flying Alaska Air make sure to bring your food and a larger water bottle that usual (you get only two drink services (one small cup each) for a 6 hour flight.
BerniceFlew with Alaska AirlinesEWR-SANJun 2024
Give yourself plenty of time to get through security.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesJFK-PSPMar 2024
Bring an iPad with lots of shows downloaded. The terminal at jfk is nice and small, easy to go thru security. Palm Springs airport is amazing. You step out and feel like you’re on vacation.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesEWR-LAXApr 2024
There are buses from Time Square Bus Terminal to Newark for $18 direct no stops you are there in 30 minutes.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesJFK-SFOMay 2024
The airport food was limited and expensive. Best to bring a sandwich from outside…
MasakoFlew with Alaska AirlinesEWR-LAXApr 2024
Newark has few food options so pack something if you can. It’s not worth getting food at Newark.
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska AirlinesEWR-SANFeb 2024
Allow time for TSA (I had) or figure out the priority boarding (I didn't but will look into it for future flights), I thought they were pretty inefficient. A guy behind me was freaking out because he was going to miss his flight and a bunch of us let him cut the line in hopes he could make it.
SridharFlew with Spirit AirlinesEWR-OAKDec 2023
Fly light. Get seats in front. Make sure you get here before 10 - rental car place closes prior.
LaurenFlew with JetBlueJFK-LAXDec 2023
Be very careful that you don’t misplace anything. If you have to go through TSA multiple times, be sure to retrieve ALL your things even if it means you have to hold up the line unfortunately. Otherwise, there will be zero help to retrieve your things afterwards even though there are so many cameras.

FAQs - booking California flights

  • Which California airport is closest to Catalina Island?

    If you’d like to land at an airport close to Catalina Island, book a flight that lands a Long Beach Municipal Airport (LBG). Landing at this airport also referred to as Daugherty Field, is in your best interest since it is 53 km (33 miles) away from the island. All New York airports serve flights to LGB. The airlines that provide these flights include Delta, Spirit, Linear Air Taxi, and American Airlines.

  • Is it possible to fly directly from New York to Los Angeles, California?

    If you want to travel directly from New York to Los Angeles, you’ll be spoilt for choice regarding what airline to travel with, as several air travel companies offer direct flights on this route. The airlines are JetBlue, Delta, Spirit, Alaska, American, and United Airlines. The demand for direct flight tickets for this route is usually high. Hence, to avoid missing one, you should book your ticket on KAYAK as early as possible.

  • How can people with hidden disabilities get help at La Guardia International Airport (LGA)?

    If you have a hidden disability, you’ll be happy to hear that LGA offers Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyards and wristbands to persons with hidden disabilities. These Sunflower lanyards and wristbands help airport staff discreetly identify passengers who need extra help. Thus, if you wear one, you can count on being spotted and assisted throughout your airport stay.

  • How can I travel cheaply from New York to California?

    Connecting flight tickets from New York to California tend to be cheaper than direct flight tickets. This being the case, if you want to travel cheaply from New York to California, you should check out the connecting flight tickets available on KAYAK. Airlines such as Spirit, United, Alaska, and Delta offer connecting flights from New York to various parts of California.

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

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from New York 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 New York 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 New York 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 New York 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 New York 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 morning, when retur flights cost £241 on average. Morning departures are around 59% 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 £582.

Top tips for finding a cheap flight from New York to California

  • In New York, you can board your flight to California at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), or La Guardia International Airport (LGA). When booking your flight to California, book one that departs at LGA since this airport has the smoothest boarding experience. This can be attributed to the fact that it faces the least passenger traffic.
  • In California, the airport you land at should be influenced by the region you’d like to visit. If you want to visit Northern California, you should land at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), while if you want to visit Southern California, you should land at San Diego International Airport (SAN).
  • If you need assistance or have questions at JFK, visit one of its Information Centers. These centers are outside the Arrivals Areas of Terminals 1, 2, 5, 7, and 8 and in the Arrivals Hall of Terminal 4.
  • Most small airports in California serve flights from New York. This being the case, if you’re headed to a destination served by a small airport, use Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), SFO, or SAN as your base of travel. This is because they all offer flights to most small airports in California.
  • If you want to travel to JFK from Midtown Manhattan cheaply, catch the local trains to Jamaica Station. At this station, board the AirTrain, which will transport you to JFK. On the other hand, if you’d like to travel directly, you should use a taxi.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines flying from New York to California

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying from New York 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 New York 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 11218 reviews
7.8Comfort
7.0Entertainment
8.5Crew
8.1Boarding
7.1Food
Airline reviews

Overall the flight was on-time and plane ride very comfortable. The free snacks not so good - only a small bag of pretzels and no milk. I wanted milk. There was not entertainment on the plane unless I wanted to download their APP. But I would consider flying with them again and be more prepared on my part with food and entertainment.

10.0 ExcellentSara, Oct 2025JFK - SFO
Read more Alaska Airlines reviews

Overall the flight was on-time and plane ride very comfortable. The free snacks not so good - only a small bag of pretzels and no milk. I wanted milk. There was not entertainment on the plane unless I wanted to download their APP. But I would consider flying with them again and be more prepared on my part with food and entertainment.

This time it is good, no delay and right on time

No food but only snack was provided during the 6-hour flight from EWR to LAX. I was so hungry during the trip.

Miss bigger screens for movies Staff was friendly Seats comfortable Bathroom line long

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

Good experience on flight. But flight was delayed for takeoff by an hour, and Alaska posted the wrong landing time on its website. So the person who was designated to pick me up arrived 1 hour early and sat waiting for a long time at 11pm at night. This could have been avoided with better text and website communication by Alaska/Hawaiin Airlines

If there were movies it would have made the flight much easier.

As always to close confinement for passengers not in upgrades. I like that you still get carry on and personal bag.

I purchased the internet during the flight and it stopped working after 1 hour, so I barely got to use it.

I had a negative experience, the flight delay was very long, I didn't like it

The flight was great. The gate location was way to far away!!!

This route with Delta always has delays or is cancelled. Aircrafts seem smaller and older. I fly Delta quite a bit - haven’t had issues with the international flights. But this route has always been the troublesome one

I believe that a four-hour trip should have a meal. Delta had none.

Was charged for my luggage despite having been on one ticket from an international flight. Too tired to argue after 15 hours on flight. Was charged for rechecking it at JFK airport. Not sure why those off Kenya Airways were required to do that.

Flight was canceled, and no effort was made to help with rebooking, no hotel vouchers, no car transportation and minimal food voucher and most places for food were closed by the time the voucher was given. Waited for 3 hours for bags. Simply the worst travel experience I have ever had

At first, we were on the runway for about an hour, literally. The Captain did explain that the Control Tower just had a change shift (sounds like an unrealistic excuse) and then that we had to change a runway. A regular economy seat is made for 12 yo twiggy. I understand Delta wants to push for an upgrade, but after sitting in a Comfort seat and in First class. I would say First class is not worthy of my money. The landing was delayed because of the weather in NYC, I don't hold that against Delta, of course. The Captain did alert us to that upon takeoff in Vegas and again as we reached NY.

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.

My flight was 6 pm 6/6. Every hour they delayed it again - air condition issues then no pilot then the crew had worked too many hours and cancelled the flight at 11 pm. Sent customers to NJ a 45 minutes uber ride to a hotel. Had to be back by 5 am for a 7 am flight and again no pilot etc with another three hours of delays.

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.

Everything was great. I liked the text updates so that I never miss a gate change & I have all the latest info.

No internet on a flight over three hours in this age is criminal. Staff inattentive and dismissive

Worst flight experience ever flights canceled. JetBlue told us just did not even bother standing in line to come back in one and a half hours then without any information we had to go pick up all of our luggage and spend over $2000 in accommodation just to get home. JetBlue said that the next flight available for us to get home would be three days later. Absolutely absurd hasn’t offered to give us any compensation do not fly JetBlue horrible company. They said it was based on the weather and the weather is great in all locations that we would’ve been flying to total hoax. I think it’s a conspiracy theory.

flight was delayed for hours with no explanation. The plane was a very old aircraft.

The flight departed more than 1 hour late. Leg room is bigger than most airlines

Excellent. Although they used to greet me as a mosaic member and provide a free drink, early boarding helps me to keep coming back to JetBlue.

No music app working: no economy meal on five hour flight; hour on tarmac at the end waiting for a gate. Flight itself was smooth and easy.

Communication with the customer and stay is important. Staff off with a minor inconvenience but it worked out of course. Also this was a very old Mint Class plane. They snuck this one in on us. The updated aircraft are much better.

The flight itself was fine, but the boarding process was extremely frustrating. There is no one scanning boarding passes - passengers just scan themselves and enter the jetway. By the time my husband and I got on the plane and were halfway to our seats they determined there were too many bags on the plane and everything at that point needed to be checked. This created a lot of unnecessary chaos. They should have alerted people before getting on the plane that they would need to start checking bags instead of waiting until people were already on the plane.

In flight on demand didn't work at our seats. Only a single beverage/snack run.

The gate agents for spirit at EWR wouldn’t give me my ticket to board when I arrived 50 min from the flight, saying that I wouldn’t make my flight. They tried to reschedule me to arrive at my destination 14 hours after the original flight, which included a 10 hr layover in another city. I rebooked with another airline and it took me a total of 5 min to go through security. Then I see a charge on my card for a $100 change fee that I did not approve. Beware of this horrible place and these horrible people

Waited at the airport for over 4 hours to board this flight. Terrible airline

The delays and the lack of communication and organization within the airport itself for Staffing this flight and coordinating the paper log necessary to depart was ridiculous and deplorable

Great experience for my first time on Spirit. Wey clean plane, great staff, very smooth. Gave food and entertainment “poor” simply because there was no option for NA….i did not get food nor did I order WiFi….so not a fair assessment but neither would giving top marks without experiencing. Overall, great experience.

Flight was good and on time. Everyone was nice. Seats aren't very comfortable

Everything was fine. I'm average height and I pack light. I'm ready for my Spirit flight.

After 2 hrs the flight was canceled. The next flight wasn’t until 4 days away! They wouldn’t book us with other airlines. We ended up driving 15 hrs to get home

First time on Spirit. Definitely a streamline flight but I would fly Spirit again.

The seat belt was lengthy enough that I did not need an extender. Courteous and helpful flight attendants.

Not very good because of an almost 3 hour delay for an hour long flight.

Terrible. The canceled my entire flight when I requested a refund for a trip frontier canceled trip one way.

i was unable to check in the flight. refund requested

I think Frontier was very good at communication. Their app worked very well. Loading was great and the flight was nice and easy.

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

The worst. They don’t follow procedure for boarding per group. Flight got delayed for no understandably reasons, they changed our destination from PR to Miami, left us inside a plane for more than 8 hours, then cancelled flight in Miami leaving us stranded. Poorly managed re-accommodation for a new flight and overnight stay so I have to spend in a new ticket and my own hotel room to been able to get to my office next day. Lost 2 days of work and as a doctor, patients loosing their appointments. to other flights and besides

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

I was 2 hr arrive in the airport and 45 min in the line . After take to my turn . The agent tell me I’m later . I can not board . So my vacation was going to the floor . Just for their bad customer service agent in the airline

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.

Very bad! No good service delayed my second connection flight

They canceled flight. Hard to believe there was even a plane incoming for us to get on

Everything you need to know for your flight from New York 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.

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