Flights to San Francisco (SFO) 2024/2025 (2024)

FAQs

How early can you book flights for 2024? ›

Generally, flights are available to book around 11 months in advance, although it will differ from airline to airline.

Domestic airfare in summer: 47 days ahead. Domestic airfare in autumn and winter: 62–69 days ahead.

Airlines typically release their flight schedules and open bookings around 6 to 11 months in advance. This means that you can make reservations for flights up to almost a year (12 months) ahead of your intended departure date.

Airfare is forecast to rise in 2025 due to inflation and increased demand, despite supply chain challenges for Boeing and Airbus. Boeing's quality issues and production setbacks, exacerbated by regulatory restrictions, contribute to a shortfall in plane deliveries.

Not only are airfares down 7% year-over-year based on March 2024 prices, but they're even down 12% versus a decade ago. That's according to consumer price index data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics published in February. Some experts predict airfares to international destinations will drop even lower in 2024.

Most airlines release their bookable flights almost a year in advance, but there doesn't seem to be any price benefit in booking so early. Incorporating the data from the Expedia and Google studies, here's what we recommend in terms of how far in advance you should make your flight reservations.

You can book flights as early as 11 months (or 330 days) in advance. However, different factors affect the actual days you can book in advance. Each airline has a foreign policy on how early they open their booking windows. For example, low-cost carriers might have shorter booking windows than high-cost carriers.

As previously mentioned, booking airfare on Sunday is cheaper than other days of the week, especially Fridays. Be willing to fly mid-week. Since Thursdays tend to be the cheapest day to fly, see if you can tweak your travel plans so you depart and fly home during the week instead of on weekends.

How much would a trip to San Francisco cost? ›

If you are planning a flight to San Francisco, consider booking flights to Oakland Airport (12 mi from San Francisco city center), Concord Buchanan Fld Airport (24 mi from San Francisco city center), San Jose Airport (40 mi from San Francisco city center) or Santa Rosa Sonoma County Airport (54 mi from San Francisco ...

You generally cannot book a flight more than a year in advance. This is because airlines don't usually release their flight plans until just under a year out.

When to Book Flights for International Travel. You're better off booking earlier rather than later for international travel, but the Expedia report says ideally no more than four months before your desired departure date. The sweet spot is around 60 days.

However, the day of the week of the flight does impact the price. Fridays and Sundays, when people travel the most, garner the highest prices. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, when people are typically at work, are when fares drop to their cheapest.

Book in advance

As a general rule of thumb, flights tend to be cheaper the earlier you book. Airlines release flights up to 12 months in advance, although you might be able to book them as part of a package holiday deal up to 18 months ahead of your departure date.

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However flight plans may be submitted up to 120 hours in advance either by voice or by data link; though they are usually filled out or submitted just several hours before departure.

The general rule is that for domestic flights, travelers should start searching for flight tickets one to three months in advance. For international flights, the best prices are typically available from two to eight months in advance.