DSM - SFO

$128 Find Cheap Flights from Des Moines to San Francisco

This is the cheapest round-trip flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from Des Moines to San Francisco departing on 12/9. 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
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These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from Des Moines to San Francisco, as well as popular online travel agencies
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from Des Moines to San Francisco, as well as popular online travel agencies
In the last 7 days travelers have searched 46,646,933 times on KAYAK, and here is why:

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Cheap Flight Deals from Des Moines to San Francisco (DSM-SFO)

 
These are the cheapest deals for flights from Des Moines to San Francisco currently on KAYAK along with options from the most popular airlines KAYAK users selected for this route. While these flights were available on KAYAK in the last 72 hours, prices and availability are subject to change and deals may expire.

Recent round-trip flight deals from Des Moines to San Francisco

Recommended round-trip deals departing in the coming months from the most popular airlines that fly from Des Moines to San Francisco.
Discover the best prices and deals for you by selecting your travel dates.
Choose your dates
5:07 pm - 12:11 amDSM-SFO
9h 04m1 stop
6:05 am - 4:07 pmSFO-DSM
8h 02m1 stop
$128Frontier
Find Deal
Mon, Dec 9 - Mon, Dec 16
5:07 pm - 12:11 amDSM-SFO
9h 04m1 stop
9:10 pm - 4:07 pmSFO-DSM
16h 57m1 stop
$138Frontier
Find Deal
Mon, Dec 9 - Thu, Dec 12
6:35 am - 2:58 pmDSM-SFO
10h 23m1 stop
5:40 am - 4:59 pmSFO-DSM
9h 19m1 stop
$356Delta
Find Deal
Wed, Dec 11 - Sat, Dec 14
12:22 pm - 5:42 pmDSM-SFO
7h 20m1 stop
6:00 am - 4:38 pmSFO-DSM
8h 38m1 stop
$361Delta
Find Deal
Wed, Dec 18 - Wed, Dec 25
5:03 am - 11:17 amDSM-SFO
8h 14m1 stop
10:09 am - 11:07 pmSFO-DSM
10h 58m2 stops
$366American Airlines
Find Deal
Wed, Dec 18 - Wed, Dec 25
12:15 pm - 8:36 pmDSM-SFO
10h 21m2 stops
8:00 am - 4:59 pmSFO-DSM
6h 59m1 stop
$368American Airlines
Find Deal
Sat, Jan 18 - Thu, Jan 30
12:55 pm - 8:35 pmDSM-SFO
9h 40m2 stops
5:30 am - 4:05 pmSFO-DSM
8h 35m2 stops
$373Southwest
Find Deal
Wed, Jan 8 - Sun, Jan 12
12:55 pm - 8:35 pmDSM-SFO
9h 40m2 stops
10:05 am - 9:30 pmSFO-DSM
9h 25m1 stop
$375Southwest
Find Deal
Thu, Jan 9 - Mon, Jan 13
5:10 pm - 11:03 pmDSM-SFO
7h 53m1 stop
12:59 am - 10:41 amSFO-DSM
7h 42m1 stop
$417United Airlines
Find Deal
Tue, Dec 24 - Fri, Dec 27
9:00 am - 3:22 pmDSM-SFO
8h 22m2 stops
6:42 am - 8:39 pmSFO-DSM
11h 57m2 stops
$456United Airlines
Find Deal
Tue, Feb 11 - Sat, Feb 15

Flights from Des Moines to San Francisco - Travel Insights & Trends

Get data-powered insights and trends into flights from Des Moines to San Francisco to help you find the cheapest flights, the best time to fly and much more.

What’s the cheapest day of the week to fly from Des Moines to San Francisco?

The average price of all flights from Des Moines to San Francisco clicked on KAYAK for each day over the last 12 months.
For Des Moines to San Francisco, Wednesday is the cheapest day to fly on average and Sunday is the most expensive. Flying from San Francisco back to Des Moines, the best deals are generally found on Wednesday, with Sunday being the most expensive.

What is the cheapest month to fly from Des Moines to San Francisco?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for flights from Des Moines to San Francisco, 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 Des Moines to San Francisco is September, where tickets cost $350 on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are January and March, where the average cost of tickets is $624 and $542 respectively.

How far in advance should I book a flight from Des Moines to San Francisco?

To calculate daily average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each day before departure over the last year for flights from Des Moines to San Francisco, removes the top 0.1% to account for outliers, and then takes the average of all the values for each month.
To get a below average price on the flight from Des Moines to San Francisco, you should book around 1 week before departure. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 16 days before departure.

Good to know

Low season

January

High season

September

Cheapest flight

$128
Best time to beat the crowds but there is an average 30% increase in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 27% lower on average.
Flight from Des Moines to San Francisco

When to book flights from Des Moines to San Francisco

Are your dates flexible? Find out the best times to travel from Des Moines to San Francisco based on our flight data from the last year. Discover the cheapest month and even day to fly.
Estimated round-trip price
KAYAK looks at all historical flight data for each date to provide a predicted price for one-way trips or round-trips with a duration up to 40 days. While we try to provide actual minimum prices for each date, some prices are predictions and actual prices may differ.

FAQs for booking flights from Des Moines to San Francisco

  • What is the cheapest flight from Des Moines to San Francisco?

    In the last 3 days, the lowest price for a flight from Des Moines to San Francisco was $178 for a one-way ticket and $128 for a round-trip.

  • Do I need a passport to fly between Des Moines and San Francisco?

    A passport is not required to fly from Des Moines to San Francisco.

  • Which airports will I be using when flying from Des Moines to San Francisco?

    Des Moines and San Francisco are both served by 1 main airport. You will leave Des Moines from Des Moines and will be arriving at San Francisco.

  • Which aircraft models fly most regularly from Des Moines to San Francisco?

    We unfortunately don’t have that data for this specific route.

  • Which airline alliances offer flights from Des Moines to San Francisco?

    oneworld, SkyTeam, and Star Alliance are the airline alliances operating flights between Des Moines and San Francisco, with SkyTeam being the most commonly used for this route.

  • What is the most popular layover when flying to San Francisco from Des Moines?

    Denver is the most popular layover city among KAYAK users traveling from Des Moines to San Francisco.

  • Which is the best airline for flights from Des Moines to San Francisco, Southwest or Delta?

    The two airlines most popular with KAYAK users for flights from Des Moines to San Francisco are Southwest and Delta. With an average price for the route of $461 and an overall rating of 8.1, Southwest is the most popular choice. Delta is also a great choice for the route, with an average price of $482 and an overall rating of 8.0.

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from Des Moines to San Francisco?

    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 Des Moines to San Francisco.

  • How does KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy my flight ticket from Des Moines to San Francisco?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight to San Francisco from Des Moines 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 Des Moines to San Francisco?

    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 to San Francisco with an airline and back to Des Moines with another airline. Booking your flights between Des Moines and SFO can sometimes prove cheaper using this method.

  • What is KAYAK's "flexible dates" feature and why should I care when looking for a flight from Des Moines to San Francisco?

    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 to San Francisco from Des Moines up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

See more FAQs

Top 5 airlines serving from Des Moines to San Francisco

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying from Des Moines to San Francisco. 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 Des Moines to San Francisco? 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.
8.1
SouthwestOverall score based on 5005 reviews
7.2Food
7.7Entertainment
8.1Comfort
8.2Boarding
8.7Crew
Airline reviews

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.

8.0 ExcellentMark, Oct 2024LAX - SFO
Read more Southwest reviews

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.

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 hell hole of an airport. It is the new LaGuardia. Everything Cobbled together. Security gates closed. Terri directional signage

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

The plane arrived 25 minutes late, and the Wi-Fi was slower than it usually is.

Forget beverage, they didn't even have water for half the passangers?

Can not wait for seating change to reduce the amount of pre boards - it’s disheartening the abuse. And then then deplaning

The crew was nice. Boarding sucked. Instead of loading from the back to the front people just sat wherever and you had to wait for them to move to get to a seat. And the flight was 25 minutes delayed.

I boarded last because of my boarding assignment and was given a middle seat at the back of the plane. I’m 6”1” so it was really tight. I wish I just had a seat assignment instead of a general boarding group. My bag was way at the front and my seat at the back. Was never offered a beverage and had no room to move.

The open seating makes passengers boarding ahead of you think they also have the right to the empty middle seat. Trumper next to me refused to move her laptop bag from my leg area. I did not make a fuss since it was a short flight.

Flight was delayed more than 2 hour do the scheduling issues and then some confusing weight and balance matters, followed by a miscommunication with the tower on which runway was going to be used based on the airplane weight. All these things should have been figured out in advance. Instead of arriving at 12:30 a.m. we arrived at 2:30 a.m. very difficult to find a taxi or other transport at SFO. Luggage was delayed. An extension of an unpleasant flight day

Only one side of the heafphone jack work. Crew was friendly and helpful.

Great. Flight departed early and arrived early. Deplaning and baggage claim ww were quick.

They separated our seats and moved us to the back of the plane. Hundreds of dollars and thousands of miles used and this was my platinum member experience.

AC barely worked on a 50 minute flight. It was very warm the whole flight. Flight was very bumpy and hard landing.

Got on the plane and then needed to deboard the plane because they didn’t have any pilots?

The flight was canceled two hours before departure, it took over five hours to rebook us on another flight.

Rough day of travel all the way around. Wrong info given to us multiple times and mistakes in their booking making our trip 10 hours longer than planned. I’m bummed because I fly Delta all the time and love them. Mistakes happen. Just bummed that this was a rare trip our whole family was traveling together.

Meh. A late flight meant I missed my connections, and a 2pm LAX arrival turned into gettin in after midnight.

It was good until there was a 3 hour delay because there was not any pilots to fly the plane.

Had to change aircraft due to a faulty door. Surprisingly it only caused about an hour and a half of delay. Delta handled this situation as well as can be expected.

Cabin was pitch black, even during meal service. The reading lights for seat 2E/F did not work, and seat 2E did not recline.

Was realllly smooth. It was delayed but we were well informed.

Delayed by 2.5hrs any longer and they would’ve had to honour their own policy for breaking their own rules and regs. Not cool, especially when I have an infant child that needs to stay on a routine and they get schedules.

To san Francisco it was ok. From sf to Manila it was horrible

Awful, rude staff. Their abrasive comments are unnecessary. Most seek a frictionless experience and will cooperate if you ask. Additional childish bullying of customers is not acceptable or tolerated. We had the same problem with our departure flight. We will never fly United again.

Very poor the plane itself was really old, slight smell that couldn’t be named. I didn’t even get a boarding pass UNTIL AFTER clearing security! Even then, they said when I get to my connected flight I’ll get my 2nd boarding pass there! A bit ridiculous!

No cooked food. Crew was not friendly and not that helpful

Boarding was efficient. Crew was not pleasant and skipped me during a round of beverage service. Older plane with no seat back screens and I couldn’t connect to wifi or their entertainment offerings.

United Airlines was fantastic, however, UnderPricer was a nightmare. I got to the airport 4 hours before my flight. We are moving to New Zealand so had quite a bit of baggage (16 checked items) and so wanted to have plenty of time to get everything taken care of properly. When I went to check in they (United) could only find a ticket for me. The 5 tickets for my children were never officially ticketed. I called Underpricer and they told me it was United's fault and United told me that Underpricer just needs to reissue the tickets, but they refused to. I asked the Underpricer agent to transfer me to his supervisor as I was not getting the help I needed. He told me the supervisor was busy but that he would call me back in 30 minutes. 30 minutes came and went with no phone call. After an hour I called Underpricer back but they would not let me talk to the person I had talked to before, just told me that he was talking with the supervisor and technical support. I called again an hour later, was told the same thing. I tried again later, with only about 30 minutes until my flight was scheduled to leave (meaning I had been at the airport for more than 3 hours with my 5 children trying to get ticketed and board the flight). Also, my husband had moved to New Zealand 3 months prior, I haven't seen him in 3 months, my children hadn't seen their dad in 3 months, we were all extremely eager to get on that flight and get to New Zealand. The situation with the tickets did not get resolved until after it was too late to check our luggage and board our flight. We were devastated. My 11 year old son was in tears at not being able to be on his way to see his dad. Thankfully we were rebooked for the next evening, but that night it felt devastating. We'd been at the airport for 4 hours waiting. My in-laws waited with me and then helped me reload all our baggage and took us home to stay with them for the night. On the newly booked flights we could not sit together - my children were spread throughout the plane. So, even though I had paid extra to select our seats after buying my seats from Underpricer only two of us were able to sit together (thankful that my 11 year old wasn't all by himself, but not happy that my 14 & 16 year old daughters were seated by strangers). I really feel that Underpricer should refund me what I paid for the seating ($120 USD). It was a very frustrating situation and I plan on never using Kayak or Underpricer ever again.

The lady at the check in counter wasn't helpful

My boarding pass wouldn't pull up in the app very easily and had to really dig through my email. That caused a delay in TSA..

It was exactly what I expected, actually arriving sooner than scheduled.

RE Food: Wish there was a choice for No Rating. Flew from Honolulu to Los Angeles on a Red-Eye flight (11:00 pm to 7:30 am). Other than a package of cookies with a beverage choice offered soon after take-off, and a beverage choice shortly before landing, no other food choices were offered. Everyone slept or rested for most of the trip. Nothing to rate. RE Entertainment: Everyone was sleeping most of the flight. Only saw one passenger watch about 30 minutes of entertainment on his iPad. I never attempted to access any entertainment options.

Baby cried a lot. Nothing anyone could do about it. Just part of flying.

The boarding process was such a chaos with everyone crowding at the gates. There was no structure. The onboard crew were fantastic and very good.

For coast to coast travel the A321 and even the NEO, even in first class will never be excellent. That would take a B787 or 777 to accomplish.

The flight crew was fantastic! Which the seats had a small TV.

The foot ottoman cushion was missing on my business class seat.. the hydraulics is on its last leg & seat cushions do not have support or paddling. Heavily dented by butts

also wi-fi never worked attendant said satellite coverage is spotty over water ..... but we were over land!

I was unhappy with having the seat I chose changed at the last minute. I was moved to an aisle seat which did not recline and was next to the bathroom. The bathroom odors made the flight entirely unpleasant. Having carefully chosen my seat months before I was not pleased with my AA experience. In addition, they ran out of tea during flight service, really?

My first flight was moved 6 hours causing me to miss my meeting. The second was delayed about an hour and a half. Most of the crews apparently dont like their jobs or just working for Frontier. Only one flight attendant wasn"t snappy or rude.

Booked direct in July '24. Turned into a 14 hr layover (both ways) in Denver. My 5 day vaca turned into a 1 day . Not good, BUT,... Thank you for the people @ Frontier who were professionally friendly & approachable.

Stop changing gates at sfo. When you are elderly going back for it’s not fun.

We understand and comply with Frontier’s bag sizes. We’ve had some problems in past while having to await other passengers who do not understand the baggage restrictions or have not prepaid and that is usually our biggest concern (others delaying us) with flying Frontier. Flying OUT of ONT, however, has always been a great experience. I’ve also noted even on delayed Frontier flights very knowledgeable pilots who manage expectations well.

There was no easy way to check in. I don't want to install an app to checkin. I will use alaska from now on because they have a web check in method that is easy.

The crew was ghetto lol I felt like I was on an inner city field trip

Horrible! The short distance flight ended up taking 5 hrs! There was a 3 hr delay for the flight to take off and there was a 70 min wait on the tarmac for some bogus reason that the pilot said the gate he was supposed to board was taken up. After a 30 min wait he said the plane that was supposed to push out of the gate called a medical emergency and 40 min later he ended up boarding another gate. For the initial 3 hr delay there was no information/alert about the gate or delay in the app or the boards up until the boarding time and even beyond! Had to walk all the way to the end of the terminal to find the frontier staff to ask what was going on. Avoid this airline at all costs! If you have carryon bags or checked bags , their prices come equivalent to the prices of more reliable airlines. They are the worst in timeliness at 60% (reported as delayed) this year (check the data) by a high margin even compared to the second worst airline. If you are ok with having a miserable flight experience with the odds close to flip of a coin, feel free to try them. If you value your time , money and flying experience, stay away.

There was nothing to like, flight delayed had to move to different departure areas, disorganized to say the leasr

Delayed for two hours due to trivial issues. No reimbursment. Also on arrival further delay due to terminal malfunction.

Our flight was canceled for no known reason. We weren’t told until we were checking in at 5:00 am. This was after our last flight with Frontier where we sat on the plane for three hours (not an exaggeration) before we took off because of a mechanical issue. We won’t be flying Frontier again.

Book cheap flights from Des Moines to San Francisco

Recent one-way flight deals

 
Only flying one-way? Below are some of the best one-way flight deals from Des Moines to San Francisco found on KAYAK in the last 72 hours.
12/18Wed
1 stopAmerican Airlines
6h 20mDSM-SFO
$178
12/18Wed
2 stopsAmerican Airlines
10h 19mDSM-SFO
$183
12/19Thu
1 stopDelta
6h 19mDSM-SFO
$185
1/13Mon
2 stopsSouthwest
9h 40mDSM-SFO
$190
12/20Fri
1 stopFrontier
11h 42mDSM-SFO
$210
12/19Thu
2 stopsSouthwest
8h 40mDSM-SFO
$213
12/20Fri
1 stopUnited Airlines
7h 26mDSM-SFO
$258
1/5Sun
1 stopAmerican Airlines
7h 58mDSM-SFO
$264
12/4Wed
2 stopsSouthwest
9h 00mDSM-SFO
$268
1/5Sun
2 stopsUnited Airlines
15h 35mDSM-SFO
$463

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Last minute flights from Des Moines to San Francisco

Last minute flight, train and bus deals

 
These last-minute flight deals are the cheapest flights found on KAYAK in the last 72 hours for flights from Des Moines to San Francisco that are departing in the next 10 days.
11/23Sat
multi-stopFrontier
7h 04mDSM-SFO
11/25Mon
multi-stopFrontier
9h 37mSFO-DSM
$380
11/22Fri
multi-stopFrontier
18h 07mDSM-SFO
11/24Sun
multi-stopFrontier
18h 28mSFO-DSM
$494
11/26Tue
multi-stopDelta
8h 45mDSM-SFO
11/30Sat
multi-stopDelta
9h 23mSFO-DSM
$646
11/22Fri
multi-stopDelta
10h 19mDSM-SFO
11/25Mon
multi-stopDelta
8h 51mSFO-DSM
$736
11/22Fri
multi-stopSouthwest
8h 10mDSM-SFO
11/26Tue
multi-stopSouthwest
8h 00mSFO-DSM
$737
11/24Sun
multi-stopUnited Airlines
10h 40mDSM-SFO
11/29Fri
multi-stopUnited Airlines
7h 29mSFO-DSM
$741
11/22Fri
multi-stopSouthwest
8h 10mDSM-SFO
11/26Tue
multi-stopSouthwest
9h 05mSFO-DSM
$822
11/24Sun
multi-stopUnited Airlines
8h 54mDSM-SFO
11/29Fri
multi-stopUnited Airlines
10h 34mSFO-DSM
$827
11/26Tue
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
13h 45mDSM-SFO
11/30Sat
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
12h 18mSFO-DSM
$892
11/26Tue
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
10h 01mDSM-SFO
11/30Sat
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
8h 21mSFO-DSM
$931

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Everything you need to know for your flight from Des Moines to San Francisco

Information on your arrival and departure airports

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