$566 Find Cheap Flights from South Africa to Chicago

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight to Chicago departing on 5/29. 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 Chicago

 
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results for flights to Chicago, as well as popular online travel agencies
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results for flights to Chicago, as well as popular online travel agencies
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Flight Deals

Cheap Flights from South Africa to Chicago

 
Here are some of the best deals found on KAYAK recently from the most popular airlines for round-trip flights from South Africa to Chicago 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 round-trip flight deals from South Africa to Chicago

Wed, Jun 24 - Fri, Jul 24
Etihad Airways Logo
9:50 am - 8:35 am
JNB
-
ORD
29h 45m
1 stop
Etihad Airways Logo
9:10 pm - 8:20 am
ORD
-
JNB
28h 10m
1 stop
$901Etihad Airways
Fri, Oct 16 - Fri, Oct 30
Etihad Airways Logo
9:50 am - 8:35 am
JNB
-
ORD
29h 45m
1 stop
Etihad Airways Logo
2:10 pm - 8:20 am
ORD
-
JNB
35h 10m
1 stop
$921Etihad Airways
Wed, Jun 24 - Fri, Jul 24
Etihad Airways Logo
9:50 am - 8:35 am
JNB
-
ORD
29h 45m
1 stop
Etihad Airways Logo
9:10 pm - 8:20 am
ORD
-
JNB
28h 10m
1 stop
$930Etihad Airways
Mon, May 25 - Mon, Aug 10
Qatar Airways Logo
12:40 pm - 4:50 pm
JNB
-
ORD
35h 10m
1 stop
Qatar Airways Logo
7:20 pm - 9:00 am
ORD
-
JNB
30h 40m
1 stop
$1,019Qatar Airways
Tue, Jun 16 - Wed, Aug 19
Qatar Airways Logo
1:15 pm - 3:05 pm
CPT
-
ORD
32h 50m
1 stop
Qatar Airways Logo
7:20 pm - 5:30 pm
ORD
-
CPT
39h 10m
1 stop
$1,075Qatar Airways
Fri, Aug 7 - Fri, Aug 21
United Airlines Logo
10:00 pm - 8:27 pm
JNB
-
ORD
29h 27m
2 stops
United Airlines Logo
1:20 pm - 8:35 am
ORD
-
JNB
36h 15m
2 stops
$1,083United Airlines
Wed, Jun 3 - Wed, Jun 10
KLM Logo
11:15 pm - 6:33 pm
JNB
-
MDW
26h 18m
2 stops
KLM Logo
1:16 pm - 9:20 pm
MDW
-
JNB
25h 04m
2 stops
$1,363KLM
Wed, Jun 3 - Wed, Jun 10
Delta Logo
8:25 pm - 6:33 pm
JNB
-
MDW
29h 08m
2 stops
Delta Logo
9:17 am - 9:20 pm
MDW
-
JNB
29h 03m
2 stops
$1,365Delta
Sun, Jul 12 - Mon, Aug 3
Delta Logo
11:15 pm - 6:18 pm
CPT
-
MDW
26h 03m
2 stops
Delta Logo
6:05 am - 5:50 pm
MDW
-
CPT
28h 45m
1 stop
$1,366Delta
Sun, May 31 - Sun, Jun 7
KLM Logo
11:15 pm - 5:56 pm
JNB
-
MDW
25h 41m
2 stops
KLM Logo
1:16 pm - 9:20 pm
MDW
-
JNB
25h 04m
2 stops
$1,439KLM
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for flights to Chicago

Get data-powered insights and trends for flights to Chicago to help you find the cheapest flights, the best time to fly and much more.

What is the cheapest flight to Chicago?

These are the best round-trip prices found by users searching on KAYAK in the last 72 hours.

In the last 3 days, the cheapest flight deal to Chicago was found on the route from Johannesburg, at $901 return. The most popular connection is from Los Angeles to Chicago and KAYAK users have found round-trip deals for as low as $170 in the last 3 days.

What is the cheapest month to fly to Chicago?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for flights to Chicago, 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 to Chicago is February, where tickets cost $896 on average for return flights. On the other hand, the most expensive months are July and December, where the average cost of tickets from South Africa is $1,168 and $1,154 respectively. For one-way flights, the best month to travel is February with an average price of $896.

How far in advance should I book a flight to Chicago?

To calculate weekly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each week before departure over the last year for round-trip flights to Chicago, 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, you should book around 4 weeks before departure, which saves you about 12% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 9 weeks before departure.

Which is the cheapest airport to fly into in Chicago?

Prices will differ depending on the departure airport, but generally, the cheapest airport to fly to in Chicago is Chicago Greater Rockford Airport (RFD), with an average flight price of $160.

Good to know

Low seasonJanuary
Cheapest flight$566
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 4% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 7% increase in price.
Flight from Johannesburg to Chicago O'Hare Airport

FAQs - booking Chicago flights

  • What is the cheapest flight to Chicago?

    In the last 3 days, the cheapest flight deal to Chicago was found on the route from Johannesburg, at $901 return. The most popular connection is from Los Angeles to Chicago and KAYAK users have found round-trip deals for as low as $170 in the last 3 days.

  • Which Chicago airport is closest to central Chicago?

    9 miles away from Chicago’s city center, Chicago Midway Airport is the closest of the 3 major airports in the city. There are 16 miles separating Chicago city center to Chicago O'Hare Airport, and 79 miles to Chicago Greater Rockford.

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights to Chicago?

    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 to Chicago.

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

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

  • What is the Hacker Fare option on flights to Chicago?

    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 Chicago 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 to Chicago?

    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 Chicago up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

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

    Each week there are around 29,894 direct flights from within South Africa to Chicago. The most common day for departures is Sunday, with 16% of flights taking off on this day.

Top tips for finding cheap flights to Chicago

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

Reviews of the top 3 airlines serving from South Africa to Chicago

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying to Chicago. Airline scores are aggregated from all reviews left by passengers on KAYAK after flying with an airline from South Africa to Chicago. KAYAK doesn’t show reviews that are older than 5 years. Learn how KAYAK collects reviews.
Need help choosing which airline to fly with to Chicago? 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.
7.9
DeltaOverall score based on 8444 reviews
7.2Food
8.5Crew
7.9Comfort
7.8Entertainment
8.1Boarding
Airline reviews

Flight was delayed, we could have been notified earlier and in a consistent manner. App was not refreshing for another passenger to get the latest flight status. We could have stayed and waited at the hotel instead of waiting at the airport had we known the flight was going to delayed for more than 5 hours. The toilet is too tight, and needs to be cleaned more frequently (every hour). The entertainment screen froze, the touch screen not responding to touch. We were upgraded to comfort, it is more comfortable than regular economy seats.

4.0 OkayLifia, Apr 2026
BOS - SEA
Read more Delta reviews

Flight was delayed, we could have been notified earlier and in a consistent manner. App was not refreshing for another passenger to get the latest flight status. We could have stayed and waited at the hotel instead of waiting at the airport had we known the flight was going to delayed for more than 5 hours. The toilet is too tight, and needs to be cleaned more frequently (every hour). The entertainment screen froze, the touch screen not responding to touch. We were upgraded to comfort, it is more comfortable than regular economy seats.

This wasn't my experience with Delta. It was just the Pegasus flight. Seats were very hard. Staff was kinda rough. Not very nice. Charged me for snacks. For a 4 hour flight I would've expected more.

Crew was nice, meal was good. Entertainment had to be rebooted 3 times and still did not work. Turns out there was residue on screen, it needed to be cleaned to prevent the touchscreen buttons from continuously activating. I had entertainment for the last 45 minutes of a 5 hour 45 minute flight. Really unacceptable for first class. Flight attendent indicated your cleaning solution creates this problem. Seems as if this is widely known, you should be using a different product or cleaning better. Really really disappointing which simply added to the wi fi on your planes with reliably never ever works.

The baggage belt was not updated on the Delta App and was displayed on the wrong belt board. Was not expecting this to happen.

The plan was delayed and left DC 90 minutes late. However, it showed a 20 minute delay on the delta app, then a 12 min delay. It turned out to be an hour delay. I found out where the plane was with flightaware. Stop keeping customers in the dark about what is going on.

Everything went smoothly, although the usual gripes about airline travel were still present: the boarding process is inefficient, the snack selection is limited, and so on. Since there was extra space on the flight, the gate agent rearranged many people's seats to put people on the aisles and windows, leaving the middle seats empty, as much as possible, which was pretty great.

Landed without a gate ready. Plane is extremely old and dirty.

All the amenities was wonderful, if they could keep their prices that low. I'd fly with them all the time.

Very old plane with no inflight entertainment. I purchased the internet pass and it was nearly unusable.

My tray was broken so i had no place to work or eat except my lap. Flight attendant said I would get an email with some credit or miles, it was a complete waste of time as I could only function at about 20% of normal. I have not received anything yet.

The crew were unprofessional with a racist element. I was physically abused as well from one of the crew members

Crew is not the cheerful type. very slow meal service (this is their style as have flown this many times)

Flight was ok but lack of communication cost me to literally beg to be put on another flight as connecting flight had departed

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.

The immigration hall in Amsterdam was understaffed, so passport checking was slower than it should be for a major airport. They need to get the automatic readers up and running for non EU passport holders. Waiting in line after a long flight feels a bit abusive.

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.

Our first flight was delayed so we missed our connecting flight. However it was easy to book a later flight on their app.

The service was great. However the lounge only gets passing grade

Delayed - weather wasn't bad at either end. Also sat on tarmac in ORD.

very average service no complimentary alcoholics drinks unlike other airlines such as Porter airlines No decent seats available during check-in time the day before

boarded early to only find out that flight would sit at gate for 45 min to an hour. Landed in chicago and sat on runway for over an hour before got to gate. Total delay was extensive for a 45 min flight door to door.

The flight was significantly delayed. The inbound flight from EWR was delayed departing because of mechanical problems. My original departure from CLT was 5:28 pm but due to the delay of the inbound flight, after arrival, deplaning, cleaning, boarding, we did not push back from the gate until 9:00 pm. Once in the air, the flight was smooth and what was originally supposed to be an arrival in ORD at 7:30 pm local time turned out to be 9:35 pm.

The flight I was supposed to be on was supposed to take off at 1:50 from State College. It was delayed over and over and over again until somehow I had to rebook on a flight that was supposed to have left State College at 8 am that morning but didn't end up taking off until almost 6 pm. Not only was this completely unacceptable, the "token from United" was a 15 dollar meal voucher that has to be used by today. I would personally like some miles added to my account for this inconvenience. I was in transit for 8 hours from the time I arrive at State College Aiport to when I got home. I was supposed to be home at 3 pm and I returned at 8 pm. Unacceptable. I have not been on an on Time united flight in nearly 5 years.

newer aircraft, ability to connect my headset via blue tooth for entertainment.

Very comfortable flight, snacks and drinks were good, good communication from crew. Could have used a little more information on timing of boarding for group 5

Great flight. Got to watch a movie. Smooth flight and early arrival at ORD.

It was better than excellent. The staff in Mason City were great. The young woman that pushed my wheelchair did more than could be expected of her. She came from India 17 years ago. I don't remember her name.

After arriving in Chicago, we were taxiing for 1.5 hours with infrequent and untruthful updates about the amount of time it would take to arrive at the gate. Minimally, the team could have provided timing expectations that were more truthful, especially one their original expectations were not met.

Traveling to a place near Chicago?

Book flights to Chicago if you plan to visit one of these locations
Merrillville
Saint Joseph
Hammond
Portage
Lansing
Valparaiso
Chesterton
Schererville
Munster
Porter
Monticello
Saint John
Griffith

Everything you need to know for your flight to Chicago

Cabin class types available on flights to Chicago

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