Okay, so here’s the thing about San Francisco flights – they can be ridiculously expensive or surprisingly affordable, and honestly, it all comes down to knowing a few tricks that the airlines really don’t want you to figure out. I learned this the hard way back in 2019 when I paid $340 for a round-trip ticket from Austin to SFO, thinking I’d scored a deal, only to find out my seatmate paid $180 for the exact same flight. That stung a bit.

Since then, I’ve flown to San Francisco probably eight or nine times, and I’ve gotten pretty good at this whole cheap flights game. My best score? A $127 round-trip from Phoenix that I’m still kind of proud of. Let me walk you through what actually works when you’re trying to get to the Bay Area without emptying your bank account.

The Positioning Flight Thing Actually Works (Sometimes)

Look, I know positioning flights sound like extra work, and they kind of are. But hear me out. If you live somewhere like Kansas City or Nashville or really anywhere that’s not a major West Coast hub, flying to a bigger airport first can save you hundreds of dollars. I’m talking about cities like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, or even Oakland instead of San Francisco proper.

Last year, I needed to get to San Francisco for a friend’s wedding. Direct flights from Austin were sitting at around $380. But I noticed that flights to Oakland – which is literally across the bay – were only $210. So I booked that instead and took BART into the city for like $10. Saved myself $160 right there, and honestly, the BART ride was kind of nice. Got to people-watch and feel like a local for a minute.

The Vegas positioning trick is even better sometimes. I’ve found round-trip flights from Texas to Las Vegas for under $100, and then you can catch a Southwest flight to Oakland or San Francisco for another $80-100. Yeah, it adds time to your trip, but if you’re flexible and maybe even want to grab dinner on the Vegas strip during your layover, it totally works. Just make sure you give yourself at least 4-5 hours between flights because missing that second leg would be a disaster.

Tuesday Afternoons Are Your Secret Weapon

Everyone tells you to book on Tuesdays, and they’re not totally wrong, but the timing matters more than you’d think. I’ve been tracking flight prices to San Francisco for years now – partially because I’m a nerd about this stuff, partially because I visit pretty regularly – and I’ve noticed that Tuesday afternoons around 3 PM Eastern tend to be when the good deals drop.

Here’s what I think is happening: airlines adjust their prices based on Monday’s sales data, and by Tuesday afternoon, they’re trying to fill seats by undercutting each other. I’ve literally watched a $310 flight drop to $240 on a Tuesday afternoon, then creep back up to $290 by Thursday. It’s wild.

My strategy is pretty simple. I set up price alerts on Google Flights for my dates (more on that in a second), and then I check on Tuesday afternoons. If I see a price that’s at least 20% lower than what I’ve been seeing, I usually jump on it. Sure, sometimes it drops more the next week, but I’d rather lock in a good deal than gamble and lose.

Google Flights vs. Everything Else

Okay, controversial opinion maybe, but I think Google Flights is better than all those other flight search engines. I’ve used Kayak, Skyscanner, Momondo – all of them. And yeah, they’re fine, but Google Flights just works better for the way I search. The calendar view where you can see the cheapest days to fly? Chef’s kiss. The price tracking alerts that actually tell you if prices are high, normal, or low compared to typical fares? Super helpful.

For San Francisco specifically, I always use the “flexible dates” feature because prices can swing dramatically based on what day you fly. Flying out on a Saturday instead of Friday can save you $100 sometimes. Coming back on a Tuesday instead of Sunday? Same deal. I once shifted my dates by two days and saved $180 on the same trip.

The explore feature is also kind of addictive if you’re flexible about when you go. You can just put in “San Francisco” and “anytime in the next 6 months” and see what the cheapest dates are. I’ve planned entire trips this way, honestly. Like, oh, $160 round-trip in October? Guess I’m going to San Francisco in October.

Oakland and San Jose Aren’t Consolation Prizes

Real talk: flying into Oakland (OAK) or San Jose (SJC) instead of San Francisco International (SFO) can save you serious money, and it’s really not that inconvenient. Oakland is actually closer to downtown San Francisco than SFO is in some cases, especially if you’re staying in the East Bay. And San Jose works great if you’re planning to explore Silicon Valley or want to do a California road trip.

I flew into San Jose once because the flight was $140 cheaper than SFO, and you know what? It was totally fine. Less crowded, easier to navigate, and the Caltrain into the city was actually kind of pleasant. Took about an hour and cost me $7. Compare that to the $65 Uber from SFO to downtown, and suddenly that San Jose flight looks even better.

Oakland’s my go-to now, though. Southwest flies there a lot, and their fares are usually competitive. Plus, BART connects Oakland Airport directly to downtown San Francisco in about 30 minutes for around $10. The only downside is that BART can be a bit sketchy late at night, so if you’re arriving after 9 PM, maybe factor in the cost of a rideshare instead.

The Southwest Companion Pass Changed My Life (Kind of)

Let me tell you about the Southwest Companion Pass because it’s honestly one of the best travel hacks I’ve ever stumbled into. Basically, if you fly 100 qualifying flights or earn 135,000 qualifying points with Southwest in a calendar year, you get a Companion Pass that lets someone fly with you for basically free (you just pay taxes and fees, usually around $5-20 per flight) for the rest of that year and the entire next year.

I got mine in January 2022 by signing up for two Southwest credit cards and hitting the spending bonuses. It took some planning – and yeah, I had to spend $5,000 across both cards in three months – but once I had it, I flew to San Francisco with my boyfriend for the price of one ticket probably four times that year. We paid maybe $200 for flights that would’ve cost $800 total. It was absolutely worth it.

The thing is, Southwest flies to Oakland and San Jose a ton, so this works perfectly for Bay Area trips. And honestly, even if you’re not going for the Companion Pass, Southwest’s low fares to Oakland are usually competitive with other airlines. Their Rapid Rewards points are also pretty valuable – I’ve booked flights to San Francisco for like 7,000 points before, which is basically nothing.

Timing Your Trip Around the Fog (and Tech Conferences)

Here’s something most flight search engines won’t tell you: when you go to San Francisco matters way more than you think. Summer might seem like the perfect time to visit, but flights are expensive and the city is literally covered in fog half the time. Locals call it “June Gloom” for a reason.

I’ve found that September and October are the sweet spots. The weather’s actually better – warmer and sunnier – and flights are often 30-40% cheaper than summer prices. I booked a round-trip in late September last year for $198, and it was perfect weather the whole week. Meanwhile, my friend paid $380 for a July trip and froze in her shorts and tank tops because the fog was so thick you could barely see the Golden Gate Bridge.

Also, and this is super important: avoid flying during major tech conferences. Dreamforce, which usually happens in September, is the big one. Hotel prices triple, flights get expensive, and the whole city is packed with people in khakis and company t-shirts. Same goes for Google I/O and Apple’s WWDC if they’re in the Bay Area. I made the mistake of booking during Dreamforce once without realizing it, and my usual $220 flight was $410. Learned that lesson real quick.

The Mistake Fare Hunt (When You Get Really Lucky)

Okay, this one’s more luck than strategy, but it’s worth mentioning because when it hits, it’s amazing. Mistake fares are basically pricing errors where airlines accidentally list flights for way less than they should. I’ve never scored a mistake fare to San Francisco specifically, but I know people who have – like $170 round-trip from New York kind of deals.

The way to catch these is to follow accounts like Secret Flying or Scott’s Cheap Flights (now called Going) on Twitter and Instagram. They post deals the second they find them, and you have to be ready to book immediately because airlines usually fix these errors within a few hours. Some people set up alerts on their phones so they get notified right away.

I did score a really good “almost mistake” fare once – $164 round-trip from Austin to Oakland – and it was legit. The flight was with a budget airline during an off-peak time, but still, it was half the normal price. The key is being flexible with your dates and ready to book when something pops up. If you can drop everything and fly to San Francisco on random dates, this strategy works great. For the rest of us with actual jobs and responsibilities, it’s more of a “if it happens, awesome” kind of thing.

My Actual Booking Strategy (The Boring But Effective Part)

Alright, let me put this all together into what I actually do when I need to book a flight to San Francisco. First, I open Google Flights and search for my general timeframe with flexible dates turned on. I’m looking at Oakland, San Jose, and SFO all at once. Then I check what the price graph looks like – if prices are trending up, I book sooner. If they’re stable or dropping, I set up a price alert and wait a bit.

I typically start looking about 6-8 weeks before I want to travel. That’s the window where I’ve found the best combination of availability and pricing. Too early and prices haven’t really settled yet. Too late and you’re competing with everyone else for the remaining seats.

Once I find a price I’m happy with – usually anything under $250 round-trip from Texas – I check Southwest separately because they don’t show up on Google Flights. If Southwest’s price is within $30 of what I found elsewhere, I book with them because their cancellation policy is way better. No change fees, and you get the money back as a credit that never expires. That flexibility is worth paying a tiny bit more sometimes.

Then I book. No overthinking, no waiting for it to drop another $20. If it’s a good price based on what I’ve been seeing, I grab it. I’ve definitely lost out on deals by hesitating before, and that feeling is worse than potentially saving $30.

Look, finding cheap flights to San Francisco isn’t rocket science, but it does take a little bit of effort and timing. The good news is that it’s actually a pretty competitive route, so deals happen fairly regularly if you know where to look. My advice? Start tracking prices early, be flexible with your dates and airports, and don’t be afraid to get creative with positioning flights or alternative airports.

San Francisco’s an amazing city – the food, the neighborhoods, the views – and it’s totally doable on a budget if you don’t blow all your money on flights. Trust me, you’d much rather spend that extra $150 on dinner in the Mission or a day trip to Muir Woods than on an overpriced airline ticket. Happy flight hunting, and maybe I’ll see you in the Bay Area sometime.

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