DTW - SFO

C$ 195 Find Cheap Flights from Detroit to San Francisco

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from Detroit to San Francisco departing on 30/10. 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

KAYAK searches hundreds of travel sites at once for deals on flights to San Francisco

 
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from Detroit 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 Detroit to San Francisco, as well as popular online travel agencies
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Flight Deals

Cheap Flights from Detroit to San Francisco (DTW-SFO)

 
Here are some of the best deals found on KAYAK recently from the most popular airlines for round-trip flights from Detroit to San Francisco 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 Detroit to San Francisco

Sat, 18 Oct - Mon, 20 Oct
United Airlines Logo
5:45 p.m. - 7:59 p.m.DTW-SFO
5h 14mdirect
United Airlines Logo
10:45 p.m. - 10:01 a.m.SFO-DTW
8h 16m1 stop
C$ 413United Airlines
Find Deal
Wed, 19 Nov - Sat, 22 Nov
Southwest Logo
7:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.DTW-SFO
7h 00m1 stop
Southwest Logo
4:35 p.m. - 1:50 a.m.SFO-DTW
6h 15m1 stop
C$ 419Southwest
Find Deal
Sun, 21 Dec - Sat, 27 Dec
Sun Country Air Logo
12:28 p.m. - 10:54 p.m.DTW-SFO
13h 26m1 stop
Sun Country Air Logo
11:59 p.m. - 11:31 a.m.SFO-DTW
8h 32m1 stop
C$ 420Sun Country Air
Find Deal
Tue, 25 Nov - Wed, 3 Dec
Southwest Logo
7:15 a.m. - 12:40 p.m.DTW-SFO
8h 25m1 stop
Southwest Logo
6:10 a.m. - 5:50 p.m.SFO-DTW
8h 40m1 stop
C$ 424Southwest
Find Deal
Thu, 5 Feb - Mon, 9 Feb
Alaska Airlines Logo
4:40 p.m. - 10:18 p.m.DTW-SFO
8h 38m1 stop
Alaska Airlines Logo
9:10 a.m. - 3:22 p.m.SFO-DTW
27h 12m1 stop
C$ 425Alaska Airlines
Find Deal
Sat, 22 Nov - Thu, 27 Nov
Southwest Logo
5:40 p.m. - 11:25 p.m.DTW-SFO
8h 45m1 stop
Southwest Logo
6:45 a.m. - 4:45 p.m.SFO-DTW
7h 00m1 stop
C$ 427Southwest
Find Deal
Wed, 15 Oct - Sat, 18 Oct
United Airlines Logo
9:15 a.m. - 1:35 p.m.DTW-SFO
7h 20m1 stop
United Airlines Logo
8:55 a.m. - 4:40 p.m.SFO-DTW
4h 45mdirect
C$ 431United Airlines
Find Deal
Fri, 17 Oct - Mon, 20 Oct
Delta Logo
8:25 p.m. - 10:35 p.m.DTW-SFO
5h 10mdirect
Delta Logo
10:57 p.m. - 6:27 a.m.SFO-DTW
4h 30mdirect
C$ 453Delta
Find Deal
Fri, 3 Oct - Tue, 7 Oct
Delta Logo
7:45 p.m. - 9:48 p.m.DTW-SFO
5h 03mdirect
Delta Logo
10:57 p.m. - 6:27 a.m.SFO-DTW
4h 30mdirect
C$ 479Delta
Find Deal
Thu, 5 Feb - Mon, 9 Feb
Alaska Airlines Logo
4:40 p.m. - 8:37 a.m.DTW-SFO
18h 57m2 stops
Alaska Airlines Logo
7:40 p.m. - 3:22 p.m.SFO-DTW
16h 42m1 stop
C$ 495Alaska Airlines
Find Deal

Everything you should know

Our travellers' advice
AI-generated summary based on content written by travel experts
Delta's Comfort Plus offers 8 cm more legroom.
Use BART for a cost-effective ride from SFO.
Expert advice
Expert advice
Expert advice
Expert advice
Top airlines
United Airlines
Cheapest • from C$ 413 (round-trip)
Southwest
Best reviews • 8.0 score
Airline reviews
Airline reviews
+1
+1
Airline reviews
Airline reviews
+1
When to book
3 weeks
in advance
Our data shows that travellers who book at least 3 weeks in advance save around 27% compared to booking last minute.
Insights
Insights
Insights
Insights
When to travel
July
Cheapest • 26% price drop
June
Most popular
Good to know
Good to know
+1
+1
Good to know
Good to know
+1
Cheapest round-trip
C$ 413
Overall average: C$ 745
United Airlines
Sat 18/10Mon 20/10
DTW - SFO • Direct
Cheapest direct flights
C$ 442
Typical prices: C$ 595-1021
United Airlines
Fri 17/10Tue 21/10
DTW - SFO • Direct
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KAYAK searches hundreds of sites at once to find you the best travel deals.
We hope you love your trip to San Francisco!
Expert advice

Expert advice for your flight from Detroit to San Francisco

 
Snippets provided in this section are AI-generated based on a summarisation of KAYAK-commissioned articles. The articles are presented as-is, for general informational purposes only, and may not be up-to-date. The opinions contained in the articles are original to the author and reflect their authentic experience, which may vary significantly from the experience of others.
KAYAK teamed up with top travel experts to share the best tips for your journey.
Airlines
United Airlines

United's Economy Plus offers up to 15 cm more legroom than standard economy seats.


Purchase Priority Boarding to ensure overhead bin space, placing you in Zone 2.

Delta

Delta's Comfort Plus offers up to 8 cm extra legroom over Main Cabin seats.


Free Wi-Fi for SkyMiles members on domestic flights; sign up onboard if needed.

Read more about Deltaby Stefanie Waldek
Airports
DTW

For early departures, consider staying overnight at an airport hotel offering parking deals and shuttle service to DTW.

Read more about DTWby Ramsey Qubein
SFO

Use BART for a cost-effective ride from SFO to popular San Francisco neighborhoods like the Mission and Embarcadero.

Read more about SFOby Blane Bachelor
Our travel experts
Stefanie Waldek

Stefanie Waldek

Expert on United Airlines and Delta

Stefanie Waldek

Stefanie Waldek

Stefanie Waldek is a freelance space, travel, and design writer based in Saratoga Springs, NY. Her words have appeared in Space.com, Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, Architectural Digest, and House Beautiful, among other publications. An expert in aviation and expedition cruising, Stefanie is frequently up in the air or on the sea, likely en route to Antarctica or the Arctic.

Read more
Ramsey Qubein

Ramsey Qubein

Expert on DTW

Ramsey Qubein

Ramsey Qubein

An avid traveler and aviation expert who has visited 173 countries, all 50 states and seven continents, Ramsey Qubein flies nearly 400,000 miles a year. As a North Carolina-based freelance journalist for publications including Conde Nast Traveler, Forbes, USA Today and Bloomberg among others, he explores the latest trends in aviation, hospitality, cruises and business.

Read more
Blane Bachelor

Blane Bachelor

Expert on SFO

Blane Bachelor

Blane Bachelor

Blane Bachelor is a journalist and editor specializing in travel and aviation who writes regularly for top global outlets. Born and raised in Florida, Blane has worked and lived in four countries, including the Netherlands, where she’s currently based with her family. Her favorite way to get to know a new destination is by running or riding a bike around town – or hearing a spooky ghost story about local history. She will always choose the window seat.

Read more
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for Detroit to San Francisco flights

Get data-powered insights and trends into flights from Detroit 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 Detroit to San Francisco?

The average price of all round-trip flights from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to San Francisco clicked on KAYAK for each day over the last 12 months.

Your flight ticket price will generally be cheaper if you fly to San Francisco on a Sunday and more expensive on a Tuesday. On your return trip to Detroit, you should consider flying back on a Thursday, and avoid Fridays for better deals.

What is the cheapest month to fly from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to San Francisco?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for round-trip flights from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport 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 Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to San Francisco is July, where tickets cost C$ 537 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are January and December, where the average cost of round-trip tickets is C$ 1,028 and C$ 862 respectively.

Can I save money by flying with a layover from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to San Francisco?

The average round-trip price for all non-stop flights, flights with one layover, and flights with two layovers for the route found by users searching on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks.

No, with an average price for the route of C$ 537, prices are generally cheapest when you fly direct.

How far in advance should I book a flight from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to San Francisco?

To calculate weekly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each week before departure over the last year for round-trip flights from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to San Francisco, 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 the flight from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to San Francisco, you should book around 3 weeks before departure, which saves you about 27% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 14 weeks before departure.

Good to know

Low seasonJanuary
Cheapest flightC$ 195
Best time to beat the crowds but there is an average 41% increase in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 23% lower on average.
Flight from Detroit to San Francisco

When to book flights from Detroit to San Francisco

Are your dates flexible? Find out the best times to travel from Detroit 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 Detroit to San Francisco flights

  • What is the cheapest flight from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to San Francisco?

    In the last 3 days, the lowest price for a flight from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to San Francisco was C$ 141 for a one-way ticket and C$ 299 for a round-trip.

  • Which airlines offer Wi-Fi service onboard planes from Detroit to San Francisco?

    Delta, American Airlines, and Alaska Airlines offer inflight Wi-Fi service on the Detroit to San Francisco flight route.

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

    The Boeing 737-900 is the aircraft model that flies most regularly on the Detroit to San Francisco flight route.

  • Which airline alliances offer flights from Detroit to San Francisco?

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

  • On which days can I fly direct from Detroit to San Francisco?

    There are direct flights from Detroit to San Francisco on a daily basis.

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

    The two airlines most popular with KAYAK users for flights from Detroit to San Francisco are Southwest and Delta. With an average price for the route of C$ 756 and an overall rating of 8.0, Southwest is the most popular choice. Delta is also a great choice for the route, with an average price of C$ 505 and an overall rating of 7.9.

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from Detroit 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 Detroit to San Francisco.

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight to San Francisco from Detroit 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 Detroit 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 Detroit with another airline.

  • What is KAYAK's "flexible dates" feature and why should I care when looking for a flight from Detroit 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 Detroit up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

KAYAK’s top tips for finding a cheap flight from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to San Francisco

  • Looking for a cheap flight? 25% of our users found flights on this route for C$ 537 or less round-trip.

Prefer to fly direct from Detroit to San Francisco?

 
Direct data is based off flight results for the next 60 days. Find direct flights from all airlines flying direct from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County to San Francisco.
Find which airlines fly direct from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to San Francisco Airport, which days they fly and book direct flights.

Direct departures

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County to San Francisco

Monday

Delta,United Airlines

Delta,United Airlines

Tuesday

Delta,United Airlines

Delta,United Airlines

Wednesday

Delta,United Airlines

Delta,United Airlines

Thursday

Delta,United Airlines

Delta,United Airlines

Friday

Delta,United Airlines

Delta,United Airlines

Saturday

Delta,United Airlines

Delta,United Airlines

Sunday

Delta,United Airlines

Delta,United Airlines

See more nonstop flights

Direct returns

San Francisco to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County

Monday

Delta,United Airlines

Delta,United Airlines

Tuesday

Delta,United Airlines

Delta,United Airlines

Wednesday

Delta,United Airlines

Delta,United Airlines

Thursday

Delta,United Airlines

Delta,United Airlines

Friday

Delta,United Airlines

Delta,United Airlines

Saturday

Delta,United Airlines

Delta,United Airlines

Sunday

Delta,United Airlines

Delta,United Airlines

See more nonstop flights

Reviews of the top 4 airlines flying from Detroit to San Francisco

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying from Detroit 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 Detroit 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.
8.0
SouthwestOverall score based on 4242 reviews
8.1Boarding
8.6Crew
7.5Entertainment
7.0Food
8.0Comfort
Airline reviews

Southwest's seats are the least comfortable I have ever sat in.

4.0 OkayDavid, Aug 2025DTW - STL
Read more Southwest reviews

Southwest's seats are the least comfortable I have ever sat in.

Very smooth checking in our luggage with a super pleasant SW agent. I enjoyed a fun entertaining movie.

First time traveling on Southwest since bag fees were implemented. Usual good service. Just more expensive now.

It was a perfect flight in all aspects! Both legs!

Boarding process, crew were good. But the seats were so uncomfortable that was all I could focus on. I literally had to sit forward so that all 3 of us could fit in row. I will try to avoid Southwest in the future for any flights over 60 minutes.

Great flight, 47 passengers on a 180 seat plane. Stewardess was pleasant and cheerful.

Great experience flying Southwest. The crew was really kind and helpful, and very friendly with our toddler.

Plane late from DC to Austin 30 minutes. Crew made up much of the time enroute to San Diego.

Fine, but how to board on SW versus othrr airlines, is just lame. Goood staff though and all was solid otherwise.

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.

I was uncomfortably cold on the plane. Other than that it was uneventful and therefore as enjoyable as a plane ride can be.

Delayed and took off even later than the scheduled delay time

Food was surprisingly good but the WiFi was not great

Great. Very smooth. Plenty of information. However, wish they would give out a menu in advance of making a dinner choice like other international airlines. The flight attendant says chicken or pasta and there are details about ingredients or spices requiring the passenger to ask which requires the flight attendant to answer many times. So easy to solve this problem. P

My flight was extremely cold. I had a jacket and a cover was left in each seat. The cover was extremely thin and I have a disability, fibromyalgia and arthrithis and AC air is the worst. I closed my vent and my husbands vent and it still was frigid. I asked the attendant if I could get another cover and she quickly almost dismissively and totally unconcerned stating, (I quote) (one per chair) and walked off so quickly that I didn't get a chance to explain to her that I literally have adisability. I didnt want to make a seen so I set on that flight for over 5 hours in pain, joints locking up and extremely uncomfortable. When my fibromyalgia flares up my joints not only ache but they will lock up also and it takes me days to get back to my regular self even though I take medication for it. I felt like it would not have hurt anyone at all for her to just give me an extra cover because I'm sure they have all types of medical issues in people that fly every day.

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.

There are 4 flights in consecutive gates with about the same departure time. Two flights were boarding at the same time. One was delayed or boarding would be happening at the same time. I am not sure what Delta and LAX need to do to have a better layout at the end of Terminal 2

5 hours of delay that could've been much shorter if Delta had taken the 1 hour delay they imposed on the flight before boarding to run any of the plane checks required for flight to find the hydraulic issue that required nearly 3 hours to fix. $24 of meal credit buys a sandwich and a soft drink. Poor communication within the terminal about what gate we'd be re-boarding from and when we'd be re-boarding.

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.

1. when we went to check in, our 2 first class seats had been CANCELED and the flight was sold out. This was done without our prior knowledge. It was all we could do to restore one first class seat for my wife and I flew economy. 2, Our flight home was scheduled to leave at 10:30 pm. Due to tsunami warnings, the roads were closed and our flight status was uncertain as to whether it would leave as scheduled. It was announced that it would now leave at 11:20 pm and the roads were now open since the tsunami had come and gone. We made a mad dash to the airport and checked in. Delays were announced at 12:30 pm, 1:30 am, 2:30 am and at 3:30 am it was canceled. Since this was a flight due to natural (tsunami) causes, there was no compensation. We were told to return at 1:00 pm the next day and our baggage would be kept on the plane since the same plane was going to leave at 1:00 pm. We had to return to our hotel for the rest of the night. The same plane did not leave at 1:00 pm and our baggage was gone! All in all, it was a miserable performance by UA. Information was hard to obtain and no one knew what was going on and what was going to happen. Hundreds of passengers slept on the floor, chairs, etc. No food and no water was made available to the passengers. It was a situation where UA could care less what was going on. As a one million mile flyer, I had not experienced anything like this before and it was hugely disappointing!

Boarded plane and then delayed 1.5 hours while on the plane

My flight was delayed a very short period of time but they did not hold my connecting flight to San Diego, also through United. So they closed the doors before we got off our plane. They would only have to help the door open for another five to ten minutes. So I missed a court deadline for a manditory mediation settlement conference for my client. I had to get an associate to be there in person and be on the phone with him relaying what he needs to do the entire time. The court was very upset with me and so was my client. United cannot be trusted.

Really good 😊 the woman at the gate entrance was a little rude checking in our carry-on but i dont think she worked for the airline, she worked for the airport at sacramento, other than that amazing.

Boarding was mayhem. Late boarding by 15 minutes because of lack of staff (missing 1 flight attendant. We had to wait for an arrival of another plane before we could board). Flight was a little rough, but cannot blame on airlines.

United out of SFO is having issues with catering so none of our meals were loaded on the plane and no offer of compensation for our tickets purchased was offered.

A bit rush for transit. Food and entertainment are not available

The gate was too far away for the connecting flight

Generally good. The aisles have gotten narrower which can slow down boarding. Flight crew was great! Healthier complimentary snacks would be appreciated. Due to earthquake in San Francisco we had to circle in air space for a bit but then had a smooth landing. I laud the flight crew for their patience ;)

The agents was very rude and they charged me $50 for a carry-on bag saying that it was too big and then I saw someone going on a plane with the same size bag as me

Seats were new and comfortable. Staff was fine. Missed my connection due to weather -which wasn’t their fault- but got no help at all. Gate staff sent me to customer service, which was and stayed unstaffed. Sign with QR code directed me to call or chat. Chat was useless. Call was returned after an hour. No itinerary offered by Frontier could get me home in less than 30 hours. Rebooked with another airline and got a partial refund that came to about 10 percent of what I paid to get home.

Finally a Frontier on time and efficient. I've had problems before with your airline, but this time everything went fine.

The experience was good. No frills but I got there safe and sound and on time.

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

sluggish boarding and arrival procedures, fake nice flight attendants, and lots of delays.

Disaster. They lied every step of the way. We ended up being delayed due to crew and then allegedly abandoned the flight because of a curfew at LGA. No rebooking to LGA at any reasonable time. No hotel. No meal vouchers. Had to sleep in the airport and fly to Newark instead. Will never fly Frontier again.

What I expected, nickeled and dined and a frontier flight attendant loudly complained about her job and lack of communication as she headed to the gate on her cell phone. Not professional.

As every law enforcement agency I could imagine surrounded the plane and we didn’t disembark for 2 hours and then had to stick around for another hour to go get our personal belongings after leaving them behind and being bused away from the plane, it was scary and inconvenient. We were given no information as to why this was happening. Lack of communication with passengers was disappointing.

After boarding and un-boarding twice over 6+hours, the flight was canceled.

Severe turbulence. Captain never came on to reassure passengers after things settled down.

Everything you need to know for your flight from Detroit to San Francisco

Information on your arrival and departure airports

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