C$ 160 Find Cheap Flights from Ottawa to California

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from Ottawa to California departing on 9/3. 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 California

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

Best California Flight Deals from Ottawa

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours
Los Angeles
Los Angeles1 stopC$ 428
San Francisco
San Francisco1 stopC$ 328
San Diego
San Diego1 stopC$ 352
Palm Springs
Palm Springs1 stopC$ 337
San Jose
San Jose2 stopsC$ 543
Los Angeles
Los Angeles1 stopC$ 428
San Francisco
San Francisco1 stopC$ 328
San Diego
San Diego1 stopC$ 352
Palm Springs
Palm Springs1 stopC$ 337
San Jose
San Jose2 stopsC$ 543

Cheap Flights from Ottawa to California

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

Tue, 24 Feb - Tue, 3 Mar
WestJet Logo
5:40 a.m. - 6:13 p.m.
YOW
-
LAS
15h 33m2 stops
WestJet Logo
8:00 a.m. - 12:39 a.m.
LAS
-
YOW
13h 39m2 stops
C$ 262WestJet
Sun, 3 May - Fri, 8 May
WestJet Logo
7:45 a.m. - 8:20 p.m.
YOW
-
LAS
15h 35m2 stops
WestJet Logo
1:45 p.m. - 5:28 a.m.
LAS
-
YOW
12h 43m2 stops
C$ 267WestJet
Tue, 27 Jan - Thu, 29 Jan
WestJet Logo
5:40 a.m. - 6:11 p.m.
YOW
-
LAS
15h 31m2 stops
WestJet Logo
1:10 p.m. - 6:21 p.m.
LAS
-
YOW
26h 11m2 stops
C$ 268WestJet
Thu, 5 Mar - Thu, 12 Mar
Air Canada Logo
7:45 a.m. - 5:24 p.m.
YOW
-
SAN
12h 39m1 stop
Air Canada Logo
6:05 p.m. - 6:43 a.m.
SAN
-
YOW
9h 38m1 stop
C$ 364Air Canada
Mon, 9 Mar - Wed, 25 Mar
Air Canada Logo
7:45 a.m. - 5:24 p.m.
YOW
-
SAN
12h 39m1 stop
Air Canada Logo
6:05 p.m. - 6:43 a.m.
SAN
-
YOW
9h 38m1 stop
C$ 366Air Canada
Fri, 27 Feb - Thu, 5 Mar
Multiple Airlines Logo
9:25 a.m. - 12:38 p.m.
YOW
-
LAX
30h 13m1 stop
Multiple Airlines Logo
8:40 p.m. - 6:23 p.m.
LAX
-
YOW
18h 43m2 stops
C$ 448Multiple Airlines
Fri, 23 Jan - Mon, 26 Jan
United Airlines Logo
9:45 a.m. - 9:54 p.m.
YOW
-
SMF
15h 09m2 stops
United Airlines Logo
7:00 a.m. - 9:18 p.m.
SMF
-
YOW
11h 18m1 stop
C$ 517United Airlines
Fri, 23 Jan - Mon, 26 Jan
United Airlines Logo
9:45 a.m. - 9:54 p.m.
YOW
-
SMF
15h 09m2 stops
United Airlines Logo
7:15 a.m. - 6:52 p.m.
SMF
-
YOW
8h 37m1 stop
C$ 519United Airlines
Fri, 24 Apr - Fri, 15 May
Delta Logo
5:40 a.m. - 8:50 p.m.
YOW
-
SNA
18h 10m2 stops
Delta Logo
7:15 a.m. - 12:40 a.m.
SNA
-
YOW
14h 25m2 stops
C$ 722Delta
Thu, 5 Mar - Tue, 10 Mar
Multiple Airlines Logo
10:30 a.m. - 10:36 p.m.
YOW
-
ONT
15h 06m2 stops
Multiple Airlines Logo
5:15 a.m. - 9:18 p.m.
ONT
-
YOW
13h 03m2 stops
C$ 867Multiple Airlines
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for Ottawa to California flights

Get data-powered insights and trends into flights from Ottawa to California to help you find the cheapest flights, the best time to fly and much more.

What is the cheapest month to fly from Ottawa to California?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for round-trip flights from Ottawa to California, 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 Ottawa to California is May, when tickets cost C$ 355 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are December and November, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is C$ 650 and C$ 562 respectively.

How far in advance should I book a flight from Ottawa to California?

To calculate weekly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each week before departure over the last year for round-trip flights from Ottawa to California, 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 a flight from Ottawa to California, you should book around 4 weeks before departure, which saves you about 59% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 8 weeks before departure.

Good to know

Low seasonNovember
Cheapest flightC$ 160
Best time to beat the crowds (2% less expensive on average)
Most popular time to fly (11% more expensive on average)
Flight from Ottawa to Las Vegas

FAQs - booking California flights

  • Is it necessary for me to obtain a visa to fly from Ottawa to California?

    Unless you plan on flying from Ottawa to California and staying there for several months, you won’t need to secure a visa before your trip. You can stay in California for several days or even weeks without a visa. Just make sure you pack your passport or a valid NEXUS card for the trip.

  • Does Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport participate in the Verified Traveller program?

    Yes, the airport in Ottawa does take part in the Verified Traveller program. If you’ve signed up for this program, you’ll be able to make your way through security much faster than usual.

  • What are the common layovers on the way from Ottawa to California?

    There are several layover locations used on flights from Ottawa to California. Two of the airports you might find yourself in include Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR).

  • What are the best ways to make a flight from Ottawa to California sustainable?

    If you’d like to help make your flight from Ottawa to California more sustainable, you can start by packing lightly. It’ll reduce the impact your luggage has on the weight of your plane. You should also look into flying with an airline like Air Canada that has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from Ottawa to California?

    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 Ottawa to California.

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from Ottawa to California 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 Ottawa to California?

    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 from Ottawa to California 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 from Ottawa to California?

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

Top tips for finding cheap flights to California

  • If you would like to fly from Ottawa to California, Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW) will be the best place to start. There are a few airlines that fly from Ottawa to one of the airports in California, such as Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) or San Diego International Airport (SAN).
  • While you will be able to fly from Ottawa to California, there aren’t any direct flights between these two places. More often than not, you will only have to make one stop while you’re on your way to California from Ottawa, but there are instances when you’ll have to make two or even three stops en route to California. Ideally, you’ll want to search for an airline that can get you from Ottawa to California in just one stop, since it could significantly trim your travel time.
  • Flying from Ottawa to California will take you at least 12 hours, in most cases, and sometimes even longer than that. Because of this, you may want to consider booking a first-class ticket for your flight. Before you do, though, you should book an economy ticket and keep your eyes peeled for emails from your airline. It might be willing to extend a discount on a first-class ticket if you’re willing to wait.
  • If you want to avoid getting hit with baggage fees when you arrive at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport, you may want to limit the amount of luggage you bring. Airlines like Air Canada will charge you about $30 to check your first bag and $50 for a second one. By only bringing only a carry-on bag, you can save money while you fly to California.
  • It’ll be important for you to head to Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport about two to three hours before your international flight to California. Once you make your way through security, you can kill extra time by heading to one of the lounges in YOW, such as the Aspire Lounge. It’s open to all passengers regardless of which airlines they’re flying.

Reviews of the top 4 airlines flying from Ottawa to California

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying from Ottawa to California. 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 Ottawa to California? 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
Porter AirlinesOverall score based on 406 reviews
7.0Entertainment
8.2Boarding
7.9Comfort
8.6Crew
7.6Food
Airline reviews

It was okay. Had a thing with the front desk, she had me repack my suitcases to have them be under the weight restrictions, but then the other one was overweight, she argued with me about it when there were tons of people in line. Wasn’t great.

6.0 GoodJen, Jan 2026
YTZ - BOS
Read more Porter Airlines reviews

It was okay. Had a thing with the front desk, she had me repack my suitcases to have them be under the weight restrictions, but then the other one was overweight, she argued with me about it when there were tons of people in line. Wasn’t great.

Due to a known technical error that Porter has not fixed in over a year, I was unable to check in the children on my reservation online and had to do it at the airport. Upon check in, there were no seats together, which was an issue as we had young children. The gate agent did manage to seat us together by moving other passengers, which was appreciated, but the other passengers were never informed, leading to confusion and delay upon boarding. The flight was over an hour late; no explanation or apology was ever issued. The bags on Porter take a long time to arrive--over half an hour at Hamilton on my inbound flight, and not much better on my return to Edmonton.

On my e-boarding pass it shows free wifi, yet the plane I was on didn’t have wifi. Please remove false advertising from your website and boarding passes

3.5 hr delay for a 1 hr work flight. No information as to why the delay until 20 mins before boarding.

Organization and the adjusted times but the snacks could be of a bigger portion

Smaller plane. Food and bar service for free is amazing. Drinks were in glass not plastic cups.

Poor landing as we overshot the runway and had to re land the plane. Lost both of my luggage not found as of yet. Had to pay extra money for my luggage in USD, now great my luggage is gone. Will not fly with Porter again.

This flight to St. Johns was really good. Boarding was a breeze. We left spot on time. Seats were actually pretty good. Recliner further than I expected. Three more flights to go we will see if this is the status quo for Porter.👍

I was not happy with AirfareAssist, the agency that kayak advised me would be handling my booking. I was advised by porter airlines that I had been overcharged for the Basic express , a option that I had asked airfare assist to help arrange after I realized that the basic fare I had chosen with porter did not include a carryon. At each checkin porter advised I had been overcharged for this . They advised that money would be refunded to my credit card, however, this is not likely to happen as it is not my name and credit card that appeared on the porter invoice, but that of another individual/agent. When airfare assist was arranging the basic express with porter on my behalf, they asked me to confirm that I agreed to pay $263 USD for this. I did agree, as I was advised this was needed to proceed. When I checked the invoice on the porter website and saw that it was not my name and credit card on the invoice, I was advised that this was how airfareassist processed the payment. The Porter invoice indicated a billed amount of $126USD I will not use Kayak or their designated AirfareAssist again

Our flight was delayed by a bit. I appreciated that we were kept informed on why periodically. Boarding was fine. I overheard one flight attendant sounding very rude to a passenger who was not paying attention to the safety demonstration. The snacks were minimal as it was a short flight. There was no entertainment. Overall the flight was good back to LGA.

Flight was delayed 45 minutes because originating flight was coming from Newark. No complimentary snacks were offered on this 5+ hour flight. No screens for the flight, but movies offered if you had already downloaded the United app (which I hadn't on my ipad). No USB ports, only a flimsy plug-in port near the bottom of the seat that was hard to see and kept coming unplugged.

It was good but only meal served is very less. Meantime good to add rice and chicken in one of meal

Teeny tiny bathrooms, crew was not realistic about when we'd arrive.

On the way my flight entertainment wouldn’t work the screen went black and no matter how many times I tried to turn it on it wouldn’t. Food was surprisingly good but the tray tables were tiny so you couldn’t get anything else on the table. The seats hardly go back and are not overly comfortable. Wouldn’t fly United again.

Unbelievably poor service from flight attendants. They didn’t even do water service on a four hour flight. Just disrespectful.

Flight was late - I was downgraded from first class to coach

Movie selection is good. Crew did not understand mileage program and were no help. Sick later. Food?

Quick and seamless boarding. No entertainment but fast Starlink wifi for this short trip and the staff was really friendly.

I dread trans-Pacific flights. They are very long. This was my first time on Universal, and it was my best crossing ever. The staff were professional, the hospitality was great, and the food was delicious. The entertainment system filled the long flight hours. I will seek out Universal flights from now onwards. 🙂

The food quality sucks. One must starve if they do not eat flesh Or wheat based products Some variety would be expected. The trivial amount of snacks and or food is inhumane

I didn't think about not having the right app for wifi because my connecting flight was with Westjet and when I took off from Seattle I was thinking I would use my wifi, but realized I couldn't on my Westjet app and I did not have Delta's app downloaded.

I will not be flying with westjet again. I was uncomfortable in my seat. The position made my back hurt so bad. My wife was able to fit the seatbelt around her with out an extension but was unable to put the tray table down or fit in the seat for that matter. Our bag was smashed and I spent two hours trying to fill out the application for a damaged bag before I gave up. The 80 photos I took would not work and nothing telling me the format to upload them as.. I made the mistake of unpacking the bag before taking photos so no claim for me. Next trip to Canada I will have to use air Canada.

My luggage was damaged 1 wheel was out I can't find it nowhere

Took 3 hours to check in and drop off our suitcases. Half of the passengers were still in line by boarding time. The computer systems and staff were very slow. Staff were also disorganized and kept allowing later flights to skip lines. Suitcases were piling on that several other passengers didn't get their suitcases. Then, we were sitting in the plane for 2 hours and were told that the flight was overbooked. We missed our connecting flight and had to fly the following day but with a stop over. Good thing ONE WestJet customer rep was pleasant and actually knew how to do her job when we wanted to rebook to a direct flight. Thank you to Kim at Toronto airport. Terrible experience at PUJ. Won't go back to Dominican Republic.

Loading was delayed multiple times, due to what seemed like boarding pass check system failures, or poor process. Additional delays due to plane congestion on the airport tarmac. All was made up by comfortable seating, good food and good in-flight entertainment.

Great seats, super comfortable, but no in flight entertainment which was a let down

Airplane is too small. Crew, especially the flight attendant who looked after our area, was not at all friendly and a touch authoratative. She may have been the most gruff flight attendant i've come across in 40 years of business travel

I when to Jamaica for my dad funeral and I did not get my luggage from westjet . I add to buy clothes putting me financial debt i did no want to be in Westjet did not call me to apologize are to inquire about my luggage I am still angry about it

Ground staff was not helpful, but staff at the business counter were excellent.

I selected "carry-on" for a round trip on Kayak, but my return flight on WestJet did not include a carry-on and they would not allow me to add one. My only option was to add a "checked bag" which I had to wait for on the luggage carousel after landing. Not a good experience.

We were happy with the service and cost of checking a bag

The staff was great and made the long trip easy peasy!

The free Wi-fi for Aeroplan members was a great touch. The time passed quickly. I found the seats seemed a little closer together than I remember. Not Air Canada's fault, but we were about 20 minutes late landing because the airport was too busy. We had to circle around for a while. The boarding and disembarking went very smoothly.

The flight was very smooth and good. Boarding was fast, but the staff was just decently friendly.

Flying with Air Canada is still better than the discount airlines like Flair. The seats are more comfortable and the on-board entertainment is better, with each seat having a built in screen and lots of content to watch. Onboard WIFI is also great to have, as well as plugs for charging. I think passengers in general are getting better at not bringing too much luggage onboard, and Air Canada is better at managing this without customers feeling like they are being taken advantage of with extra fees. I have travelled on different airlines and all seem to be loading faster, with fewer people bringing both a carry on and a personal item. Now I just bring one item and it fits under the seat so I don't need to worry about finding a place in the overhead bins. Overall, across the industry, asking customers to pay for carry on baggage is fair because it allows customers to only pay for what they need, and it helps to keep the planes on time. Kudos to Air Canada for its approach - the desired result is achieved without customers feeling that they are being surprised and caught with unexpected extra fees.

I liked the behaviour of the crew members.The flight was good.

No food to provide, they forgot that, in some cases, people stay at the airport for hours without food. Now, to provide them with food, they have to ask them to pay, because some don't have money. That way, they can't eat.

Flight was cancelled last minute. Had to scramble and purchase a $2000 flight through a separate airlines. Stuck in Toronto two extra days. Missed my first two days on a new job. Had to rent a car for an additional two days. Scrambled to fins a place to live those extra two days. Spent a ton of extra money and lost a lot of money, as well as made a poor impression at work. Difficult difficult difficult

Terrible, return flight was cancelled a night before the flight was scheduled to depart and I was notified by an email and an automated message on their phone line. I’ll never book Air Canada again

Due to the strike by AC flight attendants, my flight was cancelled. Very disappointing! A refund is being processed. This was not a Kayak issue. I will be sure to come back to Kayak in the future.

Everything you need to know for your flight from Ottawa to California

Information on your arrival and departure airports