I recently had a not-so-great experience when travelling to San Diego on a flight that had a two hour layover in Chicago.
It took a day nearly two days to get there:-(
If you want the whole story, check out this article. It’s all about my wonderful trip to Escondido, California, which is about 50 minutes from the San Diego airport.
We’re going to be short and sweet here. After my trip I swore to myself that I would only take direct flights out to San Diego. This means I’ll have to make a two hour drive to a major airport.
But wait, which airports fly directly to San Diego?
For that matter, which airlines fly directly to San Diego?
That’s what I’m here to tell you about. I’m writing this for those who will be travelling out to San Diego and are smarter than I was and wish to take a direct flight.
Use the chart below to find your departure city and use this info to get on the airline that offers the most direct flights per day.
Why?
Because for whatever reason, flights are getting delayed left and right these days. If you aren’t flying with an airline that has frequent direct flights per day, you will not arrive in San Diego when you planned to!
Just imagine you want to fly direct to San Diego and you are flying with Bubblegum Airline (yes, I made that up) and they only have one or two flights out of your airport every day and that flight gets cancelled because of technical difficulties. They are NOT going to be able to get you on another flight right away?
Flights today are mostly booked to capacity. At least, that’s what I’ve been seeing.
So, check out the chart below and run (or fly) with it.
If you’d like me to make more charts like this for any other cities, please leave a reply or contact me.
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Fly Direct to San Diego
Southwest Airlines is the “Direct Flight Winner”
See the chart below
As you can clearly see, Southwest Airlines offers the most direct flights to San Diego, with an average of 81 flights per day from various cities.
It makes sense to mention here that if you are a frequent traveler, not just to San Diego, but to anywhere, it makes a lot of sense to join the Southwest Rapid Rewards Program.
You earn points on every flight, and these points can be redeemed for future travel, gift cards, and even merchandise. Your points never expire, and there are no blackout dates. It’s a decent program!
I am an affiliate for them, so if you are interested in the program, please use the link I’m giving you, as I get rewarded if you sign up (at no cost to you). Thank you!
Airlines and Cities With Direct Flights to San Diego
updated 6/29/2024
| Airline | Direct Flights per Day | Departure Cities |
|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 81 | Albuquerque, NM Austin, TX Baltimore, MD Boise, ID Burbank, CA Chicago (Midway), IL Dallas (Love Field), TX Denver, CO Houston (Hobby), TX Las Vegas, NV Los Angeles, CA Oakland, CA Orlando, FL Phoenix, AZ Portland, OR Sacramento, CA Salt Lake City, UT San Francisco, CA San Jose, CA Seattle, WA |
| American Airlines | 22 | Charlotte, NC Chicago (O’Hare), IL Dallas/Fort Worth, TX Philadelphia, PA Phoenix, AZ Miami, FL |
| United Airlines | 18 | Chicago (O’Hare), IL Denver, CO Houston (Intercontinental), TX Newark, NJ San Francisco, CA Washington (Dulles), DC |
| Alaska Airlines | 17 | Anchorage, AK Boise, ID Portland, OR San Francisco, CA Seattle, WA Kahului, HI Kona, HI Lihue, HI Los Angeles, CA Palm Springs, CA Sacramento, CA San Jose, CA Santa Rosa, CA |
| Delta Air Lines | 15 | Atlanta, GA Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN New York (JFK), NY Salt Lake City, UT Seattle, WA |
| Spirit Airlines | 6 | Dallas/Fort Worth, TX Detroit, MI Las Vegas, NV Los Angeles, CA Orlando, FL |
| JetBlue Airways | 5 | Boston, MA Fort Lauderdale, FL New York (JFK), NY |
| Frontier Airlines | 3 | Denver, CO Las Vegas, NV Orlando, FL |
