Philadelphia to San Francisco runs about 18 times a day, with the first departure around 06:06 and the last around 19:21. One passenger pays between €302.81 and €314.02, every fee included, depending on the operator and the way you travel. The fastest door to door is 8h 48m over 4,172 km, on services run by 3 operators across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
The spread between the cheapest and dearest typical fare on this corridor, across 3 operators and 1 way of making the journey. The operator sets the price on the day.
Typical fares · Priced for October 6, 2026
€302.81 to €314.02
- 216%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving Philadelphia
No operator has filed a timetable for this direction yet, so the first and last departure below follow the pattern of the corridor. Read them as the shape of the service day rather than as times to turn up for.
- 06:06First departure
- 19:21Last departure
- 18Services per day
- 83%Run direct
Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €817.88Sun20
- about €598.99Mon21
- about €594.86Tue22
- about €526.14Wed23
- about €627.34Thu24
- about €607.84Fri25
- about €609.74Sat26
- about €458.57Sun27
- about €394.14Mon28
- about €401.93Tue29
- about €434.38Wed30
- about €477.45Thu1
- about €437.59Fri2
- about €464.47Sat3
- about €364.76Sun4
- about €309.44Mon5
- about €302.81Tue6
- about €319.33Wed7
- about €410.78Thu8
- about €373.02Fri9
- about €388.95Sat10
Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.
The flight gets you into San Francisco. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in San Francisco for the night the flight gets in
Sort by distance from San Francisco 4th and King and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search San Francisco on Booking.comOr compare on Expedia
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Philadelphia to San Francisco
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €384.8290 days
- €262.6960 days
- €259.1545 days
- €269.1830 days
- €388.9521 days
- €464.4714 days
- €609.747 days
- €594.863 days
- €817.881 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 45 days ahead, at €259.15.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 216 percent. The most expensive point is €817.88, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 45 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 45 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Philadelphia to San Francisco and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
3 hours behind on arrival. You land earlier than the journey suggests.
The shape of it
4,172 km
4,051 km as the crow flies, 3% further by the route services take. The bearing runs west.
Who lives at each end
1,573,916 → 827,526
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
How we know
0/2
2 of these connections were inferred from service-area overlap rather than observed in a timetable. We would rather say so.
The route
What the journey looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 79% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 21% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 4,172 km against 4,051 km in a straight line, a detour of 3 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Omaha. The gap between arriving and leaving is 64 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 15 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
Who runs this route
The flight gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Baggage storage near San Francisco 4th and King
Most of the points near San Francisco 4th and King open before the first train and close after the last one.
Check San Francisco on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Philadelphia to San Francisco
The questions people actually ask about this trip, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from Philadelphia to San Francisco?
The fastest journey from Philadelphia to San Francisco takes 8h 48m door to door, of which 5h 47m is spent moving, on the flight. Most services take around 9h 14m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from Philadelphia to San Francisco?
The cheapest fare from Philadelphia to San Francisco is €302.81, as of September 19, 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €545.30. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from Philadelphia to San Francisco?
The cheapest way from Philadelphia to San Francisco is by flight, at €302.81 for one passenger on October 6, 2026. That journey takes 8h 57m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
When should I book Philadelphia to San Francisco?
Fares from Philadelphia to San Francisco bottom out around 45 days before departure, at €259.15. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive lead time is 216 percent, measured on September 19, 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Philadelphia to San Francisco?
Monday is the cheapest day to depart from Philadelphia to San Francisco, at €394.14. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of September 19, 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Philadelphia to San Francisco?
February is the cheapest of the next 5 months to travel from Philadelphia to San Francisco, at €255.02 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs service from Philadelphia to San Francisco?
No operator record names Philadelphia to San Francisco directly. Air New Zealand, American Airlines, United Airlines publish service areas covering both ends and may serve it, so we list them as possible operators rather than confirmed ones.
Is there a direct service from Philadelphia to San Francisco?
79 percent of the services we sell from Philadelphia to San Francisco are direct. The rest connect at Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Omaha, with about 64 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
Which station or terminal do services from Philadelphia to San Francisco use?
Services from Philadelphia to San Francisco by flight leave from Philadelphia PHL and arrive at San Francisco SFO. Allow about 3h 10m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from Philadelphia to San Francisco?
0 of the 3 operators we sell from Philadelphia to San Francisco allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.
Derived from service area No carrier record names this exact pair. The operators listed publish a service area covering both places at a distance their mode plausibly carries people, which is evidence that the corridor is served and not evidence of a specific service. Pages state which, because presenting the two as the same thing would be dishonest.
Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Philadelphia to San Francisco on September 19, 2026: 4172 km of route against 4051 km in a straight line, 19 services a day, 3 operators a cheapest fare of €302.81, and 8h 48m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
Being on the water gives San Francisco a set of days out that do not start at a station. We do not sell those either.
Day trips out of San Francisco and across United States
Day trips that leave San Francisco in the morning and cover a good part of United States by evening.
See San Francisco on GetYourGuideOr browse Viator
Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.
The two ends, compared
Philadelphia reaches 183 places in 27 countries on services we hold, over distances from 46 to 10,902 km. San Francisco reaches 127 places in 31 countries, from 24 to 13,585 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Philadelphia
- 183Places you can leave for
- 27Countries
- 32Operators
Arriving in San Francisco
Leaving San Francisco
- 127Places you can leave for
- 31Countries
- 54Operators