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Find cheap flights from Des Moines to California from $50

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from Des Moines to California departing on 5/25. 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
0 bags
Sat 6/15
Sat 6/22

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Best California Flight Deals

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours

Los Angeles
Los Angelesnonstop$139
San Francisco
San Francisco1 stop$170
San Diego
San Diegononstop$144
San Jose
San Jose1 stop$322
Palm Springs
Palm Springs1 stop$321
Fresno
Fresno1 stop$311
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo1 stop$288
Bakersfield
Bakersfield1 stop$438
Reno
Reno1 stop$290

Good to know

Low season

September

High season

June

Cheapest flight

$50
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 12% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 3% lower on average.
Flight from Des Moines to Las Vegas

FAQs - booking California flights

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from Des Moines 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 Des Moines to California.

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight to California from Des Moines is likely to change within 7 days, so travelers know whether to wait or book now.

  • What is the Hacker Fare option on flights from Des Moines 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 to California with an airline and back to Des Moines with another airline.

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

See more FAQs

Top tips for finding cheap flights to California

  • Looking for a cheap flight? 25% of our users found tickets from Des Moines to the following destinations at these prices or less: Las Vegas $95 one-way - $211 round-trip; Los Angeles $85 one-way - $128 round-trip
  • Morning departure is around 11% cheaper than an evening flight, on average*.
*Average of the lowest prices shown in KAYAK’s search results for departures within the next 30 days

Top 5 airlines serving from Des Moines to California

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Des Moines 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
DeltaOverall score based on 10673 reviews
8.0Entertainment
8.2Boarding
7.4Food
8.6Crew
7.9Comfort
Airline reviews

There was a loud squeaky sound the whole time we were flying.

6.0 GoodEliza, Apr 2024SAN - LAX
Read more about Delta reviews

There was a loud squeaky sound the whole time we were flying.

Had a broken tray in business class. Crew just shrugged it off.

I didn’t like that I could not select my seat and was assigned a seat when I checked in at LAX

Great experience overall. Check in at Austin was congested as they only have about 6 check in kiosks, one was broken, and there was a lot of Spring Break travelers.

Bag drop off was slow and annoying. Only 2 agents at the entire delta desk, and no one directing traffic for what line to be in, many confused people slowed down the process. Boarding was fine. Seats in Delta comfort plus were fine. Snacks were great! Definitely a bonus. The entertainment system was awful — old, slow, not responsive, and completely unable to play games due to some kind of error. But on the other hand, thank you to Delta for the free WiFi. That made it better.

Everything was very good other than I had selected a specific seat when I booked the flight and they changed it once I checked-in the day before my flight. I was still in first class but lost my aisle seat for a window seat. Being tall, the aisle offers more comfort so I always select an aisle seat.

Flight diverted in SD. Later take off in Seattle by 1.3hrs

Crew was not friendly when I went to request a seat change.

Really impressive staff at airport and on plane, especially given how busy it was

Was a great smooth flight from Detroit to San Diego.

More facilities to transport to the gates......felt too much walking distance

Just happy I flew Qatar Airways awesome no wonder they are #1 in the world right now! The food was just delicious, very courteous, professional crew.

It was good no problems made it on time for the next flight overseas!

It was a really long flight from Doha to Philadelphia and it was overall a good one. The one area that I would comment on is that there is a lot of single-use plastic and disposables in the meal service for American Airlines. It would be great to see more circular options in the meal service to reduce the amount of waste.

Suddenly Flight has been change by Qatar and there’s no information is there of us from Bom to Doha and counter person is behaving like Qatar owner next I will not buy Qatar and I will not suggest anyone to fly in Qatar

The crew was fantastic and the over flight was perfect as well.

They shld provide food. Between food they are giving 10 hours gap which is toooo much

The crew was great and the food and liquor offerings were good. Seats were a bit cramped. Flight arrived early at destination. That's a plus.

All over with Qatar airlines my experience was really bad due to delays and then putting me on different airlines and after 8 hours of wait I had to listen to their is no plane to fly for another 24 hours. Wore experience ever.

I had already opted for Vegan food before 2 months yet they say we have no record for it,

Check in etc was very good. As for on the plane, it was like flying in a freezer. It was so cold, i have flown for years and never been so cold on a plane. Staff on board said its always cold when flying which is a load of rubbish. They wouldnt put any heating on and now i have the flu because of this .

I’ve had a couple flights this week on United that were delayed by an hour or more

Should have video screens Plane audio was poor and without wired connection hard to understand crew. Should serve more than just cups of water and pretzels on six hour flight. Did not see crew rest of flight. Fix charging sockets to retain charging blocks.

Generally good but there wasn’t any staff available when my luggage didn’t appear at baggage claim in Fresno. It took about half an hour to locate a staff member to open up the locked room where it was being kept.

Do not like the feeling of being in the basic economy. Everyone should feel good no matter what.

Our original business class flight was cancelled so we not only downgraded but we were also spread out across the plane not sitting together in separate middle seats. My poor kids were scared and couldn’t see me on the flight and the crew wasn’t sensitive to the situation and what the airlines did to us. Very dissatisfied with United airlines.

The WiFi didn’t work and the seats are too close together. Very uncomfortable.

So so. Terrible aircraft choice for that leg of the flight.

delay several times and wait extra long to board. no entertainment service because there are problem for some rows. always encounter some delays for the last flight of the day.

On time every leg of the journey and exceptional staff at counter, gate, and on board. I haven’t travelled in US for a long time and was genuinely surprised how pleasant this was.

Fight crew was not very attentive and the bastions were gross!

Our flight was great we left Kona earlier and got into LAX almost an 1hour earlier as well. LAX AA is in repair so to get out and found our bus to get pick up was a bit confusing.

Plane was good but was delayed. probably not AA fault but caused a 1 hour delay. Seating was cramped.

5 hour flight - full flight - not enough room to use my computer - slightly delayed - Admirals club was excellent quality food, drink made up for flight seating. No food offerred on flight, you ahd to prebook.

We experience delays on departure and connecting flights resulting in 14 hour to our next departure. We were accommodated with a night's stay but was only provided a 12 dollar meals accommodation. The airlines rules state.at least 50 dollars. In any case, it can not make up for the whole day missed on our vacation in Sydney Australia.

I can say I will not be taking this airline again any time soon. Seat were uncomfortable and too tight. Lack of chair screen and little overhead space.

Plane felt so crowded and tightly packed. The chair itself was not comfortable.

They attended to my needs as I couldn't walk and they provided a wheelchair for me.q

Poor availability of food. Cold cabin temperature. Extremely long waiting time for a flight attendant to respond to a call button signal.

2.5h delay due to unruly passenger in first class. Had to be removed from the flight. No food unless pre ordered. Didn't know we would need it because of delay.

Check in online was easy. Seats aren’t very comfortable

Fecal matter in seat back pocket. Presumably from a kids diaper.

Worst airline to travel with. They treat you like a prisoner in a jailhouse barking out orders and threats. Nickle and dime you to the same price or higher than a respectable airline like one of the big 3 . Might as well fly with standard airlines

Well I mean u get what u pay for so 🤷‍♂️

Over an hour delay in departure but I was notified beforehand. Another delay on tarmac upon arrival at LGA. We ended up departing the plane almost 2 hours later than expected

I fly Frontier because it’s affordable. I understand that the seats are tight and not the most comfortable…but that’s part of it. The problem with this flight was that there was a group of travelers directly behind me at the back of the plane who were ridiculously loud and obnoxious the entire flight. I’m pretty sure they were drunk and I could periodically smell an odd odor that I believe was one of them using a smokeless vape pen. The stewards had to remind them to keep quiet during the pre-flight instruction, but that was it. They never said another thing to them for the rest of the flight. It was a miserable.

I checked a bag because it was $5 less than carry on. They managed to lose my bag on a 2.5 hr direct flight! Frontier has no airport staff at baggage claim to help. As soon as I got home around 11 pm I tried to use their online system to file the claim for lost bag - system wouldn't take the # on my baggage claim ticket - said it was not the correct number. Also said that I had not checked a bag, which wasn't true - even my online boarding pass showed that I had checked a bag. Wasted about an hour on that process with no luck. Tried again in the morning - same thing. So tried online chat with Frontier bot - waited 35-40" twice to be connected to a baggage agent and it never happened. Eventually drove to PDX after work and waited 2 hrs for the Frontier ticket agents to arrive prior to the next Frontier flight out of PDX and FINALLY got some help from one of them, to take me to lost luggage area where I was able to retrive my bag. Probably took 4-5 hrs. of my time and endless frustration to get my bag. This was my first -- and LAST -- experience flying Frontier Airlines. Check-in was also extremely difficult and time consuming. The flight itself (and staff) were fine but everything else about the experience was a total disaster! The fact that Frontier literally has NO WAY to connect to a human voice for customer service (in this case for lost luggage) is the WORST!!!!!

Frontier is a crappy airline nothing about it is honest

I didn't get to do this flight l, hard to review

Not good 😐 Over priced baggage fees Small hard seats No wifi or entertainment options 😕

Book cheap flights from Des Moines to California

Recent round-trip flight deals

8/25Sun
nonstopAllegiant Air
3h 08mDSM-LAS
8/30Fri
nonstopAllegiant Air
3h 04mLAS-DSM
$109
10/28Mon
nonstopAllegiant Air
3h 11mDSM-LAS
11/1Fri
nonstopAllegiant Air
3h 00mLAS-DSM
$114
6/3Mon
1 stopFrontier
5h 23mDSM-LAS
6/7Fri
1 stopFrontier
17h 20mLAS-DSM
$118
6/5Wed
1 stopFrontier
14h 33mDSM-LAS
6/11Tue
1 stopFrontier
13h 05mLAS-DSM
$121
9/18Wed
1 stopAmerican Airlines
9h 19mDSM-LAS
9/21Sat
1 stopAmerican Airlines
9h 05mLAS-DSM
$228
6/12Wed
1 stopDelta
7h 04mDSM-LAS
6/19Wed
1 stopDelta
9h 00mLAS-DSM
$240
10/26Sat
1 stopAmerican Airlines
7h 21mDSM-LAS
10/30Wed
1 stopAmerican Airlines
6h 17mLAS-DSM
$259
8/18Sun
1 stopDelta
7h 56mDSM-LAS
8/20Tue
1 stopDelta
7h 24mLAS-DSM
$273
8/7Wed
1 stopUnited Airlines
7h 44mDSM-SMF
8/17Sat
1 stopUnited Airlines
5h 41mSMF-DSM
$304
8/2Fri
1 stopUnited Airlines
5h 37mDSM-SMF
8/12Mon
1 stopUnited Airlines
5h 41mSMF-DSM
$351

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Recent one-way flight deals

5/25Sat
1 stopFrontier
5h 02mDSM-LAS
$50
6/12Wed
1 stopFrontier
14h 48mDSM-LAS
$52
8/12Mon
nonstopAllegiant Air
3h 33mDSM-LAX
$81
5/26Sun
nonstopAllegiant Air
3h 20mDSM-LAS
$86
8/8Thu
1 stopAmerican Airlines
6h 12mDSM-LAS
$129
8/8Thu
1 stopAmerican Airlines
6h 22mDSM-LAX
$138
6/20Thu
1 stopDelta
9h 36mDSM-LAX
$143
6/4Tue
1 stopDelta
7h 42mDSM-LAX
$151
9/10Tue
1 stopUnited Airlines
5h 45mDSM-BUR
$151
9/10Tue
2 stopsUnited Airlines
10h 14mDSM-BUR
$156

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Last minute flights from Des Moines to California

Last minute flight, train and bus deals

5/18Sat
multi-stopFrontier
5h 17mDSM-LAS
5/25Sat
multi-stopFrontier
5h 28mLAS-DSM
$181
5/19Sun
nonstop
3h 20mDSM-LAS
5/25Sat
multi-stop
5h 28mLAS-DSM
$182
5/19Sun
nonstopAllegiant Air
3h 20mDSM-LAS
5/24Fri
nonstopAllegiant Air
2h 56mLAS-DSM
$207
5/17Fri
nonstopAllegiant Air
3h 20mDSM-LAS
5/24Fri
nonstopAllegiant Air
2h 56mLAS-DSM
$260
5/21Tue
multi-stopUnited Airlines
8h 32mDSM-LAS
5/22Wed
multi-stopUnited Airlines
7h 07mLAS-DSM
$422
5/17Fri
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
10h 34mDSM-LAS
5/25Sat
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
8h 35mLAS-DSM
$448
5/21Tue
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
7h 41mDSM-LAS
5/21Tue
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
8h 37mLAS-DSM
$482
5/17Fri
multi-stopDelta
8h 16mDSM-LAS
5/26Sun
multi-stopDelta
5h 53mLAS-DSM
$538
5/17Fri
multi-stopUnited Airlines
8h 30mDSM-LAS
5/23Thu
multi-stopUnited Airlines
8h 28mLAS-DSM
$564
5/21Tue
multi-stopDelta
7h 52mDSM-SAN
5/27Mon
multi-stopDelta
9h 04mSAN-DSM
$568

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