Cheapest Time to Go to Los Angeles

That said, knowing how seasons, weather, events, and booking times affect the cost of traveling to LA can help you save a decent amount of money, and we’re going to show you how in this guide. We’ll cover the cheapest days, months, booking windows, flight patterns, and strategies so you can cut down on costs for your next LA trip.

Table of Contents

Quick Answer

January, February, late April, mid-September, and October are the cheapest times to go to Los Angeles . By booking midweek flights for any of these months 30 to 60 days prior to departure, you can secure the best prices to LA.

What Makes Los Angeles Travel Prices Rise and Fall?

• Weather: LA is loved for its sunshine, best enjoyed during the summer months (June to August). But during winter (December to February), temperatures drop and demand drops too, so costs are lower.
• Hollywood Awards: From November to February, the Hollywood awards season kicks off, which is when many celebs and film crews are traveling, so it can be pricey.
• Seasonality: Certain seasons, like summer, and periods like Spring Break, cause surges, so more tourists are searching for hotels and flights to LA. 
• Events: Planned events like the LA Marathon and LA Pride may make travel more expensive.
• Weekend vs. weekday: Weekends are often more expensive to fly, while midweek is the cheapest time to go to LA.

Seasonal Flight Price Trends to Los Angeles

Winter is the cheapest time to fly to Los Angeles for a number of reasons. It’s the holiday season, temperatures are bleh, sitting at around 20°C, and there’s a higher chance of rain. Summer is much more appealing, with temps often hitting 29°C, but you’d best be prepared to fork out quite a bit because everything is more expensive.

Then there is the shoulder season (March to May and September to November), where there are dips because it’s that in-between period when fewer people are traveling. But remember, events like spring break can also affect things, even during the shoulder months.

Monthly Breakdown: Cheapest Months to Visit Los Angeles

Weekly and Daily Pricing Patterns

When it comes to booking airfares to LA and cheap flights to the USA in general, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday tend to be the most affordable days. This is because more people prefer to travel on Saturdays and Sundays for leisure, so airlines sometimes lower fares in the hope that they will buy tickets

For example, take a person who wants to fly from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport to watch a football game. They may find tickets up to 13% less expensive on a midweek day like Tuesday, which is considered one of the cheapest times to fly to Los Angeles, than on a Sunday—score!

Best Time to Book Flights to Los Angeles

According to our data, 30 to 60 days before departure is the best time to book flights to Los Angeles and for domestic US routes overall. Time and time again, we see airlines raise prices a few months before takeoff because they know some travelers prefer to book far in advance. However, fares usually stabilize around the 30- to 60-day window before increasing again in the final weeks leading up to departure.

Monitoring these fluctuations is a job in itself, but Kiwi makes it easy to stay on top of fare changes with travel hacks like price alerts. By activating this feature on a route you’re monitoring, you’ll receive a notification every time there is a move up or down, so you never miss the best cheap flight deals .

How Last-Minute & Shoulder-Season Deals Work

One of the big reasons for price drops on last-minute flights is that there are too many seats left over. Take an American Airlines flight from Denver to LA. If that flight has 50 seats remaining three days before departure, it’s likely AA will slash prices to fill those seats, making it a good time to buy.

The same goes for shoulder seasons. It’s one of the cheapest times to fly to Los Angeles, as fewer tourists are spending money on travel. When people travel less, hotels and airlines get as many bookings. That equals cracking deals for you! Staying flexible opens up more opportunities like this. Even flying a day earlier or later can mean fares are a few hundred dollars cheaper.

How LA Weather Affects Travel Costs

The weather in LA is mighty fine, and that’s why everyone loves coming here. Days spent on the soft sands of Venice Beach, bathing in the blistering heat, are what most travelers dream of. But if that kind of weather isn’t guaranteed, visitor numbers will only end up dropping.

To make sense of LA’s season, think of them like this: winters are mild, spring is warm, and summer is scorching hot, the kind that makes sweat drip down your face. Even though summer temperatures can be intense, some people only get time off for vacation around then, so they’re willing to brave it. 

Those folks don’t have the same time off during the shoulder season, though, so you won’t see as many tourists around then. Yeah, it might not be as hot. But like I’ve been saying, flights get cheaper when there are fewer visitors, making this particular period the best time to fly to Los Angeles.

Hotel Price Trends in Los Angeles

• Neighborhood: The area where you stay matters. A hotel in Beverly Hills will cost you substantially more than somewhere like Koreatown.
• Season: A night’s stay during winter in Los Angeles won’t break the bank like it would in summer, as it’s the cheapest time to visit LA.
• Weekend: Hotels cost more on weekends, as more people come for short breaks while they’re off work.
• Awards season and other major events: Any type of event is going to attract more visitors to LA, pushing hotel occupancy higher.

Cheapest Time for LA Activities, Attractions & Events

The Oscars, live concerts, and major sports events like the NBA—who wouldn’t want to come to LA for that? It’s hard to stay clear of events like these in a megacity like LA because there’s always something going on. However, things do quieten down around January, which is the cheapest time to visit Los Angeles. This leads to lower prices at major attractions and smaller crowds, so airfares and rates for hotels go down. That’s more savings for you.

LA Neighborhood Price Differences

• Hollywood: Medium to high
• Downtown Los Angeles: Medium
• Santa Monica: High
• Venice Beach: Medium to high
• Beverly Hills: High
• Koreatown: Medium to low

As you can see from our breakdown of districts, the ones closest to major attractions and beaches like Santa Monica are priced higher. Given the convenience of the locations, hotels in these areas rely on customers paying more to stay within walking distance of the main hotspots. It’s even the same during the cheapest times to visit LA. 

How Holidays & Major Events Impact Los Angeles Travel Costs

Planning a trip to LA over a long weekend, school break, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or during the summer season? It will cost more than usual because you’re competing with the thousands of others who are thinking the same as you. Airlines know full well that flying is unavoidable for many during these periods, so they’ll jack up prices.

It’s better to save your trip for a period when there’s nothing on, maybe a quiet weekend in February or mid-September (one of the cheapest times to go to Los Angeles), to avoid getting overcharged.

Cheapest Time to Fly to Los Angeles from Major U.S. Cities

West Coast

Given that LA is already on the West Coast, flight distances are shorter, so airfares are lower from places like Portland and Sacramento , providing good value year-round.

Midwest

Flights from the Midwest are slightly higher than those from the West Coast, but because multiple airlines, such as Delta Air Lines and Frontier Airlines , operate flights from major cities like Chicago , competition keeps prices down. Since the flight time from Chicago to LA is only about 4.5 hours, you’ll be living the Hollywood dream in no time.

East Coast

If you’re flying from the East Coast, it can add up because it’s a long distance, with flights from Boston to Los Angeles taking about 6 hours and 42 minutes. That’s nearly the same as flying from the East Coast to parts of Europe. When using any of these routes, expect to spend more, particularly during high season.

Using Flexible Dates to Find the Lowest LA Prices

If I can give you one piece of advice for finding the cheapest time to fly to LA, it’s to give yourself some flexibility. Being too strict with your travel dates can limit your chances of finding discounts. However, having a few extra days to work with opens up far more opportunities for cheaper fares.

One of the easiest ways to do this is by using flexible-date calendars, which show you the cheapest days to fly around your selected date. You can also use month-view tools to compare prices across an entire month.

Another useful feature is ±3-day searches, which reveal hidden low-fare windows if your schedule isn’t fixed to a single day. For instance, imagine you’re flying from Dallas to Los Angeles and planning to depart on the 15th. If you’re able to leave just one day later, that flight could easily be $50 (€43.60) to $100 (€87.20) cheaper, simply because demand is lower on that date.

Off-Peak LA Travel Tips

• When planning your itinerary, be sure to focus your attention on free things to do, like beaches that don’t charge entry fees, including Venice Beach. Budget attractions like the Griffith Observatory are also well worth considering.
• It’s easy to find some weekday discounts across LA. From cheap happy hours to foodie deals, you can check DowntownLA.com , which has its own ‘Happy Hour Finder’ that does the work for you.
• While having a car seriously helps when in LA, you can get by using a combination of public transport, like metros and buses, and Uber for trips where there are no connections. Hiring a bike is also a good option.
• Even during the off-season, make sure to reserve a table at bars or restaurants. Popular places are often visited by locals, too, so reservations fill up fast, especially on weekends.
• Throughout your search for cheap flights to the USA and LA, it might be worth checking to see if you can fly to Burbank or Long Beach. Both of these airports are known to be far less chaotic than LAX, so it might be better if there’s not much difference in price.

Using Kiwi.com to Unlock Hidden Savings to LA

Want to save big and find the cheapest time to fly to Los Angeles? Kiwi is here to assist.

Between virtual interlining, where you can mix up your itinerary with routes from a number of airlines, and fare alerts that notify you about price changes for the route you’re watching, you’ll never miss out. Plus, we offer flexible date tools that show you the cheapest dates on multi-airline routes, so you have all the options you need.

Why book a single-airline route from London to LA that costs more than €500 when you could fly the following day, add a short stopover in JFK, and save €150? Thanks to all our features, you get access to deals like these.

Ready to plan your cheapest LA trip?

See, we told you flying to LA doesn’t have to be expensive after all. Be flexible with your dates, stick to the off-season when it is the cheapest time to go to Los Angeles, and use our awesome tools to nab cheap flight deals ! Bring on the sunshine and that Cali energy.

Need cheap LA flight answers fast? Start here.

What is the absolute cheapest month to fly to Los Angeles?

January is usually the cheapest month to fly to Los Angeles. The holiday season has ended, only a few events are taking place, and most people are back at work, which lowers demand. While deals can pop up in other months, January consistently offers some of the lowest fares.

What day of the week has the lowest airfare to LA?

Flights from Tuesday to Thursday are typically the cheapest because the number of people traveling for leisure during the week isn’t as high. Once the weekend approaches, though, interest increases, and so do the airfares.

How far in advance should I book LA flights for the best price?

Booking around 30 to 60 days before your departure date is generally the best window for flights to LA. If you buy them too early or too close to departure, you may end up paying more.

Why are flights to LA so expensive at certain times of year?

Seasonal travel, good weather, and major events all make flights more expensive at different times of the year. Airlines are smart enough to raise airfares during these busy periods because they know some travelers will pay more.

Are flights to LA cheaper in winter or summer?

Flights to LA are usually cheaper in winter because not as many people want to visit when the weather is cold. However, prices can rise again on different dates, such as around the Christmas period, as many Americans travel home for the holidays.

What time of day is cheapest to fly to Los Angeles?

Early-morning flights to LA are the cheapest. Many travelers don’t like waking up for departures at inconvenient times, like 4 am or 5 am, which keeps demand and prices low, though fares may rise if seats on a certain route are selling quickly.

Are last-minute flights to LA ever cheap?

Yes, last-minute flights can sometimes be cheap if airlines still have lots of empty seats that they need to sell close to departure. Setting price alerts for specific routes can help you catch these deals because you’ll be notified when prices drop.

Do LA flight-and-hotel packages offer better value?

Flight and hotel packages can sometimes offer good value, but not always. In many cases, booking your plane tickets and accommodation separately on different platforms can give you better prices and more flexibility. When you buy a package, the agency selling it has likely added its own fees.

Always compare the costs to see whether it’s cheaper to book everything individually or choose a package.

How much can I save by traveling during LA’s off-peak season?

It varies, but you can sometimes save a few hundred euros traveling during LA’s off-peak season. Airlines and hotels can sometimes have a hard time filling seats and rooms, so you can usually find some pretty good deals around this time.

Does weather affect flight prices to Los Angeles?

Yes. When summer rolls around, the warm weather attracts more travelers, so flight prices go up. In cooler months, travel slows down and airlines lower fares to fill their planes.