R12 937 Find Cheap Flights from San Francisco to South Africa

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from San Francisco to South Africa departing on 5/5. 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.
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Best South Africa Flight Deals from San Francisco

Cheapest return prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours

Cape Town
Cape Town2 stopsR17 774
Port Elizabeth
Port Elizabeth2 stopsR30 946
George
George2 stopsR76 170
Pietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg2 stopsR23 391

Good to know

Low season

February

High season

December

Cheapest flight

R12 937
Best time to beat the crowds (10% less expensive on average)
Most popular time to fly (28% more expensive on average)
Flight from San Francisco to Cape Town

FAQs - booking South Africa flights

  • Is it a good idea to buy a ticket with an airport change during a layover?

    It depends. Some tickets from SFO to South Africa require you to change airports within a city during a layover or to collect your bags and check in again for the next leg of your flight. This can be time-consuming, and getting across town to another airport could get expensive. Before you book a ticket with a re-check-in or an airport change, make sure that the ticket leaves you enough time to do it and that all aspects of the change or the re-check-in are feasible.

  • What documentation do I need in order to fly to South Africa?

    US citizens flying to South Africa need a valid passport that is still valid at least 30 days beyond the date when you enter South Africa. This passport must have two consecutive empty pages per entry. You do not need a visa if you plan to leave South Africa in 90 days or fewer.

  • Does SFO have therapy dogs?

    Yes. When you are at SFO waiting for your flight to South Africa, you might encounter the Wag Brigade, therapy dogs roaming Departures with their trained handlers. SFO hopes these therapy dogs can delight, distract, and comfort passengers waiting to travel. The Wag Brigade includes several dogs, a pig, and a rabbit.

  • Does SFO have a hotel at the airport?

    Yes. If you would like to stay at the airport the night before your flight to South Africa, consider staying at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at SFO. Connected to all of the terminals by way of the free AirTrain, this upscale hotel offers free Wi-Fi, room service, a fitness center, a business center, and much more.

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from San Francisco to South Africa?

    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 San Francisco to South Africa.

  • How does KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy my flight ticket from San Francisco to South Africa?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from San Francisco to South Africa 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 San Francisco to South Africa?

    Hacker Fares allow you to combine one-way tickets in order to save you money over a traditional return ticket. You could then fly from San Francisco to South Africa 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 San Francisco to South Africa?

    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 San Francisco to South Africa 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 South Africa

  • Book at least 1 week before departure in order to get a below-average price.
  • High season is considered to be June, July and August. The cheapest month to fly from San Francisco is March.
  • Morning departure is around 17% cheaper than an evening flight, on average*.
  • San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is a hub for Alaska Airlines. When you fly from the shores of the San Francisco Bay to South Africa, you will have many choices of destination city, airline, flight time, and price.
  • When you fly from SFO to Johannesburg, chances are you will be landing at the O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB). Turkish Airlines, Delta, and KLM are among the airlines that offer one-stop flights from San Francisco to Johannesburg. Some common layover cities include Istanbul, Atlanta, Amsterdam, and others. Alaska Airlines, Ethiopian Air, and United are among the carriers that offer two-stop flights from SFO to JNB.
  • If you want to fly from SFO to Cape Town at the southern tip of South Africa, you'll most likely be landing in the Cape Town International Airport (CPT). Turkish Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, and KLM are among the carriers that offer one-stop flights from SFO to CPT, with layovers in cities such as Istanbul, Zurich, and Amsterdam. KLM, Ethiopian Air, and Delta are among the airlines that offer two-stop flights from SFO to CPT.
  • If you want to fly to Durban on the east coast of South Africa, you will most likely be landing at the King Shaka International Airport (DUR). Qatar Airways, SWISS, and Turkish Airlines are among the many carriers that offer two-stop and three-stop flights from SFO to DUR., with stops in Istanbul, Johannesburg, Paris, and others.
  • If you are flying into the city of Pietermaritzburg, about an hour inland from Durban, you will most likely be landing at the Pietermaritzburg Airport (PZB). You can find two-stop flights from SFO to PZB on airlines such as Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines, with stops in cities such as Istanbul, Johannesburg, and Doha.
See more tips
*Average of the lowest prices shown in KAYAK’s search results for departures within the next 30 days

Top 3 airlines serving from San Francisco to South Africa

Need help choosing which airline to fly with from San Francisco to South Africa? 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.
7,5
Qatar AirwaysOverall score based on 3792 reviews
7,5Entertainment
7,4Food
7,7Boarding
8,0Crew
7,5Comfort
Airline reviews

My experience with Qatar airway was very unsatisfactory. They lost my child’s stroller and I was told they found it and will send it to the hotel which was a lie. I had to go back to the airport baggage claim and pick up myself after trying to contact them many times!. There was a lack professional and communication. I am very disappointed in Qatar airway and will not be recommending them to friends and family nor will I be flying with them in the future.

2,0 MediocreAnonymous, Dec 2024JFK - DOH
Read more Qatar Airways reviews

My experience with Qatar airway was very unsatisfactory. They lost my child’s stroller and I was told they found it and will send it to the hotel which was a lie. I had to go back to the airport baggage claim and pick up myself after trying to contact them many times!. There was a lack professional and communication. I am very disappointed in Qatar airway and will not be recommending them to friends and family nor will I be flying with them in the future.

Worst air experience in whole life . Boarding and checking was hassle as they did 3 times. Crew team was clueless about passengers need. Despite of passengers raising hand , they were resetting the program

The food is not good and also if you ask crew to bring something they say ok I will bring but you will never get it. Please they should listen good to passengers

No difference between US airline and Qatar. Both cramp as many people. The airline seems to change planes without notice choice is seating when making reservations online doesn’t match the plane a passenger is on. Especially paying extra. Nothing special No different than US carriers.

Did not like anything. Seats were crammed, leg space was minimal and food was terrible. This was the first time traveling overseas in American Airlines and was the worst experience ever. Have learned a lesson to never travel in American Airlines.

Delayed my flights and no communication. We end up spending 6 hrs in Doha. No food or any concern from the airline. Terrible

Check in desk people constrained by fear. Obvious typo on Uganda visa, even though approved, caused loss of flight. Something is definitely wrong with this system.

Between Air India and Qatar my luggage was lost for three days. I eventually found my own luggage location using the Apple Air Tag. Air India used a paper form to report my lost luggage. I could never get past getting past luggage personnel with my report number before they would hang up on me. Only after them specifically telling Air India at Chandigarh airport where my luggage was located which was right under their noses did they react. After three days I finally received my luggage. The Air India luggage folks didn’t seem proactive in finding the luggage’s rightful owner.

Besides the flight cancellation, everything else was prefect. Kudos to Malaysian Airlines.

Operated by American Airlines. Very chaotic and the crew was bit rough responding any enquiries. Restricted leg space.. Qatar would have been better

It was good. Just that the seats could not be reclined. The people behind were not ready to let the chairs be reclined

Checkin was painful and slow! Lady didn’t seem to know what was going on and couldn’t explain the delay. Seemed ahe couldnt see the computer scree and we couldn’t hear her talk through her mask.

Plane left & arrived early- 5 Crew great. Wi fi - paid for 2, only 1 worked - so so. Waste of $. Coolie was good

There was no USB plug in my section of the plane. So I could not charge my phone. Also, there was no screen to watch movie or anything like that. Wish I had known that in advance, I would’ve brought my iPad.

Made all groups except 2 check despite ample bin space. Inflight WiFi and entertainment didn’t work most of the time.

Not enough room between rows and food was gross. $160 baggage charge?! Never again.

Waited for our plane from HNL so we didn't miss connection. AMAZING Service for that, then really clean plane. Nice airline attendants.

Excellent staff helping my 96 year old senior promptly with her oxygen needs

Basics were there, but a 5:15 flight with almost no food ans no entertainment, it is quite long.

Moody attendants that can barely look up at the passengers. I’m all for people having an off day, but you can tell some Untied Airlines Employees have lost their zeal for their jobs

Very good except the boarding process too forever and wasn’t organized by group. I had a heavy pack or I wouldn’t have minded. I was in business. There were no audible announcements in the waiting area about boarding and everyone packed into the boarding area. Then boarding stopped for a long time but the staff made no announcements to update waiting passengers about the holdup. The flight was good after we got on.

Professional & courteous cabin crew. Food was very good even in economy class

7 stars hospitality and an excellent service by the Turkish Airline entire team. Somehow, our membership numbers for mileage points were not indicated on our boarding passes issued at O’Hare Airport by the Turkish Airlines check in desk. During transit in Istanbul, I brought to attention of customer service Turkish Airlines. Please have our mileage points posted to our membership account from O’Hare Chicago to Lahore for both my wife Kaukab Shirazi Thank you

Terrible boarding experience, with an incomprehensible assignment of priorities. “Fast track” was the slowest. Poor system planning.

Terrible boarding process, no proper line maintained even for business class, crews are not very attentive, business class food quality / variety / quantity have gone down, everything has become cheap.

Check in was not available online. It was super long line to check in

I did not have a good experience from the first point of contact to the check in person to boarding and the comfort of the seats. I would not travel on Turkish again. I will let my family and friends know about my experience which was not a pleasant one.

Food quality and the overall service of the staff and significantly decreased. The flight was delayed at the Istanbul airport and the passengers were kept onboard for more than 3 hours. The staff didn’t kept the passengers informed and everyone was upset.

Cross Atlantic flight terrible aircraft TK10 on the way back : Old configuration tacky . The boarding in Istanbul at the gate fly TK686 was a mess unorganized , very rude ground staff . Overall never again

The food served was frozen salad and hummus. The hot meal was fine. Crew was doing bare minimum

Book cheap flights from San Francisco to South Africa

Recent return flight deals

19/3Wed
2 stops
33h 10mSFO-CPT
2/4Wed
1 stop
27h 35mCPT-SFO
R17 774
22/1Wed
1 stopTurkish Airlines
36h 50mSFO-CPT
30/1Thu
1 stopTurkish Airlines
33h 30mCPT-SFO
R17 974
28/1Tue
1 stopQatar Airways
32h 40mSFO-JNB
4/5Sun
1 stopQatar Airways
33h 15mJNB-SFO
R19 006
1/3Sat
1 stopQatar Airways
32h 40mSFO-JNB
9/3Sun
1 stopQatar Airways
33h 15mJNB-SFO
R19 169
1/3Sat
2 stopsKenya Airways
31h 20mSFO-JNB
30/3Sun
2 stopsKenya Airways
44h 21mJNB-SFO
R19 568
26/1Sun
3 stopsKenya Airways
52h 45mSFO-CPT
4/2Tue
3 stopsKenya Airways
32h 27mCPT-SFO
R20 057
16/3Sun
2 stopsKLM
26h 15mSFO-JNB
30/3Sun
2 stopsKLM
29h 42mJNB-SFO
R20 329
4/1Sat
1 stopKLM
22h 15mSFO-JNB
31/1Fri
2 stopsKLM
33h 27mJNB-SFO
R24 333
2/1Thu
1 stopUnited Airlines
23h 40mSFO-JNB
22/1Wed
1 stopUnited Airlines
24h 10mJNB-SFO
R25 873
2/1Thu
1 stopUnited Airlines
23h 40mSFO-JNB
21/1Tue
1 stopUnited Airlines
30h 25mJNB-SFO
R26 598

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Recent one-way flight deals

5/5Mon
1 stopQatar Airways
33h 40mSFO-CPT
R12 937
14/3Fri
1 stopQatar Airways
40h 40mSFO-CPT
R13 154
4/4Fri
1 stopRwandAir
40h 05mSFO-CPT
R13 806
13/2Thu
1 stopSWISS
40h 10mSFO-JNB
R13 951
14/3Fri
2 stopsSWISS
33h 45mSFO-CPT
R14 205
7/1Tue
1 stopTurkish Airlines
36h 50mSFO-CPT
R18 282
12/3Wed
2 stopsUnited Airlines
32h 52mSFO-JNB
R20 981
4/5Sun
2 stopsUnited Airlines
29h 55mSFO-CPT
R21 960
2/3Sun
1 stopTurkish Airlines
31h 10mSFO-CPT
R55 787
11/4Fri
1 stopRwandAir
40h 05mSFO-CPT
R67 727

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Last minute flights from San Francisco to South Africa

Last minute flight, train and bus deals

22/12Sun
multi-stopUnited Airlines
34h 00mSFO-JNB
30/12Mon
multi-stopUnited Airlines
33h 40mJNB-SFO
R36 599
24/12Tue
multi-stopUnited Airlines
32h 05mSFO-JNB
31/12Tue
multi-stopUnited Airlines
30h 14mJNB-SFO
R39 698
22/12Sun
multi-stop
39h 55mSFO-JNB
30/12Mon
multi-stop
27h 00mJNB-SFO
R41 256
21/12Sat
multi-stopBritish Airways
33h 42mSFO-CPT
28/12Sat
multi-stopBritish Airways
31h 50mCPT-SFO
R44 209
24/12Tue
multi-stop
36h 15mSFO-DUR
12/1Sun
multi-stop
54h 20mDUR-SFO
R46 094
21/12Sat
multi-stopBritish Airways
33h 42mSFO-CPT
28/12Sat
multi-stopBritish Airways
31h 05mCPT-SFO
R46 202
24/12Tue
multi-stopQatar Airways
53h 08mSFO-DUR
12/1Sun
multi-stopQatar Airways
41h 51mDUR-SFO
R48 032
24/12Tue
multi-stopQatar Airways
53h 08mSFO-DUR
12/1Sun
multi-stopQatar Airways
34h 40mDUR-SFO
R48 069
22/12Sun
multi-stopTurkish Airlines
30h 05mSFO-JNB
3/1Fri
multi-stopTurkish Airlines
31h 40mJNB-SFO
R74 141
23/12Mon
multi-stopTurkish Airlines
31h 10mSFO-CPT
5/1Sun
multi-stopTurkish Airlines
33h 30mCPT-SFO
R76 370

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Everything you need to know for your flight from San Francisco to South Africa

Information on your arrival and departure airports

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