ExceptionalNonstop · 1.5h
SFO to LASUnited States
Las Vegas
$61
usually $155
−61%
Most monthly lows $130–$295. Cheaper than every other month on record (5).
Flights · SFO → IST
San Francisco to Istanbul
Best fare, round trip
$1,108
Observed seasonal median $795 — this fare is not below it.
Found
- Depart
- Sun 25 Oct
- Return
- Sat 14 Nov
- Stay
- 20 nights
- Flight
- 1 stop · 14.5h
- Airline
United
Cached fare — the booking search re-prices live before you pay.
TürkiyeIstanbulTwo continents, one skyline of minarets. Turkish Airlines’ mega-hub means constant fare battles.Best windowApr–May · Sep–OctAirportsIstanbul (IST) · Sabiha Gökçen (SAW)Every route into IstanbulFare seasonality
When this route gets cheap.
Fares bottom out in October around $502 and peak in April near $863, 72% dearer, across the 7 months we track. The cheapest itinerary we are tracking makes one stop and takes about 14.5 hours outbound, on a 20-night trip — ticketed under United, which on a connecting fare need not operate every leg. At $1,108 for 10,785 km each way, that works out to about $51 per 1,000 km flown. That is above the $44 per 1,000 km typical of long-haul fares here. Across the 15 departure cities we track at a similar distance from Istanbul, this fare ranks 15th — 2.4× the $454 we hold from Kuala Lumpur. For context, the middle fare among the 55 routes of similar length we watch out of San Francisco is $840. Across the 7 months of prices we hold for this route the typical fare is $795, so at $1,108 this one is $313 above it — no discount to claim here. The best time to be in Istanbul: Apr–May · Sep–Oct.
Cheapest day in the next 4 months: 18 Oct, $502
Press a day to compare its fares
The median cached fare across this calendar is 6% lower than when tracking began on 8 Aug — $967 then versus $907 now, across 18 recorded snapshots. This is a calendar-level trend, so an individual deal above can be lower. The lowest single day we have seen here is $464, on 6 Jan '27.
October 2026
13141516Saturday 17 October: $1.2k, above the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Sunday 18 October: $502, the cheapest day in view. Compare fares from this day.192021222324Sunday 25 October: $1k, around the usual price. Compare fares from this day.2627282930Saturday 31 October: $1.1k, above the usual price. Compare fares from this day.
November 2026
1Monday 2 November: $885, below the usual price. Compare fares from this day.34567891011121314Sunday 15 November: $893, below the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Monday 16 November: $893, below the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Tuesday 17 November: $893, below the usual price. Compare fares from this day.18192021Sunday 22 November: $949, around the usual price. Compare fares from this day.232425262728Sunday 29 November: $824, below the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Monday 30 November: $1.1k, around the usual price. Compare fares from this day.
December 2026
Tuesday 1 December: $998, around the usual price. Compare fares from this day.23456Monday 7 December: $966, around the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Tuesday 8 December: $788, below the usual price. Compare fares from this day.91011121314151617Friday 18 December: $2.4k, above the usual price. Compare fares from this day.19Sunday 20 December: $2.1k, above the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Monday 21 December: $1.7k, above the usual price. Compare fares from this day.22232425262728293031
January 2027
1234567Friday 8 January: $944, around the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Saturday 9 January: $961, around the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Sunday 10 January: $844, below the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Monday 11 January: $778, below the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Tuesday 12 January: $817, below the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Wednesday 13 January: $781, below the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Thursday 14 January: $907, below the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Friday 15 January: $948, around the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Saturday 16 January: $947, around the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Sunday 17 January: $872, below the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Monday 18 January: $812, below the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Tuesday 19 January: $884, below the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Wednesday 20 January: $830, below the usual price. Compare fares from this day.Thursday 21 January: $888, below the usual price. Compare fares from this day.22232425262728293031
CheapestBelow usualUsualAbove usualCached fares · checked 13 Oct 2026 · bands from 146 tracked fares
Cheapest in Oct, around $502
37% below the $795 typical fare
$502Oct, the cheapest month. Compare October fares.$824Nov, around the usual price. Compare November fares.$788Dec, around the usual price. Compare December fares.$778Jan ’27, around the usual price. Compare January fares.$813Mar, around the usual price. Compare March fares.$863Apr, above the usual price. Compare April fares.$794May, around the usual price. Compare May fares.
CheapestBelow usualUsualAbove usualPress a month to compare its fares
Cheapest round-trip fare found each month, San Francisco to Istanbul, from cached prices.
Route facts
- Airports
- SFO · Oakland (OAK) · San José (SJC) ↔ Istanbul (IST) · Sabiha Gökçen (SAW)
- Flight time
- ≈14.5 hours outbound
- Distance
- ≈10,785 km each way
- Typical price
- $795 round-trip (seasonal median)
- Airlines on the board
- United
- Itineraries
- Connections on current fares
- Best months to visit
- Apr–May · Sep–Oct
Good to know
SF → IST, answered.
What is the cheapest month to fly from San Francisco to Istanbul?
Across 7 months of cached-fare history, Oct comes out cheapest on this route. The best months to actually be in Istanbul are Apr–May · Sep–Oct — when those overlap, that's your window.
How far in advance should I book SF → Istanbul?
We do not publish a number for this, because we cannot measure it yet. Answering it honestly means watching the same departure date on this route over many weeks as it approaches, and that archive is still filling up — so any "book N days ahead" figure here would be borrowed from somewhere else rather than measured. What we can measure is which month is cheap: across 7 months of cached fares, Oct comes out lowest on this route. Our guide Why flight prices change covers what does move a fare.
Are there nonstop flights from San Francisco to Istanbul?
The current cheapest fares involve a connection, ticketed under United. We hold no nonstop fare on this route right now, which does not mean none flies — search your exact dates to see what does.
Are these prices guaranteed?
No — these are cached fares found on real searches (this one on 17 October). Airlines reprice constantly, so the booking search re-checks the live price before you pay. Fresher finds are far more likely to still be available.
Next step
Sleeping in Istanbul?
Lock the flight first — then compare stays for 25 Oct – 14 Nov · 20 nights.
Browse hotelsMissed it?
Cached fares expire. This route has a feed of its own — follow it and the next SF → IST drop reaches you as soon as we find it.
Follow this route’s feedKeep browsing
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