Cheap flights from San Francisco to Istanbul from $450

In general, February is the cheapest month to fly from San Francisco to Istanbul Airport. Due to it being the ‘off-season’ during this time, you can expect flight prices to be around $826. If you don’t want to visit Istanbul Airport in February, then you should wait until January to fly from San Francisco, when ticket prices are also cheap, with an average price of $878.

Our data shows that Sunday is the least expensive day to fly to Istanbul Airport. Tickets to fly out on this day can be as low as $1,061. On the other hand, Friday is the most expensive day to depart from San Francisco because it is more convenient for both business and leisure travelers. As a result, prices tend to be around $1,135.

In the evening is the cheapest time of day to fly from San Francisco to Istanbul Airport when you can find flight prices for as low as $951. Flying to Istanbul Airport in the evening is an ideal time because this is during off-peak travel hours. Flights in the morning are often more expensive with an average ticket price of $1,167.

Fly from San Francisco to Istanbul for the best San Francisco - Istanbul flight prices

You are more likely to see cheaper flights to Istanbul Airport from San Francisco when booking weeks ahead of your departure date. In general, you can expect to find flights to Istanbul Airport for around $1,090 when searching weeks out. However, flight prices might be lower outside of this timeframe. For example, people recently found flights to Istanbul Airport from San Francisco for as low as $989 on momondo.

There are 3 cabin classes available to choose from on San Francisco to Istanbul Airport flights. Cabin price and availability will vary by airline so perform a search above to find the right deals for you.

You could potentially save up to 32% on your flight if you consider stops on a San Francisco to Istanbul Airport flight.

As of October 2026, prices for San Francisco to Istanbul Airport flights are approximately 28% cheaper when compared to flights at the same time last year.

Lufthansa, KLM, and United Airlines are the most popular carriers operating from San Francisco to Istanbul

Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa and KLM are the top three most popular airlines that fly to Istanbul Airport from San Francisco according to our data. Turkish Airlines is the first choice among our users, with 74% of people opting to fly with this airline when traveling to Istanbul Airport. Keep in mind that there are 12 different airlines that fly to Istanbul Airport on a routine basis, so you have a few additional options to choose from.

Historically, on average around 11% of flights between San Francisco and Istanbul have experienced a delay on any given week. The average delay length over the past 12 months has been 130 minutes.

Generally, flights departing in the evening tend to experience fewer delays. Flights at night have, in the past, seen delays more frequently in comparison.

Sunday is statistically the day of the week which experiences the fewest number of delays on this flight route. Thursday has historically seen more delays on average compared to the rest of the week.

According to our data, Turkish Airlines have had the least number of delays on this route over the last 12 months; with about 11% of their flights experiencing any sort of delay.

Frankfurt am Main (FRA) was the most common stop: 48% of momondo users choosing 1-stop flights on this route connected there.

Flights via Copenhagen (CPH) offer the lowest average round-trip price of $892.

Flights connecting via London (LHR) have the shortest average one-way travel time: 16h 27m.

London (LHR) has the shortest average layover time for this route: 2h 34m.

As of October 2026, there are 3 flights per day flying from San Francisco to Istanbul Airport. The most common time of day flights depart is 6:00PM, with 100% of flights taking off in the evening.

As of October 2026, 21 flights take off from San Francisco and land in Istanbul Airport each week. The most common flight departure day for this route is Mon, with 29% of weekly flights taking off on this day.