$1,700 Find Cheap Flights from San Francisco to Cairns – Compare and Save

A direct flight from San Francisco to Cairns takes 00m, covering 18,178 km.

Yes, a valid passport is required for this international route. Many destinations require at least six months of validity beyond your travel dates. Check your passport expiry well before booking.

Return flights from San Francisco to Cairns range from $1,819 to $2,735, with an average of $2,311 over the past 12 months. Anything below $1,819 counts as a good deal.

United Airlines is the only airline operating San Francisco to Cairns flights. 84% of its flights are on time.

Yes. Based on fares seen in the past 5 days, return flight prices on this route showed a wide range, from about $1,700 to $14,711. That means the highest observed fare was about 9x higher than the lowest one.

Cairns Airport (CNS) hosts 5 major car hire companies, with daily rates starting from around $18 for economy cars. Top options include:

• Bargain Car Rentals
• East Coast Car Rentals
• Simba Car Hire
• Europcar
• Ace Rental Cars

Flights from San Francisco to Cairns usually depart from San Francisco (SFO) and arrive at Cairns (CNS).

Afternoon flights have the fewest delays on this route.

A flight is considered delayed when it departs 15 minutes or more after its scheduled time. This is the standard used by the US Department of Transportation and most airline industry reporting. On the San Francisco to Cairns route, 16% of flights were delayed in the past three months, with delays averaging 3h 25m.

One-stop flights from San Francisco to Cairns most commonly connect through:

• Brisbane (BNE) – 33% of one-stop connections
• Sydney Kingsford Smith (SYD) – 33% of one-stop connections
• Nadi (NAN) – 17% of one-stop connections
• Auckland Intl (AKL) – 8% of one-stop connections

Yes. Flexible dates can save you up to 79% on flights from San Francisco to Cairns. Saturday is the cheapest departure day at $1,478 return on average, while Tuesday is the most expensive at $6,728, a difference of $5,250.

Cheaper weekend fares like these are typical of routes dominated by weekday business travel.

Flying via Brisbane (BNE) gives the shortest average 1-stop total travel time of 18h 27m, compared to 18h 49m via Auckland Intl (AKL) and 19h 09m via Nadi (NAN).

Cairns is 17 hours ahead of San Francisco (Eastern Australia Time vs Pacific Time). Plan for the time shift when scheduling connections or first-day activities.

Some of the most popular sights in Cairns are Esplanade Lagoon, Reef Hotel Casino, and Cairns Convention Centre. These are among the most viewed places in Cairns on KAYAK.