Cheap flights from San Francisco to Krakow

August is the cheapest month to fly this route, and the price calendar shows fares for every other month as well, from September round to the following August. Summer is peak season in both San Francisco and Krakow, so the weeks around August cost more than the shoulder months on either side. Late autumn and winter bring the lowest fares outside August, with colder weather in Krakow and rain in San Francisco. Christmas and New Year are the exception, when fares climb again. Midweek departures tend to cost less than weekend ones, and booking a few months ahead helps for summer travel.

Ten airlines sell this route, and none of them fly it nonstop. United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Austrian, Brussels Airlines and Air Canada are full-service carriers, where one ticket covers the whole journey and a missed connection is the airline's problem to fix. WestJet is the leisure option in the mix. Fares differ in what they include, so read the rules for each leg rather than the headline price, and check whether a checked bag is part of the long-haul fare or sold separately. A single ticket with one carrier group is simpler than stitching two bookings together.

Krakow's airport is Balice, west of the city centre, and it handles the traffic for the whole region. A train and a bus connect the terminal with the centre, and taxis and ride-hailing apps wait at the arrivals exit, so the transfer into town is short either way. If your itinerary changes planes in Europe, you clear Schengen immigration at that first European stop rather than in Krakow, so leave room on a tight connection. Late arrivals are the thing to plan for, since the last train and bus of the day go earlier than most people expect and a taxi becomes the fallback. Keep a card or some local currency ready for ticket machines, and have your passport within reach for the border check.

Currency

PLZ (zł)

Power sockets

Type C, E · 230 V

Language

Polish

Emergency number

112, 986, 997

Driving side

right

Calling code

+48

Internet domain

.pl

EU / Schengen

EU member, Schengen area

Population of Krakow

804 k (2023)

Time zone

UTC+01 (Europe/Warsaw)

Country facts: Wikidata

• Check that your departure airport is San Francisco International, the only one this route uses.
• Confirm whether the whole journey is on one ticket or separate bookings, because a missed connection on separate tickets is yours to fix.
• Look at the layover length at the connecting hub, where this route most often goes wrong.
• Read what the fare includes for checked baggage on the transatlantic leg, since fare families differ.
• Carry a passport valid for the whole trip and check Poland's entry rules before you pay.
• Compare August with the months either side in the price calendar before you fix your dates.