Itineraries flown on 20+ days in the Jun 6 – Jul 31, 2026 schedule · each leg’s record Aug 2025 – Jul 2026

Connect in the morning. The same one-hour layover misses 13% of the time at 7 am and 31% of the time at 7 pm.

Nonstops


United	SAN	ORD	4h 15m	82%	0.5%	1,673	Flying now
American	SAN	ORD	4h 19m	79%	1.7%	1,389	Flying now
Alaska	SAN	ORD	4h 21m	72%	2.3%	777	Flying now
Frontier	SAN	ORD	4h 23m	55%few flights	3.3%	30	Not flying now

Best connections, one ticket

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

Ranked by chance you reach Chicago on time. Total trip = scheduled departure to arrival, layover included (Chicago is 2 h ahead of San Diego). Layovers up to 4 hours. Pick a connection for the details.


American Details →	SAN 21:25 → CLT 05:12AA 1860	2h 34m Charlotte	CLT 07:46 → ORD 09:02 +1AA 2843	9h 37m	99%	85%
United Details →	SAN 18:27 → SFO 20:07UA 1302	3h 23m San Francisco	SFO 23:30 → ORD 05:57 +1UA 368	9h 30m	100%	84%
Delta Details →	SAN 22:30 → ATL 05:50DL 819	1h 35m Atlanta	ATL 07:25 → ORD 08:35 +1DL 1178	8h 05m	99%	84%
United Details →	SAN 19:41 → SFO 21:28UA 2278	3h 22m San Francisco	SFO 00:50 → ORD 07:16 +1UA 1850	9h 35m	97%	83%
United Details →	SAN 20:32 → LAX 21:45UA 5636 · flown by SkyWest	1h 45m Los Angeles	LAX 23:30 → ORD 05:46 +1UA 1962	7h 14m	97%	83%
American Details →	SAN 22:25 → MIA 06:36AA 1480	1h 52m Miami	MIA 08:28 → ORD 10:59 +1AA 1431	10h 34m	94%	82%
Alaska Details →	SAN 18:35 → SEA 21:35AS 1431	2h 42m Seattle	SEA 00:17 → ORD 06:20 +1AS 328	9h 45m	100%	82%
Alaska Details →	SAN 17:58 → PDX 20:31AS 1392	2h 28m Portland	PDX 22:59 → ORD 05:00 +1AS 376	9h 02m	97%	82%
Tight connection: often missed
United Details →	SAN 07:15 → SFO 09:01UA 2274	1h 04m San Francisco	SFO 10:05 → ORD 16:38UA 1954	7h 23m	57%	40%
American Details →	SAN 15:08 → DFW 20:30AA 2459	1h 42m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 22:12 → ORD 00:50 +1AA 1193	7h 42m	66%	32%
United Details →	SAN 11:55 → SFO 13:41UA 2428	48m San Francisco	SFO 14:29 → ORD 21:03UA 1777	7h 08m	54%	25%

Same layover, different day-part

How often the first flight arrives too late to connect (45 min minimum), for one-ticket layovers of 45–80 minutes.

Morning

DEN · 1h 07m · leaves 06:35 2%

SEA · 1h 10m · leaves 06:18 9%

LAX · 54m · leaves 06:20 9%

Afternoon and evening

DTW · 51m · leaves 11:37 31%

SEA · 50m · leaves 13:59 41%

SFO · 1h 10m · leaves 19:41 58%

Delays build through the day, so an afternoon first leg eats the layover. A short connection is fine early in the morning and a gamble later on.

Mixing airlines

One ticketMiss it and the airline rebooks you; bags go through. 45 min is enough.

Separate ticketsMiss it and you buy a new ticket. Re-check bags, clear security again: we require 90 min.


Southwest WN 4874 SAN 21:55 → MCO United UA 2683 MCO 09:40 → ORD Connection details →	3h 45m	11h 53m	100%	92%
Alaska AS 255 SAN 20:52 → BOS American AA 1239 BOS 08:58 → ORD Connection details →	3h 18m	12h 08m	99%	90%
Southwest WN 3549 SAN 18:00 → SMF American AA 3060 SMF 23:10 → ORD Connection details →	3h 30m	9h 33m	98%	90%

Rank all connections, any airlines →

Regional partners count as the airline that sells them: SkyWest flying Delta Connection is one Delta ticket.

How these are worked out. Makes the connection: share of the last year’s flights where the first flight arrived with at least 45 minutes to spare (90 on separate tickets). Arrives on time: first flight not cancelled × connection made × second flight not cancelled and arriving within 15 minutes. Not yet counted: the second flight also leaving late (which helps), gate-to-gate distance at the hub, and rebooking after a missed connection.

About this data: US DOT on-time records, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026, all US airlines; regional flights count under the airline that sells them. Schedules (which flights and connections exist, and their times) are as of Jun 6 – Jul 31, 2026; seasonal flights outside that window aren’t ranked. Rebuilt monthly. JSON