San Diego (SAN) to Madrid (MAD): 5,842 miles (9,403 km) great-circle, about 12h 10m nonstop by our estimate. Cheapest fare observed: $770 round-trip on United Airlines, with 2 stops, departing June 2, 2026.
$770 round-trip, United Airlines UA1457, departing 2026-06-02 at 22:40, returning 2026-06-12. The recorded itinerary left on a Tuesday, returning on a Friday 10 nights later; the fare was observed 38 days before departure. "Book this flight" opens Kiwi.com with the same airline and dates.
At $770, it ranked 27th of the 30 round-trip fares we recorded from SAN (median $279). That is 13.2 cents per great-circle mile (round-trip price over one-way distance), below the SAN median of 15.0 cents across 30 round-trip routes.
Routes from SAN of similar length: Frankfurt (5,827 mi) at $683 and Barcelona (6,029 mi) at $869.
United Airlines had the cheapest fare on 4 of 30 SAN routes. It is the 4th longest of the 30 routes we track from SAN.
Of 35 departure airports with a fare to Madrid, San Diego (SAN) ranked 19th at $770. Lowest: $46 from Lisbon (LIS); highest: $1698 from Sydney (SYD); 13 nonstop. Cheapest-fare airlines (routes): United Airlines (4), Wizz Air (4), Air China (2), American Airlines (2), Ryanair (2) and TAP Portugal (2), plus 17 more.
That depends on your passport and trip, so check the official source for Spain: European Commission: Schengen visa policy. Connecting elsewhere? Check that country's transit rules too.
Travelpayouts fares (cheapest per route, observed April 25, 2026); OurAirports coordinates and elevations; IANA zones America/Los_Angeles, Europe/Madrid; flight time is our estimate.