Boston (BOS) – San Diego (SAN)
- Distance
- 4,164 km
- 2,588 mi · 2,249 nm
- Flight time
- 6 h 15 min / 5 h 27 min
- Average gate to gate: BOS → SAN / back
- Time difference
- 3 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 486 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (288 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 527,577
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +11.8%
- Flights / week
- 70
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 85%
- 620,392 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 4
- B6, AS, DL
Traffic: U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service), Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Distance: WGS-84 ellipsoid. CO2: UK DESNZ 2026 factors. Sources
The way there
- Heading from BOS
- 271°
- Heading from SAN
- 61°
- Halfway point
- 39.88, -95.67
- Great-circle km
- 4,156 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air BOS → SAN
- 5 h 45 min
- In the air SAN → BOS
- 4 h 56 min
- Clocks
- San Diego is 3 h behind Boston
The estimate for a route without real times is 5 h 40 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 50,985 |
| Sep 2025 | 38,302 |
| Oct 2025 | 48,466 |
| Nov 2025 | 38,586 |
| Dec 2025 | 38,376 |
| Jan 2026 | 30,588 |
| Feb 2026 | 30,052 |
| Mar 2026 | 41,837 |
| Apr 2026 | 41,499 |
| May 2026 | 45,292 |
| Jun 2026 | 60,257 |
| Jul 2026 | 63,337 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 349 |
| Sep 2025 | 262 |
| Oct 2025 | 320 |
| Nov 2025 | 271 |
| Dec 2025 | 259 |
| Jan 2026 | 224 |
| Feb 2026 | 208 |
| Mar 2026 | 297 |
| Apr 2026 | 287 |
| May 2026 | 326 |
| Jun 2026 | 404 |
| Jul 2026 | 414 |
Airlines flying BOS–SAN nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| B6JetBlue Airways | 35 | 47% |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 19 | 28% |
| DLDelta Air Lines | 14 | 21% |
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 2.2 | 3% |
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Airlines with at least one flight a month. U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service). Sources
Aircraft on this route
- Airbus Industrie A321Neoxlr · 1,520 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 981 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 457 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 349 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 184 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 120 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 10 flights
Also carried: 86 tonnes of freight and 5 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 76.9%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 18 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 1.6%
- Flights counted
- 3,698
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| B6JetBlue Airways | 81.4% | 16 min |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 75.6% | 17 min |
| DLDelta Air Lines | 73.7% | 17 min |
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 37.7% | 45 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 28% · aircraft arriving late 35% · air traffic system 30% · weather 6% · security 0%.
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. BTS Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (US domestic flights of the larger US airlines). Sources
What passengers paid
- Average fare, Q1 2026
- $319
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $315
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- JetBlue Airways
- 42% of passengers · $314
- Lowest-fare airline
- Alaska Airlines
- 19% of passengers · $313
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $325 · Q3 2025 $296 · Q4 2025 $319 · Q1 2026 $319).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $325, likely $288–$371
The average fare paid we expect a year after Q1 2026, the newest DOT quarter. On this route, past forecasts made this way fell inside the range 86% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 7.5%). An estimate from US DOT data: not a price you can book, not a guarantee, not advice on when to buy. How the outlook works
Cheapest quarter on this route: Q1, typically 6% below the year's average (9 years of DOT data, without 2020–21).
U.S. DOT Consumer Airfare Report, Table 1a (airline ticket sample, US domestic airport pairs). Sources
Delay compensation (EU261 / UK261)
Measured by great-circle distance: 4,156 km.
Neither EU261 nor UK261 covers this route: it neither starts nor ends in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK. Other countries have their own rules (for example Canada's APPR or Brazil's ANAC rules).
Also owed for a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice or denied boarding. Not owed for extraordinary circumstances. On a connection, the distance to the final destination counts. From 23 October 2027 the EU's Regulation 2026/2202 applies; it keeps these amounts (what changes in 2027). Information, not legal advice.