Flights Vancouver → San Francisco
YVR → SFO
How long is the flight from Vancouver to San Francisco?
The flight from Vancouver (YVR) to San Francisco (SFO) takes 1h 48m on average. That is the median time recorded across 3 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
Route overview
The flight route from Vancouver to San Francisco is served by a variety of aircraft including the Embraer 190, Airbus A320, Airbus A319, Boeing 737-900, and Boeing 737-800. The destination airport in San Francisco sees an annual passenger traffic of over 50 million passengers, reflecting its high connectivity and importance as a travel hub.
Your rights on this US flight (DOT)
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under the US DOT rules, if your flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Amenities for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
US flight refund rules & checker →General information, not legal advice.
The Vancouver (YVR) → San Francisco (SFO) route is operated by Air Canada, United Airlines. Across 38 flights monitored in recent months, 66% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 24 minutes. The cancellation rate is 0.00%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 20/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At San Francisco the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Vancouver the average ATFM delay is 3.0 minutes.
Heading to San Francisco: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Vancouver (YVR) to San Francisco (SFO) heads south for about 1,289 km, a flight time of roughly 1h 48m.
Departures from Vancouver on this leg cluster in the midday window: about 37% of YVR-SFO flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Vancouver the average ATFM delay is 3.0 min (atfm); arriving into San Francisco it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 38 tracked YVR-SFO flights, 66% left on time with an average delay of 24 min and a 0.0% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines (UA) | 83% | 5 min | 1.3% |
Airlines operating YVR-SFO
Airports
Frequently asked questions about YVR-SFO
The flight from Vancouver (YVR) to San Francisco (SFO) takes 1h 48m on average. That is the median time recorded across 3 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
On the Vancouver (YVR) -> San Francisco (SFO) route, on-time performance is 66% with an average delay of 24 minutes, based on 38 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Vancouver-San Francisco is 0.00% across 38 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 2 airlines: Air Canada, United Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at San Francisco, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel, airline punctuality and recent trends.
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under US DOT rules, if the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Meals or hotels for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
