San Francisco → Seoul flights

SFO–Seoul: Target $362–384 and book well ahead

Key takeaways

• Median fare is $384 across 30 daily snapshots — a solid planning anchor for roundtrip SFO–Seoul.
• Bottom-quartile fares (≤$362) represent the realistic best-case target; the floor observed was $323.
• Top-quartile fares reach $428–$435, meaning waiting too long can cost you roughly $65–$70 over the median.
• A 35% spread (low $323 to high $435) indicates meaningful price volatility — this route rewards early action.
• No dominant carrier is distinguishable from this dataset, so compare across airlines rather than betting on one.

30-day price trend

See full numbers and stats on the SFO → ICN price history page.

The full picture

Fares on the San Francisco–Seoul Incheon route show a 35% spread across the 30-day snapshot window, with prices ranging from $323 at the floor to $435 at the ceiling and a median of $384. That spread is wide enough to matter: the difference between catching a bottom-quartile fare (≤$362) and a top-quartile fare (≥$428) is roughly $65 per ticket — real money on a long-haul route. The interquartile range of $362–$428 is probably the most useful planning bracket: expect to land somewhere in there under typical conditions, and treat anything at or below $362 as a genuine deal worth acting on.

On transpacific routes like this one, fares generally soften when you're booking 6–10 weeks out for travel outside peak windows (summer and major holidays). Prices tend to firm up as departure approaches and seats in the lower booking classes fill. While the 30-day snapshot data doesn't directly measure booking-horizon curves, the $112 gulf between the observed low and high suggests that timing your purchase — rather than waiting passively — has a tangible payoff. If your travel dates are flexible, checking fares across a two- to three-week departure window can sometimes reveal softer pricing, though that effect isn't directly quantifiable from this dataset.

No single carrier stands out as dominant in this dataset, so it's worth comparing all airlines serving SFO–ICN (including connections through hubs like Tokyo or Taipei) rather than anchoring to one. One honest caveat: 30 daily snapshots reflect a single rolling window and may not capture seasonal swings — fares during peak summer travel or around Lunar New Year can diverge significantly from these figures.

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