This page is nothing like you've seen before. It's a tutorial, not a sales pitch; Travel to Costa Rica Airfare.We'd love to sell you an airline ticket. However the commission we might receive is so small it's hardly worth the effort.
Here are our top tips on getting the best airfare to Costa Rica. Please note that we have links to other websites that open in a new window. We don't endorse any of the sites or airlines. The airport code for San Jose, Costa Rica is SJO. (Don't use SJC by mistake or you'll end up in California).
Remember the San Jose, Costa Rica airport is located in Alajuela, Costa Rica, about 15 kilometers from San Jose. Costa Rica Embassy [Now an obnoxious page that resizes your browers and uses a font size that is too small for common sense.
- Select "Search all dates for best fares" to get a list of the best fares from your city to San Jose on Travelocity.com. I like this as a starting point for fares and connections. You have to check each fare for restrictions and rules.
- Try checking fares from Miami (MIA) to San Jose (SJO) and then fares from your City to MIA. I found this an excellent way to save $1,000 or more on fares from Franklin, PA (FKL) to SJO. The danger may be that if you miss a connection it is more difficult to deal with when you have two completely separate tickets.
- Keep in mind that some airlines fly only on select days of the week and most of the airline fare search engines require you to enter a specific date, so you may never see the flight. For example, American flies non-stop from JFK in New York City to San Jose only certain days of the week. US Air also flies to Costa Rica only a few days of the week.
- After you get an idea of the fares, restrictions and days of the week flights are available, make sure to check fares and web specials on the airline web sites. I've found the Latin American airlines often have specials that do not appear on the airline search sites at all. Again, the Latin American airlines tend to have excellent fares to Miami, and are not as competitive to other destinations -- check out using two separate tickets.
Air Travel Guide
Some airlines that fly to Costa Rica:
- [404 Check: was link to http:/ / www. aircanada. ca/ e -home. html, anchor: Air Canada] Non stop flights to San Jose are likely only some days of the week. Check carefully or you might miss them. Possibly a good option for european travelers wishing to avoid US intransit visa issues (try checking fights from your city to Toronto and then Toronto to San Jose).
- America West
- American Airlines
- British West Indies Air Although BWIA flies to Costa Rica they don't allow web booking for Costa Rica. I've added them here because they may offer routes for non-USA travelers that avoid a stop in the USA and the corresponding in transit visa issues.
- Continental Airlines
- Copa Air
- [404 Check: was link to http:/ / www. cubana. cu/ , anchor: Cubana de Aviacion] This is probably not an option for US Citizens, but may offer options for international travelers seeking to avoid US Visa problems.
- Delta
- [404 Check: was link to http:/ / www. iberia. com/ OneToOne/ gateway_ es. jsp, anchor: Iberia]
- Martin Air. Dutch airline flies to San Jose by way of Miami.
- [404 Check: was link to http:/ / www. flysansa. com/ infosansa/ getdata?command=reservac&lang=1, anchor: Sansa] Costa Rican Domestic airline.
- Taca
- [404 Check: was link to http:/ / www1. thomascook. de/ tc/ flugsuche. jsp, anchor: Thomas Cook]
- United Air Lines
- US Air
Other interesting airline web pages:
West Caribbean Airways seems to be the only airline that you can book an international flight to San Andres, Colombia on. Taca flies there from Costa Rica and Panama, but doesn't offer direct booking (it needs to be part of a tour). Hotels are inexpensive on the island and it makes a nice excersion from Costa Rica.
UPDATE: West Caribbean Airways had a couple crashes and is out of business now. Copa now flies (though at a considerable higher price that WCA) to San Andres.
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