Overview
Accommodations
Outdoor Recreation
Beyond Tourism
Sights and Activities
Planning Your Trip
Basics
When it comes to airfare, a little effort can save you a bundle. Courier fares are the cheapest for those whose plans are flexible enough to deal with the restrictions. Tickets sold by consolidators and standby seating are also good deals, but last-minute specials, airfare wars, and charter flights often beat these fares. The key is to hunt around, be flexible, and ask about discounts. Students, seniors, and those under 26 should never pay full price for a ticket.
Airfares to Costa Rica peak between December and April and from July to September; holidays, especially Christmas and Easter, are also expensive. The cheapest times to travel are between mid-September and November and between April and July. Midweek (M-Th morning) round-trip flights run US$40-50 cheaper than weekend flights but are generally more crowded and less likely to permit frequent-flier upgrades. Not fixing a return date (“open return”) or arriving in and departing from different cities (“open-jaw”) can be pricier than round-trip flights. Patching one-way flights together is the most expensive way to travel. Flights between cities within Costa Rica will tend to be cheaper (see San José Flights).
If Costa Rica is only one stop on a more extensive globe-hop, consider a round-the-world (RTW) ticket. Tickets usually include at least five stops and are valid for about a year; prices range US$1200-5000. Try Northwest Airlines/KLM (☎+1-800-225-2525; www.nwa.com) or Star Alliance, a consortium of 16 airlines including United Airlines (www.staralliance.com).
Fares for roundtrip flights to San José from the US or Canadian east coast cost US$450-850, US$350-750 in the low season (May-Nov.); from the US or Canadian west coast US$400-700/500-800; from the UK, UK£500-800 in both the high and low seasons; from Australia AUS$2400-4000 for both the high and low seasons; from New Zealand NZ$2500-3200/3100-8800.
While knowledgeable agents specializing in flights to Costa Rica can make your life easy, they may not spend time to find the lowest fare—they get paid on commission. Travelers with ISICs and IYTCs can get discounts from student travel agencies. Most flights from budget agencies are on major airlines, but in peak season some may put you on less-reliable chartered aircraft.
The commercial airlines’ lowest regular offer is the APEX (Advance Purchase Excursion) fare, which provides confirmed reservations and allows “open-jaw” tickets. Generally, reservations must be made seven to 21 days in advance, with seven- to 14-day minimum-stay and up to 90-day maximum-stay restrictions. These fares carry hefty cancellation and change penalties (fees rise in summer). Book peak-season APEX fares early. Use Expedia (www.expedia.com) or Travelocity (www.travelocity.com) to get an idea of the lowest published fares, then use the resources outlined here to try to beat those fares. Low season fares should be cheaper than the high season (Dec.-May) ones listed here.
Basic round-trip fares to Costa Rica range roughly US$350-850. Standard commercial carriers like American and United will probably offer the most convenient flights, but they may not be the cheapest, unless you snag a special promotion or airfare-war ticket. You will probably find flying one of the following “discount” airlines to be a better deal, if any of their limited departure points happens to be convenient for you.
No Irish airlines provide service to Costa Rica. British Airways flies from London to a number of locations before providing connecting flights to San José.
From Australia or New Zealand, the least expensive route is via Los Angeles or Miami. Many airlines provide comparable flights to these destinations.
Those who travel light should consider courier flights. Couriers transport cargo on international flights by using their checked luggage space for freight. Generally, couriers are limited to carry-ons and must deal with complex flight restrictions. Most flights are round-trip only, with fixed-length stays (usually one week) and a limit of one ticket per issue. Most of these flights operate only out of major gateway cities, mostly in North America. Courier fares from the US to Costa Rica run about US$89-280. Most flights leave from Los Angeles, Miami, New York, or San Francisco in the US; and from Montreal, Toronto, or Vancouver in Canada. Generally, you must be over 18 (in some cases 21). In summer, the most popular destinations require an advance reservation of about two weeks (you can usually book up to two months ahead). Super-discounted fares are common for “last-minute” flights (from three to 14 days ahead).
Traveling standby requires considerable flexibility in arrival and departure dates. Companies dealing in standby flights sell vouchers rather than tickets, along with the promise to get you to your destination (or near your destination) within a certain window of time (typically 1-5 days). You call in before your specific window of time to hear your flight options and the probability that you will be able to board each flight. You can then decide which flights you want to try to catch, show up at the appropriate airport at the appropriate time, present your voucher, and board if space is available. Vouchers can usually be bought for both one-way and round-trip travel. You may receive a monetary refund only if every available flight within your date range is full; if you opt not to take an available (but perhaps less-convenient) flight, you can only get credit toward future travel. To check on a company’s service record in the US, contact the Better Business Bureau (☎+1-703-276-0100; www.bbb.org). It is difficult to receive refunds, and clients’ vouchers will not be honored when an airline fails to receive payment in time.
Ticket consolidators, or “bucket shops,” buy unsold tickets in bulk from commercial airlines and sell them at discounted rates. The best place to look is in the Sunday travel section of any major newspaper (such as The New York Times ), where many bucket shops place tiny ads. Call quickly, as availability is extremely limited. Not all bucket shops are reliable, so insist on a receipt that gives full details of restrictions, refunds, and tickets, and pay by credit card (in spite of the 2-5% fee) so you can stop payment if you never receive your tickets. For more info, see www.travel-library.com/air-travel/consolidators.html.
Consolidators include Rebel (☎+1-800-732-3588; www.rebeltours.com), Cheap Tickets (www.cheaptickets.com), Flights.com (www.flights.com), and TravelHUB (www.travelhub.com). Let’s Go does not endorse any of these agencies. As always, be cautious, and research before handing out a credit-card number.
Tour operators contract charter flights with airlines in order to fly extra loads of passengers during peak season. These flights are far from hassle free. They occur less frequently than major airlines, make refunds particularly difficult, and are almost always fully booked. Their scheduled times may change or be canceled at the last moment (as late as 48hr. before the trip, and without a full refund). In addition, check-in, boarding, and baggage claim for them are often much slower. They can, however, be much cheaper.
Discount clubs and fare brokers offer members savings on last-minute charter and tour deals. Study contracts closely; you don’t want to end up with an unwanted overnight layover. Travelers Advantage (☎+1-800-835-8747; www.travelersadvantage.com; US$90 annual fee includes discounts and cheap flight directories) specializes in European travel and tour packages.
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For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
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