Finding Cheap Flights to Costa Rica
July 17, 2009 by Justilien
Finding inexpensive flights to Costa Rica can be simply depending on where you live and the flexibility of your schedule.
Direct Flights
First find out if any airports near you offer direct flights to Costa Rica. That’s where you will find the best deals. People who live near Fort Lauderdale/Miami can get tickets from the budget airliner Spirit Air for as low as $9 each way. Of course that doesn’t include taxes and fees. It’s still a real bargain. American Airlines normally has $79 specials from South Florida.
Deals
Start by checking out the discounted rates of places like Priceline.com
Unpublished Deals
Check the airline websites directly. While aggregator sites, such as SideStep.com and Kayak.com, are useful they often don’t give you the lowest price. Here’s an example. This past week I was booking a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Mexico. Both Kayak and Jetblue were $20 to $40 more expensive.
In addition airlines website such as Jetblue, American Airlines, Continental and Delta allow you to search for lower fares with nearby dates. AA makes it very easy with the format below.
American Airlines Example
Sort by Trip Length
Sidestep also has a great search feature to sort deals by the length of the trip. Often promotional airline fares are not available for extended trips. This allows you to remove all the fares for shorter trips. This is very important for expats living abroad and those taking extended vacations. Since Costa Rica normally gives 90 day tourist visas it attracts a lot of telecommuters, self-employed and snow birders.
SideStep Example
CheapFlights.com is another great tool to find low cost airline tickets to Costa Rica. You can even bookmark the airport you normally fly out of. Here’s an example for people looking for flights to San Jose from JFK http://www.cheapflights.com/flights-to-san-jose/john-f-kennedy-intl/ You will notice they list the specific departure and return dates for each deal.
Resources
SideStep.com
Kayak.com
Cheapflights.com
Costa Rica International Airports
San Jose – Juan Santamaría International Airport
Liberia – Daniel Oduber International Airport
Before going to Costa Rica on one of theses excellent priced flights you will need a place to stay. There is an incredible rental home in the southern area of Costa Rica you may want to check out. The setting is luxurious but down to earth, the prices are very reasonable and the pool … , yes the pool, it is difficult to put to words, you have to see the images of the pool, heck it is an oasis not your standard pool.
Costa Rica Vacation Rental Home
Best Regards