$219 Find Cheap Flights from Los Angeles to Costa Rica - Compare and Save

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Cheap Flights from Los Angeles to Costa Rica

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 5 days
San José
San José1 stop$551
Liberia
Liberianonstop$464
Limon
Limon2 stops$1,054
San José
San José1 stop$551
Liberia
Liberianonstop$464
Limon
Limon2 stops$1,054

Price, demand and travel trends for Los Angeles to Costa Rica flights

Use KAYAK data on prices, travel dates, airlines and seasonal trends to compare options and book flights with more confidence.

Are flights from Los Angeles to Costa Rica cheaper or more expensive than last year?

Fares from Los Angeles to Costa Rica are running about 15% higher than they were around this time last year, averaging $562 round-trip.

What are the cheapest fares from Los Angeles to Costa Rica right now?

Here are the cheapest round-trip fares from Los Angeles to Costa Rica on KAYAK in the last week:

• Liberia (LIR) from $464
• San José Juan Santamaria Intl (SJO) from $551
• Quepos (XQP) from $889
• Limon (LIO) from $1,054

What’s the cheapest month to fly from Los Angeles to Costa Rica?

February is the cheapest time of year to fly, with average fares of $456. Prices are highest in December, when average flight costs increase to around $753.

When is the best time to book flights from Los Angeles to Costa Rica?

Book your flights 14 weeks before your trip. KAYAK data collected over the past 12 months shows that booking in this window can save you around 17% compared to booking last-minute (within 2 weeks of departure).

Which airport in Costa Rica is the cheapest to fly to from Los Angeles?

Based on KAYAK data from the past 12 months, the cheapest airports to fly into Costa Rica are:

• San José Juan Santamaria Intl (SJO) from $568
• Liberia (LIR) from $618
• Limon (LIO) from $877

What’s the cheapest day to fly from Los Angeles to Costa Rica?

Tuesday tends to be the cheapest day to fly from Los Angeles to Costa Rica, while Saturday is the most expensive. Fares run about 13% higher that day, based on the past 12 months of KAYAK data.

What's the cheapest time of day to fly from Los Angeles to Costa Rica?

Data from the past 12 months shows it's cheapest to fly to Costa Rica during the evening with average prices of $563. The morning is the most expensive time to fly, with average prices of $606.

Key details for Los Angeles to Costa Rica flights

Low season

September

Cheapest flight

$219
Beat the crowds with an average 51% drop in travelers.
The most popular month to fly with an average 25% increase in travelers.
One-way flight from Los Angeles to Liberia

Your Los Angeles to Costa Rica flight questions, answered

Find helpful answers about this route, including flight times, airports, airlines and booking tips.

  • Is now a good time to book a flight from Los Angeles to Costa Rica?

    Fares from Los Angeles to Costa Rica are around their usual level right now. A round-trip under $462 is considered a good deal, so it's worth keeping an eye out, or setting a Price Alert to catch price changes.

  • How much should I budget for a flight from Los Angeles to Costa Rica?

    Over the past 12 months, round-trip fares from Los Angeles to Costa Rica have ranged from $462 to $767.

  • What are the main airports serving Costa Rica?

    Costa Rica has 17 airports. The three busiest are San José Juan Santamaria Intl (SJO) (65% of arrivals), Liberia (LIR) (34%) and Limon (LIO) (0%).

  • What airlines fly nonstop from Los Angeles to Costa Rica?

    Based on the flight schedule for the next 3 months, 3 airlines offer nonstop flights on this route:

    • Alaska Airlines
    • United Airlines
    • Delta

  • Where in Costa Rica can I fly nonstop from Los Angeles?

    Based on the flight schedule for the next 3 months, you can fly nonstop from Los Angeles to two destinations: San José and Liberia.

  • Is it cheaper to fly with a layover from Los Angeles to Costa Rica?

    Yes. Nonstop flights from Los Angeles to Costa Rica average $612 over the past 12 months, but flights with a layover can cost less. The most affordable connecting airports are:

    • Monterrey Gen Mariano Escobedo (MTY) from $398
    • Guadalajara Miguel Hidal (GDL) from $432
    • Guatemala City La Aurora (GUA) from $473

  • How long is a flight from Los Angeles to Costa Rica?

    Nonstop flights take 5h 45m on average. The fastest scheduled flight takes 5h 33m, from Los Angeles (LAX) to Liberia (LIR).

  • How often are flights from Los Angeles to Costa Rica delayed and what's the average delay?

    13% of flights on this route are delayed by at least 15 minutes. The average delay is 1h 57m.

  • Which cabin classes are available on flights from Los Angeles to Costa Rica?

    On flights from Los Angeles to Costa Rica you can book Economy Class, Premium Economy Class, Business Class or First Class.

  • What are some popular landmarks in Costa Rica?

    KAYAK travelers' favorite landmarks in Costa Rica include:

    • Parque Metropolitano La Sabana
    • Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica
    • Museo de Oro
    • Morazan Park

  • What are the earliest and latest flights from Los Angeles to Costa Rica?

    The earliest nonstop flight from Los Angeles to Costa Rica departs at 8:15 am and the latest departs at 11:28 pm. Nonstop flights take about 5h 45m.

  • When I fly from Los Angeles to Costa Rica, do I need to obtain a visa before my trip and will I need a passport?

    For travelers that are hopping aboard flights from Los Angeles to Costa Rica, a valid passport is a requirement for the trip and the passport needs to be valid for the entire length of your stay in Costa Rica. The passport should have one blank page inside of it for an entry stamp. If you are traveling on vacation as a tourist and you plan on staying for less than 90 days, you will not need a visa but you will need to present a return airline ticket.

  • After landing at the airport in San Jose, what is a good choice for public transportation to travel to the center of the city?

    There is a bus service operated by TUASA that makes the trip from the airport to the downtown area in about 30min. The cost for this trip is around ₡640 ($1).

  • What is the best way for me to get to Puerto Viejo from Los Angeles?

    Start your journey by booking a one-stop flight from Los Angeles to Limon Airport (LIO) that will most likely have a layover at San José Juan Santamaria International. Once in Limon, you can take the bus service offered by Autotransportes MEPE that makes the trip in around 1h 30min for a cost of about ₡1920 ($3).

  • Are there any lounges at Los Angeles International Airport where I can wait for my flight to Costa Rica?

    Since two of the airlines that offer direct service between Los Angeles include United Airlines and Avianca, travelers will be happy to know that the airport offers a United Airlines Polaris Lounge and a United Airlines United Club inside of Terminal 7 at the airport. Passengers traveling on Avianca can make use of the Star Alliance First-Class Lounge inside of the International Terminal since Avianca is a member of this alliance.

Your guide to booking Los Angeles to Costa Rica flights

Get tips on when to book, when to fly and what to know before your trip.
  • If you can plan ahead, the sweet spot for booking your flight is 14 weeks before your trip. KAYAK data shows fares in this window are around 17% lower than last-minute bookings (made within 2 weeks of departure). Not ready to commit? Set a Price Alert and we'll let you know when prices change.
  • If your travel dates are flexible, book your trip for February when flights are typically cheapest and avoid December when prices are at their highest.
  • Flying on Tuesday is usually the cheapest. Flights on Saturday cost about 13% more on average, so being flexible with your travel dates could help you save.
  • If arriving on time matters more than price, consider flying with one of the most punctual airlines on this route: Alaska Airlines, United Airlines and Delta.
  • If you're looking to save, San José Juan Santamaria Intl (SJO) is the cheapest airport to fly into from Los Angeles. If you have onward travel, don't forget to factor in the cost of your journey by train, bus or domestic flight.
  • Start your trip in San José, which is the most popular destination in Costa Rica. From there, it's easy to continue on to other popular destinations such as La Fortuna, Tamarindo and Manuel Antonio.
  • If you want the shortest trip, choose the Los Angeles to Costa Rica nonstop route. If you'd rather save money, the route via Monterrey Gen Mariano Escobedo (MTY) is usually the cheapest.
  • The two international airports that you can choose from in Costa Rica are San José Juan Santamaria International (SJO) and Liberia International (LIR). San Jose is located right in the center of the country whereas Liberia is in the northwestern corner of the country.
  • If you're looking for public transportation to take you from downtown Los Angeles to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), you can travel on a combination of the Metro A line, C line, and finally, the Greenline Shuttle. The trip takes about 54min and will cost around $12.
  • If you have just arrived after a long flight to Costa Rica and need currency exchange services, the airport in San Jose offers the services near both Gate Nine as well as in the baggage claim area. These currency exchange services are open 24h per day.
  • If you're looking for a public transportation option to take you from Liberia International Airport to the center of Liberia, the bus offered by Flor de Polanco makes the trip in about 27min for a cost of around ₡640 ($1).
  • If you are driving your own car to Los Angeles International Airport, there are parking lots adjacent to the terminal buildings. If you prefer to spend less, there are economy parking lots that are about 7min from the terminal buildings that offer free shuttle service to and from the airport.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from Los Angeles to Costa Rica

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Los Angeles to Costa Rica? KAYAK airline reviews give an overall score for each airline based on loads of factors, including comfort, boarding, in-flight entertainment and more, to make your decision easier. See airline scores according to verified KAYAK customer reviews.
7.9
Alaska AirlinesOverall score based on 13067 reviews
7.8Comfort
8.1Boarding
8.5Crew
7.0Food
7.0Entertainment
Airline reviews

Flight went well, 2 hour delay was disappointing but understandable if there was a maintenance issue.

8.0 ExcellentAnonymous, Oct 2026
Read more Alaska Airlines reviews

Flight went well, 2 hour delay was disappointing but understandable if there was a maintenance issue.

Flight was delayed by almost 2 hours due to air control and no available plane. We didnt land until after 1:30am. And it changed my whole vacation, no sleep the 1st night

The best airline!!! Their customer service is beyond wonderful, especially over the phone.

I paid for the $8 WiFi for the flight and it never worked. The crew told me it goes in and out and to keep trying. I didn’t get to watch the show I had planned to watch, bummer that I paid for the service. The person next to me said she has never been successful with in flight WiFi.

The check in Process was a bit slow. The flight was smooth and comfortable,

It was very frustrating that the people that got in th plane before I did had all taken the storage area above my seat so I had to go all the way town to store my luggage. My seat was 7c and I had to go all the way to 16 to find a place for my carry on. How is that even allowed! The worst part was trying to get my luggage when we landed.. such a headache and so unnecessary. If I’m in row 7c I should be able to store my carry on above where I’m sitting. It’s ridiculous that o need to go all the way down and struggle at the end of the flight to get my carry on.

Liberia airport was a disaster -- as we were pretty close, they shut the runway and we were diverted. San Jose wouldn't accept us so we had to go all the way to San Salvador and refuel and wait. Crew itself communicated as best they could.

Just another flight. No food, no entertainment. Left/arrived on time.

The FA's were fabulous, attentive, cheery, take pride in their vocation. The check in process was fast, orderly, etc save weight adjusted seat changes which respected aisle, window preference. The plane seemed new, clean. No free included food, fee based food options were average, free beverage. Could not get the entertainment App to work on my device. It seems other passengers were having the same issue. All in all a pleasant, efficient, restful flight made memorable by a keen, efficient, professional and very nice group of flight attendants.

I’m surprised that there was no screens for an almost 6 hour flight! Alaska needs to step up in this department.

Smooth flight. Easy boarding. Come early. Check in line is long

Quick boarding and check in.. but premium seats don’t recline.. very hard to relax. But overall, it was a Great a satisfying experience.. Thank You

If they listen to you especially when there’s a problem with a passport now I lost my tickets and also my seat money

The worst airline I have ever experienced. Terrible customer service. Absolutely disgraceful

Checking bags at the airport, very confusing they make lines for different flights but they don’t have any signs, so if you are on the wrong line be aware they will send you to the end of the correct line. No priority for check in even if you pay and no priority to disabled persons and elderly persons.

Despite all the negative reviews, I took Volaris with a family of 4 (including a toddler and infant in arms). The only compliant was they charged me $70 to gate check our wagon (which we use as a stroller) and then it was not available for pickup at the gate (which is the entire point), so we had to get through customs and the airport with our luggage and no way to push our kids :(

Après avoir manqué l’avion aucune aide de la part des agents à l’aéroport pour trouver un autre vol

Más comida no cobrar tanto por los asientos y comida food

Worst airline ever!! Delays in all my flights!!! Do not flight with Volaris!

The departures screens in the airport showed the flight as canceled for some weird reason, but when I got to the gate just to double check, it showed it as on time, and not canceled. This was confusing, but ultimately I was able to get to where I needed to go.

Wifi is very frustrating - could not connect and therefore unable to work on the trip

awesome team work seen since on board till off plane in my destination. thanks you so much.

Return Premium Economy section to the smaller section with comfortable seats. Add internet, upgrade the meals, and upgrade/update the Movies and Music onboard.

My return flight to Honolulu (UA 1170) was on a 777-200. I’d forgotten the weird seating arrangement in first-class (2-2-2); I was in 1B, so I faced the passenger in 1C. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the flight computer, so we left LA an hour late (6:05pm). The meal I chose was Korean BBQ Glazed short rib. It was served with a nice salad and fried rice. This meal was better than breakfast on the outgoing leg. All in all, a decent flying experience. Ratings: 777: 3.75, food: 3.5, service: 5 (out of 5).

Baggage claim signs were not updated with my flight information, so I had to guess. The app wasn't updated either.

The seats were very uncomfortable. I paid for the front economy. i swear they added a row of seats in there. It was so tight, that I could measure the distance between my seat and the one in front from my elbow to the tips of my fingers plus six inches. The seat cushion was completely worn out. The dinner was very good. Thank you for having a vegetarian option as a standard. But breakfast was nothing but sugar. that's not food. The crew was crabby and rude, especially in regards to coming to the back gallery. And the entertainment choice: why would you put violent movies on the choice? the Godfather? Some movies with black women being beaten over the head with clubs? What the heck? You know that when there is a movie on a plane, everyone gets to watch it. Why choose the most violent titles possible? The total number of movies were very limited, and the television, even more so. No games were available on the set. The wellness section was nice, thank you. I appreciated a galley in the middle where I could stand. The seats were unbearable.

UA594 was delayed multiple times. I ended up getting picked up so I can make it in time for work 6AM on Monday, 7/6/2026

Boarded from a very small gate at LAX. Staff at gate had us line up, then waited 25 minutes to board without a word of explanation. Plane arrived on time then waited 20 minutes for a plane to vacate our gate. Majority of bags arrived after 15 minutes but it took an hour for a small number of remaining bags to be off-loaded despite my “priority” bag tag.

Great staff. Clean plane, but we were delayed for more than an hour due to maintenance issues and had to board another plane.

I was very disappointed with my experience at the United Airlines baggage check. The representative was rude and unhelpful. I was required to remove approximately 1.5 pounds from my two checked bags, even though it was a very small amount over the limit. The interaction was unnecessarily unpleasant, and I expected much better customer service. I hope United will review this incident and provide additional customer service training to its staff.

I was able to enlist on standby for an earlier flight, and eventually made it (last row). However, the experience was poor and felt unfair. On the standby list, I was ranked #2 (#1 had been cleared a seat). The person ranked as #3, who was also in the queue alongside me was given a seat much earlier - with group 4 boarding (a seat within the first 2 rows after business class). When inquired about why I was skipped-over on the priority list, the gate agent first paused (likely cuz she couldn't explain) - and then gave me the standard expectation that if a space opens up, she'll give me the seat. Despite my priority ranking being higher, I was unduly held-back, and could have missed the plane - unfairly giving advantage to someone else. Luckily one seat opened up; but given the unfair assignment of standby seat by gate-agent, this was a subpar boarding experience.

The airline was small and the seats were not comfortable to sit in for that length of time.

Flight delayed 6 hours. Would mean I would miss My connections to Glasgow and my reason for going back. AA staff were completely useless in figuring out how to re ok me. My wife 200 miles away was on kayak offering suggestions. Also NO alerts from AA by phone or text about this delay. Just a $12 voucher for compensation. I ended up on BA

British Airways canceled our original flight and rebooked us on Air Canada one day later. As a result, we lost one day of our Geneva trip and incurred financial losses for a prepaid hotel night and a day trip that we were unable to use.

On time and stellar premium class service. Not liking non LCD display in seat backs - miss the convenience of not using your own device.

It was my first time flying with Alaska Airlines and it was a pleasure!

We enjoy the professionalism and cleanliness of the staff and aircraft. We are grateful to the experiences pilots and flight crew

Our experience with American Airlines was extremely disappointing and honestly made an already exhausting international journey much worse. After flying all the way from Melbourne and dealing with significant jet lag, the American Airlines experience at LAX was the last thing we needed. The terminal and boarding area felt very old and uncomfortable, with little to no air conditioning and only old fans running in the area. Boarding was also through outdoor stairs rather than a jet bridge, which felt especially inconvenient after such a long journey. Even though we were traveling First Class, the onboard experience was surprisingly poor. There were no meaningful snack options, no decent coffee available to order, and the aircraft was so small that there was barely enough overhead space for carry-on luggage. The staff experience was also disappointing and lacked the warmth or attentiveness we had experienced on our international flights. To make matters worse, the flight departed late, extending an already very long travel day. Overall, the combination of the outdated terminal, uncomfortable boarding process, limited First Class service, small aircraft, poor staff experience, and delay made this an extremely unpleasant final leg of our journey. It significantly worsened our exhaustion and jet lag rather than making the connection home easier. Unfortunately, this experience was bad enough that I do not plan to travel with American Airlines again in the future.

Gate 461 the worst in LAX Boarding lacks professionalism And as usual, your food sucks.

With a 24 hour delay, the Flight stared off rough. They had a nationwide IT Outage but communications to Passengers was very bad. Ground Staff and Ticket Agents were extremely rude and unhelpful. Perhaps they should take ground training from DL or Qatar. The food was horrible. Seafood was mixed with Bacon. Those two don’t have any space for Jewish or Muslim Faith Customers. The Airline needs new management.

Staff are the rudest in the industry … awful customer service … will never fly Avianca again

Here we have another airline flying to Guatemala but doesn't have a plus or a less, just in the middle. Why? Well, first we don't have even free water Movie selection is poor Seats don't recline in some places Food selection is carb based Forgot to mention, customer service on the web is the worst. Good things; Very reliable on schedule Kind crew

I had to go to the boarding counter for them to enter my return flight as it’s not with Avianca. There was a long queue as there were lots of people being called to the counter.

Boarding, crew were excellent, food was ok and entertainment need to improve

No water for a 5 hour flight entertainment not working seats with little room for knees when person in front of me reclined kept bumping my knees.

Awful. I checked in online and there was no option to pay for baggage, at the airport when I checked in my baggage was received and Iwas not charged. When I got to LA during the boarding process I was told I didn't pay for baggage, the crew resolved I was let in the plane. When I got to my final destination my baggage was not there. It took me two days to receive my baggage. Bad service ever!

There was no food or drink service, couldn’t even get a glass of water for free. It was a long and expensive flight to not offer food or beverage on the plane.

My experience was amazing! They helped my elderly mother board on early through a wheelchair and were accommodating to have us sit together since our seats were in different locations. When landing at the airport in GUA they were very helpful with full of hospitality.

They charge me $190.00 dollars for the baggage for the bag in side the plane and in the baggage compartment in the plane. The service I got bad bad bad they make wait for a log time and i got to the airport 4 hours before. I don't think I'm going to use you guys never never again no support . And I am going to tell all the guys and people i now to don' use KAYAK

Avianca is the worst most uncomfortable airline I've ever been in, the seats are incredibly small and offer no support, the worst experience I've had traveling ever, do not bother with Avianca

More options for your flight from Los Angeles to Costa Rica

Complete your trip to Costa Rica with a hotel stay or car rental