$243 Find Cheap Flights from San Jose to Costa Rica - Compare and Save

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Cheap Flights from San Jose to Costa Rica

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 5 days
San José
San José1 stop$454
Liberia
Liberia1 stop$546
San José
San José1 stop$454
Liberia
Liberia1 stop$546
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for San Jose to Costa Rica flights

Get data-powered insights and trends into flights from San Jose to Costa Rica to help you find the cheapest flights, the best time to fly and much more.

What is the cheapest month to fly from San Jose to Costa Rica?

The cheapest month for flights from San Jose to Costa Rica is May, when tickets cost $453 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are December and October, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $1,288 and $693 respectively.

Good to know

Low season

October

Cheapest flight

$243
Best time to beat the crowds but there is an average 6% increase in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 98% increase in price.
Flight from San Jose to Liberia

FAQs - booking Costa Rica flights

  • What travel documentation should I know about before I board my flight to Costa Rica?

    Any traveler making a trip to Costa Rica for a great vacation does not need to get a visa so long as you don't plan on staying for more than 90 days, but you will need to show the immigration authorities your return plane ticket. You will also need a valid passport when flying to Costa Rica, and your passport needs to be valid the entire time you are in Costa Rica.

  • I am planning on renting a car in Costa Rica. What are the child car seat laws I should know about when driving here?

    Every child traveling in a car in Costa Rica that is up to 12 months old needs to ride in a car seat that faces to the rear. If they are between 12 months and four years old, the car seat needs to face forward. After that, children up to 12 years old need to travel in a booster seat or a booster cushion.

  • Is there any way for me to get freshened up at the San José Juan Santamaria International Airport after a long flight?

    This airport offers showers inside of the terminal building that are free of charge to travelers and make a great way to get freshened up after a long flight.

  • Are there any hotels that have a location right at the San José Juan Santamaria International Airport?

    There are several hotels that have a location right at the entrance of the airport property, and some of them include the Hyatt Place San Jose Airport and the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott San Jose Airport.

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from San Jose to Costa Rica?

    KAYAK is a travel search engine. That means we look across the web to find the best prices we can find for our users. With over 2 billion flight queries processed yearly, we are able to display a variety of prices and options on flights from San Jose to Costa Rica.

  • How does KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy my flight ticket from San Jose to Costa Rica?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from San Jose to Costa Rica is likely to change within 7 days, so travelers know whether to wait or book now.

  • What is the Hacker Fare option on flights from San Jose to Costa Rica?

    Hacker Fares allow you to combine one-way tickets in order to save you money over a traditional round-trip ticket. You could then fly from San Jose to Costa Rica with an airline and back with another airline.

  • What is KAYAK's "flexible dates" feature and why should I care when looking for a flight from San Jose to Costa Rica?

    Sometimes travel dates aren't set in stone. If your preferred travel dates have some wiggle room, flexible dates will show you all the options when flying from San Jose to Costa Rica up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

Top tips for finding cheap flights to Costa Rica

  • When people want to fly from San Jose to Costa Rica, they often fly to the San José Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO). Choosing this route, you will find one-stop flight offerings aboard United Airlines and Delta Airlines from San Jose Airport (SJC).
  • One of the most convenient ways to get to the San Jose Airport from downtown San Jose without having to drive your own car is to travel aboard the bus and train lines operated by Santa Clara VTA, which offers service from downtown to the airport in around 12 minutes.
  • If you're looking for a comfortable place to wait for your flight to Costa Rica at the San Jose Airport, consider one of The Club SJC locations at the airport that not only offers plenty of comfortable seating but also quite a few food and beverage options as well as some entertainment options.
  • For travelers planning on driving their to the San Jose Airport and looking for parking options, the airport offers quite a few different choices, with several lots right at the airport terminal building. A more cost-effective solution is to choose Economy Lot One that offers a much lower rate on a per day basis and has a shuttle service to the airport terminal buildings.
  • For nursing mothers traveling from the San Jose Airport, you'll be happy to know that this airport offers five different nursing room locations at gates 8, 18, 21, 24, and 26. Each of these rooms has a very comfortable chair as well as a changing station, power outlets, and a sink.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from San Jose to Costa Rica

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from San Jose 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 13008 reviews
8.5Crew
7.8Comfort
8.1Boarding
7.0Entertainment
7.0Food
Airline reviews

The flight attendant for first class was excellent. Very attentive to the needs of the passengers The time scheduled for the connection flight on to Kona was too short and we missed that flight. But another flight was only an hour later. But it should have been scheduled that was in the first place.

10.0 ExcellentAnonymous, Sep 2026
Read more Alaska Airlines reviews

The flight attendant for first class was excellent. Very attentive to the needs of the passengers The time scheduled for the connection flight on to Kona was too short and we missed that flight. But another flight was only an hour later. But it should have been scheduled that was in the first place.

The problem was going through San Diego, a trip that's become a new development.

No complimentary snacks or food. Had to buy drinks and food.

in-flight wifi was not working well. also the cabin temperature was a bit hot.

I wasn’t able to check in prior to arriving at the airport, I was told by the agent I may not get a seat on the plane as others were waiting for seats, I sat there for 2 hours before being assigned a seat, very stressful. The plane was delayed. Overall not a great travel experience for a 44 minute flight.

Larger seats and more room would elevate the experience. Otherwise, it was good!

Check in went pretty well and you didn't lose my bag. After I got a drink from the drink cart they charged me for it, and at the crazy overpriced airport rates. Never had that happen before, is that an american thing? what madness.

I was delayed several times. Missed a very important event. The airline only provided a $12 voucher after being delayed 3 times.

One the nicest and great air crews I’ve experienced and I’ve flown a lot

Staff at Gate desk were helpful. My connecting flight from the first part of my trip Kona to Seattle was late. I had to run through SeaTac Seattle to catch my flight to San Jose. They made an exception to let me board. On my return trip San Jose to San Diego and San Diego to Honolulu the same thing happened. One flight arrived late and I had to run through the terminal to catch my connection. There are no Gluten-free & Vegan options meals and snacks to purchase.

Despite paying for an ‘upgraded’ seat in row 1, I had to put my luggage in the middle of the plane. Snacks were bleh and seat was small and uncomfortable and I am not large. Attendants were fine but not super helpful. Plane just seemed outdated.

Southwest has been a nightmare. Delayed flights, missed connections, systems down. Never again am I flying southwest.

had to check bag at gate when there was still overhead bin space. As usual the WIFI didn't really work.

Delayed flight, lack of information, boarding process is a mess as is the carryon luggage causing issues when leaving the plane….just a poor experience.

The problem with the seat assignments is that there were a lot of rows in the front that were empty but my row at the back was full. Just not so pleasant.

Good but I prefer choose your own seat. With the new assigned seats they should board from the back I see no advantage to this new boarding. Just like every other airline

I recently flew Southwest from San Jose to Honolulu. I was very impressed with the flight crew, especially the flight attendant in charge of the front of the plane. She came through the aisle at least five times for drinks and water, and two times for snacks. I have not seen such service since I flew first class. Also, for the first time, they gave us the correct baggage claim number, and the luggage came out quickly. I can't wait for Southwest to have assigned seating! I absolutely hate the Cattle Call boarding procedure and the mad dash to get seats and overhead bins. However, the boarding was efficient.

Forget beverage, they didn't even have water for half the passangers?

Flight was not full! Had a whole row to myself.

Wifi didn’t work, no service, seats are hard as rocks

The seats were great and the service was even better. Thank you!

Seats were old and very uncomfortable. Coach seating is way too tight

WiFi was a major problem and if it does not work on a 4 hour flight then that lowers the overall experience

I was impressed with how quickly the baggage transfers were made.

The Airline Attendant found us in flight and moved us to seats in the front of economy due to the short time we would have to make our connecting flight. We really appreciated it.

Carmen was an absolute delight on the flight staff! Everyone was lovely and made it a very pleasant flight.

I was in first class and literally the men behind me were so aggressively loud I moved myself to economy. This has become so common on Delta - people using audio without headphones, and men on 12am / late night flights drinking and yelling to talk to each other which prevents anyone around them from resting. Pretty crazy to have to move from first to economy (poorer service, less comfort...). Wild wild. Looking into other airlines.

Flew first class so everything was great. But maybe because the flights were red eye, no meals were served, just chips. I flew Alaska Air 1st class at 9PM (2 hour flight) and they served beef short rib sliders!

Plane was turned around due to fog half way into the flight, Delta did not properly direct passengers to stay on same flight and instead failed to properly rebook on Alaska

Delta planes have the WORST seat comfort of any plane in history. It's the opposite of ergonomic, in every sense. They also recline minimally, are covered in a vinyl and have no feet rests. Then the disembarking process is chaotic and time consuming (because of the way they load the plane and deal with luggage). Overall, somewhat frustrating but we arrived safely :)

overall a very good travel experience - left on time, arrived early. Mostly a smooth flight. Polaris seats were excellent, very good service and nice food with options.

Excellent. I had a medical emergency on flight SNA-ORD and the attendants were very helpful.

Smooth flight, easy boarding process. Made up time in the air with initial delay due to weather pass through

Flight was over two hours late, but they notified us early in the morning. They ended up changing planes the food on board that was extremely mediocre and we were in premier class.

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

Food was very bad Crew was not so welcoming. Chairs was so uncomfortable

Flight was on time, clean, etc. Despite connecting to your wi fi I was unable to use your app to watch entertainment.

My experience on this United Airlines flight was highly uncomfortable, primarily due to two issues: Cabin Temperature: The temperature on the Boeing 737 MAX 8 was unacceptably high, feeling consistently around 80 degrees throughout the flight. This made sleeping impossible and significantly detracted from the experience. Seating Arrangement: Being stuck in a middle seat for a six-and-a-half-hour overnight flight compounded the discomfort. Moving forward, I will always purchase a seat assignment to avoid this situation.

I understand stuff happens, but plane failures are likely due to lack of maintenance. Additionally, air conditioning wasn't working, no snack/drink service, no WiFi. Fortunately, the crew was communicative and light-hearted. United grabbed another plane and we were able to get to our destination.

A good, solid, no frills experience. Departed and arrived on time, staff were pleasant and attentive. Loved the Bluetooth connectivity on the SJC to IAH leg. Being able to watch movies and listen to them with my noise cancelling headphones was lovely. Missed that on the IAH to LHR leg (so I put the wired buds on and my over ear Quiet Comforts over those).

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

Little communication with passengers after sitting over 1 hour for a maintenance issue Then we had to deplane- no crew communication Poor gate information after deplaned WiFi would not connect AT ALL

Had to pay for WiFi, delayed start, and sat on the runway forever.

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!

Plane had mechanical issues. We had to de plane and board a different plane and were an hour late

Rough flight No beverage service due to turbulence Bottom Seat cushion was non existent

They are rarely on time! Very hard to plan your travels when flights or connections keep getting delayed.

Apart from the delay due to unforeseen circumstances. The leg from sjc to dfw was fine. It was the leg from dfw to orf that we encountered issues mainly due to the flight attendant crew not being friendly. We had two small children and we needed some assistance to warm up milk so the baby would sleep. The crew just didn’t get it and made things very difficult. One made a remark that the baby’s dirty diaper smell was a “gift” to the plane in a rude way. Normally I’d brush that off as a funny comment if the rest of the trip the attendants were helpful or understanding of the difficulty we faced. But that wasn’t the case. We were met with rudeness on the second leg. Whereas on the first leg the crew were so nice and helpful.

More options for your flight from San Jose to Costa Rica

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