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Cheap Flights to Costa Rica

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 5 days
San José
San José1 stop$337
Liberia
Liberia1 stop$336
San José
San José1 stop$337
Liberia
Liberia1 stop$336
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for flights to Costa Rica

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

What is the cheapest flight to Costa Rica?

The cheapest ticket to Costa Rica from the United States found in the last 5 days was to San José, at $202 round-trip. The most popular route is Atlanta (ATL) to San José (SJO) and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 5 days was $202.

How much is a flight to Costa Rica?

A flight to Costa Rica costs $527 on average. The cheapest price found on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks was $84 for the route Orlando Airport (MCO) to San José (SJO). The most popular routes on KAYAK are Miami to Liberia which costs $545 on average, and San Francisco to Liberia, which costs $1,018 on average.

See prices from:

What is the cheapest month to fly from the United States to Costa Rica?

The cheapest month for flights from the United States to Costa Rica is September, when tickets cost $192 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are July and June, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $334 and $284 respectively.

What is the cheapest time of day to fly to Costa Rica?

The cheapest time of day to fly to Costa Rica is generally in the afternoon, when round-trip flights cost $467 on average. Morning departures are around 10% cheaper than evening flights, on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to Costa Rica is generally in the evening, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is $591.

How far in advance should I book a flight from the United States to Costa Rica?

To get a below average price on the flight from the United States to Costa Rica, you should book around 1 week before departure. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 10 weeks before departure.

Which is the cheapest airport to fly into in Costa Rica?

Prices will differ depending on the departure airport, but generally, the cheapest airport to fly to in Costa Rica is Liberia Airport (LIR), with an average flight price of $344.

Good to know

Low season

September

Cheapest flight

$153
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 9% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 11% increase in price.
Flight from New York John F Kennedy Airport to Liberia

Flights to Costa Rica: the best tips from KAYAK users' own experiences

Insights shared by verified travelers who flew to Costa Rica 
RonFlew with Delta-Jan 2026
It took us an hour to go through immigration at peak about 1:30 landing time and room was warm, so wear something for the heat and put away any jackets/overcoats/sweaters before you even deplane, you will not need them.
CarmelFlew with Alaska Airlines-Jan 2025
Know that flights are very unreliable so pad your days/plans.
LannyFlew with American Airlines-Jan 2024
Bring a book or tablet to connect to entertainment to keep you occupied. This leg of our trip met our expectations. Much better job than our first leg of our trip.

FAQs - booking Costa Rica flights

  • Which airport should I fly into for a trip to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca?

    Because Puerto Viejo de Talamanca is a popular destination, there are a handful of ways to get there. One of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to get to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca is by flying into San Jose Airport and taking the 4.5h bus that departs from the Terminal Atlantico Norte.

  • Do I need a visa to enter Costa Rica?

    US nationals do not require a visa to stay in Costa Rica for less than 90 days. What you will need is a valid passport and a ticket for your flight departing from Costa Rica (back to the US or onward to another country) within the 90-day timeframe.

  • Can I exchange USD into Colones at Costa Rica airports?

    USD is widely accepted in tourist areas of Costa Rica, but Colones are the way to go if you’re going out of heavily tourist-centric areas. USD can be exchanged for Colones at the airports in San Jose and Liberia, but you can often get a better exchange rate if you simply make purchases with USD and receive your change in Colones, which is common practice.

  • Which airline should I take for a nonstop flight to Costa Rica?

    There are a handful of different airlines that offer nonstop flights to Costa Rica from the US, and each flies out of a different hub city. There are nonstop flights to Costa Rica from Fort Lauderdale and Orlando with Spirit Airlines, from Miami with American Airlines and from Orlando with jetBlue.

  • Which airport should I fly to if I want to visit the National Park of San Jose?

    National Park of San Jose is a famous attraction in Costa Rica’s capital, San Jose. The best way to access it is by booking a flight that lands at SJO. A TUASA-operated bus provides the most convenient means of travel between these two points, covering the 12 miles (19.1 km) stretch in about 30 minutes. The coach departs every 10 minutes from the airport to its terminal in Sabana.

  • Which Costa Rican airport provides easy access to Nicaragua?

    Nicaragua borders Costa Rica to the north. If you are planning to connect to this neighboring country after your excursion in Costa Rica, consider booking a flight that departs from Juan Santamaría International Airport, and lands at Sandino International Airport (MGA) after approximately 3h 10min.

  • Which Costa Rican airport is closest to the Sacred Heart Cathedral?

    Sacred Heart Cathedral is a religious landmark found in Puerto Limón. As such, the best way to access it is to fly into Limon International Airport (LIO). Taxis provide the quickest connection between these two destinations in about 7 minutes. Still, the distance is walkable if you do not have heavy luggage.

  • Are there hotels near major airports in Costa Rica?

    Most of the airports in Costa Rica are located close to a wide range of accommodation options, leaving no cause to worry if you are planning to arrive late. Normally, such facilities offer courtesy shuttles to and from the airport, an essential service if you have heavy luggage.

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from the United States 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 the United States to Costa Rica.

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from the United States 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 the United States 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 the United States 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 the United States 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 the United States to Costa Rica up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

  • What is the cheapest day to fly to Costa Rica?

    Based on KAYAK data, the cheapest day to fly to Costa Rica is Tuesday where round-trip tickets can be as cheap as $500. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Saturday, where round-trip prices are $606 on average.

Top tips for finding cheap flights to Costa Rica

  • Looking for cheap airfare to Costa Rica? 25% of our users found round-trip tickets to Costa Rica for the following prices or less: From Boston $436, from New York John F Kennedy Intl $533, from Newark $625
  • Enter your preferred departure airport and travel dates into the search form above to unlock the latest Costa Rica flight deals.
  • For most destinations throughout Costa Rica, flying into San Jose (SJO) is going to be quicker and more affordable than other airports. However, if you happen to be flying into Costa Rica specifically to go to the beaches in Guanacaste and the surrounding areas, it will be more convenient to fly into Costa Rica’s other international airport: Liberia Airport (LIR).
  • If you’re only traveling to Costa Rica, a flight into one of the major airports is the best option. However, if you’re looking to experience multiple cities, including the beaches in northern Costa Rica, it can be a good idea to fly into Managua, Nicaragua, and take the inexpensive bus to Liberia.
  • For travelers heading to the forest preserves in Monteverde, it can be confusing on whether to fly into San Jose or Liberia. Since Monteverde lies nearly an equal distance from both, it would be more convenient to fly into whichever city is closest to the other attractions on your Costa Rica itinerary.
  • There are many festivals that last several days in Costa Rica, and flight prices can skyrocket during these festivals. One of the most popular festivals is the Limón festival, which takes place over 2 weekends from October 11th through the 22nd. Unless you’re traveling specifically for the festival, you can save money by avoiding flights to Costa Rica during these weekends.
  • If you’re heading to Tamarindo, Costa Rica, you may be tempted to book a connecting flight from San Jose or Liberia Airport to the regional Tamarindo airstrip. A less expensive alternative to getting to the Tamarindo area from Liberia Airport is to take one of the shuttle buses that goes directly from LIR to Tamarindo.
  • The choice of your arrival airport when booking your flight to Costa Rica depends on which part of the country you’re intending to tour, whether it’s military museums in the capital city or the pacific beaches in the west-southwest of the city of Liberia. Nevertheless, Costa Rica has two main international airports located in San Jose (SJO) and Liberia (LIR).
  • If you’re planning to visit multiple cities in Costa Rica, consider reserving a flight that arrives at Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO), which serves the country’s capital, San Jose. As the main getaway and the busiest airport in Costa Rica, it offers numerous connections to other destinations, and you are thus sure of getting a flight that fits your itinerary.
  • Are you planning to spend your time in Costa Rica touring east-central Costa Rica? In that case, it might be convenient to book flights that arrive at Cartago, which is one of the popular cities in this region. The town hosts Tobías Bolaños International Airport (SYQ).
  • Travelers looking to explore the north-central part of the country might have Heredia as a possible destination. To this end, consider reserving a flight that lands at an airport that serves this region. Juan Santamaria International Airport is one such facility, as it lies about six miles away.
  • Flights with one-stop layovers from New York to San Jose usually make layovers in their respective capitals. For instance, Copa Airlines makes a stopover at Tocumen International Airport Panama (PTY) in Panama City, while Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport (FLL) is a major focus port for Spirit Airlines.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines flying to Costa Rica

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from the United States 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.
7.8
DeltaOverall score based on 8499 reviews
7.2Food
7.8Entertainment
8.1Boarding
8.5Crew
7.8Comfort
Airline reviews

The plane was a rather tired 737-800, with old style small luggage bins. Poor air flow. USB charger in the infotainment system was not functioning. The flight was 2 hours late due to crew rest requirements (not their fault). On arrival in Seattle, waited on the tarmac for 30 minutes with very few updates from the crew.

4.0 OkayJeff, Aug 2026
Read more Delta reviews

The plane was a rather tired 737-800, with old style small luggage bins. Poor air flow. USB charger in the infotainment system was not functioning. The flight was 2 hours late due to crew rest requirements (not their fault). On arrival in Seattle, waited on the tarmac for 30 minutes with very few updates from the crew.

Flight was delayed and we were on the runway after landing for 30 mins

The plane is old. There was water dripping fown from the air cooling system. The toilets were mot that clean

We were delayed so pilots can rest and had no WiFi the whole trip. First class seats are small compared to other planes

The experience was bad. Flight was delayed to handle maintenance (understandable) but still there was some dew forming and dropping as droplets on few seats. Internet at best was allowing some browsing but at a snail pace.

We were delayed 2 hours because of a broken seat. Other than that it was a very nice flight.

There needs to be better accommodations for waiting passengers. A a designated standing space that is separated and away from concourse traffic.

Easiest airport experience ever in my life at MSP with Delta check-in and flight attendant gave us a bottle of champagne in celebration of our 10-year wedding anniversary, so overall amazing!

Great. Seamless. Check in agent at kiosk international was amazing and extremely helpful.

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 :)

Flight did not have wifi service. It was experiencing technical difficulties. Definitely and old plane that needs updating.

Very Poor. Significant delays getting to Chicago and then very poor communication on delays in Chicago to Cleveland. We could have rented a car and driven there faster than the delays ended up being.

A little more friendliness from that crew of the day.

The app logs you out right when you are boarding requiring all passwords and reservation number for the flight. Super annoying

The pre-order only approach for fresh food is really challenging

This flight has a history of leaving late, however, I was pleasantly surprised that it was not delayed this day. The flight went smooth, except I was in a window seat and the wall and my feet were freezing. I found it difficult to sleep due to being so cold, I also was using 2 provided UAL blankets and could not get my feet warm. This was annoying, but I still made it there on time and safe.

Staff didn't seem confident about the ingredients in my lactose intolerance meal

the seat has a problem. the back had a hole.

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 had very little time to change planes originally in Denver after my flight from Omaha. I had an hour and a half layover in Denver originally and my flight leaving Omaha was delayed an hour because they had to change a tire, which I can understand. When I reached Denver my other flight was late, fortunately, but I still had only 10 minutes to run about a mile through the airport to get to my flight. Again, fortunately, I am a healthy 71-year-old and was able to accomplish this feat. However, the stress was more than necessary to bear.

There was no service on the flight even though there was no turbulence or any other issues on the flight. Nobody greeted at the entry or leaving the airplane, staff crew looked annoyed and not helpful at all.

mechanical problem delayed more than 2 hours on the run way.

I paid extra for a seat up front and at last minute was moved to the 2nd to last row - which I could have had for free. No reason and no refund. Really great customer service American

You guys broke my bag so not good, and that was the cherry on top after a 4 hour delay, change of gates, etc.

I have to sit in the middle for more than five hours because the first flight was delayed. Terrible experience. No more American Airlines.

The first flight was delayed by an hour and a half, so we missed the second flight. They rebooked us on the later flight and I have to sit in the middle for more than 5 hours. Terrible experience. No more American Airlines.

I paid extra for what I thought was leg room and it certainly was not. I had a very cramped experience on my flight from Dallas to Detroit and it was the section right behind first class section. I did however have an amazing flight from Atlanta to Dallas on the initial outbound flight.

The boarding process was slow and we had a delay on the tarmac, not the fault of the airline. They had ZERO food options available for purchase which shouldn't happen.

Once again the staff of American Airlines is kind, helpful, efficient, and professional.

A much better flight than our previous. The flight attendant took care of us and regularly checked in to see if we needed anything. Brought us drinks prior to the departure and then a couple more times. Totally makes the difference in how you travel when the crew is checking on their passengers. Great job on this leg of our trip.

My screen didn’t work, my seat didn’t recline, the flight attendant was rude and completely dismissive, the airplane was freezing, the seats are way old, slanted and uncomfortable. I payed for a full ticket and got a horrific experience, with a flight attendant who dismissed me even though I was calm respectful and polite.

Very poor help no one answering a question regarding seating. Very rude staff. They don’t care, as if it’s not part of their job. Flight was delayed for no good reason and no apologies given.

It was my worse flying experience. It was my first time and last time flying with Jet Blue.

The wifi didn't work and I needed to do some work. This was a business trip.

It was my first time in Jetblue flight in 10+ years(?) and the experience was horrible. You were better before. There were ATC delays sitting/waiting in the tarmac for 2 hours, I understand that this isn't Jetblue's problem but how the matter was handled poorly is. Cabin was so warm and hot couldn't get it to cool down for the entire waiting period worse, even during cruise flight. Start, the passengers were spoken to and treated like a little children with no respect. Constant/multiple annoying tone/voice PA announcements of mentioning "... only big/large suitcases are for the bin and small ones need to be placed under the seat, etc,..." I see that flight was delayed and crew were trying to get the plane ready to board as soon as they can but the way they presented was lack of better word, condesending and scolding tone to cattle. It was definite unpleasant, unwelcoming flight experience I have ever had with Jetblue. Whatever happen to smiles and fun employees , pleasant/helpful gate agents, flight attendants, crews, where have they gone? It was dissapointing flight experience overall from everyone. Sorry for the direct transparency.

Flight was cancelled as JetBlue could not find a pilot. Communication was poor and they did nothing for stranded passengers. Flight they rebooked us on was 4 days out.

see my previous response about being kicked off the flight and having to fly the next day, ruining a planned vacation tour.

The flight departed more than 1 hour late. Leg room is bigger than most airlines

terrible. Because I felt very unwell during the flight. How do they leave a woman alone in the middle of 2 men? an obese man who was falling on top of me.

I booked this flight using JetBlue points and I was just so happy. The plane was so clean, I had every need met. Thank you!!

I like the attention you gave us in Guatemala due to the loss of the flight coming to El Salvador. It was a nice experience. Thanks a lot

We booked seats next to each other. When we got the boarding passes, they were for different rows. The crew were reluctant to help us, so we ended up sitting separately. 1. What’s the point of reserving by seat number if you’re not going to honor that reservation? 2. Even if it gets messed up between reservation and boarding, how is the crew going to deny us the opportunity to arrange to sit together. There were plenty of people flying alone. It could’ve been easily accommodated. Not very customer-friendly at all.

The seats were the worst I have ever flown Too narrow, did not recline and the actual seat was hard as a rock. I will tell all travelers to stay away from Avianca flights.

They should provide water to passengers who ask for it

The worst experience I've ever had because the "people" @ Avianca wouldn't let me fly because they said I needed a round trip ticket

Seating was tight. Seats don't recline. Initial flight was cancelled. Lost two days of vacation.

It was delayed and I lost my connection flight to Cali and I missed my Mom's funeral

I actually upgraded to the medium level of seats from basic and even doing that it may have been physically the most uncomfortable flight I have ever had. They packed everyone like is a train to death camp. It was a red eye so I hoped to get some sleep but it was physically impossible to find a comfortable way to rest. I met other folks on the same flight and they said the same thing. It was an utterly miserable flight and if I have any other options I will never fly with them again

Deplaning was a mess, I sat in business (seats are horrible) and the front door had a problem so we had to deplane from the rear exit. The stairs were not tall enough to reach so there was a large step down from the plane to the top of the stairs.

Voo longo nem mesmo água ou gelo é servido, se quiser tem que pagar. Embarque é péssimo, mau atendimento.

Everything you need to know for your flight to Costa Rica