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$93 Find Cheap Flights to Costa Rica

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from the United States to Costa Rica departing on 11/18. Fares are subject to change and may not be available on all flights or dates of travel. Click the price to replicate the search for this deal.
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Best Costa Rica Flight Deals

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours

San José
San José1 stop$212
Liberia
Liberia1 stop$247

Good to know

Low season

September

High season

December

Cheapest flight

$93
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 14% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 25% increase in price.
Flight from New York LaGuardia Airport to San José

FAQs - booking Costa Rica flights

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • How long is the flight to Costa Rica?

    An average nonstop flight from the United States to Costa Rica takes 6h 14m, covering a distance of 2188 miles. The most popular route is New York - San José with an average flight time of 5h 15m.

  • What is the cheapest flight to Costa Rica?

    The cheapest ticket to Costa Rica from the United States found in the last 72 hours was $69 one-way, and $162 round-trip. The most popular route is New York John F Kennedy Intl to San José Juan Santamaria Intl and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $254.

  • Which airlines fly to Costa Rica?

    United Airlines, American Airlines & JetBlue fly the most frequently from the United States to Costa Rica.

  • What are the most popular destinations in Costa Rica?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is San José (71% of total searches to Costa Rica). The next most popular destination is Liberia (29%).

  • How does KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a given destination and date is likely to change within 7 days, so travelers know whether to wait or book now.

See more FAQs

Top tips for finding cheap flights to Costa Rica

  • Enter your preferred departure airport and travel dates into the search form above to unlock the latest Costa Rica flight deals.
  • 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.
  • 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.
See more tips

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.
7.5
JetBlueOverall score based on 3514 reviews
8.2Crew
7.4Entertainment
7.8Comfort
7.0Food
7.7Boarding
Airline reviews

Smooth boarding and friendly crew. Unfortunately as soon as we boarded the unit that provides air circulation failed. The pilot informed us and requested maintenance technicians to check it out. The plane became uncomfortably warm without any fresh air coming in. Plus the repair delayed our departure. I am glad the maintenance crew were able to fix the problem. I also was without use of my tv monitor for the first 1/3rd of the trip.

6.0 GoodSteve, Oct 2024DEN - BOS
Read more JetBlue reviews

Smooth boarding and friendly crew. Unfortunately as soon as we boarded the unit that provides air circulation failed. The pilot informed us and requested maintenance technicians to check it out. The plane became uncomfortably warm without any fresh air coming in. Plus the repair delayed our departure. I am glad the maintenance crew were able to fix the problem. I also was without use of my tv monitor for the first 1/3rd of the trip.

Flight was on time arrived at the destination 10min early they kept in touch via email

Communication with the customer and stay is important. Staff off with a minor inconvenience but it worked out of course. Also this was a very old Mint Class plane. They snuck this one in on us. The updated aircraft are much better.

The flight itself was fine, but the boarding process was extremely frustrating. There is no one scanning boarding passes - passengers just scan themselves and enter the jetway. By the time my husband and I got on the plane and were halfway to our seats they determined there were too many bags on the plane and everything at that point needed to be checked. This created a lot of unnecessary chaos. They should have alerted people before getting on the plane that they would need to start checking bags instead of waiting until people were already on the plane.

The best flight I’ve had in a while. The plane was like 25% capacity, if that. Smoothest boarding and deplaning process I’ve ever experienced. Wish all flights were this smooth.

Did not enjoy this flight at all. All of my coworkers flew delta and I chose JetBlue because I really value how simple the WiFi and entertainment is and this flight I didn’t get either. Crew staff was unsympathetic to my system not working, everyone I asked for help with was extremely bothered by my request for help.

In flight on demand didn't work at our seats. Only a single beverage/snack run.

Little snafu at boarding. Staff communicated with gate poorly. Flight attendant was rude making disembark early. This was an older mint class. Needs an overhaul for sure. Food was good. The male flight attendant was really nice.

My encounter with the entertainment services provided on board was moderate; the functionality of the Wi-Fi connection was either sluggish or nonoperational, while the display screens were antiquated and suffered from poor visibility. On the positive side, the cabin exuded a sense of expansiveness, and the crew exhibited amiable and accommodating behavior throughout the journey.

Everything was great except for some reason crew and ground crew could not figure out how to deal with an electric wheelchair and it delayed us 20-30mins. Was pretty frustrating for passengers and the captain.

The plane was clean. The staff was excellent. The flight attendants were very good. Enjoyable flight. Overall. The seats in the back are too small but, will always be.

Overall good flight. The pilots were excellent. It was a nice flight, but the seats were a little uncomfortable.

There was no air on the plane and it was very hot.

Flight crew was amazing! I don't like that the Polaris seats are side-by-side.

Not enough room between rows and food was gross. $160 baggage charge?! Never again.

Flight was 3 1/2 hour delayed with no credit or meal vouchers

Smoothly flight, pleasant flight attendants. I wish there were better food choices.

Everything was awful Flight attendant was condescending, rude and not helpful at all. Small outdated plane. No service, uncomfortable seats. Flight attendant was really the worst. He used hand gestures to communicate instead of words and whenever he used words he was condescending.

They need to improve their boarding process. Group 1 and/or paying first class passengers shouldn't be in the middle of boarding process

late departure due to some unspecified issue with ventilating the cabin. They got it running but it was FREEZING for the whole flight. I asked for a blanket but they didn't provide one. They could not turn up the heat. it was quite miserable.

Overall good. Tight connection in DFW because of gate unavailability upon landing.

Airplane was cold. Flight attendants were rude. Phone charger did not work. No food available.

No food, no entertainment. But the flight was really short so maybe they had to skip drinks. I was able to board early ONLY because I am old and decrepit and they let me pre-board. I RESENT your dumping us into category 9 if we do not pay up. And when I paid for a seat I was STILL given 9. The pre-boarding helps. THIS flight was exceptionally smooth, please congratulate the pilots.

I love to flight american however my carry on had to be sent with regular luggage and it was broken. Don't appreciate that. If when I buy a ticket says I can take a carry on and a hand item there should be space for mwsy stuff and not be basically forced to send the item even if it's at no charge. A.A. needs to work on that. Everything else excellent.

Deparature was late, which is annoying but the arrival was fine and the baggage came early.

Excellent customer service at check in at Austin flight to DFW and excellent customer service from Karren in terminal B at DFW.

The free internet access did not work, so we had to purchase 2 Internet packages. Flight attendants were not proactive in checking in with first class patrons

The flight attendants were talking the entire time on the back and I couldn’t even take a nap. Super annoying

11h50m total delay. Had to switch to another flight that was still a 7h30m delay.

A very good flight. All personnel were gracious and pleasant. Good flight. No complaints.

I enjoyed it! In that case, I should have been offered this choice. On my first trip to Miami, I was asked to pay $320 for my luggage just for getting it totally broken. I cannot accept this situation at all!!!!

The connection time is too short to pass through customs and once you do clear customs the connecting flight is in another terminal that is not close.

They charged me $120 to check one bag and then charged me another $120 for a carryon. Ridiculous!

Boarding, crew and food. Seats are too small Love Avianca

I was surprised that they didn’t offer drinks at least even though it was an international flight.

$120 for a carry on bag !!!!!! Insane. Back-breaking seats. Do not recline. Food service is a disgrace. They give only water and a salty snack. Everything else has a price.

Our flight from BOS - BOG was delayed 10 hours because they were waiting for a Flight attendant to fly from Miami. They lied and said they would give us food and hotel. That was a straight Lie! It never came! We were in the airport for 13 hours with Two babies. We were on the plane 7 more Hours. When we asked to get diapers from our checked luggage, Jorge in Boston told my wife she should have planned better. Meanwhile, the 10 Avianca Employees Sat there and did nothing for 13 hours. Yes, we planned for 10 hours with the wait and the flight, not 20 hours JORGE! If this was an American company we would have got a refund! But they are not up to American standards. The kicker is they apparently needed the 3rd stewardess to serve the food. Guess what? It was 4AM when they tried to serve the FOOD! Everybody was asleep by then! Ridiculous! Never Again!

My fly was cancelled so i run to the airport and fight for my fly Thank god at the end was good

Terrible. Flight was delayed without explanation, airplane was in poor condition (old, dirty) and crew was not in a good mood.

Definitely my worst experience. We booked a flight JFK - Cartagena with a layover at Bogota. My partner and I were on time for the boarding at 10:55pm. We were about to enter in the plane, literally, when one of the officer from the airline Avianca, took the passport of my partner to apparently « looked at his luggage reservation ». It made no sense, first the luggage was under my name, and then we went through all the controls at the airport. The person went back to the gate inside the airport, I followed my partner. The employees from the airline were rude and disrespectful. They were not explaining us what’s was going on. After 5 minutes of silence treatment. They told us that my partner was intoxicated (it was absolutely not true, they never conducted tests btw) and he couldn’t board in the plane and he will take the next one. They didn’t late us coordinated the trip, and not even let us say goodbye to each other. I was forced to take the plane to bogota and my partner to stay in NYC. It was traumatic. My partner had to wait 6h in the airport (night time) and he had to pay an additional ticket even tho the employees mentioned he was going to take the next flight. We are going to file a complain. It’s unbelievable. First and last time I will ever use this airline. I do not recommend.

Atlanta airport gate area floor and nearly all seats disgusting. Spirit airlines crew fantastic!!

Over 2 hour delay due to “weather” but all other flights were taking off with no issues. We felt lied to the entire time as well.

Never been worse. Never again even if the ticket were free.

Everything was excellent and as expected. The boarding process was great but deboarding was a bit slow. No fault of the crew; it just seemed like the passengers didn’t want to leave! 😂

waited 5 hours to tell us it was cancelled even when they knew

Easy! As long as you don’t mind no frills, our flight was enjoyable and on time

No carry on available to purchase at any point, charged for water, no power to charge phone. Other discount airlines have this.

Okay for the most part but Good boarding and on time

The flight was delayed and the announcements were hard to hear, but the crew was great

Smooth enough, delay-free and safe. All went as expected,

Book Cheap Costa Rica Plane Tickets

Recent round-trip flight deals

11/14Thu
1 stopVolaris El Salvador
20h 14mLAX-SJO
11/18Mon
1 stopVolaris El Salvador
25h 18mSJO-LAX
$212
2/1Sat
1 stopVolaris El Salvador
20h 14mLAX-SJO
2/9Sun
1 stopVolaris El Salvador
13h 02mSJO-LAX
$222
2/4Tue
1 stopAmerican Airlines
8h 47mLGA-SJO
2/12Wed
1 stopAmerican Airlines
14h 34mSJO-LGA
$236
2/4Tue
1 stopAmerican Airlines
8h 20mJFK-SJO
2/11Tue
1 stopAmerican Airlines
8h 39mSJO-JFK
$236
1/23Thu
1 stopAvianca
7h 00mJFK-SJO
1/29Wed
1 stopAvianca
6h 45mSJO-JFK
$254
1/20Mon
1 stopAvianca
6h 45mMIA-SJO
1/29Wed
2 stopsAvianca
6h 45mSJO-MIA
$255
12/11Wed
1 stopJetBlue
11h 55mLGA-SJO
12/19Thu
1 stopJetBlue
8h 44mSJO-LGA
$294
2/2Sun
nonstopJetBlue
5h 19mJFK-SJO
2/9Sun
nonstopJetBlue
5h 01mSJO-JFK
$298
2/22Sat
1 stopUnited Airlines
19h 18mEWR-SJO
2/28Fri
1 stopUnited Airlines
19h 09mSJO-EWR
$308
11/15Fri
1 stopUnited Airlines
15h 40mIAD-SJO
11/25Mon
1 stopUnited Airlines
8h 39mSJO-IAD
$308

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Recent one-way flight deals

11/18Mon
1 stopSpirit Airlines
7h 07mLGA-SJO
$93
11/20Wed
1 stopSpirit Airlines
16h 06mEWR-SJO
$93
2/7Fri
1 stopAmerican Airlines
11h 14mLGA-SJO
$99
2/5Wed
1 stopAmerican Airlines
16h 09mEWR-SJO
$99
1/29Wed
2 stopsAvianca
7h 50mMIA-SJO
$111
1/20Mon
1 stopAvianca
7h 00mJFK-SJO
$111
2/28Fri
nonstopUnited Airlines
5h 30mEWR-SJO
$131
12/11Wed
1 stopJetBlue
7h 50mJFK-SJO
$134
11/15Fri
1 stopUnited Airlines
16h 41mLGA-SJO
$135
12/7Sat
1 stopJetBlue
6h 45mJFK-SJO
$139

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Last minute flights to Costa Rica

Last minute flight, train and bus deals

11/5Tue
multi-stopVolaris El Salvador
13h 57mIAD-SJO
11/10Sun
multi-stopVolaris El Salvador
22h 54mSJO-IAD
$288
11/2Sat
multi-stopVolaris El Salvador
22h 17mIAD-SJO
11/4Mon
multi-stopVolaris El Salvador
10h 42mSJO-IAD
$291
11/4Mon
multi-stopAvianca
20h 00mMIA-SJO
11/7Thu
multi-stopAvianca
5h 15mSJO-MIA
$331
11/4Mon
multi-stopAvianca
20h 00mMIA-SJO
11/11Mon
multi-stopAvianca
14h 30mSJO-MIA
$337
11/5Tue
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
28h 55mIAD-SJO
11/12Tue
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
21h 27mSJO-IAD
$352
11/1Fri
multi-stopUnited Airlines
16h 27mEWR-SJO
11/16Sat
nonstopUnited Airlines
5h 02mSJO-EWR
$370
11/1Fri
multi-stopUnited Airlines
11h 56mLAX-SJO
11/9Sat
nonstopUnited Airlines
6h 27mSJO-LAX
$376
11/2Sat
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
22h 35mEWR-SJO
11/7Thu
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
15h 57mSJO-EWR
$414
11/4Mon
nonstopJetBlue
5h 25mJFK-SJO
11/17Sun
nonstopJetBlue
5h 02mSJO-JFK
$428
11/5Tue
nonstopJetBlue
5h 25mJFK-SJO
11/13Wed
multi-stopJetBlue
8h 52mSJO-JFK
$448

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Everything you need to know for your flight to Costa Rica

Cabin class types available on flights to Costa Rica

Cabin classes available on flights to Costa Rica. Prices are the lowest found on KAYAK over the last 7 days. Price and availability is not guaranteed.