I know you are probably an adventurous person. While you can get to Costa Rica by car or bus, most people would call this crazy! The time involved, safety and insurance issues, and corrupt border crossings make these options inferior to flying in.
There are so many airlines now servicing Costa Rica. These include Air Canada, American, Spirit, Jetblue, Taca, United, US Airways, Delta, Continental, and Frontier. From Europe you can fly Iberia or through any of the US hubs. From major cities in the States it takes between 3 and 7 hours to go directly to Costa Rica, though some make stops in lower states like Texas or Florida. One of the Airports in Costa Rica is open 24 hours a day so between all of the airline choices you can find a flight in at anytime you’d need.
There are two international airports in Costa Rica. One is the Juan Santamaria International Airport just outside of the capital city of San Jose. The code and phone number for this one is SJO and 2437-2626. This airport is best if your travel plans are to the central valley, central Pacific, Caribbean, or the south. The other option is an airport in Liberia called Daniel Oduber International Airport (LIR 2668-1010) which is best if your travel is centered around the north Pacific of Guanacaste.
Be cautious of using small Latin American airlines, as they often get delayed or make unscheduled stops adding time to your travel or making you miss connecting flights. The cheaper fares may not be worth the trouble!
I have flown with Jetblue which is really comfortable and has TVs and free snacks and with Spirit which is cheaper but has many hidden fees. Both make stops in Ft. Lauderdale on the way to Costa Rica even if you start in another Florida location. The total travel time from New York was about 3 hours to Florida, 2 hours wait time, and 2.5 hours to San Jose.
By Kerry La
