

Grass Landing Strip at Sirena Station Corcovado Even the type of stopover can make a huge difference changing planes provides an opportunity for lost luggage or a missed flight that a same plane stopover does not.Ī search that finds the cheapest flight every time is pretty useless if that flight has 3 stops (including Reykjavik) on “Fly by Night Airways” who charge $45 extra to use the restroom and arrives at 3:12 a.m. In reality many factors add up to the best flight – departure and arrival times ( bad scheduling costs money and vacation time on the ground), stopovers, reliability, even choices of in flight entertainment ( sharks on planes!). The biggest problem with most searches (and ratings of fare searchers) is that finding the cheapest fare is the main criteria.

Skip the Expedias, search directly on your airline and then use the list of “good deals” below to see if your favorite offers reasonable prices. If you’re not near a Southwest airport then you probably already have one or two other favorite airlines that you prefer based on convenience, mileage programs and past experience. airline it’s ridiculous – excellent service, great schedules, low prices, good airport selection, no luggage fees, no change or cancel fees, and comfortable newer equipment ( see details).ĭespite being consistently at or near the lowest cost Southwest flights do not show up on any of the search engines – they only sell tickets directly through, or through licensed travel services or agents. Southwest Airlines – Unless you choose to fly first class Southwest is so much better than any other U.S.

Less known, momondo ranks high on other lists but we haven’t found anything there that would make us switch. Google is fast and includes and a helpful lowest fare in a 60 day window feature for browsing around without fixed dates. Our favorite is (and has been for years) kayak. While they are obviously still trying to make a buck they tend to be a bit less intrusive about it. Three aggregators stand out for ease of use, quickly finding the lowest fares on the most reasonable flight schedules.

A Tuesday flight ten days before Christmas might be 75% cheaper than a Sunday flight four days before the holiday. The most expensive flights are on weekends near holidays. The single most important criteria for saving money on flights to Costa Rica is schedule flexibility. Lastly, using a Public Library computer to search flights may be better…unless the library is in a really nice neighborhood. The third and maybe most important is that finding the least expensive tickets may not be worth the effort. The second most important thing to know when shopping for flights is that cheapest is almost never the best. Best Places to See Wildlife in Costa Ricaĭeparture level – Juan Santamaria Airport SJOĪny time you travel to Costa Rica your best bet for getting cheap airfare is to know a good deal when you see one.
