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Some airlines will put cost of exit tax in the price of their tickets


By the A.M. Costa Rica staff


The deal was a very long time in coming. The government said Wednesday that some airlines have agreed to include the cost of the country's $29 exit tax in the price of a ticket.

The participating airlines are members of the Spanish-based Asociación de Líneas Aéreas. Continental and American Airlines are members, but Delta and some other U.S. passenger lines are not.

Passengers who have booked flights with firms that do not include
the tax in their ticket will have to continue to purchase the exit stamp at the airport from Bancrédito employees.

Officials Wednesday said they expect that the manual operator will continue for at least a year.

Charter and private flights are not included in the agreement, officials said. They are Ana Helena Chacón and Helio Fallas, both vice presidents, who announced the agreement. Airlines are under no obligation to accept the agreement, officials said. But they expect that most eventually will

I'm guessing some less-than-astute travelers (nobody here, natch) will be paying this tax twice, not aware that it's included in the ticket price. Any guesses on what % will do so and how much extra revenue CR will accrue? I'll bet some sharp cookie in the CR government has run these numbers...

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

This is why guys need to be a little careful posting - there was/is a recent thread about this - now comes the facts. In no way am I saying guys posted without the best of intentions, as well as what they believed to be the truth But for many, it is not gonna happen quickly.

If you fly Spirit or jetBlue - like I mostly do - its unlikely to impact you in the short term - the article above says the manual operator with continue for "at least a year"

What I suspect is eventually it will happen with all carriers - but not just yet and not with everyone all at once.

I think its a good move - its a nusance tax, but has to be paid - one less thing to do <eventually..... >

COSTA RICA NEWS — It had been announced that, starting December 3, the airlines would include the departure tax at Costa Rica’s international airport in the airfare. "But, in reality it won’t be until February next year, saId the president of the Asociación de Líneas Aéreas" (ALA) – Airline Association, Mario Zamora.

Making the situation worse is that each airline will decide on the date when it will start doing so, most saying they plan on adopting the measure after the end of the year-end travel season.

Furthermore, today only 5 of the 16 airlines has signed the agreement with Bancrédito, the Costa Rica bank arilines will make payment to, that in turn makes remittances to the government coffers, said Zamora from Casa Presidencial (Government House).


Thus, the objective of ending the lines at the San José (SJO) and Liberia (LIR) airports to pay the tax, will have to wait a little longer.

Zamora said the direct collection is voluntary, airlines are not required to make the change. No word from Civil Aviation if airlines who do not adopt the measure may see their operations in the country reviewed.

Zamora added that the direct collection does not apply to charter and private flights.

The idea of including the airport tax in the airfare is so that passengers can move directly to the airline counter, without the need to stand in line to pay the tax on departure; for passengers with pre-checks, they can go straight to the security area, as is done at most airports around the world.

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This post is provided purely for entertainment purposes and free of charge on the part of the author. No "Sex tourism or travel" promotion is expressed or implied. The author of this post was not provided any compensation for this hopefully entertaining contribution. Any posts regarding any event or hotel item are just my humble opinions only.

Not sure what the big deal is...after 40+ trips I have never bought it early or waited more than 5 minutes in line ...90% less than 2 minutes

Now, we will have to figure out whether our ticket includes the tax... only in Costa Rica can they Phuck up something so simple....

Glad to see Bro Orange reinforcing what I said. The airlines are pretty good at hiding their own fees and surcharges--let's see what they do with this.

_________________
"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Will the airlines increase the fares only by the amount of the exit tax? My guess is that they will increase the fares by more than just the tax, adding an 'administration' fee to the total fare

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"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)

Your post proves that no one solution will ever please everyone - not saying you don't bring up a valid point.

Guys have been bitching for years about having the fee included in the ticket cost - personally, it never mattered to me very much - I buy it when I land, change money a few feet away, and its done - not a huge deal either way. But many advocated for it.

But its an interesting point - and unless its broken out, you would not really know.

What's the old saying? Be careful what you wish for.

Sometimes fixing what is really not broken (I mean really - if you do what I and guys with a clue have advocated for years - get it at the time of landing; its a very efficient operation - and stop talking about buying it at certain hotels downtown (and dealing with paying a few dollars more - which is annoying in and of itself - the exit visa is a nusance tax - and maybe the hotels link or computer is down - I like to have as much done in advance as possible, although I'll readily concede that only on a very few occasions - when you are really late, right - have I seen a long line at the airport exit visa location)

I just left Monday 12-8-2014
Lady at counter said earliest end of march 2015 quite possibly much longer

I agree. Haven't made 40+ trips but more like 15 and never had a problem standing in line.