www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I will be traveling to the Pacific coast from San Jose and have two airlines available to choose from--Nature Air and Fly Sansa. I would like a recommendation for anyone who has flown either or both. The price difference for a round trip is not part of the consideration. I am focussed on quality of airline, reliability of planes and size/accomodations or airplanes. Appreciate any insight. My route is between San Jose and Liberia. I assume a standard suitcase and golf clubs is not an issue for the airline. thanks

Concentric,
Don't assume anything! I've flown NUMEROUS times with Sansa, but never with Nature Air. I've never had any 'major' problems with them. Sometimes they're on time, sometimes they're not. But I've never been "too" late getting to my destination.

The flight from SJO to LIR is only 40 minutes, but sometimes they'll stop in Tamarindo to pick up or drop off passengers.

As far as your golf clubs and suitcase......All of the luggage, carry-on's, etc. go in the belly of the plane. There's only 12 seats on the majority of their 'puddle jumper' fleet of planes. They have a one bag, 25 lb weight maximum, per passenger. They always charge me an additional $15 - $25 for extra luggage weight. I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that they're gonna charge me some extra $$$ for overweight luggage.

Also, they'll also ask you how much you weigh, and document that info on their paperwork.

I've taken several chica's to the beach using Sansa, and they only pay 50% for airfare, since they're citizens.

Overall, I've been very satisfied with using Sansa. Hope this helps.
Maybe someone can chime in here with some info on Nature Air.
Good Luck,
Mikey-B

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You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!

Thanks for the insight. One thing you mention caught me by surprise and that was a local pays less for the flight. I am taking a local with me and when booking online, there is no mention of the discount anywhere. I guess I would have to call them to make reservation. Second, the flights that have a single stop literally show the stop over and landing in Liberia as a 5 minute differential. Is the stopover really that short and the airports that close in LIberia? Thanks

It's a pretty quick stop-over. Basically, they land the plane and drive it over to the pavilion area. People will get off, or people will get on. Then, they'll close the doors, do their pre-flight check again, and off you go. It usually takes about 15 minutes total.

For the discount, your chica must book the flight herself, directly at the Sansa terminal. She'll have to show her cedula and pay for the ticket. I believe that all CR citizens get 1/2 price on in-country flights. If someone knows different, please correct me.

Have a safe trip.
Mikey-B

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You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!

SANSA is a subsidiary of Grupo TACA and departs from SJO using single engine equipment.

Nature Air a private company departs from Tobias Bolanos airport in Pavas using mostly twin engine equipment.

It is a toss up as far as what you are comfortable with, the resources of a major airline or the comfort of having a plane with 2 engines.

Both have good safety records although Nature Air did have two incidents a few months ago.

I believe both give residents the 50% discount.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Sansa has twin engine planes also, and they've both had a number of crashes over the years. That's why Nature Air changed its name from Travelair a while back--to shed its bad image. The head of the CIA under Carter, Stanford something or other, went down on a Sansa flight, killed his wife. That flight was still sticking out of the house it crashed in near the SJ airport a couple of weeks later when i flew over it.

The big diff between the two is Sansa flies out of the International airport in SJ whereas Nature Air flies out of the smaller one near Rohmoser, and NatureAir is a tad more expensive, maybe 15%. the nice thing about Sansa is u can buy a one or two week air pass and fly all you want for about a duece a week, less if you fly into CR on a TACA flight. I do that all the time, fly to Quepos every a.m. and back on the 2 or 4 pm return, works like a charm. Quepos is a little too dead for me at night.

When did they add those to their fleet? Last I knew they flew Cessna Grand Caravans exclusively and they are single engine.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

I have flown a few times on both airlines to Tamarindo and Quepos. I do remember that Nature Air had 2 props. I last flew Sansa over a year ago and can not remember the number of props. What I do remeber is that the two flights I had on Sansa were on slightly larger more comfortable planes. Nature Air was really tight, bruised the knees of my 6' 2' buddy.

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Missing CR

Just made my 3rd trip with Nature Air this past weekend... This time to Quepos... Baggage allowance now 1 checked bag 30lbs... one carry on that you can fit on your lap if the plane is full....

no issues coming or going to quepos $100.00 RT per person and up and down in 17 minutes.. beats the hell out of close to a 4 hr drive...

NOTE: They close the flight 15 mins before departure so if your not there your screwed...

I've flow them to Liberia where we flew direct it was 40 mins...

Twin Engine 18 passeger aircraft this past weekend.. 3 flights No issues..

1 time on Sansa delayed over 90 mins.. outbound..

My personal Expierience the nod goes to Nature Air!

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"Success isn't having $$ it is knowing how to Spend It"

Can understand how you would feel that way based on your experience but it is difficult to make a judgment based on one trip. ALL airlines suffer delays from time to time and if you get caught on one of those flights it is unfortunate but hardly indicative of their service overall.

I have been to restaurants and had, what I considered, a bad meal but when I gave them a second try it was great.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine