www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I just had a rude awakening when I had to book my next round trip from Boston in October. (no residency yet) I now see what you guys are complaining about. I only had 23,000 miles on American so I didn't have enough for the 30,000 or 35,000 necessary for a free trip.I called the AA Advantage desk and discussed buying some miles and hoping the fares would come down in the future. It cost me $175 plus tax to buy the miles and my trips are during the off-peak times so I am all set. It seemed like a temporary solution for this trip anyways. Some of you may want to consider it. The full airfares were between $800-1000 when I wanted to go. I refuse to do the around the world trips to save a few bucks.

"The full airfares were between $800-1000 when I wanted to go."

Sheesh, that's expensive!! From L.A. I've seen fares on Tico travel for $400-$500 around new years time. Good luck.