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LACSA has direct non-stops from LAX to SJO whereas A.A. and other U.S. carriers you have to make 1 stop (traveling from LAX). Anybody have any comments on LACSA vs. U.S. carriers in terms of comfort---service---safety etc. Thx.

I flew AA on my first trip from NY. Had to stop in Miami comming and going. A real pain in the ass! All my following trips were with Lacsa. Non-stop JFK-SJO. As comfortable if not more comfortable than AA. Also much cheaper. I always use Lacsa/Taca from now on.

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Tunaman

Can't comment on Lacsa but I agree with you the schedule looks very inviting. I'm always temped to pull the trigger , but the late arrival back to LAX won't work for me. I'm always on UA with the stop in Guatemala City.

Bing

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Yippieeeee !!

Lacsa is great for surfers they dont charge extra for surfboards. If you havent tried martinair they are very good also and both are cheap.

Surfdog

I find that interesting. My experience with Lacsa/Taca was that their was less leg room. Kind of uncomfortable. Also, seemed the flight was about 30 minutes longer than a typical Chicago/Miami/SJO AA trip.

The Lacsa had a stop over in Guatemala City. The cool thing from Chicago is that Lacsa/Taca leaves at like 2am and gets to SJO at 8:45am. Often times the RT ticket is less on Lacsa/Taca than the majors. I guess it's all give and take. I frequent AA and AA will honor miles flown on Lacsa/Taca. For sure give them a try and decide for yourself. The only reason I have not used them a second time is that the departure times returning to Chicago are very late in the afternoon.

dapanz1

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Paradise= Sitting outside the Bodega in Panama City about 1 am. Drinking cool Balboas with cool friends and blazin' hot Colombianas. I want to be there..RIGHT NOW!

Taca = Take A Chance Airlines....

I always fly Taca due to the great scedual .
Direct and leaves at midnight arrives early AM so I get the whole day is S.J.
Then return is late afternoon so I get all day in S.J.
It is like getting two extra day's, so a long weekend trip seems a lot longer.
The planes are newer Airbus.
I fly the LAX to SJO
Ya Nucknfuts

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Throughout the history of mankind there has never been one shred of evidence that supports that life is serious..........
Don't believe everything you think ............

Piroca,

Actually, AA has non-stop flights available from LAX to SJO. I believe the outbound is a red-eye departing at midnight while the return departure is approximately 6 PM. I prefer AA since it does not require leaving from Bradley International terminal (which can be quite hectic).

Taca has now moved to terminal #2
and has it's own imigration and customs. ( only open till 11:00PM)
then they bus you to the Bradley
Although the last time I got bussed at 12:00 midnight I was the 1st. person through. No one and I mean NO ONE was ahead of me . It was empty !!! ( it was Monday night)
Ya Nucknfuts

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Throughout the history of mankind there has never been one shred of evidence that supports that life is serious..........
Don't believe everything you think ............

SoCal--that's true about A.A. (I took that flight last December) but that flight is a seasonal one and the direct non-stops end in May and then resume again in November I think. I'm going back in August so I think I'll do the direct non-stop LACSA flight.

I just took the LACSA non-stop LA to SJO. Their check-in process is strictly out of the 3rd world, compared to U.S. carriers. All manually done, and it took them over 90 minutes to get a 120 person Airbus 319 fully checked in.

But the plane itself is quite comfortable - much more spacious seating than a 757, which is what UA and AA use for the same route. I can't speak to how good the UA and AA non-stops are, but I would certainly prefer to fly LACSA non-stop than a Continental 1 stop route through Houston, which is what I took on my prior trip (using Continental FF miles).

I'd have no problems using them any time that they offerred the best fare. Otherwise, I'd probably call it a wash vs. UA and AA's nonstops.

BTW, LACSA is an AAdvantage partner, so you can get and use AAdvantage miles on their flights rather than their own (along with TACA) FF program.

Dapanz1,
I am a big guy and I know all about legroom. It might just be my imagination, but to me, it seemed that the AA plane had more seats than Lacsa. But for me, the big plus is the 5 hour non stop flight without the 2-3 hour layover in Miami. Also, the customs returning in Miami is a real nightmare when I went. Customs in JFK at 12:30 am is a breeze.

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Tunaman

I fly Lacsa all of the time from MIA to SJO...I also like Martinair but I will not fly AA again . IMHO, AA sucks...they treat you like crap .

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NON ILLEGITIMI CARBORUNDUM

DG

I have been flying Lacsa/Taca since my second trip to CR. I took Delta my first trip, I overpaid, they delayed our bags and I missed my connection in Atlanta. I had to spend the night since it was the last flight to NY, at least they put me up in a decent hotel and fed me.

But Lacsa (Taca) is great. Non-stop JFK-SJO is just under 5 hours, and it's cheaper than the majors. AA is over $500 usually, I've never paid more than $450 on Taca. Depending on time of year, leaves at 5:40am, gets to SJ at 9:30. Return non-stop leaves SJ at like 6pm, gets in around 12:45am.

There are usually no lines at check-in but this trip in November sucked. In NY at 3:30am, there were about 50 people in the Taca line. But it only took about 30 minutes. Then on the return from SJO, again it was packed with over 50 people. Luckily, I pre-checked-in at Taca Center inside Amon Plaza hotel (also available online at taca.com) so I went to a special shorter line to check my bag since I already had my boarding pass. Saved about an hour. I recommend checking in online or at a Taca Center before going to the airport or the night before.

Apr 07, 2005 to Dec 11, 2006 ?

You really know how to dig up an old thread!

This is indeed an old thread, but still very relevant. Frankly, I don't know what I would do without Taca/Lacsa - I've flown them from Los Angeles for every trip other than my very first to CR (14 trips now), where I used miles on United and had to connect in Washington D.C. - never again...

First of all, as Nuckinfuts already stated, the itinerary is perfect. Redeye out of L.A., so no hassles getting to the airport, you sleep on the plane, and arrive around 8am with no customs line whatsoever at SJO. Then, late afternoon departure out of CR, so you get the whole extra day on the tail end, and arrive back in LA before midnight (again, no customs line and no traffic hassles - always a big factor here). I usually get direct flights, but even when required to connect in El Salvador or Guatemala it's never been a hassle, and only adds slightly to your overall trip time.

Moreoever, having flown them so many times, I've been able to use miles for free trips twice now as part of their Distancia FF program. This also gets me free first class upgrades most of the time, which makes a HUGE difference on a long flight. Planes are newer on average, food is better than average, alcohol in flight is FREE, and having a cute Latina flight attendant serve you with a smile and a sweet "con mucho gusto" is the icing on the cake.

I almost hesitate to post this, as the secret seems to be out and rates keep going up all the time, but nevertheless, for me this is the only way to go.

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