www.CostaRicaTicas.com

All airfares are up and rediculously high. I've been looking at flights to a number of locals (San Jose, Cartagena, Medellin, Curacao, St. Maarten, Panana City) for late March and can't find anything for less than $700.00 round trip.

I won't even consider paying that much. Just biding my time and hoping that by late February prices will have fallen to something more reasonable.

What killed me were the taxes on airfare to San Jose. $300.00 for the ticket and $425.00 in taxes WTF

ICE

yeah, prices have been getting higher it seems. is it possible that airlines have fewer flights available or there is less competition? in particular, POP flights are much more than SJO prices.

the past few tickets i've bought, i've purchased way in advance and have gotten tix in the $300-$350 range (from NYC to either SJO or MDE). i am able to do this because i know my vacation schedule ahead of time. so, if you're able to plan so far ahead, i suggest you do so.

Taxes should not be that much. Mine are always $90 something from FLL. I think they can be a little higher if there are multiple stops.

Bill

Taxes of $425 must include some kind of b.s. hidden miscellaneous charge which is nothing but pure profit for whoever is quoting you that price for a ticket. For a ticket to sjo from anywhere in the usa I don't think the real taxes should be any more than $100 or so.

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"cuz I'm a back-door man" Jim Morrison-1969

Can you tell us which travel site or airline quoted you that ridiculous fee/tax amount and from what city and dates? If it was a travel site what airline did they quote? Thanks

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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

its just the season right now, they will most likely drop again early January. they know that they can charge higher fares rite now cause of holiday travelers and people usually having more money rite now...u know what there should be is a CRT pilot who just flys from south florida to SJO, on a little puddle jumper, good times to be had by all...

My bad.....reverse those numbers. LOL Still very expensive in my opinion.

Pensacola to San Jose March 25th-March 31st

Cheapoair.com Ticket $471.29 Taxes $328.42 Total $799.71
Cheapair.com Ticket $438.00 Taxes $328.42 Total $776.37
Airgorilla.com Ticket $475.93 Taxes $328.43 Total $804.35
Orbitz.com Ticket $438.00 Taxes $328.00 Total $766.00

This was flying Continental which was the cheapest airline.
Strangely, the base ticket price for US Airways, Delta, etc was more expensive but the taxes were much less. Go figure

ICE

Its the uber shitty time of year to book flights.
I think its the overall spend spend spend vibe surrounding this time of year and they are simply trying to bank as much as possible on it. You get alot of people booking winter vacations, people buying Christmas presents with minimal regard to price; very lax spending habits.

As I suspected the charge was not a real tax charge but rather a BS hidden fee by Continental.


Fare (A1): CO PNSSJO E0CEN fare (rules) , psgr type ADT $219.00
Fare (A2): CO SJOPNS E0CEN fare (rules) , psgr type ADT $219.00
Tax: Costa Rica Tourism Tax $15.00
Tax: US International Departure Tax $16.10
Tax: US September 11th Security Fee $7.50
Tax: CO YQ surcharge $240.00
Tax: USDA APHIS Fee $5.00
Tax: US Immigration Fee $7.00
Tax: US Customs Fee $5.50
Tax: Costa Rica Common Area User Charge $3.34
Tax: Costa Rica Security Fee $2.38
Tax: US International Arrival Tax $16.10
Tax: US Passenger Facility Charge $10.50
Total for 1 adult passenger: $766.42

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

How is it BS?
YQ is more often then not a fuel surcharge. Seems like a legit charge to me.

The YQ "tax" is not actually a government imposed tax but an airline surcharge. Typically, the YQ "tax" includes a security surcharge and/or a fuel surcharge. It is BS charge because they hide it as a tax rather then an airline charge.

A straight forward approach is to show the amount the airline collects. In the example we are discussing it would be $678.00 and the tax $88.42 for a total of $766.42. Instead they show their share of the total charge as $438.00 and leave you with the impression that the government is getting the extra $328.42. In plain terms they are shifting the blame for the high fare from themselves to the government and airport authorities. If you prefer I will call it a deceptive business practice rather then a BS charge.

Call it what ever you want.

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

My Bad, ID is correct. I was looking in early Feb, which also doesn't come up on my fare watcher now.

But thanks for the offer, no need to waste $80 on a chica. I'd let you get some party favors though

Good luck in finding a decent rate, its especially ridiculous when I see fares out of MIA for over $400

Cujo

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"Pain is the fuel that fans the flames of my pyre. A battle plan is only as good as the general carrying it out on the field. This is my war son, and I have the biggest bombs and the smallest conscience"...

$456.42 AA 2141 on 12/25.

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mh

Yep, AA $273 from Chicago all winter. Even better, leave 5:40 am and arrive early. Departing, 3 pm, good for the late morning/early afternoon session. Continental is high. Mexicana is also good and they are going through Cancun.

Dean

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my first wingman sent me this, how true

" most of the girls down here, lie as a self defense mechanism and to not have to face the truth, thinking most men couldn't accept them knowing the whole truth. Simpler, they may just want men to think they are as perfect as they want to appear to them, trying to hide what they consider to be the ugly truth about themselves. And I may be reading more into it than is there, but I do believe they consider the basis of the lies to be justified."