{
  "response": {
    "Key": "CHI-CR",
    "orig": {
      "code": "CHI",
      "type": "airport",
      "city": "Chicago",
      "fullCity": "Chicago, Illinois",
      "airport": "Dupage County"
    },
    "dest": {
      "code": "CR",
      "type": "country",
      "country": "Costa Rica"
    },
    "faq": {
      "q0": {
        "question": "Which cities in Costa Rica can I fly to from Chicago?",
        "answer": "From Chicago you can fly non-stop to Liberia in the Guanacaste region or to the capital San José. Liberia is best for Pacific beaches and resorts, while San José is the hub for connecting to domestic flights or driving to the Caribbean coast and rainforest areas."
      },
      "q1": {
        "question": "How long is the flight from Chicago to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "From Chicago to Costa Rica, non‑stop flights to Liberia take about 5 hours southbound and roughly the same northbound. One‑stop journeys to San José typically run 6½ to 8 hours in either direction depending on the connection."
      },
      "q2": {
        "question": "Are there direct flights from Chicago to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "Yes, you can fly non-stop from Chicago to Costa Rica on select airlines. United and American offer seasonal or year-round service from Chicago O'Hare to both San José and Liberia. Non-stop flight times are roughly 5 to 5½ hours. If non-stops do not suit your schedule, common one-stop routings connect via Miami, Houston, or Atlanta, with total travel times typically between 7 and 9 hours."
      },
      "q3": {
        "question": "Which airlines fly from Chicago to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "From Chicago to Costa Rica you can fly United, American, Copa, and Avianca. Nonstop options are limited, most connect through hubs."
      },
      "q4": {
        "question": "When is the cheapest time to fly from Chicago to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "The cheapest months to fly from Chicago to Costa Rica are April, May, and October, with fares climbing during peak summer (July–August) and spiking around the December holidays. Booking roughly 6 to 9 weeks ahead tends to yield the best prices, and midweek departures — particularly Tuesdays and Wednesdays — are usually more affordable than weekend flights. Morning and late-night departures often offer better value than midday options, though exact timing data for this route is limited.",
        "methodology": "This 'good deal' estimate shows a representative best price for each departure date across roughly a 12-month window (about 3 months back and 9 months forward). It is built from real flight prices found by Priceline users searching this route, accumulated into a price history for each departure date. Rather than weighting all of that history equally, we apply exponential time decay so recent prices dominate — a price seen yesterday counts almost in full, one from about a month ago roughly a third, and prices from a few months back very little — giving a figure that tracks today's market instead of a stale long-run average. Clear price outliers are removed before any calculation, departure dates with no observations are filled in from nearby dates, and the resulting curve is lightly smoothed so it reads as a clean seasonal trend rather than day-to-day noise. This booking-window guidance is built from the same real flight prices found by Priceline users searching this route, re-grouped by how many days before departure each price was seen (from the departure day out to about 180 days ahead) across the route's price history. At each booking lead time we report the 25th-percentile price — the cheaper end of what travelers were quoted, rather than the rock-bottom minimum (which can be a fluke) or the average (which is pulled up by expensive last-minute fares). The buy-or-wait advice then applies a risk premium that grows as departure approaches, since seat availability shrinks and prices become less predictable; using that adjusted curve we flag windows where waiting is likely to save a meaningful amount (at least $20 or 5%) versus windows where booking now is the better call. Isolated single-day recommendations are filtered out, so the advice only reflects a window that holds for several days in a row."
      },
      "q6": {
        "question": "What are the most popular cities to visit in Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "In Costa Rica, top destinations include San José for urban culture and as a gateway, the Arenal area for volcanoes and hot springs, Guanacaste for Pacific beaches, and the Caribbean coast near Puerto Viejo for wildlife and relaxed vibes."
      },
      "q7": {
        "question": "Do I need a visa to travel from Chicago to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "For United States citizens traveling from Chicago to Costa Rica, no visa is required for a short tourist visit. You may stay for up to 180 days without a visa.\n\nThis is general guidance to help you plan, not official immigration advice — entry rules can change and can depend on your nationality and circumstances, so please confirm the current requirements with the relevant embassy or official government source before you travel.",
        "toolsUsed": [
          "article_lookup"
        ],
        "references": [
          {
            "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Costa_Rica",
            "title": "Visa policy of Costa Rica",
            "favicon": "https://en.wikipedia.org/static/favicon/wikipedia.ico"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/costa-rica/entry-requirements",
            "title": "Costa Rica entry requirements — GOV.UK",
            "favicon": "https://www.gov.uk/favicon.ico"
          }
        ],
        "preopenedReferences": true,
        "stageOnly": true
      },
      "q8": {
        "question": "Which airports in Costa Rica are best to fly into from Chicago?",
        "answer": "From Chicago to Costa Rica, Juan Santamaría Airport near San José is the primary international gateway with the most flight options and serves as a hub for domestic connections. Liberia Airport in Guanacaste is better for beach resorts and the Pacific northwest, with seasonal nonstop flights available."
      },
      "q12": {
        "question": "When is the best time of year to visit Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "For Costa Rica, the best times are late November to April (dry season) and July to August (a short dry window). May, June and September to November see more rain but lower prices and fewer crowds."
      },
      "q13": {
        "question": "How do I get to Dupage County from the city center?",
        "answer": "DuPage Airport (DPA) is a general aviation reliever airport in DuPage County, about 30 miles west of Chicago's Loop, and it has no scheduled commercial flights or direct public transit from downtown. The most practical ways to reach it from the city center are by driving (roughly 40–60 minutes via I-290/I-88), using a ride-share or taxi (fastest and most popular for those without a car, though costlier), or taking a Metra train to a nearby suburb like West Chicago or Glen Ellyn and then a short taxi or ride-share. There are no shuttle buses or fixed public bus routes to the airport, and on-site parking is plentiful and typically free or very low-cost, making driving the cheapest option for most travelers.",
        "toolsUsed": [
          "article_lookup"
        ],
        "references": [
          {
            "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuPage_Airport",
            "title": "DuPage Airport",
            "time_published": "2026-07-16T20:45:00Z"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_in_Chicago",
            "title": "Transportation in Chicago",
            "favicon": "https://en.wikipedia.org/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png",
            "time_published": "2026-09-01T15:50:47Z"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_county_roads_in_DuPage_County,_Illinois",
            "title": "List of county roads in DuPage County, Illinois",
            "favicon": "https://en.wikipedia.org/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png",
            "time_published": "2026-05-10T23:15:43Z"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}