{
  "response": {
    "Key": "US-CR",
    "orig": {
      "code": "US",
      "type": "country",
      "country": "United States"
    },
    "dest": {
      "code": "CR",
      "type": "country",
      "country": "Costa Rica"
    },
    "faq": {
      "q0": {
        "question": "Which cities in United States can I fly from to reach Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "Non-stop flights to Costa Rica depart from major US hubs like Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York JFK and Newark, serving both San José and Liberia. One-stop options via Panama City, Mexico City or San Salvador are available from smaller cities. Travellers often choose Miami or Fort Lauderdale for the highest frequency and competitive pricing, while west coast departures like Los Angeles offer convenient non-stops to Liberia. Prices are generally lower midweek and outside the December to April high season."
      },
      "q1": {
        "question": "Which airports in Costa Rica are the best to fly into from United States?",
        "answer": "The two main international airports are Juan Santamaría International Airport in San José and Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport in Liberia. San José serves the capital and central highlands, offering easy connections to the Pacific coast and Caribbean. Liberia is the best choice for northwestern beaches like Guanacaste and the Nicoya Peninsula, with shorter drives to popular resorts."
      },
      "q2": {
        "question": "How long is the flight from United States to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "From Miami to San José, non-stop flights typically take around 2 hours and 45 minutes. From Los Angeles, a direct flight takes about 5 hours and 30 minutes. One-stop itineraries from other U.S. cities usually range from 6 to 10 hours depending on the layover. Return times are similar."
      },
      "q3": {
        "question": "Are there direct flights from United States to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "Yes, there are many non-stop flights from the United States to Costa Rica. Major non-stop routes include Los Angeles (LAX) to San José (SJO) on Alaska Airlines, Miami (MIA) to San José (SJO) on American Airlines, and Houston (IAH) to San José (SJO) on United Airlines. Other U.S. departure cities with direct service include Atlanta, Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, New York, and Orlando. Flight times from Miami are around 3 hours, while from Los Angeles it's about 6 hours. If no non-stop is available from your city, common one-stop connections go through Miami, Houston, or Atlanta with total travel times of 5 to 9 hours."
      },
      "q4": {
        "question": "Which airports in United States are usually cheapest for flying to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "Miami and Fort Lauderdale are typically the cheapest U.S. gateways to Costa Rica due to high competition and short flight times. Houston and Atlanta also offer good value, while smaller U.S. cities usually require a connection through one of these hubs, which can raise the fare."
      },
      "q5": {
        "question": "Which airlines fly from United States to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "Airlines flying from the US to Costa Rica include American Airlines, United, Delta, Southwest, JetBlue, and Spirit, with nonstop options from major US cities."
      },
      "q6": {
        "question": "When is the cheapest time to fly from United States to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "The cheapest months to fly from the United States to Costa Rica are April, May, and March, while December and January are the priciest due to holiday demand in both countries. Booking 6 to 9 weeks ahead of travel tends to yield the best fares. For departure timing, Mondays are generally the cheapest day of the week, and late-night or early-morning flights offer the lowest prices compared to midday or afternoon departures.",
        "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. The cheapest day of the week and time of day to depart are drawn from the same large sample of real fares Priceline users found on this route in the last 72 hours, grouped by the day of the week and by the time-of-day window of the outbound departure, with the lowest and average price reported for each."
      },
      "q7": {
        "question": "How far in advance should I book flights from United States to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "For flights from the United States to Costa Rica, the optimal booking window is roughly 6 to 9 weeks before departure, when average fares dip to around $481, though you should book even earlier for peak holiday periods like Christmas and Easter when demand surges.",
        "methodology": "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."
      },
      "q8": {
        "question": "Do I need a visa to travel from United States to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "US citizens visiting Costa Rica for tourism generally do not need a visa for stays up to 180 days. Entry requirements can vary based on nationality and purpose, so always verify current rules with Costa Rican authorities before travel."
      },
      "q10": {
        "question": "How easy is it to travel within Costa Rica after I arrive?",
        "answer": "Costa Rica is compact enough that buses and rental cars are the most common ways to get around, though domestic flights connect San José to coastal destinations like Liberia and Quepos. Arriving in San José gives you the most frequent bus departures to all regions, while Liberia is better for Guanacaste beaches. No trains serve intercity routes."
      }
    }
  }
}