{
  "response": {
    "Key": "HOU-CR",
    "orig": {
      "code": "HOU",
      "type": "airport",
      "city": "Houston",
      "fullCity": "Houston, Texas",
      "airport": "William P Hobby Airport"
    },
    "dest": {
      "code": "CR",
      "type": "country",
      "country": "Costa Rica"
    },
    "faq": {
      "q0": {
        "question": "Which cities in Costa Rica can I fly to from Houston?",
        "answer": "From Houston you can fly non-stop to San José and Liberia. San José serves the central highlands and Pacific coast, while Liberia is the gateway to Guanacaste beaches. One-stop flights via U.S. hubs also reach these airports. Choose San José for volcanoes and culture, or Liberia for direct beach access."
      },
      "q1": {
        "question": "How long is the flight from Houston to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "From Houston to Costa Rica, non-stop flights to San José usually take about 3 hours 45 minutes to 4 hours southbound and roughly 3½ hours northbound. One-stop trips to Liberia typically run 5 to 7 hours total depending on the connection."
      },
      "q2": {
        "question": "Are there direct flights from Houston to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "Yes. United Airlines operates non-stop flights from Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) to San José (SJO) and Liberia (LIR) in Costa Rica. Flight times are around 3½ to 4 hours. If you fly out of William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), you will need a connection, often through IAH or another U.S. hub."
      },
      "q3": {
        "question": "Which airlines fly from Houston to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "From Houston to Costa Rica, United and Southwest offer nonstops. One-stop options include American via Dallas, Delta via Atlanta, and Copa via Panama City."
      },
      "q4": {
        "question": "When is the cheapest time to fly from Houston to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "The cheapest months to fly from Houston to Costa Rica are April, October, and May, while December and the summer months of June and July are the most expensive. Midweek departures — especially Monday — tend to be cheaper than weekend flights, with midday and morning departures offering the lowest fares. For the best price, book about 14 to 17 weeks ahead; peak summer and major holidays like Christmas drive prices significantly higher.",
        "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. 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. 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."
      },
      "q5": {
        "question": "How far in advance should I book flights from Houston to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "For flights from Houston to Costa Rica, the optimal booking window is about 14 to 17 weeks ahead, when fares average $646, though you can still find reasonable prices a bit closer in during off-peak periods.",
        "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. Airlines and weekly frequencies are compiled from our flight-schedule database, which combines published airline timetables, U.S. government schedule data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), and observed flight operations from the EUROCONTROL/OpenSky Open Performance Data Initiative (OPDI). We count each operating carrier's scheduled weekly departures and the days it flies; where there is no nonstop service, connecting carriers are identified by linking scheduled nonstop segments through common hub airports. Where a median fare is shown for a carrier, it reflects the real fares Priceline users found on this route in the last 72 hours."
      },
      "q6": {
        "question": "What are the most popular cities to visit in Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "Travelers to Costa Rica often start in San José for culture and connections, then head to Arenal for volcanoes and hot springs, Monteverde for cloud forests, Manuel Antonio for beaches and wildlife, and Guanacaste for dry-season sun and resorts."
      },
      "q7": {
        "question": "Do I need a visa to travel from Houston to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "For United States citizens traveling from Houston to Costa Rica, a visa is not required for a short tourist visit. You can stay visa-free for up to 180 days.\n\nA quick note: this 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 Houston?",
        "answer": "From Houston to Costa Rica, Juan Santamaría International Airport near San José is the primary gateway with the most flight options and connections to domestic flights and buses. Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport in Liberia is the best choice for beach resorts and the Guanacaste region."
      },
      "q12": {
        "question": "When is the best time of year to visit Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "For Costa Rica, the best times are December to April for dry weather, though it's peak season with higher prices, and July to August for a brief dry spell with fewer crowds and lower costs."
      },
      "q13": {
        "question": "How do I get to William P Hobby Airport from the city center?",
        "answer": "There are several ways to get from downtown Houston to William P. Hobby Airport. METRO Bus 500 travels nonstop to and from the George R. Brown Convention Center and HOU for $4.50 one way, operating every 30 minutes from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, while METRO Bus 40 provides local service to downtown. Taxis, ride-share apps like Uber and Lyft, and rental cars are also available, and the airport offers a range of parking options. The nonstop METRO Bus 500 is likely the most popular and cost-effective choice for downtown travelers.",
        "toolsUsed": [
          "article_lookup"
        ],
        "references": [
          {
            "url": "https://www.fly2houston.com/hou/ground-transportation/",
            "title": "HOU Ground Transportation | Airport Shuttle, Taxi, Uber, Lyft & Rent Car Houston"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.fly2houston.com/hou/",
            "title": "HOU Houston Airport | William P. Hobby"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://fly2houston.com/hou/ground-transportation/shuttles",
            "title": "Hobby Airport Ground Transportation"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.fly2houston.com/hou/airlines/",
            "title": "HOU Houston Airport | William P. Hobby",
            "time_published": "2026-06-09T19:32:46Z"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_P._Hobby_Airport",
            "title": "William P. Hobby Airport",
            "favicon": "https://en.wikipedia.org/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png",
            "time_published": "2026-09-09T04:33:26Z"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}