{
  "response": {
    "Key": "ATL-CR",
    "orig": {
      "code": "ATL",
      "type": "airport",
      "city": "Atlanta",
      "fullCity": "Atlanta, Georgia",
      "airport": "Hartsfield Jackson Intl Airport"
    },
    "dest": {
      "code": "CR",
      "type": "country",
      "country": "Costa Rica"
    },
    "faq": {
      "q0": {
        "question": "Which cities in Costa Rica can I fly to from Atlanta?",
        "answer": "From Atlanta you can fly non-stop to Liberia in Guanacaste and San José. Liberia is closest to Pacific beach resorts, while San José is the central hub for connections to the Caribbean coast, volcanoes and cloud forests."
      },
      "q1": {
        "question": "How long is the flight from Atlanta to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "From Atlanta to San José, non-stop flights take around 3 hours 45 minutes to 4 hours, and the return is similar. Flying into Liberia is about the same non-stop time. One-stop connections to either city typically add 2 to 4 hours depending on the layover."
      },
      "q2": {
        "question": "Are there direct flights from Atlanta to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "Yes, you can fly non-stop from Atlanta to Costa Rica. Delta offers direct service from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) in San José, with a flight time of about 4 hours. If non-stops are not available or you are flying to Liberia (LIR), common one-stop routings connect through Miami, Fort Lauderdale, or Houston, bringing total travel time to roughly 6 to 9 hours."
      },
      "q3": {
        "question": "Which airlines fly from Atlanta to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "Delta flies non-stop Atlanta–San José. One-stop options include American, United, Copa, Spirit, Frontier, and JetBlue via their hubs."
      },
      "q4": {
        "question": "When is the cheapest time to fly from Atlanta to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "The cheapest months to fly from Atlanta to Costa Rica are April, October, and May, with midweek departures — especially Wednesday — and morning flights offering the lowest fares. Booking about 14 to 16 weeks ahead typically yields the best price, while peak summer and the December holidays are notably more expensive.",
        "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 Atlanta to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "For flights from Atlanta to Costa Rica, the sweet spot is booking about 14 to 16 weeks ahead, when fares average around $648, though you can still find decent prices as close as 10 weeks out.",
        "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. Stop counts, connecting hubs, and per-airline prices are drawn from a large sample of the real fares Priceline users found on this route in the last 72 hours. We group those fares by number of stops, by the hub airport a connection routes through, and by operating airline, and report each group's share of the sample alongside its lowest and median price."
      },
      "q6": {
        "question": "What are the most popular cities to visit in Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "In Costa Rica, most U.S. travelers fly into San Jose or Liberia and explore regions like Arenal for volcanoes and hot springs, Monteverde for cloud forests, Manuel Antonio for beaches and wildlife, and the Caribbean coast around Puerto Viejo."
      },
      "q7": {
        "question": "Do I need a visa to travel from Atlanta to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "For United States citizens, no visa is required for a short tourist visit to Costa Rica, and stays of up to 180 days are permitted.\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 Atlanta?",
        "answer": "From Atlanta to Costa Rica, the two main international airports are Juan Santamaría near San José and Daniel Oduber Quirós in Liberia. Juan Santamaría is the country's primary hub with the most long-haul options and best connections to domestic flights, buses, and shuttles for travel throughout the country. Liberia is ideal if you're heading to Pacific coast beaches and resorts in Guanacaste, as it's closer and saves hours of driving. There are no passenger trains for onward travel, so ground transport relies on rental cars, shuttles, and buses."
      },
      "q12": {
        "question": "When is the best time of year to visit Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "For Costa Rica, the dry season from December to April offers the best weather, but it is the busiest and most expensive period. The green season from May to November brings daily rain, lighter crowds and lower prices, with July often seeing a brief dry spell."
      },
      "q13": {
        "question": "How do I get to Hartsfield Jackson Intl Airport from the city center?",
        "answer": "From downtown Atlanta, the MARTA Red and Gold rail lines run directly to the airport's domestic terminal, offering the cheapest and often fastest option since it avoids highway traffic. Ride-share services like Uber and Lyft are available, along with traditional taxis, though both cost more than rail. Shuttle buses and hotel shuttles serve many nearby hotels, and driving is straightforward via I-75/I-85 with both on-airport and off-airport parking available. For most travelers, MARTA is the most popular choice because it is inexpensive and reliable.",
        "toolsUsed": [
          "article_lookup"
        ],
        "references": [
          {
            "url": "https://www.atl.com/ground-transportation/",
            "title": "Ground Transportation - The official website of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport",
            "favicon": "https://www.atl.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-HJ_plane_Red-1000-180x180.jpg",
            "time_published": "2025-08-22T17:08:34Z"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_station_(MARTA)",
            "title": "Airport station (MARTA)",
            "time_published": "2026-06-05T09:05:51Z"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.atl.com/maps/",
            "title": "Maps - The official website of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport",
            "favicon": "https://www.atl.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-HJ_plane_Red-1000-180x180.jpg",
            "time_published": "2026-08-27T15:08:23Z"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.atl.com/flight-search/",
            "title": "Flight Search - The official website of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport",
            "favicon": "https://www.atl.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-HJ_plane_Red-1000-180x180.jpg",
            "time_published": "2026-08-12T00:00:00Z"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.atl.com",
            "title": "ATL Home - The official website of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport",
            "favicon": "https://www.atl.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-HJ_plane_Red-1000-180x180.jpg",
            "time_published": "2026-09-03T17:39:52Z"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}