{
  "response": {
    "Key": "WAS-CR",
    "orig": {
      "code": "WAS",
      "type": "airport",
      "city": "Washington",
      "fullCity": "Washington, United States",
      "airport": "Ronald Reagan National Airport"
    },
    "dest": {
      "code": "CR",
      "type": "country",
      "country": "Costa Rica"
    },
    "faq": {
      "q0": {
        "question": "Which cities in Costa Rica can I fly to from Washington?",
        "answer": "From the Washington area you can fly non-stop to San José or Liberia. San José is the capital and main gateway for the Central Valley and Caribbean coast, while Liberia serves the Pacific beaches of Guanacaste. One-stop connections via Miami, Atlanta or Panama City also reach smaller airports like Tamarindo or Quepos."
      },
      "q1": {
        "question": "How long is the flight from Washington to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "From Washington to Costa Rica, non-stop flights to San José typically take 4 hours 45 minutes to 5 hours 15 minutes southbound, with return flights about 30 minutes longer. One-stop routes to Liberia or San José usually range from 6 to 8 hours depending on the connection."
      },
      "q2": {
        "question": "Are there direct flights from Washington to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "Yes, there are non-stop flights from the Washington area to Costa Rica. From Dulles International Airport, United Airlines offers non-stop service to San José and seasonal non-stop service to Liberia. Flight time to either destination is roughly 5 hours. If you choose a connecting itinerary, common one-stop routings go through Miami, Atlanta, or Houston, with total travel times typically ranging from 7 to 9 hours."
      },
      "q3": {
        "question": "Which airlines fly from Washington to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "From Washington to Costa Rica you can fly nonstop with United and Copa, or connect through hubs like Miami, Atlanta or Panama City."
      },
      "q4": {
        "question": "When is the cheapest time to fly from Washington to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "The cheapest months to fly from Washington to Costa Rica are typically May, April, and June, with fares climbing into peak summer and spiking around the December holidays. Booking about 10 to 13 weeks ahead tends to yield the best prices, and while midweek departures often help on many routes, peak summer and major holidays are usually 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. 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": "Costa Rica's top spots include San José for culture and as a transit hub, the Arenal area for volcanoes, Guanacaste for Pacific beaches, Monteverde for cloud forests and Puerto Viejo for Caribbean vibes."
      },
      "q7": {
        "question": "Do I need a visa to travel from Washington to Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "For United States citizens, no visa is required for a short tourist visit to Costa Rica. 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 Washington?",
        "answer": "From Washington to Costa Rica, Juan Santamaría International Airport near San José has the most flight options and works as a central hub for exploring the country. Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport in Liberia is the best choice for Pacific beach destinations like Guanacaste and the Nicoya Peninsula."
      },
      "q12": {
        "question": "When is the best time of year to visit Costa Rica?",
        "answer": "For Costa Rica, the dry season from mid-December to April offers the best weather, but it's also the busiest and most expensive. May through August, the \\\\\"green season,\\\\\" provides a good balance with lower prices, fewer crowds, and typically sunny mornings."
      },
      "q13": {
        "question": "How do I get to Ronald Reagan National Airport from the city center?",
        "answer": "Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is directly connected to downtown D.C. via the Metrorail system, with a station linked to Terminals B and C, making it the fastest and most popular option from the city center. Ride-share services like Uber and Lyft, as well as taxis, provide door-to-door convenience at a higher cost. Limited public buses (Metrobus route 5A and Fairfax Connector routes 981/983) and off-airport shuttle buses are also available, while driving offers on-airport garages and an economy lot with free 24/7 shuttle service to the terminals.",
        "toolsUsed": [
          "article_lookup"
        ],
        "references": [
          {
            "url": "https://flyreagan.com/parking-transportation/ground-transportation",
            "title": "flyreagan.com - Ground Transportation",
            "favicon": "https://flyreagan.com/themes/custom/mwaa_barrio/favicon.ico"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.flyreagan.com/parking-transportation",
            "title": "flyreagan.com - Parking & Transportation",
            "favicon": "https://www.flyreagan.com/themes/custom/mwaa_barrio/favicon.ico"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.mwaa.com/ipw-2017-archived",
            "title": "mwaa.com - IPW 2017 - Archived",
            "favicon": "https://www.mwaa.com/themes/custom/mwaa_barrio/favicon.ico"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://www.flyreagan.com/",
            "title": "Official Website of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport - DCA",
            "favicon": "https://www.flyreagan.com/themes/custom/mwaa_barrio/favicon.ico"
          },
          {
            "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan_Washington_National_Airport_station",
            "title": "Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport station",
            "favicon": "https://en.wikipedia.org/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png",
            "time_published": "2026-09-10T17:56:25Z"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}