Costa Rica situation – updated on January 11^th

The aerial borders are opened to all countries (with no exception)

as long as they meet the following requirements:

• Fill a digital epidemiological form at https://salud.go.cr (Health Pass).
• Purchase a travel insurance that covers expenses in case of acute illness caused by the virus.

Airlines operation

San Jose Airport

These airlines are currently flying:

Iberia: to / from Madrid on Sunday, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Lufthansa: flights available to / from Frankfurt on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Air France: to / from Paris on Thursday & Saturdays.

Copa Airlines: to / from Panama and Guatemala.

American Airlines: to / from Dallas and Miami.

Spirit: to / from Fort Lauderdale.

Aromexico: on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays from Mexico and Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays from CR.

Air Canada: to / from Toronto.

KLM: to / from Amsterdam on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays & Sundays.

United Airlines: it is already flying to/ from Houston, Newark, Chicago, Denver, Washington and Los Angeles.

Jet Blue: to / from Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, New York and Los Angeles.

Alaska: to / from Los Angeles.

Volaris: it is already flying to / from Mexico via Guatemala and to / from Cancun.

Important: this airline will encourage travel to / from Central America by offering a 70% discount in high season 2020 and for 2021.

Delta: to / from Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Avianca: to / from El Salvador and Bogota.

Wingo: to / from Bogota.

Edelweiss: to / from Zurich.

British Airways: no daily operation (flights with a layover in Spain and USA available – operated by Iberia and American Airlines). As of February 06^th 2021, direct flights will operate (Tuesday and Saturday), from March 29^th it will only operate Mondays and Saturdays. As of April 18^th operation is not set yet.

Flights available from 2021 (no set dates): Southwest, LATAM.

No operation until further notice: Air Panama, Air Transat, Albatros Airlines, Condor, Interjet, Westjet.

Liberia Airport

These airlines are currently flying:

American Airlines: to / from Dallas & Miami.

United Airlines: to / from Newark, Houston, Denver, Chicago, San Francisco & Los Angeles.

West Jet: to / from Houston (USA) and Calgary & Toronto from Canada.

Alaska Airlines: to / from Dallas, Miami and Los Angeles.

Delta: to / from Atlanta, Los Angeles & Minneapolis.

Southwest: to / from Houston.

Jet Blue: to / from Los Angeles.

KLM: to / from Amsterdam to Liberia on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Sunday (with a layover at San Jose).

Tourists are now not only able to choose from the authorized national products (Instituto Nacional de Seguros and Sagicor) but also through the international options of their choice, insofar as they comply the requirements.

The international insurance company must issue a certificate, in English or Spanish, assuring three minimum conditions:

• Effectiveness of the policy during the visit to Costa Rica.
• Guaranteed coverage of medical expenses in the event of becoming ill with the COVID-19 virus while in Costa Rica, for at least $50,000 (fifty thousand United States Dollars).
• Minimum coverage of $2,000 for extended lodging expenses due to the virus (equivalent to 14 days).

When completing the “Health Pass”, the traveller will also be able to digitally validate (PDF format files) the required certificate of their travel insurance, in order to speed up the process of entering the airport.

Important: when completing these digital requirements, a green code will be generated if it is approved and with which you can go directly to the migration area upon arrival, a purple code if for any reason your travel insurance must be validated directly at the airport or a red code if the entry requirements are incomplete or were denied.

Additionally, the airport administration established a sanitary protocol to follow when entering the country. Some of the main guidelines are the use of mask, social distancing, use of disinfection mats and temperature control.

For international departures, a check-in of 4 hours for long-term flights is now required, passengers must use mask and the online check-in mechanism is recommended to speed up the process as possible.

You can check the complete protocol video here.

Together with this reopening, open-air activities such as surfing, hiking, canyoning, kayaking, etc are allowed and the visitation schedule of the beaches was extended from 05:00 to 22:00 (Monday to Friday) and from 05:00 to 20:00 (Saturday & Sunday), except from December 31^st 2020 to January 17^th 2021. Additionally, hotels can operate at full capacity, except in its common areas where only mid-capacity is allowed to ensure social distancing.

Regulations for the end and beginning of the year

-Carnival-style celebrations are not allowed in hotels and public places.

-Until January 31st, 2021 the beach visitation schedule will be from 05:00 to 18:00 only and the capacity of national parks will be limited to 50%.

-From January 04^th to 17^th 2021, the beach visitation schedule will be from 05:00 to 14:30 only and the capacity of national parks will be limited to 50%.

-The capacity of the bars and casinos for the same period will only be 25%.

Please contact us at [email protected] for more information.

Sincerely,

The Travel Excellence Team