Well, it’s that time of year again, we are in full trip planning mode! And of course, it wouldn’t be our kind of trip if it wasn’t on a budget 🙂 This one is going to be international, so it will run us a little more than our last two budget trips to the Caribbean. (Be sure check out our Puerto Rico and St. Croix posts as well! ) But it will absolutely be worth it! Read on to learn how we planned a week long trip for two, to Costa Rica, for less than $1050 USD.
Full disclosure – this ‘Trip for Two to Costa Rica for less than $1050 (USD)’ accounts for roundtrip flights from the U.S. with one checked bag, rental car for 8 days and accommodations (including breakfast!) for 7 nights, for one couple. Based on some of the trips we’ve seen advertised, this is really quite a great deal. Some tours start at $1,000 per person, without the flight!
There are always several things that can affect how, when, where and why we plan a trip. In this particular situation, we were motivated by airline miles sitting on a credit card.
Ever Heard of Spirit Airlines?
First things first. Why did we pick Costa Rica for our next trip? Complete transparency – it was the cheapest place and time we could find flights to make the most of our Spirit Miles/points. Are you familiar with Spirit airlines? They are currently one of the top budget airlines in the U.S. We always check their flight options first when planning a trip. They offer a credit card through Bank of America which gets you ‘Miles’ that you can use toward your next flight.
Phil had a card for YEARS and we finally used up all of his Miles on our trip to St. Croix last fall (part of our ‘Trip to St. Croix for Two for Less Than $600‘ post). While we were on this flight, the attendant on the loud speaker mentioned a promotion they were running. Their ‘limited time offer’ (which you can still get, by the way) gets you 30,000 Miles which can be used in various ways. We decided to maximize and head to San Jose, Costa Rica using all of the points plus a few dollars. Here’s the break down for two round trip tickets (from Myrtle Beach (MYR) to San Jose (SJO), with a layover in Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) with one checked bag (each way):
Before Spirit Miles: $821.56 (USD)
Using Spirit Miles: $466.59 (USD)
That’s a 43% savings!
Note: We did some cost comparison, and round trip flights, mid-September, from various U.S. airports run about $400 per person. Airports we researched: Charlotte (CLT), Norfolk (ORF), New York (NYC), Boston (BOS), Portland (PDX), Los Angeles (LAX) and Kansas (MCI).
If you aren’t familiar with Spirit, it’s good to know that they are a BUDGET AIRLINE! They will charge you for any and anything in addition to your ticket, so be sure to do your research when committing to them. The ONLY free bags are your personal items. They will charge you for anything over that 18″ x 14″ x 8″ item. So if you can, try to share a carry-on bag with your travel buddy (up to 62 linear inches and weighing less than 40 lbs.). Yes, there’s some math involved, but it’s worth it. Also, be sure to purchase the luggage ahead of time, when planning your trip. They could charge you more than double to check it once your arrive at the airport.
Additionally, Spirit will charge you to select your seat, as well as for any food or beverage on the plane. So be travel savvy and plan ahead! We pack snacks and bring our reusable water bottles in preparation for Spirit flights. These little tricks contribute to how we plan a trip for two, to Costa Rica, for less than $1050.
Road trippin’
We originally toyed with the idea of travelling via bus while in Costa Rica, as we have heard from several folks that the bus system is quite good. And cheap! While reasonable and relatively reliable, we’ve heard it’s a very slow method of transportation. It also limits the places you can travel to. It’s something we’d be more likely to entertain if we were staying in Costa Rica for a couple weeks. That being said, we decided we wanted to book a rental car for our trip.
Costa Rica has SO MUCH TO OFFER and we aren’t about to sit idle in one town for the whole week. That’s just not how we roll. We want the freedom to EXPLORE! We did quite a bit of research about renting a car and driving in Costa Rica, and the best advice seemed to come from MyTanFeet.com. “Costa Rica’s Leading Travel Blog and Planning Guide” was a GREAT reference for SO MANY things in planning this trip. They even offer a car rental deal that can’t be beat! Here’s just some of what their hook up includes (head to their website for more):
- Up to 20% off!
- Two FREE drivers (normally $4 per day per driver)
- 0% deductible from the Liability Protection Insurance (up to $20,000 – normally 20%)
- Road assistance
- Local cell phone rental at no extra cost with 1 hour of credit for local calls and texts (not smartphone)
- Included shuttle pick up & drop off to the airport
- Free cooler if available (small or medium size)
- $750 deposit instead of the $1000 deposit
Pretty sweet right?!?!
One of the most important things to note about Costa Rica, if you are renting a car, is the mandatory, liability insurance. You will NEED TO purchase this insurance with the rental. This is not the car protection offered by your credit card, but you’ll want to have that too. There are stories of people who booked rental cars online without considering this who were later quite taken aback by the cost of the additional insurance once they arrived at the rental car agency. As always, do your homework!
On average… accommodations are CHEAP!
Sure, there are fancy, luxury hotels, just like anywhere else. But in true Staying Afloat style, we sought out some deals! When we initially started planning the trip, we started searching the ol’, tried and true, Airbnb. After finding a couple places that looked O.K., we decided to see what kind of deals hotels had to offer. We were pleasantly surprised! There are several options, in all of the towns we plan to visit, averaging less than $45 per night. Best of all? We were able to secure all our accommodation with BREAKFAST INCLUDED!
We ended up booking most of our hotels through Booking.com (see side bar—>). They had some of the best prices, and the desktop layout is super user friendly!
Travel Tip: We would do all the research on our desktop and then make the reservations through our Ibotta app (if you don’t have it yet, be sure to use our referral code hpkyhkm for some free $$). This way, we get an extra 4% cash back on the already reasonably priced accommodations. It’s a win-win situation!
We did read in a couple spots, that if you are planning your trip in the off-peak/rain season (May to November) you may be able to negotiate a cheaper rate with some hotels. We didn’t have much luck with this, but we still made out alright! Stay tuned for details on where we stayed as we’ll break down the price of each night in another post 😉
And there you have it!
Two Roundtrip Flights: $466.59
Rental Car for 8 Days: $268.69
Lodging for 7 Nights (average per night): $44.85/nt
That’s a trip for two, to Costa Rica, for less than $1050!
We’ll be publishing a blog post about our itinerary as well as the trip itself later this year, so be sure to check back for an update. Said post will include daily costs like food, drink, and fuel. We’ll also report back on entertainment, like national park admissions, and any tours we take while we are there. Our goal, of course, is to keep expenses to a minimum.
If you aren’t yet following us on social media, be sure to do so before we leave for our trip in September. Check us out on Instagram and Facebook. This way, you’ll be able to travel along with us!
Travel Tip – If you need to call Costa Rica for any reason while planning your trip, be sure to use a calling card. Calls can run around $1.99/minute when calling from the US.
Have you ever travelled to Costa Rica? We’d love to hear your budget friendly recommendations for things to do!
