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Find cheap flights from San Francisco to Costa Rica from $160

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from San Francisco to Costa Rica departing on 9/17. Fares are subject to change and may not be available on all flights or dates of travel. Click the price to replicate the search for this deal.
1 adult
0 bags
Sat 6/29
Sat 7/6

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Best Costa Rica Flight Deals

Cheapest round-trip prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours

San José
San José1 stop$344
Liberia
Liberia1 stop$463

Good to know

Low season

October

High season

December

Cheapest flight

$160
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 21% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly with an average 69% increase in price.
Flight from San Francisco to San José

FAQs - booking Costa Rica flights

  • If I have made plans to travel from San Francisco to Costa Rica, will I need to have a valid passport and do I need to obtain a visa before I make my trip?

    Travelers that are making the trip to Costa Rica will need to have a valid passport and you need to make sure that your passport will be valid for your entire length of stay in Costa Rica. It is also important to remember that your passport needs to have at least one blank page for an entry stamp. While you will not need a visa to stay in Costa Rica for up to 90 days, the immigration service in Costa Rica will expect you to present a return airline ticket upon your arrival.

  • If my flight from San Francisco International Airport will be landing at San José Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), what type of public transportation is available to travel from the airport to downtown San Jose?

    There is a bus service available, operated by TUASA, that will make the trip from the airport to downtown San Jose in around 30min. The fare for this trip is around CRC 642 (USD 1).

  • If I'm looking for a lounge to wait for my flight to Costa Rica, will I find one at San Francisco International Airport (SFO)?

    There are several lounges provided by both United Airlines and American Airlines at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). These lounges are often used by passengers making the trip to Costa Rica from this airport since both airlines offer one-stop service to airports in Costa Rica.

  • If I will be bringing children on my trip to Costa Rica and I plan on renting a car at the airport, what should I know about car seat laws in Costa Rica?

    When traveling with children in a car in Costa Rica, all children under the age of 12 months must ride in a rear-facing car seat and children from 12 months old to four years old must ride in a forward-facing car seat. Children from four years old to six years old must ride in a booster seat and those from six years old to 12 years old must ride on a booster cushion.

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from San Francisco to Costa Rica?

    KAYAK is a travel search engine. That means we look across the web to find the best prices we can find for our users. With over 2 billion flight queries processed yearly, we are able to display a variety of prices and options on flights from San Francisco to Costa Rica.

  • How does KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy my flight ticket from San Francisco to Costa Rica?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight to Costa Rica from San Francisco is likely to change within 7 days, so travelers know whether to wait or book now.

  • What is the Hacker Fare option on flights from San Francisco to Costa Rica?

    Hacker Fares allow you to combine one-way tickets in order to save you money over a traditional round-trip ticket. You could then fly to Costa Rica with an airline and back to San Francisco with another airline.

  • What is KAYAK's "flexible dates" feature and why should I care when looking for a flight from San Francisco to Costa Rica?

    Sometimes travel dates aren't set in stone. If your preferred travel dates have some wiggle room, flexible dates will show you all the options when flying to Costa Rica from San Francisco up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

See more FAQs

Top tips for finding cheap flights to Costa Rica

  • Morning departure is around 28% cheaper than an evening flight, on average*.
  • A good way to get from downtown San Francisco to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is via the train service offered by Bay Area Rapid Transit, which makes the trip to the airport in around 30min for a cost of about $9.
  • If you are going to be driving yourself to the airport before your flight to Costa Rica, San Francisco International Airport has two different international garages that are just a few steps from the terminal building. For the ultimate convenience, the airport also offers a valet parking service.
  • If you are bringing kids along with you on your trip to Costa Rica, San Francisco International Airport has Kids' Spots play areas in terminals 1, 2, and 3 of the airport.
  • For any travelers with disabilities that will be bringing a service animal along with them to San Francisco International Airport, you'll be glad to hear that there are several animal relief areas located throughout the terminals, including one in the International Terminal near the A Gates.
  • If you want the most convenient way to travel out of San Francisco International Airport, you might consider using the airport's Airport Butler service that provides travelers with a dedicated staff member to guide them through every step of their journey through the airport.
See more tips
*Average of the lowest prices shown in KAYAK’s search results for departures within the next 30 days

Top 5 airlines serving from San Francisco to Costa Rica

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from San Francisco to Costa Rica? KAYAK airline reviews give an overall score for each airline based on loads of factors, including comfort, boarding, in-flight entertainment and more, to make your decision easier. See airline scores according to verified KAYAK customer reviews.
8.0
Alaska AirlinesOverall score based on 9192 reviews
7.9Comfort
8.2Boarding
7.3Food
8.6Crew
7.3Entertainment
Airline reviews

Plane hit turbulence diverted to Houston. We'll probably get in after 3am

2.0 MediocreAnonymous, May 2024SFO - AUS
Read more about Alaska Airlines reviews

Plane hit turbulence diverted to Houston. We'll probably get in after 3am

Given incorrect gate upon check-in, corrected by the gate attendant, D6 rather than D5, minor inconvenience. As with the previous flight, passengers were admonished to voluntarily gate-check carry-on luggage with the statement that those in the last boarding group would have no choice but to do so. If the Boeing 737 MAX8/MAX9 doesn't have room for carry-ons it's an interior design flaw on the part of Boeing. Posting an advance warning would be helpful, such as "Boeing 737 MAX planes feature limited carry-on space. Please be aware." SFO's amenities and TSA much better than MCO's. Crew was amazing! Brought my own food because Alaska's onboard selection has soy in everything. Beverage service was excellent. This was the first and last trip with Alaska after the previous flight's issues. It's no reflection on the crew of this flight. They were great.

The flight was mostly smooth and quiet. No seatback screens.

I enjoyed the leg room at my seat, but I was in an exit row.

Boarded the plain and had to wait 1 hour for crew Captain to arrive from another flight

They canceled the flight 30 minutes prior to departure without any heads up.

All parts were excellent, especially staff at bag tag printing and inflight crew. Just the normal differences from past air travel could be improved but we’ve learned to accept those—cramped seats, minimal food/beverage, etc.

Attentive crew. Best of all was the empty seat between me and my rowmate.

We had a very scary attempted landing in Palm Springs and were redirected to Ontario. It was a stressful flight.

Every thing means , crew, service, timing, boarding is very good.

The seats had plenty of leg room and the staff were very nice.

Copa performed as expected for the amount of money I was willing to spend for the flight; it wasn’t exceptional but it was not bad in any way either. The crew was good; friendly and straightforward. The food was airplane food, so no expectations there and the entertainment was lacking but that was my fault for owning an IPhone with a charging port that’s not compatible with the rest of the world. I’d fly Copa again.

Left my bags in origin city on a business class ticket , spent about 2-3 days in the same clothes plus the flight .

the planes are not modern there are no phone chargers

As usual, the flight with normal legroom was not very comfortable, but the second flight was much better because we had paid for extra legroom. It was very nice to check our bags without an extra fee.

LOCKED MY BAG WITHOUT CONSENT. Had to have my zippers cut upon arrival in Costa Rica.

Pros: "The seats in economy were confortable. The best thing was Copa gave us seats in the second line and my family traveled together."
Cons: "Coffe service could better the experience"
Pros: "The crew was very interested on help and attentive with the passengers. But the seat wasn't comfortable. The design of the cushion is not the best to be seating"
Pros: "You were on time, that is the most important thing in a fly"
Cons: "You could improve your entertainment, you are not a cheap company"
Pros: "That there was seltzer"
Cons: "The management of preparing the flight and plane so that it was ready for the trip!!"

No water for a 5 hour flight entertainment not working seats with little room for knees when person in front of me reclined kept bumping my knees.

I don't think anyone actually reads these comments, so I won't spend much time on this submission. If you want to talk, you know how to reach me. The D/FW manager of Avianca (self-identified), Juan Calderon, insisted I buy an onward ticket from San Salvador even though I have diplomatic status in El Salvador and live here. It cost me $1,393 and Mr Calderon would not let me make the ticked flexible so I could get a refund. He went out of his way to be rude to me. He gave me seat 32K -- windowless window seat in the last row and did not offer to let me upgrade even though there were plenty of seats. I have flown well over a million miles in my life and this is the worst experience I have ever had. I would like a refund on the ticket I was forced to buy. Just awful!

This is the Spirit of Latino travel. And don’t even get me started on customer service.

Awful. I checked in online and there was no option to pay for baggage, at the airport when I checked in my baggage was received and Iwas not charged. When I got to LA during the boarding process I was told I didn't pay for baggage, the crew resolved I was let in the plane. When I got to my final destination my baggage was not there. It took me two days to receive my baggage. Bad service ever!

There was no food or drink service, couldn’t even get a glass of water for free. It was a long and expensive flight to not offer food or beverage on the plane.

It is better at the jfk than my home country. It was very easy and everything was on time.

There is no food. There is no in-inflight entertainment. The seats are cardboard. The airline is a living hellscape.

My experience was amazing! They helped my elderly mother board on early through a wheelchair and were accommodating to have us sit together since our seats were in different locations. When landing at the airport in GUA they were very helpful with full of hospitality.

No complimentary snacks food, beverage (not even water), pillow and blanket on a 6 hours long flight (including economy comfort). A low form of nickeling an diming. Lost a recurring passanger over a soda. Avianca never again.

Flight departure late. Got late in Colombia making us take a different flight next day. Avianca airport crew messed up my ticket so when a I got in Brazil I didn’t have a ticket for my destination. Had to buy a new ticket out of my pocket.

Aisle chair was good and liked the foot bar preventing you from putting your foot in the isle, The breakfast on this international flight to Zurich was horrible (Europeans, specially, used to good food) may make this a dealbreaker for booking with United Airlines again. I agreed with my Spanish fellow passenger.

On time take off…US cabins look tired and need of refresh!

Backpack should NOT allowed put in the flight bin , only put it under the seat. I can't find space put my carry on luggage!!! and I pay for it ! that was very bad experience

Hated every minute of it. This flight should have only taken 1.5hrs but was delayed over 10hours. Now I am being told I cannot be compensated or refunded my ticket price or extra leg room, which I purchased but did not receive, because the airline is throwing the blame on the 3rd party I purchased tickets through and 3rd party putting the blame on airline. No one wants to help. They received their money and that's all they care about. Im going on 3 days of still trying to get to my final destination, had to cancel car rental, car insurance and hotel. Currently staying in airport until hotels open up. Thank you Lufthansa, Kayak, Underpricer and United for making this trip the worst ever.

Crew was great and did their best to make us comfortable and captain came out at the beginning to announce why the flight was delayed, weather situation up ahead, and kept us updated throughout the flight.

United WiFi is consistently unusable (it can take 10 mins to load a single web page). If you need Wifi to do work, be prepared to lose half a day of productivity.

Awful. I got stuck next to a person carrying a dog and behind someone with a dog. People need to board these dogs downstairs. The cabin is crowded enough with your pets

Packed in like sardines, very uncomfortable. Sitting the aisle my shoulder was rammed into numerous times by rushing flight attendants. Also flight was very cold.

Beverage and food services are excellent. We enjoy paying the extra for economy plus for the 3 inches more leg room to be exact.

Flight was delayed by 3 hours. The pilot made up 1 hour during the flight, but that made the wait at the airport 5 hours once you factor getting there 2 hours early.

Flight was 1/2 hour delayed leaving Phoenix. Otherwise it was an average flight. Flight crew on this trip was very nice.

Horrible - they lied to me about baggage & boarding, even though I specifically spoke to their agents the day before my flight about my issue. When I showed up they did not let me board and stranded me at my airport until I bought a new flight with money I did not have to spend.

Not sure why JAL partnered with American Airlines because their service is no where near similar. Flight attendants were not friendly and didn’t smile. Food was horrible…

The experience was great and much better than the flight going out. of course I was in first class but the service was excellent

Comfort of seats, ease of boarding. Food selection could be better

Food options were limited which is absolutely embarrassing for a Flight of this size The staff did not come around as much and I am not accustomed to such poor service from American Airlines Drinks I believe were limited to soda and water

Crew were attentive and friendly. Flight was smooth and early! I enjoyed the less crowded plane. Thank you!

We are gluten free, there were not any available complimentary gluten free options.

No meal on a cross country flight? SFO-MiA is pretty much the definition of a coast to coast flight. No meal provided. Sky high wi-fi rates too. Stop nickel and diming your customers.

The staff was unprofessional and didn’t communicate very well. The boarding process was very disheveled, potentially due to a power outage the previous day but there was no contingency plan to properly get passengers boarded the following day. Once boarded the aircraft stayed on the tarmac for over 45 minutes due to high winds. The communication was sporadic but an announcement was finally made an additional 30 minutes later that the flight was cancelled but we couldn’t get off the plane. Prior to deplaning one of the gate agents came on the plane and made an announcement for everyone to pickup their checked bags and take a card to rebook a new reservation because they didn’t have adequate staff. Flights were missed, passengers went to different airports and there was little to no assistance from AA.

Book cheap flights from San Francisco to Costa Rica

Recent round-trip flight deals

8/14Wed
1 stopCopa Airlines
16h 09mSFO-SJO
8/21Wed
1 stopCopa Airlines
13h 36mSJO-SFO
$344
9/7Sat
1 stopJetBlue
12h 03mSFO-SJO
9/12Thu
1 stopJetBlue
12h 30mSJO-SFO
$354
7/9Tue
1 stopAvianca
7h 45mSFO-SJO
7/18Thu
1 stopAvianca
10h 05mSJO-SFO
$435
7/16Tue
1 stopAvianca
7h 45mSFO-SJO
7/25Thu
1 stopAvianca
11h 15mSJO-SFO
$443
7/30Tue
1 stopAlaska Airlines
10h 55mSFO-LIR
8/13Tue
1 stopAlaska Airlines
16h 08mLIR-SFO
$463
7/30Tue
1 stopAlaska Airlines
10h 55mSFO-LIR
8/15Thu
1 stopAlaska Airlines
14h 48mLIR-SFO
$484
9/9Mon
2 stopsAmerican Airlines
12h 09mSFO-SJO
9/12Thu
2 stopsAmerican Airlines
19h 57mSJO-SFO
$501
9/10Tue
1 stopAmerican Airlines
12h 15mSFO-SJO
9/13Fri
2 stopsAmerican Airlines
20h 46mSJO-SFO
$503
6/9Sun
1 stopUnited Airlines
16h 39mSFO-SJO
6/15Sat
1 stopUnited Airlines
13h 01mSJO-SFO
$546
9/27Fri
1 stopUnited Airlines
10h 35mSFO-LIR
10/5Sat
1 stopUnited Airlines
19h 55mLIR-SFO
$709

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Recent one-way flight deals

9/17Tue
1 stopFrontier
32h 17mSFO-SJO
$160
10/1Tue
1 stopCopa Airlines
13h 00mSFO-SJO
$166
8/7Wed
2 stopsAvianca
23h 25mSFO-SJO
$211
6/12Wed
2 stopsAvianca
18h 20mSFO-SJO
$216
8/7Wed
1 stopAlaska Airlines
10h 55mSFO-LIR
$216
10/1Tue
2 stopsAmerican Airlines
16h 43mSFO-SJO
$230
7/30Tue
1 stopAlaska Airlines
8h 30mSFO-LIR
$237
8/3Sat
1 stopAmerican Airlines
20h 06mSFO-SJO
$241
6/29Sat
1 stopUnited Airlines
21h 40mSFO-SJO
$319
6/26Wed
1 stopUnited Airlines
17h 52mSFO-SJO
$367

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Last minute flights from San Francisco to Costa Rica

Last minute flight, train and bus deals

6/4Tue
multi-stop
31h 54mSFO-SJO
6/14Fri
multi-stop
8h 35mSJO-SFO
$422
5/31Fri
multi-stopFrontier
32h 09mSFO-SJO
6/9Sun
multi-stopFrontier
26h 55mSJO-SFO
$423
6/2Sun
multi-stopCopa Airlines
13h 06mSFO-SJO
6/4Tue
multi-stopCopa Airlines
10h 44mSJO-SFO
$424
6/2Sun
multi-stopCopa Airlines
11h 05mSFO-SJO
6/9Sun
multi-stopCopa Airlines
20h 25mSJO-SFO
$444
6/4Tue
multi-stopAvianca
20h 55mSFO-SJO
6/12Wed
multi-stopAvianca
13h 10mSJO-SFO
$503
6/4Tue
multi-stopAvianca
20h 55mSFO-SJO
6/12Wed
multi-stopAvianca
8h 35mSJO-SFO
$530
5/31Fri
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
12h 09mSFO-SJO
6/11Tue
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
16h 54mSJO-SFO
$551
6/3Mon
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
13h 21mSFO-SJO
8/30Fri
multi-stopAmerican Airlines
16h 02mSJO-SFO
$598
6/1Sat
multi-stopUnited Airlines
12h 29mSFO-SJO
6/10Mon
multi-stopUnited Airlines
17h 09mSJO-SFO
$636
6/2Sun
multi-stopUnited Airlines
12h 55mSFO-LIR
6/24Mon
nonstopUnited Airlines
6h 45mLIR-SFO
$1,233

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San Francisco - Costa Rica Flights

Departure:

San Francisco (SFO)United States

Return flight deals:

Costa Rica - San Francisco

Cabin classes:

$1,858
$1,633
$716