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R13 104 Find cheap flights to Costa Rica

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from South Africa to Costa Rica departing on 3/11. 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
Fri 23/8
Fri 30/8

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Cheapest return prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours

San José
San José3 stopsR23 180
Liberia
Liberia2 stopsR32 761

Good to know

Low season

October

High season

December

Cheapest flight

R13 104
Best time to beat the crowds (11% less expensive on average)
Most popular time to fly (14% more expensive on average)
Flight from Cape Town to San José

FAQs - booking Costa Rica flights

  • How long is the flight to Costa Rica?

    An average direct flight from South Africa to Costa Rica takes 31h 03m, covering a distance of 20058 km. The most popular route is Johannesburg - Liberia with an average flight time of 28h 00m.

  • What is the cheapest flight to Costa Rica?

    The cheapest ticket to Costa Rica from South Africa found in the last 72 hours was R17 527. The most popular route is Johannesburg OR Tambo to Liberia and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was R32 761.

  • What are the most popular destinations in Costa Rica?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is San José (57% of total searches to Costa Rica). The next most popular destination is Liberia (43%).

  • How does KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a given destination and date is likely to change within 7 days, so travellers know whether to wait or book now.

See more FAQs

Top tips for finding cheap flights to Costa Rica

  • Enter your preferred departure airport and travel dates into the search form above to unlock the latest Costa Rica flight deals.

Top 5 airlines flying to Costa Rica

Need help choosing which airline to fly with from South Africa 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.
7,8
KLMOverall score based on 1417 reviews
8,4Crew
7,2Entertainment
7,3Food
7,9Boarding
7,7Comfort
Airline reviews

Delay, luggage didn’t arrive. Had to go the next day to collect it

2,0 MediocreEmrah, Jul 2024AMS - MUC
Read more about KLM reviews

Delay, luggage didn’t arrive. Had to go the next day to collect it

KLM is my favourite airline. Never ever let us down.Staff are first class.

The plane. Airbus A330-200. Comfortable for a 7-hour flight. Seats seemed to have more legroom. I was in row 17. Flight was operated by Delta but was better than expected.

Pretty bad. Food was awful. drinks were scarce, as if drinking an extra drink would ruin the airline. attendants were not very helpful. likely Dutch "directedness" (I cannot be bothered). Crammed flight. Entertainment in very minimal dosage. Almost all old movies and series with 1-3 episodes only. Very limited number of options available. Jesus!! it seems you need to bring your own entertainment these days even of flights that are 13 hrs long!! I would and I will avoid in the future!

Quick and efficient as always. Air France managed to loose and damage my luggage that never made it onto my KLM flight.

The food from Lagos to Amsterdam was was very poor compared to AMS-YYZ

The flight was again delayed for more then 2 hours with some lousy explanation regarding the reason of the delay. Although the flight was delayed for more than 2 hours, no refreshments were offered (according to EU regulations). Last 4 flights on KLM - always at least 2 hrs late. So be prepared that you cannot plan anything with KLM.

We left one hour late because of technical difficulties. The economy comfort seats are great for the price. The crew was mediocre, they do not provide a pleasant experience, they just deliver food and drinks and give orders, not very amicable, no service and hospitality focus.

Booked connecting flights with KlM. My serving flight was the furthest part of the airport. On arrival in Zurich. My two cases arrived but only one carry on belong to my son. His three suitcase didn't arrive. After enquiring we discovered they were still in Amsterdam. We landed at 11.12. We eventually left the airport just after one.

Seats are fair enough for medium tall people. Good food all the trip. Fight attendances are warm

Delayed flight… caused the missing of my connecting flight in Zurich. Had to wait 10 hours in airport for new flight which was also delayed by 1 hour. No apologies and minimal compensation.

Really crammed in economy. Didn’t end up getting the seats we were hoping for. Didn’t eat any food so can’t comment on that.

It was great! Friendly crew. Good food and service. Great snacks. But one of our luggage did not come to Chicago. Stood at carrousel until the end waiting for our bag and it wasn’t there. Then we had to rush very fast to catch our connecting flight to Cleveland and almost missed it

Everything was fine except for very old audio video equipment. I couldn’t use my own headphones because there’s two-port audio plug and the headphones provided are useless. The displays are really old as well. Definitely need to be updated.

The only problem is, we arrived in Miami with no luggage. We waited an hour and 20 minutes at the carousel. There was no one to tell us that all the luggage had come out. There were many people in the same disposition. They say 20% of the luggage never arrived in Miami.

Delayed two times Parked far Bad communication All connections list

I don't think I will fly Swiss again. I had issues with carry on luggage, connections were really tight, food was average, I paid extra for an aisle seat, then it was changed at check-in, the app/website don't allow you to add extra baggage if needed, and it was the first long-haul flight that didn't provide alcohol (glass of wine with dinner).

Leave on time so i dont miss my transit flight. Also make it so coffee/tea is free amd not a paid service. The staff treat us like dogs having us wait everywhere. The buses had no ac and we had to wait inside packed like sardines. Horrible experience. Never flying again hopefully and not using kayak.

Far above average. The level of quality and service has really improved and passed most US carriers on this route. Go Edelweiss!

we were late to get to this connecting flight and SWISS decided to wait for us . Very nice of them

They again did not offer any functioning WiFi in the transatlantic crossing.

Flight was late over a hour just like the first one. WiFi was down.

I paid 3 this and dollars for two tickets. No food, minimum drink, confused service and very uncomfortable sear. There was zero difference between busy ness and tourist class. I received a pathetic apology

The check in was horrible. I stood in line for 1 hour to check in with an Air France ticket. Then I was told I had to go to Delta counter onstead to check in instead. It made no sense.

Old cabine without flat bed in business for a 12 hour flight is not acceptable

Generally good. The crew is excellent. The food could be better.

Did not find the wheelchair that supposed to assist and went to a long queue for transit security chk which was very slow and boarding desk wanted to close counter although that they knew that I am minutes away because of their mistake of not providing the wheelchair.

Boarding was smooth and on time. The seat was comfortable and the entertainment worked. Staff were gracious.

Business class in the second leg - CDG-EVN was a disaster.

Everything went smoothly with Air France. There was a delay in departure which seemed to relate to the immigration services being short staffed.

Lufthansa placed a 300 lb passenger in the aisle seat and I was stuck in the middle leaning sideways with no arm rest or ability to sit up straight and fully use my seat (due to encroachment-the seats are very narrow) the entire flight.

Every Single leg of our trip was delayed signifigantly... including a new flight we had to take because we missed our connection flight due to delays.

-The cabin was ice cold - When we arrived in Houston there was no gate available -We had to wait 90 minutes for our luggage to arrive.. In the future I will avoid flying with Air Canada at at costs

My window shade didn’t work. So I missed coming into my city. ☹️

Food was very very bad! Same flight from US was amazing with great food but the food prepared for the flight from Cape Town to New York was not eatable. The crew also did not smile once. They all looked like it was a shift they had not signed up for but were forced to take. :(

Everything was pretty good except for food. They need to improve on it compared to other airlines.

Due to one crew member not showing up to work, our flight was significantly delayed causing us to miss our connecting flight in Houston to Mississippi causing us to be delayed by more than 6 hours and missing our event all together. Very disappointing. All because ONE crew member called in sick. United did grant us a $15 meal voucher, which was a small but appreciated concession that I wasn’t able to use because I ordered my lunch and paid for it before applying the concession, and the staff said it was too late to use it. Ugh! We also had a TWO delay coming back from Mississippi, but that was on American Airlines and it was due to weather, so not their fault. Anyway, not at all impressed with United’s handling of our flight and the HUGE disappointment of missing our important family event for our 90 year old mother. All that money and all that stress and emotions for nothing. Having to wait the hour to bring an employee from LAX seemed like something that should not have happened. Why don’t you have a local back-up? Santa Ana is not a little airport in a rural area.

No in flight entertainment, gate employees were very quick and impatient, plane was uncomfortable

Boarding process was well organized and orderly even though flight was fairly full. Water bottles were provided during boarding which was great as I drink a lot of water. Bathroom was not as clean as it could have been but was acceptable and fairly dry. Food however was mediocre. I have had better food on 2 hour local flights in other countries.

Everything was very good. Boarding and takeoff were on time and organized. Had a good flight

The 7 hour delay in Johannesburg was extremely tiresome, with poor communication at check-in and a sad R120 voucher as compensation. All in all sitting for 10 hours on an airport was pretty bad. At arrival the baggage arrival took 2 hours. All in all, a very, very long trip.

They lost 3 out of our 4 luggages on the way to Santorini…didn’t not receive until the following night. The first leg of our flight home was a hour delay, which meant we had to run to catch our connecting flight. One on my TUMI luggage had a broken wheel when I arrived in Boston. After paying close to $12k for these flights I was highly disappointed.

Could be better in all aspects. Poor communication. Rude staff

I was surprised there was no entertainment console in the seatbavks. Also, gate posts were very last minute and poorly communicated in a rushed timeframe. Boarding in groups was no emphasized and too many personal bags stowed above vs in floor so hard to find room for my carryon suitcase in my row area.

Ran out of food. Special ordered a kids meal too. Didn’t have that either which doesn’t work on a 9.5 hour flight. Only had vegetarian meals left which was tomato sauce on bread. Ran out of all soda half way through the flight. No baggage space for our carry ons. Inattentive flight attendants. My family of 4 was trapped, uncomfortable and ravenous on a 9.5 hour flight.

Since I did not get an opportunity to review the trip from Los Angeles to Barcelona with British Airways operated by Iberia, I will add comments here. That experience was not good. Iberia placed me on a plane/airline called LEVEL - it was a bad experience and I will not be travelling with a company I do not know about. The difference in service and comfort from British Airways to Iberia/LEVEL was like night and day. I was very disappointed...I paid a lot of money for the tickets to be so uncomfortable while flying for hours over the ocean. The experience with British Airways was excellent, what I was expecting it to be for a trip of this length...I think being partner with airlines that provide poor service could affect the British Airways' image...

The delays and unpreparedness is horrible. Horrible management for missed flights. Aside from the the crew on the airplane was very delightful.

British Air ways was good - American Airlines not: waited at gate for “mechanical issues” and stood at gate.. plane delayed, … staff at desk rude, had to check my personal carry on item, toilet not working… “please use the working one sparingly- it will overflow in the cabin”

The port to insert the headphones was loose and had to hold it the entire time

Timely service. London city is easy to get in and out once you reach the airport

Book Cheap Costa Rica Plane Tickets

Recent return flight deals

17/8Sat
3 stops
32h 25mJNB-SJO
25/8Sun
2 stops
30h 05mSJO-JNB
R23 180
4/9Wed
2 stopsAir France
36h 50mJNB-SJO
16/9Mon
2 stopsAir France
34h 09mSJO-JNB
R27 291
17/8Sat
2 stops
35h 39mJNB-SJO
25/8Sun
2 stops
34h 20mSJO-JNB
R27 438
17/8Sat
3 stops
31h 10mJNB-SJO
24/8Sat
3 stops
28h 36mSJO-JNB
R27 475
4/9Wed
2 stops
44h 28mJNB-SJO
16/9Mon
1 stop
29h 40mSJO-JNB
R27 824
17/8Sat
3 stops
31h 10mJNB-SJO
25/8Sun
3 stops
33h 05mSJO-JNB
R29 989
17/8Sat
3 stopsLufthansa
28h 35mJNB-LIR
25/8Sun
2 stopsLufthansa
31h 35mLIR-JNB
R45 700
1/8Thu
2 stopsUnited Airlines
27h 39mJNB-LIR
7/8Wed
2 stopsUnited Airlines
60h 41mLIR-JNB
R45 883
1/8Thu
1 stopUnited Airlines
22h 44mJNB-LIR
7/8Wed
2 stopsUnited Airlines
60h 41mLIR-JNB
R55 776
4/9Wed
1 stopDelta
21h 44mJNB-LIR
16/9Mon
1 stopDelta
21h 48mLIR-JNB
R57 721

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Recent one-way flight deals

3/11Sun
3 stops
32h 40mCPT-SJO
R13 104
3/11Sun
2 stops
51h 29mCPT-SJO
R14 573
3/11Sun
1 stopSWISS
37h 35mCPT-SJO
R18 188
3/11Sun
1 stopDelta
23h 38mCPT-SJO
R38 560

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Flights to Costa Rica

Return flight deals:

Costa Rica - South Africa

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