Costa Rica on points and miles

Flights:

Here is what I found as I researched the best flights from SLC to Costa Rica

American Airlines, Southwest, and United seemed to have the best flights from SLC.  They had the shortest total time (about 7.5hrs from SLC-LIR or SJO, coming home the typical flight time was about 10hrs).  These airlines also didn't require flying on a red-eye.  These airlines typically had layovers in either Denver or Texas.  

Delta's flights (as of 2023) required a red-eye out of LAX to Costa Rica.  The flight home is not a red-eye, so Delta is a good option for flights coming home.  

Alaska Airlines is another option (out of LAX) but they also have a lot of red-eye flights.  On certain days (like Saturday's) you could get a daytime flight.

JetBlue flies from LAX-LIR and had some CRAZY cheap days (only 7.5k miles one way), so this could be a great option as well if you aren't tied to certain dates and just want to go when it's crazy cheap!  Just search their calendar and pick a 7.5k date!

Price wise, American Airlines usually had the best miles prices & flights (other than JetBlue's random cheap days) so I would recommend getting an American Airlines credit card to save up points for a trip to Costa Rica!

Hotels: There are LOTS of options for hotel stays using points (there are Marriotts, Hyatts, Hiltons, etc.).  Read below to see where my husband and I stayed.

 My husband and I had the privilege of staying at the Conrad Bora Bora last year using points and a cash upgrade.  Using points at the Conrad in Bora Bora gets you a room on land, you must pay about $400 per night to upgrade to an over water bungalow.  Sounds like a lot, but those rooms are about $2k a night so it’s a great deal.  We LOVED it and can’t wait to go back someday, but it also got me wondering (and searching online) for other amazing honeymoon type destinations around the world.  When I read about the Nayara hotels in Costa Rica, I was intrigued.

The Nayara hotels are not part of a chain (Marriott, Hyatt, or Hilton) that can be booked with points.  However they can be booked in the Capital One, Chase, or Amex travel portals - which means you can use some of your points towards the booking to bring the cost down.  The great thing about owning the Amex Platinum card, is that you get great perks if you choose a hotel in the “fine hotels”  group and book it through the Amex travel portal.

The cheapest room at Nayara gardens is $600 a night and DOES NOT come with a private pool on your deck.  However, my Amex Platinum gives me a free room upgrade, so we booked the cheap room and I expect we’ll probably end up in the $800 per night room with its own private pool surrounded by jungle.  Ooh la la!  We will also receive free breakfast, a $100 spa credit, early check-in, and late checkout. 

Because I booked through the Amex portal, I decided to put 20k points towards each night, thereby reducing my room to $400 a night (the same price I pay for Bora Bora).

Paying $400 a night for an $800 room will be a fun experience at a cost I am comfortable with.  We used points to fly to Costa Rica, so overall it ended up being an affordable “luxury” vacation!! 

Our Itinerary:

We flew into SJO airport and arrived late, so we used points and stayed the night at the Fairfield Marriott that is close to the airport.

Day 2: We picked up our car rental and drove 4 hrs to Rio Celeste Hideaway hotel (I booked this through Capital One's travel portal).  We stayed just 1 night here.

Days 3-5:  We did the hike to Rio Celeste falls then drove 1.5 hrs to the Nayara Gardens hotel, which we had booked for 3 nights through the Amex travel portal.

While in the La Fortuna area we did the Canopy tour with 7 zip lines at Arenal Mundo, and the Mistico Arenal hanging bridges.

Day 6: We drove back to SJO for our early flight home the next day.  We again stayed in a hotel near the airport using points.

Car Rentals:  I followed the suggestions on this website and it worked out great!