Arriving at the San José Airport
At the San José airport, the easiest thing to do is
simply follow other passengers who look to you like they know their way around. Many
are locals, and many others have been to Costa Rica many times before.
Your first stop after leaving the plane will be
immigration.
Immigration
At the immigration booth, the agent will want to see your
passport (or your official birth certificate and photo ID) and maybe your airline ticket.
Baggage Claim
After the immigration booth, you will go
down the
escalator to luggage carousels. You will find free luggage carts near the
carousels to transport your bags
easily through customs. The workers often take luggage off the carousels and set it on the
floor, so you may find your luggage either on one of the carousels, or among the groups of bags on
the floor, near the carousel.
Customs
After you have your luggage, go to the customs
line. They frequently change the process, but most passengers
with only a few items are often waived right on through.
If they do ask you to go to one of the customs
agents, the agent will want to see your customs declaration (they will have given that to
you on the airplane for you to fill out and sign), your passport (or birth certificate and
photo ID). Sometimes they ask you to open your bags for inspection. The agent will keep
your customs declaration and return your passport or ID.
Leaving the airport
As you leave the customs area, a worker will most likely ask for your baggage claim stubs to verify that they
match the tags on your luggage, so you will want to have your baggage claim stubs ready.
Just a gentle warning - sometimes this area of
the airport is rather congested with a lot of people trying to get their bags and get
their baggage claim stubs checked, etc., so please be patient. A
worker will offer to help you check your baggage claim stubs and carry your luggage outside, to a waiting taxi or car rental agent if you like.
If you take a taxi from the airport to your hotel
As you emerge from the airport, you will
see orange taxis (the taxis in other areas of Costa Rica are usually red,
but the San José airport taxis are more orange) waiting to take you wherever you'd like to go.
Approach any taxi and ask the driver the price to
take you to your hotel. He may not understand English very well, so you may want to have
the name and address of your hotel written down and you can simply hand it to him.
The normal charge for a taxi ride between the
airport and hotels in downtown San José, about a 30 minute ride, is about $15 US
for two to four people in a regular size taxi. Hotels closer may be a bit less, and
those farther will be a bit more. You can pay the taxi once you arrive at your hotel.
You may tip the taxi driver if he
is particularly helpful with your luggage.
Sometimes
the taxi is not a car but a minivan which will take several parties to different hotels in
the downtown area. If you are not the first people out of the taxi, please be sure to keep
track of your luggage as other passengers are getting out to make sure that a piece of
your luggage isn't inadvertently given to another passenger.
Please know that the staff at the front desk of most
San José hotels speak English and are normally very warm and helpful. If you arrive at
your hotel and are confused about the amount to pay for the taxi, someone at the hotel
should be able to help.
If you are picking up your rental car at the airport
The car rental agency may have someone meet you
as you exit the airport. If so, they usually have a small sign with your name.
Or they may ask you to come to their rental office.
Have a wonderful time in
Beautiful Costa Rica!
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