nibblette

Is it possible to pay the tax in advance? My tour ends at the airport (11:30-noon scheduled plane arrival from the Pacific Coast). Given what I read on this board about timeliness of the internal flights, I scheduled my flight home for the next day instead of taking a chance (originally was looking at a flight leaving at 2:30PM). My flight home is at 7AM the next day. Can I pay the departure tax while I'm at the airport for departure the next day?

TripleSecDelay

Good question.
My thoughtline is that they keep records on time/date of departures of visitors, to prevent any "overstay" w/o a visa. Hmmmm....

shillmac

My understanding is that you can pay your departure tax anytime--even the day you arrive if you'd like. You just have to hang on to that little slip of paper or you'll have to pay it again! Haven't confirmed this, but I've also heard that you can pay departure tax at some of the banks in San Jose. In your situation, it really would be nice just to walk in and get in line at the ticket counter.

Sometimes, getting out of there has been painless, but a few weeks ago, after standing in line to pay the tax, then going to the ticket counter line, we then had to get in the security line that was backed up and curled around the entire upper floor area behind all the ticket counter lines (and confusing people as to what line they were actually in!). We were in the security line about 45 minutes. First time for that. Me no gusta!

It's off the subject, but I just have to add this little story:

To top it all off, we arrived in Miami (never again, I hope) at the same time as several other international flights. There was absolute mass confusion in the customs area. Must have been 2000 people and no organization and no one providing organization. People who came in on my flight ended up ahead of people who had already been waiting 1.5 hour. Talk about a nightmare. Everyone I talked to (including myself and my daughter) missed connecting flights. We all ended up reticketing. When we arrived at the ticket counter, there must have been 500-600 people ahead of us.

Now, I know this story has nothing to do with your question and I am hopping way off the bunny trail, but I need to get it off my chest! Since the problem was with immigration and not the airlines, overnight lodging was not offered. I do think Miami has some problems they need to work out! My daughter got on her cell phone, called an 800 number at American, and a very nice man rescheduled everything for us over the phone--he booked us out of Ft. Lauderdale. No doubt we got out of there hours before some of the other folks did.

It just so happens that my daughter (who lives in California) had recently purchased a sailboat in Ft. Lauderdale (longer story than this one), so we had someplace to spend the night--only 20 minutes away. It all worked out, but I will NEVER fly through Miami again--unless I find that $198 airfare to Costa Rica again!!!

Sorry, Nibblette, I "hijacked" your thread. I hope you have a great trip, and I think it is an excellent idea to pay the tax ahead of time!

payant

I don't know about paying ahead of time but I do know that we were warned about long lines in the early morning. At the airport, they consult your passport when you pay the so you can't send a surrogate to purchase it for you. There are four positions open to pay the tax so the line moves quickly-dollars or Visa are accepted.

nibblette

Thanks all. I will try to pay the departure tax while in the airport the day before.
Shillmac, sorry for your problems with American. That's why I didn't pick American to fly on. I nearly missed my flight 2 years ago connecting through Miami even though I had 3 hours in between.

shillmac

Actually, we've had very good luck with American. The problem in Miami was with the airport, immigration, and their inability to handle a large number of people. Our flights (arriving and departing) were on time.

KNJ

We just got back last week. I remember seeing a departure tax booth as you exit the airport. The sign above it says something to the effect of - Save Time. Pay Your Departure Tax Now! I'd say you can pay the tax ahead of time.

TripleSecDelay

okay. wrong answer. they must post your intended date of departure on the form/receipt somewhere? do i get half credit for the first answer?

shillmac

No, TripleSec, no half credit. That would mean that if you posted the same information again, you'd get full credit. No can do!

TripleSecDelay

Ohhhhhh, okay.
For a moment, my first reply made sense. Methought "Couldn't a person pull some kind of flim-flam on the ole exit tax people?" It's a dead issue now. Guess I'm just disappointed that I didn't find this nugget of wisdom in all my hours of planning research...

Smiles,

nonstop

ok, you have convinced me to pay my departure tax when I arrive at SJO rather than when I leave. My question is: departing for flights back to the states how early do I have to arrive for my flight. I have a 10 a.m. out of there. What time do I need to be there if I pay my tax in advance and what time do I need to arrive if I don't pay my tax in advance? Is the longest part of the wait for security or paying the airport tax? What about the check in at the AA counter?thanks

shillmac

nonstop,
The rule of thumb for international travel out of San Jose is a 2 hour advance arrival at the airport whether you have paid the tax early or not. This is more of a security issue than anything else. As I mentioned earlier, 3 weeks ago we spent almost an hour in the security line after spending only about 10 minutes in the tax line and another 10 minutes in the ticket counter line. I hope this isn't some sort of new standard, but it certainly happened that once! It could have been due to a malfunction in the security equipment or something--I don't know and didn't ask.

So much depends on the busy-ness of the airport at any given time--and the possibility of glitches. I guess this is the reason we have never "pre-purchased" the exit slip. We've always just preferred to get out of the airport as quickly as possible to enjoy our time. Especially since the 2 hour recommendation at the end of one's trip seems to allow ample time for paying the exit tax.

Even if I had already paid, I would be very nervous about trying to delay my arrival time at the airport until the last possible moment.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

The official requirement is to arrive at the airport three hours before a flight to the U.S. departs. (The airline has occasionally told me two hours if it's a flight to another destination in Central or South America. Ask when you call to reconfirm your flight.) Since I tend to be overly compliant I adhere to it, but only once in all the years I've been flying out of CR did it ever take the whole time. I've always found the line to pay the exit tax to move very quickly. And security has never been too bad in my experience. It's the check-in at the airline counter that usually eats up most of the time for me. American is checking in passengers for multiple flights early in the morning, and all checked luggage for flights to the U.S. is hand searched.

Regarding the airport tax, it can be paid in advance at branches of Bancredito. That's the only state bank that's authorized to collect the tax. But who wants to spend any more time than necessary standing in line at a Costa Rican bank?

nonstop

thanks, good advice. I'll just wait to pay the tax when I leave. International airports can be a challenge sometimes and I always like to get there early just in case. Shillmac, I agree with your earlier comments about MIA. I will do anything to avoid it especially on an inbound int'l flight. I don't understand why they can't do a better job there.

chris813

Does AA have a separate line for 1st and business class check-in? I am also departing at 10 a.m. and had the good fortune of getting bumped up to business class (only because the airline cancelled my connecting flight home, and requires me to leave early). I'll be travelling from Manuel Antonio that morning and am also concerned about arriving early enough.

nonstop

I haven't been to a resonable size airport yet that didn't have a AA first/business class line except some of the smaller Caribbean airports. With as much lift as AA
has out of SJO. I would certainly think they would have it also.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

American does have a separate check-in line for business and first-class passengers. As you're facing their counters, it's to the far left.