Can't tell you how excited I am to finally finish my Costa Rica travel plans. I got round trip airfare from Boise, Id to SJO for $496 including all taxes for March. I took some of your good advice & tried to book Arenal Paraiso as well as Costa Verde in MA through the hotels & then tried a couple travel agent. There were no rooms available but finally got confirmation from another travel agent from CR and got those hotels. We also got a rental SUV from TriColor for 15 days for $676 with insurance included. So our trip now is 1 week in the Guanacaste region (timeshare), 4 nights Arenal, 3 nights MA & last night Vista del Valle. So for 4 people the total cost is about $1200 each. Couldn't have done it without Shillmac & others help! Thanks so much!
Gini

Gini, wow! That sounds like a great plan. And the airfare--you did get lucky! I'm amazed that you found air for that price during spring break/high season. Excellent! Now you just have it all to look forward to--good for you!

WOW...what airline are you flying?
Did you book it online? Tanya

Tanya,
Don't know where you're flying from & when you're going, but TACA has airfare from Chicago for $380 right now if you fly before mid December. Try their website (www.taca.com) and look for the "From North America" deals...they seem to run a lot of specials. We're using them for the 1st time coming up in about a month, so I'll be sure to review.

I booked through American Airlines. I usually look at Kayak.com for the best rates. We are traveling in March. Previously the airfares have been as high as $1100. Boise is not a main hub. For a tip for other travelers I would say to be persistant at booking the rooms you want. After trying to book direct with the hotels & finding no availability I went to CentralAmerica.com & they must have had a block of rooms saved. Things change as well with people cancelling. I book most of our trips online but make sure to call or email a week & also the night before departing to make sure our reservations are still there. So far I've not had a bad experience.

BE CAREFUL BOOKING THROUGH TRAVEL AGENTS, LAST APRIL WE GOT RIPPED OFF BECAUSE THEY WENT BK.

Thank you...I hadn't been on kayak.com before and it is great. Booked our flights for January 2007 for 427usd each. I am very excited, thanks for the tip! Tanya

Just booked AA to Costa Rica...Nov....$328 RT. Amazing! Through DFW then direct. If you fly out of DFW, it's over $500.