Craig

We have a 6 AM flight out of San Jose, CR. In other countries we have experienced a lot of "red tape" when leaving. Is it advisable to get there more than an hour ahead?--we don't want to get up any earlier than we have to. I understand there is an airport tax to pay--anyone know how much? Is there anything else that would slow us down?

Brooke

When we flew out in January, we got to the airport 2 hours ahead of time and needed almost every minute of it because a busload of people from a cruise ship had just been dropped off ahead of us. Of course that's not going to happen all the time, and probably not at that hour of the morning-but you never know. <BR> <BR>The departure tax is $17/person. Make sure you pay that to the booth on the right hand side before you get on the line for customs. Other than the crowds of people it went very smoothly.

David

TWO HOURS! That's why we stay at: www.villajosebandb.homestead.com. Our cab ride cost us less than 500 colones last July.

lisa

If you are returning a rental car at the airport and need to exchange colones back to dollars before getting on the plane, I would definitely get there 2 hours early. Otherwise, an hour and a half would probably be fine. It did not take long to pay the departure tax. <BR>Strangely, even though our flight back was on a U.S. airline, in San Jose for the return flight they used a different boarding procedure than I've ever seen before -- everybody lined up at the gate, single file, first come first served, and stood there until boarding began. Seating was assigned, but they did not board the plane by row numbers -- they just opened the gate and allowed everyone to board in the order in which they were lined up. It was strange to me. Also, be forewarned that planes have been known to leave San Jose EARLY -- we had several people tell us this. Ours left on time, to the second. They closed the plane door exactly 10 minutes prior to our scheduled takeoff time.

sandy

We just flew back from San Jose last week. Our flight was scheduled for 8 am; we got to the airport just about 6:30 and there was a line out the door for our flight (American), and more and more people behind us. However, the line really did zip right along; as chaotic and impossible as it looked to get everyone checked in on-time, it did happen. We even had a few minutes to get a cup of coffee and go to the duty free shop before boarding, and our plane left about 8:05. I get paranoid about not making flights, so an hour before wouldn't have been comfortable for me;I would recommend getting there early. When you pay the departure tax, make sure it's at an official booth or from someone with official aiport identification. There were signs posted about a scam of people handing out phony forms in return for your $17. <BR> <BR>And please stop advertising Jose's B&B on this and that other travel board site. There are lots of places within 10 minutes of the airport; some provide FREE shuttles.

Craig

Thanks, everyone for your input. We're staying at Vista del Valle and have arranged to be picked up at 4:00 AM to be at the airport at 4:30 AM or sooner for our 6:00 AM flight.