Sansa Airlines
 

Anyone have good experiences with Sansa in reliability? We plan to take it from SJ to Quepos and not sure how their reservation system works, if such a thing exists. Should I expect "every man for himself" at the airport in SJ when accessing our flight (like we did in Belize) or more organized service?

We had a good experience with Sansa to the Osa. Our tickets were reserved but seats are first come first served as you board the plane. We booked our tickets online with no problems.

We too had no trouble with the reservation, but there are a couple of things to be aware from our experience. Below is a copy of a portion of our trip report to the Osa Peninsula and our flights.


We traveled from BWI (leaving at 6am) all the way to BdC in one day. The only way this can really be done is to fly Sansa Airlines, which is in walking distance of SJO’s International Terminal, as opposed to Nature Air, which is 30+min taxi ride away from the airport. Also you would need to arrive into SJO before lunchtime and get seats on your incoming flight towards the front of the plane – we had plenty of connection time. It made for a somewhat stressful, long day and having a back-up plan – but it all worked out. It was so nice then to not have a second day of travel and the next morning we were so glad we did it in one day.

In order to have proper expectations, be aware that Sansa operates with a laid-back attitude and they like to overbook (obviously its high season too). Sansa’s timetable is listing when the first flight to a particular destination leaves – what they don’t tell you is that there may be another plane with the same flight # going to your destination but it leaves 45min later – “you get there when you get there” (this happened on the way down – we were the second flight for that time which left about 1hr later - and on the way back, though luckily we were on the first plane). Also, Sansa could not get all of the luggage on the plane so we had to wait another hour after we got to Puerto Jimenez. It wouldn’t have been that bad except that we were under the weight limits and they took someone else’s bags (who paid for being over) ahead of ours – grrrr. So 1hr later (2hrs after we should have left on the bumpy road to BdC), our bag arrives – the plane had no passengers, just 6 pieces of luggage.

We didn’t hear of any of these kinds of stories about Nature Air – though I suspect that during high season, it might also occur.

By the way, if you are traveling on Sansa, there is no need to take a taxi to the terminal (it’s only about 150yds away). The easiest way to find it, is to go upstairs to the departure level (arrival level is the lower level) and look to your left, the next building over is the Sansa terminal – the terminal sits back off the road and has a small Sansa sign. It is about a 3-5min walk.

Hope this helps. It is really nice to walk from the international terminal over to Sansa and not have a 30min taxi ride to Nature Air's terminal at the municipal airport. Though I have heard that Nature's Air terminal is much nicer to wait in.

I've used them over half a dozen times without problems. I've booked online with them but usually just have one of the places I'm staying at make the reservations for me, much easier. The Sansa terminal is a quick 5 minute (or less) walk from the SJO airport, just make a left when you exit into the taxi area and follow the sidewalk.

We use them all the time. They are pretty reliable. I wish I could say they are trouble free. But I can not tell you that in all honesty.

I have had several occasions over the years, when I have had guests show up, only to be told that their paid in advance reservations are not in the system. They invariably are told that "the travel agent never paid for them."

It drives me crazy. Because I am the travel agent! And I know they were paid for way in advance. The ticket agents have learned to blame this on the person in the chain that is not there at that moment. This is the easiest way to direct the clients anger away from them.

We now buy all Sansa tickets for our clients online, and get an E-ticket voucher that you print when you buy the seats. This has eliminated that problem. It is hard to say that the reservation is not in the system when the client has a voucher issued by Sansa.

We have a special travel agent's access, but you can buy your own the same way at www.flysansa.com.

Other than this issue, they are usually pretty good. I would buy in advance if you are traveling at a busy time. They do sell out.

I hope this helps. Let me know if I can offer more advice.

Warm Regards,
Pat Hewitt
(Travel professional)

Hello Pat,
I can just imagine your frustration at the blame game, and also can imagine a few of the phone calls you must have received in the meantime! It's great that you've been able to eliminate that problem.
In my retirement years (2nd retirement), I hope to do some free lance travel work (and am planning toward that end with a Tico couple who have experience in hotels and as tour guides). Therefore, I find your frame of reference interesting and informative.
Thanks for the light you shed on so many areas of "travel talk"!

We traveled RT to Puerto Jimenez and our tix were booked through an agency. While we had seats on the planes, no problem, we did encounter delays both times. The flight to PJ left about 90 minutes late and the weather seemed fine, so we didn't know why. And the flight back to SJ was delayed by at least an hour, and some folks waiting for the plane with us were told they had to wait for the next one, even though there were empty seats on our aircraft.
Again, I don't have any explanations, but since our travel times weren't tight and we weren't connecting anywhere, we just took a deep breath and let it be.
Have fun!
melissa