www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Unless they recently added one from JFK, there is one direct flight to SJO from Newark in the NY area. None from CT, VT, nor ME.

But it also would need to be a place where direct flights to Costa Rica come in from. Don't know if you ever had direct flights to CR from Ohio?[/quote]
Unless they recently added one from JFK, there is one direct flight to SJO from Newark in the NY area. None from CT, VT, nor ME.[/quote]

Yep. I don't have a clue why...I'm only guessing, but it makes sense that it would be contiguous states close to a major airport where flights to Costa Rica might make sense. Otherwise why bother. So they picked New York area and some (not all) surrounding states. Rather than a list of small scattered states with low Covid cases - which they could have done I suppose if they based it on cases/million or current infection rates or whatever. In any case, if you have to test before leaving, and get your insurance I guess they will be happy to take your money on entry. I can't see any insurance companies offering the policy that they demand, so INS will take your cash. Good luck if you're 70 years old and want to fly down and stay for 90 days. Can't imagine how much the insurance would be.

Never hire a Moron to do an Idiots work. Whoever makes these decisions is certainly a Moron

As Bugs Bunny would say of CR officialdom " what a bunch of Maroons"

I don't think it's right of Costa Rica to play politics by dividing the US by states like they have - especially without explanation, but since they have already done so, I will point out that if they needed a state with low transmission rate where there were regular direct flights to San Jose, Phoenix would have made more sense. Arizona put the brakes on covid big time and has been at or near the lowest transmission rate in the US for the past several weeks. Arizona now has the third-lowest transmission rate in the country today (see https://rt.live) whereas New York is in 17th place - and among the other permitted states, Maine is all the way down at number 42! Prior to the pandemic, Southwest and American made regular direct flights to San Jose from Phoenix, and I believe that United flew direct to Liberia. Phoenix could have served as a hub for residents of other states with low transmission rates since Arizona is not illegally requiring quarantine of citizens of other states like New York is.

Of course science and logic apparently do not apply. The politics of division does. Imagine the consternation in Costa Rica if the US told Costa Rica that people from Guanacaste could enter the US, but people from San Jose could not.

They are a sovereign country, they can do it however they want. All kinds of countries had no problem banning people from Wuhan before other parts of China. No one complained about that. But anyway...I'm sure the decision was not based on current transmission rates...perhaps on a large area with low overall active case count, who knows. I have no doubt they would like to open up to all of the USA as soon as possible.

Costa Rica has absolutely no interest in internal American politics so I'm not sure what your "politics of division" would be referring to. They simply were not ready to open up to the whole country, and so they picked one of the major areas where flights could come in from. And based on the last couple of months it would not be Florida or Texas which were showing several thousand new cases a day each.

They obviously should not have opened up to any part of the USA.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I agree completely that they are a sovereign country and have every right to do what they did. There's no question about that. I just said that I didn't think what they did was right (my opinion), especially with no explanation, rhyme, nor reason given to the majority of US tourists that they supposedly want back but snubbed again through these actions, intentionally or not. They don't have to give anyone an explanation, but they're sure not endearing themselves through the way they are handling this. And a solid explanation would go a long way towards keeping the goodwill of their visitors. As for Wuhan, I wouldn't say that no one complained about it, but it's a different situation that is irrelevant to establishment of Costa Rica's policies. (Costa Rica is a sovereign country, after all.) As for the politics of division, it was a statement that intentionally or not, that's what they are enabling through enacting such policies. Personally - and it's just my opinion - I would just like to see some common sense and scientific reasoning applied along with better explanation of their actions. It's up to them to decide whether they do or not.

So who has bought a ticket?
Hotel Abajo del Puente, we will leave the streetlight on.

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If you lose your temper you’re phucking yourself - Garcia Marquez

I expect there are many people trying to get down there. Property owners that want to make sure squatters are not stealing their property by squatters rights. What does that take to gain posession in CR; 6 months?

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It's a jungle out there. A pusseycat like you will get eaten alive!!!

Agree with all of that. Perhaps they will offer some more detail as to their reasons. And I expect it will change within a relatively short time. They have lots to deal with as people there are suffering and getting somewhat desperate.

(I also stated this in another thread...so sorry for some double reading)

They are probably taking into consideration as a component of their decisions the regulations/laws (what ever you want to call them) the states have implemented and what matches closely to what CR has implemented locally as well....basically in their mind an extension of CR policies.

As for the States with direct flights....Texas (where I live) has direct flights from several airports...and Texas is not on the list...so I believe it has more to do with the above.

I don't have property there, but since no offices and no meetings for me (company policy) through until at least January...I am looking for them to open up and I can come there and work from there on the coast somewhere and just enjoy it. So there are other reasons folks would want to travel there.

My sister-in-law flew in from Texas yesterday on AA. Every seat was taken. To me, that alone is crazy. She said all of the passengers (except her and her daughter) were at, or over, 65 years old. Again, crazy. Two hours to clear customs, and go to home quarantine. However, she is allowed to go to the local MxM to get groceries for the next two weeks of quarantine. WTF?
As reported by others, there is no logic to the travel restrictions, but, they actually seem to be more dangerous than just basic precautions. They are sending old people on airplanes, elbow to elbow (probably a causal factor), and letting them loose before quarantine (at least to shop), exposing a vulnerable population to the virus. Nuts!

I'm assuming this is one of the repatriation flights bringing Costa Rica citizens and legal residents back. It is surprising that they don't have to go directly into quarantine though...I know in Canada when you come back it is to be directly to quarantine - and you are not allowed to stop and shop first. Unless you want to risk a potentially large fine.

And also surprising that they will let tourists in without quarantine - although the pre-flight testing serves a similar purpose I guess.

IMO, residency won't be the limiting factor for travel from the US. I don't think there's any place in the US where you can rely on getting the results of a PCR test within 48 hours.

Can get it here and get results back (Ontario) in time, but for me the insurance cost is the deal breaker. The estimate for 2 weeks insurance for someone younger than me was over $900 US. I'm probably looking at closer to $1,200. Either way, doesn't work for me. If I go down I want to stay for at least a month, maybe two. Thousands of dollars for insurance just won't happen.