Hotel Review: Park Inn By Radisson, San Jose, Costa Rica

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Tara

We only had one night in San Jose before flying to Panama. Normally, we would have stayed out near the airport at whatever hotel had the best points rate but we got a mistake rate for this hotel on FlyerTalk for 5000 points plus a nominal amount of Colones. I think they loaded the Colones rate in the USD field or something like that. Thankfully they honored the rate and several of us got a nice bargain before they corrected the rate.

Escape to This San José, Costa Rica Hotel’s Ideal Location
Situated three blocks from Paseo Colón, the city’s main avenue, and walking distance of downtown, the Park Inn hotel’s location in San José is perfect for vacations and business trips. Sample local and international cuisine at RBG Bar & Grill, and enjoy a dip in the shimmering outdoor pool. After a long day exploring San José, Costa Rica, this hotel’s comfortable accommodations are just what you need to relax. In-room amenities like free wireless Internet access and 42-inch flat-screen televisions make it easy to unwind after your adventures in the city. This hotel’s property in San José provides you with all the features you need for a perfect stay.

We found the room to be just as described on their website. It’s basically a normal budget business traveler type of place but OK for a night. We aren’t really that interested in cities, especially when you have the natural paradise of Costa Rica to see. The wifi was slow but that’s par for the course in most hotels.

The location is downtown, a short taxi ride away from any of the bus terminals. From the airport, take a Tuasa bus, then hop out at the Pizza Hut and walk a few blocks to the hotel. Don’t stop and buy a pizza, they cost around $20 for one pizza!

Our room was large, clean and had all the necessities. We were also pleasantly surprised to see a complimentary rubber ducky! The view of the city was nice and the breakfast buffet (included in the rate even for awards) had a great variety of typical breakfast foods. We were happy with it, and so are most people on Trip Advisor.

Gateway: San Jose, Costa Rica

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Tara

San Jose, Costa Rica is a pleasant enough city but it pales in comparison to the many delights to be found elsewhere in the country. There are lots of hotel chains here so good opportunities to use your points but please don’t hang around the city just because there are some good Pointbreaks! Get out there and see Costa Rica!

GETTING THERE

You will need a Central American award ticket and all the major alliances have flights to SJO.

STAR ALLIANCE

United Airlines has flights from Chicago, Houston, New York & Washington

US Airways (due to merge with AA in early 2014) has flights from Charlotte

Air Canada has flights from Toronto

Copa has flights from Guatemala City, Managua, Panama City, San Pedro Sula & Tegucigalpa.

Avianca-Taca (incl Lacsa) has flights from Bogota, Caracas, Guatemala City, Lima, Managua, Mexico City, Miami, Panama City, San Pedro Sula, San Salvador & Tegucigalpa.

ONE WORLD

American Airlines has flights from Dallas New York & Miami

Iberia has flights from Madrid

SKYTEAM

Delta has flights from Atlanta & Los Angeles

Aeromexico has flights from Mexico City

GETTING TO & FROM THE AIRPORT & AROUND TOWN

Of course taxis are always an option and once you are in town they are reasonably cheap, around $3-5 in Colones. You can also use the Alajuela bus to get from the airport to the Alajuela terminal for around $1, then use a taxi to your final destination. If you have arrived from elsewhere in Costa Rica, all bus lines will finish here. You may need to change terminals to go elsewhere in Costa Rica.

When leaving Costa Rica, be sure to save enough cash to pay the departure tax. You could use a credit card but it will post as a cash advance. Be careful with the ATMs as some of them have low maximum withdrawals of $400 so if you need more than that you have to do multiple transactions.

The duty free & shopping area in the airport as you depart have a nice variety of shops selling the usual duty free booze, cigarettes, perfumes and some nice handicrafts. There were some sales on the jewelry, buy 2 get 1 free. I was a good customer here!

WHERE TO STAY ON POINTS

As you may expect with a large capital city, San Jose is well supplied with chain hotels at reasonable prices. Unless you get a really good deal on a city hotel, I would stay near the airport for convenience.

CLUB CARLSON

Park Inn – 38,000 points

Country Inn & Suites – 9000 points

HILTON

Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton San Jose-Airport – 30-40,000 points

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Cariari San Jose – Costa Rica – 20-30,000 points

HYATT

Hyatt Place San Jose/Pinares – 8000 points

IHG

6 options including a Holiday Inn Express near the airport for 15,000 points and an Intercontinental for 30,000 points.

MARRIOTT

Courtyard San Jose Airport – 15,000 points

STARWOOD

Aloft San Jose – 7000 points

Sheraton San Jose – 7000 points

We only spend one night here at the Park Inn because there was a mistake rate posted on FlyerTalk for 5000 points. Otherwise, we would have stayed at either the HIX or Hampton Inn near the airport.

WHAT TO DO IN SAN JOSE

(Emphasis on things of interest to birders)

Visit the Ara Project at Alajuela if they haven’t moved to Punta Islita yet.

Visit parks to see Crimson-fronted Conures frolicking in the trees.

Wet parrots near the Hampton Inn

The next morning was nice and sunny so we saw dry Crimson-fronted Conures & a few pigeons near the Alajuela bus station.

Flight Review, Taca: Flores – Guatemala City – San Jose, Costa Rica

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Tara

Many people on FlyerTalk are members of Avianca-Taca Lifemiles due to some very generous promos such as the buy/give/share 100% bonus promos. Most people are collecting the miles to redeem on Star Alliance awards so very few have actually flown on Taca so I hope this post will be of interest.

This route is a special bargain whether you are using Lifemiles or United Mileage Plus. Look how much it would cost to buy the tickets. Before you get too excited about “business class” remember these are only small planes so there is no business class unless you connect again in El Salvador.

You can choose from a daytime connection that gets you to SJO in the evening or an overnight connection in GUA. If you go for the morning connection, you would need to spend the night in Flores. We did the overnight connection so we could maximize time at Tikal, arrive in San Jose at a decent hour and use Club Carlson points for a free night at the Radisson.

Using Lifemiles more miles/more money toggle you can bring the cost of these flights down to 3500 miles plus $45 (plus tax).

Using United Mileage Plus it’s still a pretty good deal, especially if you have the usual credit cards. The $51.50 is the tax added on to the flights, you have to pay this on Taca as well. Scroll down if you want the overnight connection because UA lists flights by duration of travel.

There are no lounges in the Flores airport, there is a United Club at Guatemala City. This is the first plane from Flores to Guatemala City, all economy seats but a very short flight so who cares?

Arriving in Guatemala City is strange because you have to wait in line at customs even though it is a domestic flight. We had our boarding passes out ready to show that we were on a domestic flight and they waved us through once we got to the front of the line. Luckily we had carried our backpacks on so we avoided further delay. This was relevant as we found the Radisson’s shuttle waiting for us and one other couple. The other couple didn’t show up so the shuttle took us to the hotel, then the driver got a call that the other couple finally made it out of the airport and were looking for the shuttle!

Next morning, waiting to board plane to San Jose.

Guatemala City airport does have some pretty cool shops which take credit cards without a surcharge. I succumbed to the temptation!

Priority Club Pointbreaks – Gems For Eco-Travelers

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Tara

Once you get into the miles and points games, you begin to get more familiar with the deals that come out periodically and how to best take advantage of them. One of the best is the Priority Club Point Breaks. These come out roughly every second month and allow you to redeem only 5000 points for any of the designated hotels. While most of the hotels are in cities and may appeal more to business travelers, there are often bargains to be had in resorts and more exotic destinations. Priority Club is a great program for non-frequent travelers as they have many promos throughout the year to get points. I will be sharing these opportunities as they come up. If you are in a hurry and have no points at all, you can buy Priority Club points or get their Chase credit card. More details HERE.

Here’s a few from the current list that can benefit eco-travelers and are valid through 31 January 2013.

Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria – You will pass through here if you are headed to Palawan to see the endangered Philippine Red-vented Cockatoo. I did this trip in 2012, you can read my article.

Intercontinental Jakarta Midplaza – Although Aussies will usually access the birder’s paradises of Seram and West Papua via Bali, people coming from Europe and North America are more likely to connect in Jakarta to an Indonesian domestic flight. Seram has the Moluccan Cockatoo and more! West Papua is full of fascinating birds including many species of Birds of Paradise, Palm Cockatoos, Eclectus Parrots, several Lorikeets, Pesquet’s Parrots and more! I will be there next year!

Holiday Inn Suva – You would be passing through here several times if you are using the domestic flights or ferries to get to Taveuni to see Red-throated Lorikeets or Red Shining Parrots; or Viti Levu to see Masked Shining Parrots.

Hotel Indigo San Jose Forum Costa Rica – Useful if you are traveling to Costa Rica to head out to Carara National Park for Scarlet Macaws, Selva Biological Reserve to see Great Green Macaws or Savegre to see Resplendant Quetzals.

Remember, whenever you economize on gateway hotels, you have more money to spend on staying in nice eco-lodges and supporting the local economy!

Miles To The Wild

Create unforgettable eco-tourism and birding adventures using miles & points!

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