Costa Rica Partnering With American Airlines, Soon To Open To All U.S. Residents

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Watching the progression of Costa Rica and how it’s handled allowing U.S. citizens to visit, has been quite the ride.

In July, we reported that Costa Rica was going to reopen for tourism on August 1st, but due to their high numbers of COVID-19, U.S. residents were not allowed.

In August, they said they would begin allowing Americans in as of September 1, but only those from certain states. At first, it was only 6 states (Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Vermont) but by the end of the month they had upped it residents of 12 states.

As of October 1, California and Ohio were also allowed to enter the Central American country. This will be followed by those from Florida, Georgia and Texas being allowed, effective October 15.

And then, effective November 1, all U.S. residents can visit Costa Rica, without quarantine, under the following conditions:

• All tourists must fill out the country’s epidemiological health pass. (through October 31, you must also provide a copy of your driver’s license or other state-issued I.D. [no longer necessary once all states are allowed])
• Tourists must have international travel insurance. They can use their own, provided it covered a minimum of $50K for COVID-related medical expenses, and a minimum of $2K for extended lodging expenses in case of required quarantine. Or they can buy a policy from either National Insurance Institute (INS – Instituto Nacional de Seguros) or Sagicor, which are approved by the Costa Rican government. Both of those policies cover hospitalization and a minimum of 14 days of lodging.
• They must show proof of a negative result of an RT-PCR COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of the trip.

American Airlines has recently announced the October 15 launch of a pre-flight COVID-19 testing program for those traveling through its DFW hub. A similar program is set to open out of MIA at a later date.

Customers who have flights from DFW to Costa Rica will have 3 options:

• At-home test from LetsGetChecked (test will be observed by a medical professional via virtual visit, with results expected in 48 hours).
• In-person testing at a CareNow urgent care location.
• Onsite rapid testing, administered by CareNow, at DFW.

Customers flying from MIA to Costa Rica will have only one option for preflight testing at first:

• At-home test from LetsGetChecked (test will be observed by a medical professional via virtual visit, with results expected in 48 hours).

However more options will be available soon.

All tests will be offered at the passengers’ expense.

Said Gustavo Segura Sancho, Costa Rica’s Minister of Tourism: “We applaud American’s efforts to develop a COVID-19 testing program for international travel and we are proud to partner with the airline to include Costa Rica in their initial launch.

“Initiatives like these are crucial for the recovery of tourism in Costa Rica, an important economic engine for our country, while ensuring passenger health and safety.”

Once in the country, all tourists must follow all safety and health measures, including mask-wearing, hand washing and social distancing.

Feature Photo: Rudolphous / Wikimedia

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary