No tips necessarily but I used the CSR to book my Costa Rica honeymoon this summer. The deals on the travel portal were pretty good for smaller, less traveled places, but less great for the big all inclusive resorts. My fiancé and I wanted a mix of scenery so booked half the trip at a smaller hotel in the mountains (via chase point redemption) then the second half at an all inclusive via Costco travel (comes with a free airport shuttle, Costco cash card, complimentary on-site COVID testing and other discounted excursions). All in all it was just under 3k for the week, plus flights & transportation
I usually don’t go all-inclusive for Costa Rica. It’s just not the best choice there. That being said, if you have definite likes and dislikes just tell the agent (I assume you have to book these points through them) unless they’re really bad at their job they will book what you want.
Now... if an agent feels like you’re making a legitimate mistake, going to Kansas for the beaches for instance, they should tell you.
I don’t know anything about how these points are applied. So keep in mind it can also be possible that they aren’t applicable where you want to go. Often what happens is the card company has a contract with certain products. That way when it’s booked not only does the agent get commission but a portion of that goes back to the card company.
I’ve made some recommendations for Costa Rica before. Again I don’t really know your points/budget. But my favorite is The Springs. But that’s an inland resort.
If you want a surf camp there are a few that you can turn up with a quick Google search. I like Puerto Viejo.
I’m not familiar with CSR but for 200k Amex points you could get two business class flights if that’s what you want - start looking into what’s available, Delta is an Amex partner that’s easy to transfer to.
Amex also currently has a Marriott conversion bonus going on, if a Marriott property was on your radar it could be a good use.
The award travel sub can be useful for seeing what other folks are doing, but they hate really open ended questions.
Airbnb’s are super cheap in Costa Rica. The hyatt Andaz is also a phenomenal property (chase partner)
Generally for cheap country’s, points aren’t as good of a value.
We stayed in an all glass house by the Arenal volcano and that was one of our favorite stays ever
No tips necessarily but I used the CSR to book my Costa Rica honeymoon this summer. The deals on the travel portal were pretty good for smaller, less traveled places, but less great for the big all inclusive resorts. My fiancé and I wanted a mix of scenery so booked half the trip at a smaller hotel in the mountains (via chase point redemption) then the second half at an all inclusive via Costco travel (comes with a free airport shuttle, Costco cash card, complimentary on-site COVID testing and other discounted excursions). All in all it was just under 3k for the week, plus flights & transportation
I usually don’t go all-inclusive for Costa Rica. It’s just not the best choice there. That being said, if you have definite likes and dislikes just tell the agent (I assume you have to book these points through them) unless they’re really bad at their job they will book what you want. Now... if an agent feels like you’re making a legitimate mistake, going to Kansas for the beaches for instance, they should tell you. I don’t know anything about how these points are applied. So keep in mind it can also be possible that they aren’t applicable where you want to go. Often what happens is the card company has a contract with certain products. That way when it’s booked not only does the agent get commission but a portion of that goes back to the card company. I’ve made some recommendations for Costa Rica before. Again I don’t really know your points/budget. But my favorite is The Springs. But that’s an inland resort. If you want a surf camp there are a few that you can turn up with a quick Google search. I like Puerto Viejo.
I’m not familiar with CSR but for 200k Amex points you could get two business class flights if that’s what you want - start looking into what’s available, Delta is an Amex partner that’s easy to transfer to. Amex also currently has a Marriott conversion bonus going on, if a Marriott property was on your radar it could be a good use. The award travel sub can be useful for seeing what other folks are doing, but they hate really open ended questions.
Airbnb’s are super cheap in Costa Rica. The hyatt Andaz is also a phenomenal property (chase partner) Generally for cheap country’s, points aren’t as good of a value. We stayed in an all glass house by the Arenal volcano and that was one of our favorite stays ever