Costa Rica Surprise Trip

I've been working pretty hard at my Pre-K class these days. So when my father found a great $266 fare to Costa Rica in early December, I told him to jump on it!

Friday morning, my father checked his blogs and saw The Flight Deal had just announced a great United fare for a nonstop flight from Newark to Liberia, Costa Rica.

My father immediately ran to my mother (who gets final sign off for all big decisions in the family) and surprisingly, she agreed!

The downside is that I'll have to miss a week of school, because the special prices were only available before my School Winter Break (between Christmas and New Years).

But that would also mean that we'll be able to get into the hotel of our choice (Andaz Peninsula Papagayo Resort), and it likely wouldn't be overly crowded with pasty New Yorkers.

We also decided to invite my aunt and grandmother to make it an "early Christmas vacation" for the extended Songer family.

However, since we were getting fares for just $266/person round trip, it wasn't as big of a hit to our wallet as a Christmas vacation would have been. Direct flights on 12/26-1/1 were going for $1,300/person, whereas we purchased 5 round trip tickets for $1,330 total!

Combined with the fact that a few months ago we were able to pre-purchase $900 worth of United travel credit for $675 (Amex Offer for $75 off $300 purchases), that meant we were actually getting our nonstop flights for just $221 per person!

Thank you, Flight Deal! Now back to my Pre-K homework assignment.