ARA Tours Costa Rica review

Flights, hotels, car rental, transfers, tours and packages all sit under flights, hotels and car rental, so a Costa Rica trip can be put together without a separate operator for each leg. The contracting company is ARA Agencia de Viajes Internacional S.A., and support runs on email, chat and phone for questions before departure.

Cancellations are charged 100% of trip price from 7 days before departure, so a late change puts the trip price at risk. The terms are set by ARA Agencia de Viajes Internacional S.A., and any change has to go through the agency on email, chat and phone rather than a self-service account.

Support runs on email, chat and phone, so phone, email and live chat are all available. The agency is based in Costa Rica and has traded since 1993, which suits travellers who want a local counterparty for a booked package.

There is no mobile app, so bookings, changes and confirmations are handled on the website. Anyone who wants tickets and itineraries pushed to a phone mid-trip needs to keep the confirmation details handy, or call through email, chat and phone instead.

It has been trading since 1993 under the name ARA Agencia de Viajes Internacional S.A., a Costa Rican agency. The record matters most for package travellers, because 100% of trip price from 7 days before departure decides what a late change costs in practice.

The listed range in flights, hotels and car rental covers flights, hotels, car rental, transfers, tours and packages, and rail and coach tickets are not part of it. Travellers mixing long-distance rail into a Costa Rica trip would book that leg with another operator.

It suits travellers assembling a Costa Rica holiday in a single booking, since flights, hotels and car rental covers flights, stays, tours and ground transport together. It suits them less if rail and bus tickets matter, because flights, rail and bus lists those alongside similar products.

A ground specialist such as Hertz Bahamas WiFi keeps to car rental and transfers, while ARA Tours Costa Rica covers flights, hotels and car rental as well. The overlap is car rental and transfers, and the flights, hotels, tours and packages sit with ARA Tours Costa Rica.

Yes, flights, hotels and car rental lists car rental, transfers and tours alongside flights and hotels, so extras can sit on the same trip. That is what separates it from bus-only sellers such as FlixBus, whose listed range is bus.