Costa Rica and Central America on points: six US cities

Which charts price Central America flights

Four programs print a price that can be matched to a flight from the United States to Central America. Aeroplan prices it from its Within North America page, and that assignment is the least obvious of the four. The chart's text lists no countries for any zone. Air Canada's update page carries a note that reads "North America includes: Canada, United States, Mexico and the Caribbean," which leaves Central America unnamed. The chart's own page 2, headed Travel zones, is a map. On the writer's reading of that map, the North America color runs down the isthmus to the border between Panama and Colombia, and Colombia sits in the South America zone. If that reading holds, a US to Costa Rica award prices from the same table as a US domestic hop. The map carries the assignment, not a sentence, so the search screen is the place to confirm it. South America on points relies on the same map for the southern edge.

The policy adds a rule that matters for routing. Section 8 says: "For connecting itineraries with an origin and destination located in a single travel zone of the Aeroplan Flight Reward chart, connecting via a third travel zone is not permitted." It continues: "To provide additional flexibility, certain limited exceptions to this policy may apply for travel between an origin and destination which border a travel zone. Air Canada's website and mobile app, as well as Aeroplan's Contact Centre system, will automatically apply any exceptions if valid. Otherwise, the single direction of travel will be priced as two separate rewards." A Houston to Liberia routing through Bogota or Lima would leave the zone, so no connection priced below uses a South American hub. Panama sits on the zone border, and the policy does not say which borders qualify.

The other three programs name the region more directly. Virgin Atlantic's Delta page lists the routes its distance chart covers, and the list includes "US to Caribbean/ Central America/Hawaii/South America/Africa/Middle East & Asia/South West Pacific (Australia)." Atmos Rewards prints an Americas table with the note "Includes travel from US to Americas and within Americas" and no country list. KrisFlyer's Star Alliance chart has a zone called "HAWAII, CENTRAL AMERICA," and a box under its grid, a graphic that a text extraction of the PDF misses, lists the countries in it: "Bermuda, Caribbean, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Hawaii, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico" (from the rendered chart image). Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama are all in that zone by the chart's own list. The mechanics around each chart are in the guides to Aeroplan partner awards, how Flying Club books Delta seats and Atmos Rewards points.

Thirty distances from six US cities

Each pair gets one repeatable mileage: the shortest path over the earth's surface between two coordinates from the public-domain OurAirports file, computed with the haversine formula at 3,958.8 miles of earth radius and cross-checked with the spherical law of cosines, which matched to 0.1 mile on all thirty pairs. Aeroplan's chart note ties points to "the actual distance flown between origin and destination," and Virgin and Atmos print distance bands, so a booking engine with its own mileage table can land a few miles off these figures. New York means Kennedy. Pairs that sit within a few miles of a line are named where they matter, since those are the ones another data set could move.

The pairs run from 1,019.3 miles (Miami to Guatemala City) to 3,010.8 miles (Los Angeles to Panama City). Every Miami pair sits between 1,019.3 and 1,157.1 miles. Liberia is nearer than San Jose from all six gateways, by 14.7 to 94.7 miles, and Houston's gap of 75.7 miles is the one that changes a price.

Aeroplan: the 1,500 and 2,750 mile lines

Every band has two rows. The Air Canada and select partners row prints starting prices and medians for three cabins; the all other partners row prints an economy price and a business price and nothing for premium economy. The chart note names United Airlines first among the select carriers, followed by Emirates, Flydubai, Etihad Airways, Canadian North, Calm Air, Bearskin Airlines and Provincial Airlines, which makes the select row United's row, or an Air Canada routing, on a search between a US city and Central America. In the two bands that hold 29 of the 30 pairs, both rows ask the same economy price, 10,000 and 12,500 points. They split only in the top band, 17,500 on the select row against 22,500 elsewhere, a 5,000-point gap that touches one pair, Los Angeles to Panama City.

Budget from the median, not the floor, but read what the median measures. In the 501 to 1,500 band it is 15,000 against a 10,000 start (1.50 times); in the 1,501 to 2,750 band, 17,000 against 12,500 (1.36 times); above 2,750, 22,900 against 17,500 (1.31 times). The chart says median amounts "are based on member redemptions with Air Canada and select partners from January 2025 through December 2026" and "are only displayed where available for flights either originating or ending in the North America zone." One pooled figure covers the whole zone in each band, so it reflects redemption history across the band, not a San Jose flight or a United-only flight. Starting amounts are, in the chart's words, "not guaranteed with all carriers."

Air Canada's update page for the June 1, 2026 changes lists revisions to the Between North America and Atlantic, Between North America and Pacific, Within Atlantic, Within Pacific and Between Atlantic and Pacific tables, and has no heading for travel within North America. The chart is dated 2026-08, later than that update page's June 1 effective date. The fees that come with these awards, including the CAD 39 per-ticket partner booking fee, are set out in the cash section below.

KrisFlyer: one flat price for the region

KrisFlyer prices Star Alliance awards by zone pair, not by distance, so every US city costs the same. The edition effective 1 November 2025 names a North America zone and a combined "HAWAII, CENTRAL AMERICA" zone, and the cell between them reads 41, 86 and 115 in thousands of miles for a round trip. The chart says "A one-way award requires half the number of miles shown here and is applicable to flights operated by Star Alliance member carriers." The terms add that a one-way award "is only applicable to the list of airlines as specified in the Star Alliance chart here, provided there is no stopover included in the one-way award itinerary," so one way is 20,500 miles in economy. The chart's cabin legend is a graphic below the grid: "ECONOMY CLASS", "BUSINESS CLASS" and "FIRST CLASS" beside three swatches that match the shading of the three figures in each cell, so 41, 86 and 115 are economy, business and first. The chart's own line "Round-trip awards start from 18,000 KrisFlyer miles" fits, since 18 is the smallest first figure on the grid.

Against Aeroplan, 20,500 miles loses almost everywhere. It is above Aeroplan's starting price at all thirty pairs and above Atmos's starting price at all thirty. The one pair where it undercuts a program's printed price is Los Angeles to Panama City, where Aeroplan's all-other-partners row asks 22,500 points; KrisFlyer's 20,500 is 2,000 lower than that, though still above the 17,500 start on United's row. The zone also pools Hawaii with Central America, and a flight within North America costs 15,000 one way on the same chart, so Central America costs 5,500 more than the domestic-zone price.

The chart is the edition KrisFlyer's Star Alliance page links. The file is served at its live address and, checked on November 4, 2026, was byte-identical to the Wayback Machine captures of the chart file dated May 13 and October 16, 2026, and the edition's own footer reads "Effective 1 November 2025." On cash, the terms say: "Award tickets are subject to, and the passenger is responsible for, applicable departure taxes; other airport or government handling fees; and any fuel or other surcharges imposed by Singapore Airlines or any other partner airlines."

Atmos Rewards: three bands from 7,500 to 17,500

The Atmos page carries a North American table under the heading Alaska and Hawaiian award charts, with an economy column that runs from 4,500 to 20,000 points, and says that block "Applies to awards wholly on Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines." It is not the table for a partner flight. The Americas tab sits in the partner charts and carries the note "Includes travel from US to Americas and within Americas." The oneworld partner page lists American Airlines among the member airlines, which puts an American seat to Central America on the Americas table. The page does not say which table prices an Alaska-operated flight to Costa Rica, so an Alaska seat is a search-screen question, and its price could differ from the Americas figures below.

The thirty pairs fall in three of the table's bands: 8 in 701 to 1,400 miles at 7,500, 11 in 1,401 to 2,100 at 12,500 and 11 in 2,101 to 4,000 at 17,500. Atmos prints starting prices only and adds: "Actual redemption rate requirements may vary based on route-specific factors, including city pair combinations, partner airline pricing, market demand, number of flight segments in the itinerary and limited availability at lower tiers." Mixed-cabin itineraries price at the highest class flown. The fee terms read: taxes and carrier-imposed fees "starting from $5.60 per person, each way," and "a $12.50 (USD) nonrefundable fee will be collected per person, each way" on itineraries with a partner segment.

The numbers here are the Americas table as it stood on May 18, 2026, taken from a Wayback Machine capture of Atmos's chart page; that is the newest capture of the page that returns the chart. The page itself cautions that "Seats are subject to availability and participating airlines, routes, and cabins may change over time" and that "Some origin-destination pairs may not be available at the lowest published levels, even with the same distance band." A price on the Atmos search screen outranks this table.

Delta flights through Virgin: 16,500 to 35,000

Flying Club sells seats on flights Delta operates, Delta Connection included. The page states the limits: "Redemptions can only be made on Delta Air Lines operated flights including Delta Connection® services" and "Rewards cannot be booked on a Delta marketed flight operated by another carrier." It adds that "All reward flights on Delta Air Lines are subject to availability. Blackout dates may apply and certain routes may not be available." The chart prints one price per band with no starting-at wording, and the page labels the mileage "for a one-way ticket excluding passenger taxes, duties, fee, charges and surcharges." Seats are booked on Virgin's own site; the program is explained in Virgin Atlantic points on Delta flights.

The thirty pairs use four of the six bands: 10 in the 1,001 to 1,500 band at 16,500, 7 in the next at 18,500, 12 in the 2,001 to 3,000 band at 22,000 and Los Angeles to Panama City alone in the 3,001 to 4,000 band at 35,000. Virgin's economy price is higher than Aeroplan's starting price at all thirty pairs and higher than Aeroplan's median at all thirty, by 1,500 to 12,100 points against the median. Lines decide a few prices. Chicago to San Salvador is 27.3 miles under the 2,000 line and costs 18,500; New York to Guatemala City is 63.4 miles over it and costs 22,000. Los Angeles to Panama City is 10.8 miles past the 3,000 line, which puts it at 35,000 against 22,000 for Los Angeles to San Jose.

The printed chart has three quirks worth knowing before a price is trusted. Delta One's first two cells, 21,000 for 0 to 500 miles and 11,000 for 501 to 1,000, run backwards against the other columns; no pair here sits in either band, so nothing on this page leans on them. The page lists standard and peak dates for "All other routes," with peak running October 23 to November 3, 2026 and December 7, 2026 to January 3, 2027, but it prints one price per band and does not say which season that price describes. And it calls the mileage one way without naming the basis, flown miles or origin-to-destination miles. The tables here use flown miles, as Aeroplan states, and the connections section shows where that choice could matter.

Economy price for each of thirty pairs

The table sets every pair through all four programs. Aeroplan shows United's starting price with the median in brackets and, beside it, the all-other-partners price. Virgin's single number is the fixed price for a Delta flight, Atmos's is the starting price for an American flight, and KrisFlyer's is half the round-trip chart cell. Each column assumes the airline operates the flight. The table does not say which airline serves which pair.

Atmos alone has the lowest economy price at 8 pairs: all five from Miami, Houston to Guatemala City and San Salvador, and Atlanta to Guatemala City. Atmos and Aeroplan tie at 10: Houston to San Jose and Panama City, Atlanta to San Jose, Liberia and Panama City, New York and Chicago to Guatemala City and San Salvador, and Los Angeles to Panama City. Aeroplan alone is lowest at 12. Ten of those are the pairs beyond 2,100 miles from the gateway, where Atmos jumps to 17,500 while Aeroplan holds at 12,500: New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to San Jose and Liberia, New York and Chicago to Panama City, and Los Angeles to Guatemala City and San Salvador. The other two, Houston to Liberia and Atlanta to San Salvador, sit between Atmos's 1,400 line and Aeroplan's 1,500 line. Neither Virgin nor KrisFlyer has the lowest price at any pair. Measured against Aeroplan's median instead of its floor, Atmos's starting price is lower at 20 of the thirty.

Those counts compare floors. Atmos warns that its starting price may not be offered on every flight, and Aeroplan's starting price is "not guaranteed with all carriers," so a real quote can sit above either number. The gap matters more than the count. Where Atmos wins it saves 2,500 points against Aeroplan's floor, and where Aeroplan wins it saves 5,000 at the pairs past 2,100 miles. If a seat shows only on a chart's higher price, none of this ordering holds, which is why the seat comes first and the transfer last. How to search award availability covers finding it.

Choosing a program by departure city

From Miami, an American seat on Atmos is the lowest printed price to all five airports, at 7,500 points against Aeroplan's 10,000. Atmos's advantage there depends on an American flight with an Atmos award seat; if the seat shows only on United, Aeroplan's 10,000 is the figure to use.

From Houston, Atmos is lowest to Guatemala City and San Salvador, Aeroplan is lowest to Liberia, and the two tie at 12,500 to San Jose and Panama City. From Atlanta, Atmos is lowest to Guatemala City alone, Aeroplan is lowest to San Salvador, and the two tie at 12,500 to San Jose, Liberia and Panama City. At every one of those pairs the printed prices differ by 2,500 points or less, so the seat that exists on the day should decide.

From New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, Aeroplan's 12,500 is the lowest printed economy price at every pair except where it ties Atmos: Guatemala City and San Salvador from New York and Chicago, also at 12,500, and Los Angeles to Panama City at 17,500 on United's row. On that last pair the all-other-partners row asks 22,500, and on a Star Alliance airline other than United KrisFlyer's 20,500 undercuts it. Virgin on Delta is higher than Aeroplan's floor everywhere and is the choice only when a Delta seat is the one that exists.

Liberia or San Jose from each city

This page measures two Costa Rican airports, San Jose and Liberia, and the charts barely separate them. Liberia is nearer than San Jose from every gateway on the table, but the gap changes a price at only one gateway. From Houston, Liberia's 1,480.8 miles sit under Aeroplan's 1,500 line and Virgin's 1,500 line, while San Jose's 1,556.5 sit over both. That is 2,500 Aeroplan points and 2,000 Virgin points one way, with Atmos unchanged at 12,500 for both.

The other five gateways show no price difference on any of the three distance charts. Los Angeles has the largest gap, 94.7 miles, and still lands in the same band at all three programs, because 2,628.2 and 2,722.9 miles both sit between Aeroplan's 1,500 and 2,750 lines, Virgin's 2,000 and 3,000 lines and Atmos's 2,100 and 4,000 lines. KrisFlyer's flat price ignores distance altogether. Away from Houston, the airport choice belongs to the schedule and the trip's geography, not to the chart.

When a connection pushes the price up

Aeroplan prices a direction on the distance actually flown, so a connection adds miles and can add a band. The table puts selected routings against their nonstop pair, with the legs measured the same way as the distances above. A connection can never lower a band, because the nonstop great-circle distance is the shortest path between the two airports. Across the thirty pairs and twelve hub airports in this analysis (Miami, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Panama City, San Salvador, Guatemala City, San Jose, Los Angeles, New York and Mexico City), 242 pair-and-hub routings stay within the policy's limit of twice the nonstop distance; 132 of them stay in the nonstop band and 110 move up one or more bands. The hub list is geometry, not a list of real flights.

Los Angeles to San Jose is the instructive case. Nonstop it is 2,722.9 miles, 27.1 under the 2,750 line, at 12,500 points on either row. Through Mexico City the total is 2,740.6 miles, still 9.4 under, and priced the same. Through Houston it is 2,932.9 miles, which moves the price to 17,500 on United's row and 22,500 on the other partners' row. The two routings are 192.3 miles apart and 10,000 points apart on the all-other-partners row. At a margin of 9.4 miles, a booking engine with different mileage data could place the Mexico City routing on either side of the line, so the quoted price is the only one to trust.

Houston to Liberia shows the lower line. A San Salvador connection totals 1,519.6 miles, 19.6 over 1,500, and costs 12,500 instead of the 10,000 for the nonstop. Miami to San Jose is the opposite surprise: through Panama City the total is 1,492.0 miles, 8.0 under the line, so the connection stays at 10,000. Miami to Liberia through the same hub totals 1,589.5 and crosses. Atlanta to San Jose through Toronto flies 3,083.5 miles, 1.89 times the nonstop, and lands in the top band. Atmos and Virgin do not say how they measure a connection. The Atmos terms list "number of flight segments in the itinerary" among the factors that can change a price, so a connection on an Atmos award can cost more than its band implies.

Stopover rules differ by program. Aeroplan's policy says "Stopovers are permitted once per direction of travel, including on one-way travel," for a maximum of 45 days, and that they are "not permitted within Canada, the United States, or China." Panama is not on that list. The policy also says "Additional points are required for stopovers" and prints no figure. KrisFlyer's terms say "Complimentary stopovers are not permitted for one-way awards." Atmos's chart terms allow "One (1) enroute stopover of up to 14 days is allowed per one-way on eligible international itineraries." Virgin's Delta page prints no stopover rule. Stopovers, open jaws and multi-city on award tickets sets out how each program treats them, and the Aeroplan policy's own examples price a direction with a stopover as one band plus a stopover charge.

Business cabin prices on the same pairs

Business class prices differ more across the four programs than economy does. On the Aeroplan chart the business start is 20,000 in the 501 to 1,500 band and 25,000 in the 1,501 to 2,750 band, and the all-other-partners row prints the same numbers. Virgin's Delta One price runs from 41,500 to 80,000 across the thirty pairs, Atmos's business start is 15,000, 25,000 or 35,000 by band, and KrisFlyer's single figure is 43,000.

Aeroplan's business start is lowest or tied at 22 of the thirty pairs. Atmos undercuts it at the other 8, the same eight pairs where Atmos has the lowest economy price, because its 701 to 1,400 band asks 15,000 against Aeroplan's 20,000. Virgin's Delta One price and KrisFlyer's 43,000 exceed Aeroplan's business start at all thirty. Aeroplan's median for business is a separate story: 30,100 in the 501 to 1,500 band and 44,700 in the 1,501 to 2,750 band, which is 1.79 times the floor in the larger band. Which cabin names an airline uses on a short Central America flight, and whether a business cabin exists at all, is not printed on any chart here.

Moving points: what each bank lists

Four bank pages name or omit the four charted programs. Chase's page lists ten airline partners, including Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Air Canada Aeroplan, and says points can typically be transferred only in increments of 1,000 and that transfers to travel partners are final; it does not list Atmos. Capital One's page groups Aeroplan and KrisFlyer with the 1:1 airlines, lists Virgin Red rather than Flying Club, and does not list Atmos. Citi's Strata Premier page names Virgin Atlantic among its airline partners and ends with "and others," so the other cells read "Not named." Bilt's help center, updated October 20, 2026, lists Atmos, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Air Canada Aeroplan at 1:1 and does not list KrisFlyer. American Express is not tabulated.

Two airline programs appear on bank lists but have no chart here. Capital One lists Copa at 2:1.5 and Avianca LifeMiles at 1:1, Bilt lists LifeMiles at 1:1, and the Chase page names neither. No Copa ConnectMiles or LifeMiles chart is quoted on this page, so neither is priced. Chase, Capital One and Bilt each say a completed transfer cannot be undone, so the order is fixed: find the seat on the airline or program's own search, confirm the points price and the fees, and only then move points, in the block size the bank allows. How to transfer points to an airline covers the mechanics. With a seat in hand, San Juan on points runs a similar distance-chart comparison for a Caribbean island on three of these programs, and the destinations hub lists the rest of the regions.

The cash lines behind the points price

A points price is not the whole bill. The table lists the cash lines that the programs and the US government print for a flight from the United States. None of the chart, policy or terms pages for the four programs prints a Costa Rican, Panamanian, Guatemalan or Salvadoran charge. Alaska's page on lap infants lists Costa Rica charges for an infant flying home without a ticket, a $27 boarding tax, a $2 baggage inspection fee and a $3 security fee, which shows that such charges exist at the airport. Whether they are collected inside an adult's award ticket is not stated on any page used here, so the totals below leave them out. The sibling guide on award taxes and carrier surcharges covers how the cash side of an award is built.

Aeroplan's policy puts the two program fees in Canadian dollars: "Flight Reward reservations may be completed free of charge at aircanada.com, or for a non-refundable $30 CAD fee via the Aeroplan Contact Centre," and "a $39 CAD partner booking fee will apply, per ticket" on a reservation that includes an airline other than Air Canada, Air Canada Express, Air Canada Rouge or Landline. The policy adds that "All fees are charged by Air Canada in CAD." The conversion to dollars in the examples uses 0.72 as an illustrative rate, which is an input to replace. Atmos's $12.50 and "from $5.60" lines are in dollars and apply each way.

The federal lines come from two sources. The TSA says its fee "is currently $5.60 per one-way trip in air transportation that originates at an airport in the U.S., except that the fee imposed per round trip shall not exceed $11.20." On the writer's reading, a one-way flight home from San Jose originates outside the US and carries no TSA fee, so only the outbound flight does. For the international tax, 26 U.S.C. 4261(c)(1) reads: "There is hereby imposed a tax of $12.00 on any amount paid (whether within or without the United States) for any transportation of any person by air, if such transportation begins or ends in the United States." Subsection (c)(2) excepts transportation "all of which is taxable under subsection (a)," the percentage tax in the first subsection, and (c)(3) sets a separate rule for Alaska and Hawaii. The dollar amount is indexed, and the IRS instructions for Form 720 give $23.40 for calendar year 2026, "generally." The code text checked here is current through Public Law 119-136, enacted October 22, 2026. On the writer's reading, a one-way flight that begins in the US and a one-way flight that ends in the US each meet that test, which is why the examples treat two one-way awards as two taxable transportations. The subsection taxes an amount paid, and the short-flight guide cites IRS reasoning that no section 4261 tax applies where nothing is paid, so none of the pages used here settles whether a ticket bought wholly with points carries the $23.40. Aeroplan's policy says a U.S. Tax Recovery Fee is collected "to recover the cost of United States international transportation taxes applicable to certain Flight Reward itineraries," so the tax can be passed through. The examples carry it on every flight.

Break-even fares for one Atlanta trip

Take the Atlanta to San Jose pair and two one-way awards per adult, so every program is priced as two flights at its one-way figure. The fee lines in the table are only the lines that sources print: the TSA fee on the outbound flight, the $23.40 federal tax on each flight, and each program's own fee where it prints one. A real booking adds carrier-imposed charges and any local charges, so every fare in the table is a floor. A cash fare above the printed number returns at least the stated cents per point; a fare below it returns less.

At 1.50 cents per point the cash fare needed is $452.40 for Atmos, $483.56 for Aeroplan at its starting price, $607.40 for Virgin and $667.40 for KrisFlyer. Aeroplan at its median needs $618.56. The spread from $452.40 to $667.40 is the same trip on four charts, which is the case for pricing the cash fare before choosing a program rather than after.

A baby on the trip: program rules

A baby on a Central America trip changes the arithmetic by program. Aeroplan's policy says "For all other itineraries, a discounted fare of CAD25 or 2,500 Points will apply per direction of travel, and the infant requires a ticket," and the two exceptions it prints, travel wholly within Canada and between Canada and the United States, do not cover a US to Costa Rica flight. Only one infant under 2 not occupying a seat is permitted per adult, and partner-airline eligibility is "subject to partner airline restrictions." Virgin's Delta page prints 1,000 Virgin Points for a lap infant in economy, 2,000 for premium and 5,000 for business, and does not say whether the figure is per direction.

Atmos is the program to check first. Its chart terms say "Lap infants are not permitted on international partner awards and will not be accepted for travel. Members will need to book seats at prevailing rates." Alaska's infant page adds that for international points travel on Alaska, Hawaiian or a partner, "an adult fare number of points are required" and "your infant will travel in its own seat." Taken together, an infant on an Atmos partner award is priced as a seat. Lap infants and kids on award tickets compares the rules across programs and lists the airport charges an infant without a ticket can owe.

Before moving any points to Central America

• Find which of American, United and Delta has a seat on your date from your gateway, and whether a Star Alliance airline does if KrisFlyer is an option.
• Measure the flown miles of the exact routing, then compare the total with each program's lines: Aeroplan 1,500 and 2,750; Atmos 700, 1,400 and 2,100; Virgin 1,000, 1,500, 2,000 and 3,000.
• Match the flight to its chart row: Aeroplan's select row for United and the other-partners row for the rest, Atmos's Americas table for American, Virgin's all-other-routes chart for Delta.
• Budget from Aeroplan's median where one is printed, and read every other starting price as the lowest the chart allows, not a promise.
• Add only the fee lines a source prints, and leave local charges as an open line.
• Compare the points price with the cash fare at your own target, using the break-even table.
• Transfer only after the seat and its price are on screen, in the block size the bank requires.