Costa Rica Payment Policies: What’s Normal, Common, And To Be Expected?

Written by Nikki Solano

Nikki is the CEO of Pura Vida! eh? Inc. (Costa Rica Discounts), and the author of the guidebooks Moon Costa Rica (2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025 editions) and Moon Best of Costa Rica (2022 edition) from Moon Travel Guides. Together with her Costa Rican husband, Ricky, she operates the Costa Rica Travel Blog, created the online community DIY Costa Rica, built the Costa Rica Destination Tool, oversees the brand-new (summer 2023) Costa Rica Travel Shop, and designed the Costa Rica Trip Planning 101 E-Course. Also, Nikki wrote the Costa Rica cover feature for Wanderlust Magazine's sustainability-focused Travel Green List issue, showcased Costa Rica destinations and experiences on Rick Steves' Monday Night Travel show and podcast/radio show, and served as the Costa Rica Destination Editor for Essentialist, a luxury travel brand. Want to show your appreciation for her free article below? Thank Nikki here. ❤️️

Three types of Costa Rica payment policies

Costa Rican companies differ from one another in many ways, one of which is their payment policies. Each hotel, tour operator, car rental agency, and transportation service provider in Costa Rica constructs their own payment policies, and most of those policies fall into one of the following three categories:

• Costa Rica payment policies that require full prepayment (either full or partial prepayment)
• Costa Rica payment policies that do not require full or partial prepayment but do require credit card information to be provided as a guarantee to protect the company in case of no-show or last-minute cancelation
• Costa Rica payment policies that do not require full prepayment, partial prepayment, or credit card information to be provided as a guarantee to protect the tour operator in case of no-show or last-minute cancelation

What about fraud?

Before we get into this article, we’ll address the elephant in the room: fraud. If you’ve chosen this article to read over others, we bet you’ve stumbled upon a Costa Rican company that has asked you to pay for, or provide credit card information for, a particular Costa Rica service and you’re hesitant to provide it, likely due to the potential for fraud. That’s fair enough, and we get it; we’re safety-conscious consumers too. We know the hassle, not to mention the financial risk, that comes with being a victim of credit card fraud, so we don’t fault you for being careful. Unfortunately, in this digital age, fraud can happen anywhere in the world and at any time, regardless of whether you vacation in Costa Rica or you never set foot outside of your home. Although we cannot guarantee that paying for any item, including Costa Rica trip items, is 100% safe all of the time, what we can do is explain which payment policies and processes are the most common in Costa Rica, so you don’t automatically write off some as red flags. We can also help you familiarize yourself with Costa Rica’s most common payment policies and processes, so you’re prepared to recognize potential harm in the event that you come across a practice that strays from the norm.

Costa Rican companies that require full or partial prepayment

You may be wondering why some Costa Rican companies require prepayment, and if so, know this: if they don’t, there’s no way for them to ensure they’ll get paid for the service(s) they provide. Bluntly put, if Costa Rican companies don’t collect money upfront from travelers, or at least credit card information, which serves as a promise of future payment, they aren’t protecting themselves from avoidable losses. As such, asking for or requiring either a full or partial payment, or credit card information to ensure future payment, isn’t a shady payment process, it’s a wise business decision. It’s also how most tourism businesses operate in Costa Rica.

Last-minute cancelations or worse, no-shows, can cause Costa Rican companies significant financial losses. This is especially true for tour operators; depending on the tour you reserve and the time of year you visit, last-minute cancelations and no-shows can cost tour operators the following expenses: 

• prepaid park or attraction entrance fees
• tour guide salaries
• equipment rentals
• food purchases and expenses related to food preparation
• scheduled transportation services

Are Costa Rican companies that request or require prepayment scamming travelers?

Not at all. As mentioned above, most Costa Rica tourism businesses require prepayment, and in our personal and professional opinion, they should.

Are there benefits to paying for Costa Rica trip items in advance?

Yes! The more vacation items that you provide payment for in advance, the less cash you’ll need to carry with you while you travel, and the less money you’ll lose on credit card fees that result from either purchases made in Costa Rica (i.e., purchases made outside of your home country) or purchases processed in foreign currencies (i.e., purchases made in Costa Rican colones). For more information about this topic, don’t miss our related blog post Spending Money In Costa Rica: What To Know About USD. Colones, Credit Cards, And More!

In addition, prepaying for Costa Rica trip items prior to traveling permits you to access early-booking discounts, like those offered through our business, Pura Vida! eh? Inc.

How are prepayments provided? Are there online payment links?

When we first established our business, Pura Vida! eh? Inc., nearly two decades ago, Costa Rican companies could only accept prepayment via international wire transfer, which sometimes took weeks, or via credit card authorization forms, which required travelers to scan/email or fax (yes, fax!) in their credit card information. Nowadays, most Costa Rican companies that require prepayment have embraced ecommerce and provide online payment links where tours, hotel stays, and other tourism-related items can be collected. Familiarize yourself with the list below of online sources that are commonly used by Costa Rican companies to collect payment for tourism-related services, so you don’t automatically assume that a request for payment through one is a scam:

• BAC Credomatic payment links (typically used for tour/activity payments)
• PEEK payment links (typically used for tour/activity payments)
• ORBE payment links (typically used for hotel payments)
• PayPal payment links (used for all kinds of service payments)
• Some companies provide in-house payment links generated through their business website

Costa Rican companies that require credit card information as a guarantee

Some Costa Rican companies don’t care to receive your money upfront but they need a guarantee that you’ll provide them with a payment at a later date. That guarantee is your credit card information; in the event that you cancel your reservation(s) with the Costa Rican company last-minute, or you don’t show up for your reservation(s) at all, the company can charge your credit card for the amount owed to them. Like Costa Rican companies that require prepayment, Costa Rican companies that require credit card information as a guarantee are protecting themselves from financial loss.

Are there benefits to not paying for Costa Rica trip items in advance?

There can be, depending on your financial situation. If you need time to save money before you travel, Costa Rican companies that don’t require prepayment—but can accept and guarantee reservations with credit card information as a guarantee of payment—offer the advantage of having more time to gather trip funds.

How is credit card information provided? What is a credit card authorization form?

Most Costa Rican companies that require credit card information as a guarantee use credit card authorization forms (sometimes called CCA forms) to collect the information from travelers. These forms must be printed, signed, and either scanned/emailed or faxed to the Costa Rican company. Some companies also require travelers to provide them with a copy of the front and back of their credit card, so the company can match the signature on the card to the signature on the credit card authorization form. Obviously, transferring such sensitive data electronically assumes an additional level of risk, which is why, in recent years, most Costa Rican companies have shifted away from the use of credit card authorization forms toward the practice of collecting full prepayment via online payment links that are believed to be more secure.

Costa Rican tourism companies that do not require prepayment or credit card information as a guarantee

Although they’re not the norm, there are some Costa Rican companies that don’t require prepayment or credit card information as a guarantee. Most are either very small businesses (or sole proprietorships, in the case of some independent tour guides) that aren’t equipped to accept advance/credit card payments (cash payments are preferred, if not required) or they’re very large companies that don’t bother collecting prepayment or credit card information as a guarantee because their operating costs are so low and they have little to lose on last-minute cancelations or no-shows.

Curious about tax in Costa Rica? Learn which tourism services are taxed by reading our related blog post:

What You Need To Know About The 13% VAT Tax In Costa Rica

Pura vida!

Do you have questions about Costa Rica payment policies, want help figuring out which companies require or don’t require prepayments, or need to know whether a particular payment-related ask is a scam? No problem! When you’re ready, make an appointment here to communicate with me (Nikki) privately and we can discuss these and other topics to get your questions answered fast and your Costa Rica trip poised for success. Pura vida, amigos! 🙂

Hey, Costa Rica Travel Blog reader, thank you for visiting and reading our blog! We're truly grateful for your time and preference.

Do you know that your spam-free reading experience is most important to us? Unlike some other Costa Rica blogs, we do not to sell your personal information, and we choose not to display ads, sponsored content, or affiliate marketing on our blog so we can keep your visit as distraction- and junk-free as possible. Because we prioritize your privacy, we don't earn money when you visit us, when you sign up for our e-course, or when you click on our links, which means the time and work we put into this blog—including its 300+ articles—is entirely voluntary! If you find our content valuable, and you'd like to thank us for making the trip-planning process easier and your Costa Rica vacation more enjoyable, please consider making a small donation ($1, $2, $3, or an amount of your choosing) to our blog. Doing so is a great way to pat us on the back if you feel we deserve it. 😊 Pura vida, amigos!

Click on the button above to donate through PayPal. (If you cannot see the PayPal button above, click here.) A PayPal account is not required to make a donation; credit and debit cards are also accepted. PayPal donations are confidential; we never see your payment details.

Love our blog? Check out our other Costa Rica-related projects, too: