San José (SJO) to Madrid (MAD): 5,281 miles (8,499 km) great-circle, about 11h 05m nonstop by our estimate. Cheapest fare observed: $926 round-trip on United Airlines, with 2 stops, departing May 25, 2026.
$926 round-trip, United Airlines UA1097, departing 2026-05-25 at 00:30, returning 2026-06-11. The recorded itinerary left on a Monday, returning on a Thursday 17 nights later; the fare was observed 30 days before departure. "Book this flight" opens Kiwi.com with the same airline and dates.
At $926, it ranked 24th of the 30 round-trip fares we recorded from SJO (median $412). That is 17.5 cents per great-circle mile (round-trip price over one-way distance), below the SJO median of 21.6 cents across 29 round-trip routes.
Routes from SJO of similar length: Malaga (5,240 mi) at $1150 and Barcelona (5,573 mi) at $1165.
United Airlines had the cheapest fare on 3 of 30 SJO routes. It is the 6th longest of the 30 routes we track from SJO.
Of 35 departure airports with a fare to Madrid, San José (SJO) ranked 23rd at $926. Lowest: $46 from Lisbon (LIS); highest: $1698 from Sydney (SYD); 13 nonstop. Cheapest-fare airlines (routes): United Airlines (4), Wizz Air (4), Air China (2), American Airlines (2), Ryanair (2) and TAP Portugal (2), plus 17 more.
That depends on your passport and trip, so check the official source for Spain: European Commission: Schengen visa policy. Connecting elsewhere? Check that country's transit rules too.
Travelpayouts fares (cheapest per route, observed April 25, 2026); OurAirports coordinates and elevations; IANA zones America/Costa_Rica, Europe/Madrid; flight time is our estimate.