December through April is the dry window on Costa Rica's Pacific side — sunny beach days in Tamarindo, dry trails in Arenal, and sloths that are easier to spot when the trees aren't soaked. Budget travelers can keep it simple: a week in one beach town, local buses or a rented compact car, and casados for dinner. Five hundred and twenty dollars is a realistic out-the-door number if you skip the resorts and eat where the locals eat.
The catch is that even a cheap trip hits your account all at once — flights, the rental, a week of lodging. That's where the payment part comes in. With the right card, you can spread that single charge over more than a year instead of feeling it in one month.
The 15-month intro APR isn't a discount — it's a deadline. If a balance is still on the card when month 15 ends, interest starts adding up at the regular rate from that day on, which can turn a $520 trip into a much more expensive one. Treat the payoff date the way you'd treat a flight you can't miss.