If you’re a U.S. citizen landing at Juan Santamaría International Airport in San Jose, you’ll now walk past QR codes in the immigration line and at baggage claim. Scan one and you can sign up for free safety alerts from the U.S. Embassy before you leave the terminal. The codes link to the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, known as STEP. It’s a free service run by the U.S. State Department. Signing up is voluntary, and you don’t need it to enter Costa Rica.
AERIS, the company that runs the airport, put up the signs with the U.S. Embassy in San José and the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT). They sit along the same arrivals route where the airport recently rolled out faster biometric immigration checks, so you’ll see them while you’re already standing in line.
Once you’re enrolled, you get alerts about security, health, weather, natural disasters, emergencies and changes to travel advisories while you’re in the country. You also get something less obvious. If something goes wrong during your trip, consular staff have a way to reach you, or to reach the emergency contact you list.
That second part is the real reason to sign up. In an earthquake, a flood or a family emergency back home, it’s much easier for the embassy to help someone it already knows is in Costa Rica and knows how to contact. AERIS executive director Ricardo Hernández said the point of putting the information inside the terminal is to give passengers these tools without any extra errands once they leave the airport. He said that as Costa Rica’s main air gateway, the airport can reach thousands of travelers from the first moment of their visit.
The signs use QR codes instead of printed instructions so the information behind them can be updated from official websites without replacing anything in the terminal. The initiative goes beyond the alert program. In the arrivals immigration area you’ll also see a video with water-safety tips, aimed at travelers planning beach time or ocean activities. It’s a good reminder before you head to the coast, where you may also notice the crocodile warning signs now posted at some beaches and rivers.
If you miss the codes on arrival, you can still sign up. Go to step.state.gov, create an account, and enter your travel dates and where you’ll be staying. U.S. citizens who live in Costa Rica can enroll too and receive the same alerts. STEP alerts can also cover health notices, like the recent CDC dengue warning for Costa Rica, so you hear about them while you’re here rather than after you get home.
AERIS, the ICT and the U.S. Embassy describe the effort as a way to get preventive information to people at the point they arrive, rather than relying on hotels and tour operators to pass it along later in the trip.
