How I Saved $750 On Flights To Panama

Every time I score 5 FREE flights to some faraway place, I jump for joy just like in this photo! 

And now I have done it again! So I have to share the how with you so you can do it too. Everyone can do this. Travel does not need to be expensive!  

This latest coup is scoring 5 FREE round-trip flights from LAX to Panama City, Panama over the holidays. Now I must tell you getting saver award tickets over the holidays is not easy and getting 5, wow! 

So here's what I did. First, I found that Copa Airlines and United Airlines offered the most direct flights to Panama City.  I started checking them every day about 300 days out. Yes, that's 300 days out. I finally found saver availability from LAX to Panama City, Panama and then return to Houston. But the last leg back to LAX wouldn't open up. 

Since United and Copa do not offer good transfers from Starwood, my trick is to transfer Starwood points to Singapore Airlines and then use Kris Flyer points to book on United. 

I always call Singapore Airlines first to confirm availability. Sometimes, they will put a hold on the seats while the points transfer. In this case, they would not hold them so I took a chance. 

I transferred 140,000 Starwood points to my Kris Flyer account at Singapore Airlines. The points transfer 20,000 Starwood points for 25,000 Kris Flyer points. Starwood to United transfers at 2:1 so that's not a good deal. Transferring to Kris Flyer, you actually get a 5,000 point bonus. 

I needed 175,000 Kris Flyer points so I transferred 140,000 Starwood points. That's essentially like getting one round-trip flight FREE. 

Now here's a word of warning, once you transfer to Kris Flyer, you cannot get the points back. 

Once the points transfer which can take a few days, I call Singapore Airlines and book the flights. 

The last leg still had no availability so I booked the other three legs for 35,000 points each. You still have to pay the taxes which totaled $425.  I put the taxes on my Capital One Venture card and erased them using points. (See my previous posts on how this works)

Now, here's the kicker. I found flights from Houston to LAX for $147 each so I booked those, paid for them with Capital One Venture card and erased them too.  Essentially, I just got 5 FREE round-trip tickets, but wait it gets better. 

Yesterday, I receive a change notice for our flights from Houston to LAX. They pushed the flight two hours earlier which usually would be great. But now our flight is departing Houston as our flight from Panama City is arriving. Hmmm, that's not going to work. 

I check United and bam, now you can book an award ticket all the way from Panama City to LAX for 17,500 miles. I call Singapore Airlines and they are willing to make the adjustment as long as I pay the additional airline taxes approximately $425. I call United about the change of notice and get a $916 refund for the tickets. 

The bottom line is it pays to keep checking even after you book your tickets to see if you can get a better deal. Hope you could follow that. If you need any help, feel free to email me or comment below. That's how we do it at almost FREE family travel.