How To Use Miles To Get To And Stay For FREE In Panama

Panama has been named one of the top travel destinations for 2019 and for good reason. This country is easily accessible, they use USD as their currency, most people speak English, they have UBER and most major hotel chains, a variety of food and restaurants, and lots to do and see. 

I just got back from 2 weeks in Panama and the San Blas Islands so I'll break it down for you with a series of posts. 

First, let's start with how to get to Panama for FREE, of course. 

Copa Airlines is the official airline of Panama. It is also a member of the Star Alliance and flys direct from Los Angeles, Miami, Houston, Chicago, Boston, New York City and Washington DC. 

Being a member of the Star Alliance means you can use your United Airlines miles to book flights on Copa Airlines. 

I didn't have enough United Miles, but I had enough Starwood points to cover the 35,000 points for each r/t ticket. So my trick was to transfer Starwood points to Singapore Airlines Krisflyer program and then book on Copa. You can check out this past blog post for the details. 

However, now that Starwood combined with Marriott, you can actually transfer Starwood points to United Mileage Plus at a rate of 3:1.1 which is a 10% bonus plus for every 60,000 Starwood points you transfer you get a 5,000 point bonus. 

So, if you transfer 60,000 Starwood points, you will get 27,500 United Mileage Plus miles. 

You need 35,000 per ticket for a total of 175,000 United Mileage Plus miles. You can do the math and figure out that you need to transfer 382,000 Starwood points. 

Sounds like a lot, but keep in mind that Starwood is showing points at 3:1. 

Once you secure your airline tickets, it's time to move to hotels. 

I always use awardmapper.com first to see what hotels are in the area. Panama City has tons of hotels. I prefer ones with breakfast, so much easier with kids. 

The Hampton by Hilton Panama City offered a great deal. Each room cost 10,000 Hilton points and you get FREE breakfast. It is centrally located and has a rooftop pool. 

 Bottom line is you need to have a plan and start collecting points early. But once you take that trip and you know that your flights and your hotel are FREE, you can spend on experiences. 

Watch for my next post on what we did in Panama and an amazing timelapse video of going through the Panama Canal.