Making sense of bag fees when relocating to Panama

The airlines now have different fees for seats & baggage depending on the fare you paid and if you hold status with the airline/alliance or have their credit card.   And each airlines’ rules are different – United, for example, does NOT allow a carry-on when you buy a Basic Economy ticket; but American, Delta, and Copa do.   One area that IS consistent is when you purchase or fly in Business/First Class – you typically will get to pick your seat for free and travel with 2 bags up to 70#s free of charge.   

When you move to Panama from the US or Canada, people always plan on trips back home to go shopping or get things they can’t find here, and we even help book flights for exPats who fly to Florida just to go shopping or for medical visits.   So luggage allowance tends to be very important.

And that’s where Panama’s main airline, Copa shines.

We did a price check comparing all the fares of American & Copa between Miami and Panama City for a flight in March, here’s what that looks like:

We looked at the total airfare (fare + taxes), cost for a seat towards the front, and then the price of 2 checked bags at 50 pounds each, 3 bags at 50 pounds each in the next column, 2 bags at 70 pounds each, and then 2 bags at 70 pounds each with a 3rd bag at 50 pounds.    Since many of us who live here and fly to the States come back with many things we can’t get here, this is where the this data comes into play (note: if you have status with American / Copa / United, this will vary slightly).

By looking at American first, you can see buying a Basic Economy ticket with luggage is essentially worthless – Basic fares are use-it-or-lose-it (no changes, no refunds) yet once you add in bags & a seat assignment, you are better off buying a Main cabin ticket; and upgrading to Main Cabin Plus offers even more incentive to pay the initial higher fee – you’ll actually SAVE $50 if you have just 2 checked bags, AND you’ll get a bit more legroom. 

But flying on American with heavy bags?   Its almost worthwhile to pay for Business Class ($585) with 2 bags than if you bought a regular Main Cabin ticket ($577).   We will say though, the BEST value when flying on American is to use miles thru its partners – I have an Alaska Airlines ATMOS account and regularly see flights on American for 7.5k miles in Economy and 15k miles in Business class; whereas American Advantage members need 12.5K for economy and 20K for Business class!

The better VALUE though, is if you fly Copa and look at their Business Class fare.   For $430, you can get 2 bags at 70# each, a much nicer seat, and status points towards Copa or United status.  AND, Copa will sometimes fly the DREAMS lie-flat configured Boeing 737 Max 9 on this route, so you’ll get quite the nice ride for just $430!

The only time the Copa Business Class seat isn’t a better VALUE is when you are just going to travel with 2 bags at 50#s – the price is only $324 compared to $430 in Business Class. 

As a travel agency, we tend to not just put in your origin & destination to find flights to Panama – we like to find out what you are flying with (bags), what you are bringing, if you have status with any airlines, have the Costco Visa Card (you get 3% back on travel), and how flexible you are.   We’ve found it *cheaper* to book clients thru Ft Lauderdale or Miami and switch over to Copa for their flight to Panama because of luggage.    A simple 1 day trip in Ft Lauderdale also allows you to visit Costco, Publix, or any other major store to get things not available in Panama.