Inconveniences on a Panama trip

For a 3-week vacation I took in Panama with my wife, brother and sister-in-law in February 2014, we rented cars.

Be aware. I was informed that all car rentals in Panama include a mandatory, $16.99-per-day third-party insurance payment, which means that, often, you will end up having to pay double the price you were quoted online from a rental agency.

In accessing information on car rentals in Panama online at CarRentals.com, info on Thrifty Car Rental and ACE Rent A Car came up first. ACE quoted the lowest weekly rate. ACE as well as Thrifty, which we also used, claimed to have their cars available at the domestic airport, Allbrook (near the canal). They do not. Instead, you have to go with them to their in-town rental offices to get your car.

Upon our arrival, we found that ACE had no presence at Albrook and we had to call for a representative. (Our flight had been one hour late to the airport. ACE claimed a rep had waited for us but then left.) An ACE rep showed up and drove us to a downtown office 15 to 20 minutes away. That car rental was from Jan. 30 for one week. 

The Thrifty rental was for one week beginning Feb. 6. While there was a booth at Albrook for Thrifty, no one was there and once again we had to phone. Again, we were taken to a downtown office to get our car. 

I suggest you don’t even attempt to drive in Panama City, since the streets usually are not marked and the traffic jams are very bad. Just take the ubiquitous inexpensive cabs. 

On Feb. 27 we flew nonstop from Panama City to Washington, DC’s, Dulles International aboard Copa Airlines.

I learned that for any flight that goes from Panama to the US, you must go through two security checks at the airport. After going through the first one that all passengers must go through, when you get to your gate’s individual waiting area you will find it is roped off and you must repeat the baggage x-ray and magnetometer routine. 

Once you do so, however, you are trapped in a no-leave zone. You cannot leave the area except to board your flight. Oh, and you can’t take any liquid through the security check into the roped-off area, meaning you can be thirsty for more than an hour if you get to your gate early. 

I emailed Copa about the fact that when we checked in, no one told us that once we entered the waiting area by the gate, we would not be allowed to leave. I received an email from Copa in which they apologized and thanked me for bringing this to their attention.

JAY LEVY

Takoma Park, MD

ITN sent copies of Mr. Levy’s email to ACE Rent A Car (4529 West 96th St., Indianapolis, IN 46268), Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group (5330 E. 31st St., Box 35985, Tulsa, OK 74153) and Copa Airlines (Box 522700, Miami, FL 33152) but received no replies.

On the website www.carrentals.com, under the heading “Complete your reservation,” it states, “International car rentals may have mandatory insurance requirements that result in additional charges at the time of rental.”