{"id":16204,"date":"2015-01-10T08:26:22","date_gmt":"2015-01-10T16:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/?p=16204"},"modified":"2015-01-13T20:00:26","modified_gmt":"2015-01-14T04:00:26","slug":"my-experience-renting-a-car-in-panama-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2015\/01\/10\/my-experience-renting-a-car-in-panama-city\/","title":{"rendered":"My Experience Renting a Car in Panama City"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last time I was in Panama City, I was an inexperienced travel noob and took the taxi everywhere which was ridiculously expensive. It was $25-$30 taxi ride from Panama City\u2019s Tocumen International Airport to Downtown Panama City and vice versa which added up to quite a bit! A few months ago, I wrote Why You Should Rent a Car in Central America<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Introduction to Panama City<\/a>
\nLAX Flagship Lounge at American Airlines Terminal 4<\/a>
\nAmerican Airlines MIA-PTY 737-800 Business Class<\/a>
\nMy Experience Renting a Car in Panama City<\/a>
\nAloft Panama City Hotel Review<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of the Panama Canal<\/a>
\nThe Sights and Sounds of Casco Viejo in Panama City<\/a>
\nPanama City Airport Tocumen Royal Saloon Airport VIP Lounge<\/a>
\nPanama City Airport Tocumen Airport Club Lounge<\/a>
\nAmerican Airlines PTY-MIA 737-800 Business Class<\/a><\/p>\n

I was only in Panama City for less than 24 hours and I didn\u2019t want to go through the expensive taxi route again, so I decided to rent a car from Sixt Rent a Car for $4.99 a day.<\/p>\n

\"rentalcarPTY\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I already knew that there\u2019s no way my final bill would be $4.99 because there\u2019s a daily $15 mandatory SLI insurance \u2018scam\u2019 on top of that. It\u2019s not really a \u2018scam\u2019 since they won\u2019t let you even drive away without paying for it. See 5 Common Car Rental Scams in Central America<\/a>.\u00a0The total came out to be $21.80 for 1 days\u2019 worth of renting a car including the mandatory supplemental liability insurance (SLI).<\/p>\n

\"rentalcarPTY1\"<\/a> \"rentalcarPTY2\"<\/a> \"rentalcarPTY7\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I inspected my rental car for any kind of damage and took pictures of all the scratches, nicks, and dents. I also took a video (highly recommended) just in case you receive a large bill after returning your rental car.<\/p>\n

\"rentalcarPTY3\"<\/a> \"rentalcarPTY4\"<\/a> \"rentalcarPTY5\"<\/a> \"rentalcarPTY6\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Be aware that when driving in Panama City, you will encounter a lot of tolls on the Pan American Highway (Corredor Sur) . I recommend to \u2018NOT\u2019 buy a toll pass from the rental car company because they sell it at an inflated price. I bought my \u201cLa tarjeta del Corredor Sur\u201d from the toll booth operator and loaded it with $15. Every time you pass by a toll booth, you just stick it up to a \u2018sensor\u2019 and it automatically deducts money from the card.<\/p>\n

\"rentalcarPTY8\"<\/a> \"rentalcarPTY9\"<\/a> \"rentalcarPTY10\"<\/a> \"rentalcarPTY11\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t pick up strangers by the toll booth as they seem to be hitching for a ride.<\/p>\n

\"rentalcarPTY12\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Driving in Panama City was quite delightful and it was basically like driving in the U.S. The roads were in great condition and the signage was clear. During rush hour, I was pulled over and wrote My Experience Giving Bribe Money to a Corrupt Police Officer in Panama City<\/a>. Here are some Car Rental Tips for Driving in Central America<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"rentalcarPTY13\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Most gas stations in Panama City are \u2018full service\u2019, meaning that someone will fill up the tank for you. I went to a Texaco gas station and filled up 15.73 liters worth of gas ~ $18.00 USD.<\/p>\n

\"rentalcarPTY14\"<\/a> \"rentalcarPTY15\"<\/a> \"rentalcarPTY16\"<\/a> \"rentalcarPTY17\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Overall, I ended up spending $21.80 for the rental car, $15 for the toll pass, and $18 for gas which amounted to a total of $54.80 which was still cheaper than taking taxis to and from the airport and vice versa. I also didn\u2019t have to take expensive taxis to get from downtown Panama City to the Panama Canal as well since I had the leisure and freedom of driving everywhere. It\u2019s definitely worth it to rent a car in Panama City despite my incident giving bribe money to a corrupt police officer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last time I was in Panama City, I was an inexperienced travel noob and took the taxi everywhere which was ridiculously expensive. It was $25-$30…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":16197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[205,49,50],"tags":[4178,4176,4175,4179,4177],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nMy Experience Renting a Car in Panama City - Points Summary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My Experience Renting a Car in Panama City, How to Rent a Car in Panama City, Renting a Car in Panama City, How to Rent a Car in Panama, Panama Rental Cars\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2015\/01\/10\/my-experience-renting-a-car-in-panama-city\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My Experience Renting a Car in Panama City - 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