Hi, All,

I'd like to hear from fellow travelers if they experienced a smooth car rental experience in Panama. Any preferred companies or rates?

Mom

We rented a car in David. We had booked a small SUV with Thrifty over the web. When we got to the airport, they didn't have any available. They tried to give us a Yaris instead! I said that wasn't going to work for us - we asked for 4 wheel drive because that's what we needed. They then offered a Corolla - still not 4 wheel, but better than a Yaris. However they tried to charge us more than the rate we were supposed to pay for the 4 wheel drive. The rationale was that we had gotten the internet rate for the 4 wheel drive, but we hadn't reserved the Corolla over the internet!!!

Needless to say, I objected ......

We ended up taking the Corolla because we didn't have much choice, but we did get the so called internet rate for it. The car was fine, but it would have been a lot easier if we had a 4 wheel drive to get to our accommodation.

Interesting... I booked with Thrifty out of PC. Hopefully they'll have our SUV!

We rented from National. I chose them because they offered the best rates and I think had the most number of outlets around. We flew into PTY, but didn't rent until we were leaving PC and got our car at Albrook which was closer to where we were staying.

Rented both a 4x4 and a Yaris from Budget in David. All went smoothly, no problems.

The Yaris was great by the way - we drove it hard and it survived! Back and forth a rocky road to our digs every day - (carefully of course). It withstood alot of abuse.

Well, I haven't gotten round to doing my trip report, but thought I'd update this post. We rented from Thrifty in PC and had a terrific experience. Enjoy!