By Pete Robbins – Half Past First Cast

On our trips to Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge, we’ve purchased a package deal that includes “VIP” treatment. Specifically, it offers expedited passage through customs (with a Panamanian rep who just about “holds your hand” through the process), drinks in a private lounge while you wait for your luggage, and transportation to and from the hotel in Panama City. Everything they can control runs like a Swiss watch, with no hiccups.

Many of you reading this who are experienced international travelers might not think you need those bonus touches added to your trip. You’d rather scale things down, do it yourself, and potentially save a few bucks. If you’re intrepid, enterprising and tolerant of slight inconveniences, that might work most of the time, but what happens when there’s a royal screwup that’s beyond your control?

• What happens when you arrive in a country where you don’t know the language and your expected ride isn’t waiting for you?
• What happens when your luggage doesn’t show and you need to get on a float plane the next morning?
• What happens if there’s a snafu at immigration and your passport or COVID test are questioned?

That’s when you need an in-country “fixer.” As we found out on one trip to Panama, when unexpected shit goes down they’re worth their weight in gold. Specifically, we were scheduled to fly out of David to Panama City on Copa Airlines at 9:41am on November 12th. That would put us at Panama’s Tocumen Airport with plenty of time to catch all of our mid-afternoon flights back to the US on various airlines. Unfortunately, Copa ran into some mechanical problems and the flight was delayed for nearly six hours. That left Hanna and I enough time to catch our 6:30 Copa flight back to Washington-Dulles. It seemingly left our fellow travelers, going on American and Delta, out of luck.

To Copa’s credit, they arranged hotel rooms for the guests who would miss their flights, and provided lunch for all of us (the eating options in David’s Enrique Malek International Airport were limited to one small coffee stand that day), but that couldn’t get them on flights to the US.

That’s when SFPIL’s on-call travel agent sprung into action. Hanna reached out to our contact Luz via WhatsApp and without missing a beat she started taking care of things – specifically rescheduling flight itineraries. When we arrived at the in-country luggage claim in Panama City, Luz had two representatives waiting there for us. One grabbed me and Hanna and our luggage and got us checked in on our Copa flight, to the lounge for a quick sandwich and drink (and to catch our breath), and then through expedited security to our gate.

The other rep took our less fortunate group members to deal with their rescheduled trips. She got Derek Geddings, flying on American to Miami (he had already planned to overnight in Miami) on a later Copa flight to Miami, which meant he’d be home at the appointed time. As for the other four, all flying on Delta through Atlanta and onto various points around the country, she got them on the same flight the next day. It might’ve been a slight hassle, and a little bit of extra expense to pay for meals in the city, but it’s something that might’ve cost much more in terms of cash and aggravation if they’d had to do it on their own.

Lesson learned – while it may be tempting and possible to DIY every aspect of an exotic trip, the more help you have, and the better your support system, the less likely you are to suffer a complete catastrophe.

• It’s why we will continue to utilize SFPIL’s VIP package;
• It’s why we travel with Anglers Inn International, where they monitor your flights for delays and pick you up (at no extra charge) no matter what hour you arrive or the size of the group;
• It’s why we fish with Casa Vieja Lodge in Guatemala, where they have their own boatyard and mechanic to make sure all equipment is in perfect working order;
• It’s why we treasured the expertise of Steve Yatomi in Africa, where his team got us through four separate customs locations in a single day; and
• It’s why we strongly support the use of no-fee-added fishing travel specialists, whether that be us or another professional outfit.

It pays to engage a true expert if you want to minimize the hassles, speed bumps and road blocks that invariably ensue if you travel enough. As a side note, it pays to travel with friends who don’t get overly stressed and understand that the mark of a good traveler is not necessarily avoidance of problems, but rather how you deal with the ones that arise. We had an amazing group of friends on this trip.

Email us if you’d like some more info on taking a VIP trip to Panama.