Narrowing the choices on my November trip...

The more I look at my finances, the more I realize my November trip will have to be done on the cheap.  That means that I will have to fly on miles and stay at el cheapo lodgings.  So if I can't get there on American, Delta or one of the airlines that I can use my Amex awards points for, I'm not going.

Fortunately, I know I can go to either Belize or Panama on a minimum of American miles.  I can get to Cancun on miles but it would nearly exhaust all the miles in any three of my awards accounts, so that doesn't make sense.  It is looking more and more like Belize or Panama and I have to say that I am leaning more towards Panama simply because I have never been there before.  The timing is good because I will be outside of hurricane season at home so I can leave without worrying about someone having to batten down the hatches in my absence.

So if getting there costs the same in terms of miles, the decision may boil down to my other costs including car rental, gas, food and lodging.  Gas was around $5.00 per gallon in Belize when I was there in February.  I haven't been able to get a recent price, but prices have risen in the US since then so I will assume $6.00 for the time being and probably won't be too far off.  The best I can figure for Panama is roughly $3.50 per gallon.

If I go to Belize, my driving will likely be in and around Corozal along with a trip to Chetumal so the bigger cost is probably the car itself.  Car rentals are cheaper in Panama where I would also be driving around the whole country, just like I did on my first trip to Belize.  The differences are that while the highways are better and more extensive in Panama, the country is also more than three times larger than Belize and with two coasts to explore.

Hotels and deciding where to go is easy and can actually be done close to departure time.  I'll have to do some research on Panama lodging to get some ideas on prices.  In Belize I have a pretty good idea of what to expect and where I might stay.  My guess is that there won't be too much difference between Belize and Panama on food and lodging, but I'll have to check it out more.

If I go to Belize, I might go to Corozal first and explore a bit and then drop the rental car off in Belize City  and grab a flight over to San Pedro.  I have a total of ten days, so six in Corozal and four on Ambergris Caye might work out.