Bike transport: Panama to Ushuaia / Punta Arenas via plane?

[hope2013]

I've searched on the trip transport tool for central to south america flights and found nothing of this sort.

I'm basically in a sitauation where I'll be in Central American at the end of Feburary, wanting to drive all over South America for the next 3-4 months. Even if I high-tail it down south, it'll still be damn cold when I get there and I don't want to wait for summer to come back around.

So my solution is to start South America at the bottom, at the end of Feb/beginning of March when it's still a bit warm, and head north!

Anyone ever hear of flights between panama and the very bottom of South America?

thanks!

[John Downs]

Hi Hope,

I'm not exactly clear if you want to fly yourself or yourself and your bike.

If you just want to get down yourself to Ushuaia or where ever in South America I would suggest it is cheaper to fly between major airports where there is price competition. Easy to find a flight on kayak.com from Panama City to Santiago Chile and then much cheaper to find a local bus or regional airline like Aerolina Argentina to get the rest of the way.

If you are asking about the bike too I can't help you since I haven't ever shipped a bike by plane in Central America. I should think it would be quite expensive to fly a bike to Santiago or points south.

Others may know more.

Good luck.

Kindest regards,
John Downs

[hope2013]

Originally Posted by John Downs

Hi Hope,

I'm not exactly clear if you want to fly yourself or yourself and your bike.

If you just want to get down yourself to Ushuaia or where ever in South America I would suggest it is cheaper to fly between major airports where there is price competition. Easy to find a flight on kayak.com from Panama City to Santiago Chile and then much cheaper to find a local bus or regional airline like Aerolina Argentina to get the rest of the way.

If you are asking about the bike too I can't help you since I haven't ever shipped a bike by plane in Central America. I should think it would be quite expensive to fly a bike to Santiago or points south.

Others may know more.

Good luck.

Kindest regards,
John Downs

Thanks John! I appreciate you chiming in.

Yes I meant me and a buddy and a couple of bikes, should have been more specific!

[John Downs]

Anything is possible if you have money. I am poor and would probably see if the mythical car ferry from Panama to Colombia materializes this year. If it does I would take the ferry to Colombia and jet down south and meander back. My understanding is that it doesn't get butt freezing in the southern Pampas until April or May. I hope to go to South America next year so others who have actually been there hopefully will chime in with sound advice.

Just an idea.

Hope to see you down the road,
John Downs

[hope2013]

Thanks, I've put a lot of thought into this and dont' think that driving as fast as I can, the entire length of south america, seems worth it. That's why I'm looking into the option of flying.

From looking at every entry in the system, there seem to be many flights to northern SA which are as cheap as the ferry, and much cheaper than flying + gas to drive.

[cenizo]

You may ask Gaston, probably he has a solution as he deals with southern Chile: samericaxplorer@gmail.com

Good luck, Santiago

[zaplaje]

HI, the only way to get to punta arenas flying is from Santiago, so you must flyght from Panama to Santiago to punta arenas. That would be expensive! You can flyght from Panama to Santiago, ride from Santiago to puerto Montt (1100 kms) take the ferry to puerto natales (3 nights, incredible trip, I just did it and its amazing: $300 usd for you and $150 for the bike, totally worth it) and then ride to punta arenas (330 kms), but before you can visit Torres del paine national park... Amazing too. OR you can ship the bike from Santiago to punta arenas by truck ($200 and 14 days) and flyght yourself ($200). Good luck

[hope2013]

Originally Posted by zaplaje

HI, the only way to get to punta arenas flying is from Santiago, so you must flyght from Panama to Santiago to punta arenas. That would be expensive! You can flyght from Panama to Santiago, ride from Santiago to puerto Montt (1100 kms) take the ferry to puerto natales (3 nights, incredible trip, I just did it and its amazing: $300 usd for you and $150 for the bike, totally worth it) and then ride to punta arenas (330 kms), but before you can visit Torres del paine national park... Amazing too. OR you can ship the bike from Santiago to punta arenas by truck ($200 and 14 days) and flyght yourself ($200). Good luck

Thank you for this info! Very helpful!

Even if we fly directly to Santiago, I'm still lined up to hit Santiago to Punta Arenas in May, which I feel like will just be too cold to enjoy! I'm starting to look into other options. Thanks again!

[zaplaje]

yes, it would be could... at least in the news (Im travelling heading north currently in the frontier of brazil with venezuela) in chile its very cold, strange for this time of the year. Which are your other options?