Infrastructure In Panama

In reality, most addresses will not contain the house/apartment number and street name, instead they will only have the P.O. Box information.

A general rule of thumb is that mail addressed to a home address will likely never arrive. Any Panamanian will warn you off of this service—it’s good for almost nothing, they say.

COTEL is currently trying to compete with the U.S. mail forwarding services by offering a “Correobox,” to which you can deliver goods bought online. Everyone I’ve spoken to about this initiative is wary, saying they wouldn’t trust it.

Which is why expats use alternative methods for their overseas mail… Enter: the forwarding services.

For International Post

There are several mail forwarding services in the United States that service Panama. Mail Boxes, Etc., Airbox Express, and Miami Express are the most popular.

These companies work by renting you a P.O. Box in the States (mostly in Florida, though there are also some that work through Texas). Through this address, you can receive your monthly magazines, cards from your family, postcards from your friends, and bills (though we recommend strongly against this; safer to go paperless).

However, as you likely know, a P.O. Box is only good for letters. To receive packages, you need a real address. This is where the true value of these forwarding services comes in…

Mail Boxes, Etc. is the gold standard (if you’re in or near the city), offering not just a P.O. Box but also a physical address.

They use warehouses in Florida to give you a true address to use, as well as an associated phone number. (This also provides you with a U.S. address that can be used for banks, credit cards, etc.)

To this address you can have your birthday presents and online buys sent. They usually take three to seven days to make it from Florida to Panama, and you can track your order through their easy-to-use online tracking system. You’ll be sent an email to notify you of the arrival, then you go in and pick up your item.

The downside for these services is that most of their offices are in or near Panama City.

Plans start at US$27 a month for 4.4 pounds worth of incoming packages, or you can use a pay-as-you-go plan, through which you just pay for each individual package. For those who want fast delivery, this service has a 48-hour turnaround from when it arrives in Florida to when it arrives in your Panama P.O. Box.

Airbox Express also provides a Florida P.O. Box address, much in the same way as Mail Boxes, Etc., but they do not offer a physical address. You can both ship and receive standard mail and larger items with their service, and they also offer an online tracking service.

Delivery time for packages is two to four business days once the shipment is received in their warehouse in Miami, and they even offer free delivery to your home or office within the Panama City limits.

The Platinum Plan runs US$75 per month and would only be a deal for those who are receiving large amounts of mail. The Platinum Plan does offer a nice feature of junk mail being returned free of charge, whereas with the basic plan, you pay for junk mail.

Another big advantage is that Airbox Express has offices just about everywhere, from Colón to Panama City to Boquete. So, in many cases, this might be an expat’s best and only viable option. The one area they don’t cover is eastern Panama.

Setting up an account with either Mail Boxes, Etc. or Airbox Express is free. With Mail Boxes, Etc. you can simply go to one of their stores and they’ll sign you up, or you can fill out the forms on their website. Airbox Express offers an online signup, but doesn’t expressly offer in-visit signups. Likely because in many cases they don’t have their own offices, but work out of another chain (like an El Rey grocery store).

For Shipping

FedEx, DHL, and Worldwide Express all operate in Panama the same way they do back up north. Just go to one of their locations to either send or receive a shipment. They offer expediency, security, and near worldwide coverage.

The only downsides to these modes are price and convenience. If you are only receiving standard mail, the price tag of these couriers could amount to a small fortune.

And all three have only a few locations in Panama. If you live in Panama City, or the city of Colón… no problem. But, if not, however long it takes you to travel to either of these cities is the amount of extra time you’ll have to invest into your mailing process. FedEx offers the most coverage with 10 stores throughout both cities. DHL has three locations and Worldwide Express but a single store—all only in the city.

Helpful Reminders About Shipping To Panama