$182 Find Cheap Flights from Central America to the United States - Compare and Save

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from Central America to the United States departing on 10/9. Fares are subject to change and may not be available on all flights or dates of travel. Click the price to replicate the search for this deal.
1 adult
1 adult, Economy, 0 bags

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Low seasonFebruary
Cheapest flight$182
Best time to beat the crowds with an average 14% drop in price.
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 2% lower on average.
Flight from San José to Fort Lauderdale

Flights from Central America to the United States: the best tips from KAYAK users

Insights shared by verified travelers who flew the route from Central America to the United States 
Verified travelerFlew with United Airlines
SJO
-
SFO
Apr 2026
If you have a connecting flight in SFO you have to grab your bag and recheck it
AFlew with Copa Airlines
PTY
-
LAX
Jan 2026
Bring your own food and your own screen because you won’t have any for the next couple of hours.
JeffreyFlew with Copa Airlines
PTY
-
MIA
Mar 2025
Be sure to use the restroom BEFORE you sit down in the gate area. There is a second level of security screening just to sit in the gate area. If you leave the gate area for any reason, you must go through the gate screening upon your return.
LisaFlew with Copa Airlines
PTY
-
LAX
Mar 2025
You have to go through an additional security clearance at the actual gate, and there was a long line so I'd get to the gate right when it opens to avoid the additional long line.
Verified travelerFlew with Spirit Airlines
GUA
-
FLL
Apr 2025
Take a day flight, window seat, the view is fantastic. Avoid Spirit at all costs.
RicardoFlew with Alaska Airlines
GUA
-
LAX
Mar 2025
BRING YOUR OWN SNAKS NOT MUCH HERE TO CHOOSE NONE OF THEM HEALTHY OPTIONS
Verified travelerFlew with Copa Airlines
PTY
-
JFK
Feb 2025
Whatever you purchase before boarding your flight make sure all liquids are finished before boarding or you will have to throw it away. That there is another checkpoint once you reach the gate even if you go to the bathroom you will have to clear the second checkpoint each time you leave the gate. That most of the Copa crew in Panama did not speak English, so as an English speaker you have to just watch what everyone else does, because the Panamanian crew does not speak English.
RajFlew with Copa Airlines
PTY
-
SFO
Jan 2025
Pack your lunch or dinner with you either from airport restaurant.
RobertFlew with United Airlines
PTY
-
IAH
Feb 2025
IAH is efficient but security and checked baggage transfer and rescreening for connecting flights causes unnecessary anxiety for short stop overs.
Verified travelerFlew with United Airlines
PTY
-
IAH
Feb 2025
International transfer at HIA was difficult with self baggage transfer, multiple security screens.
AdrianFlew with Copa Airlines
PTY
-
DEN
Oct 2024
When booking, the distance between gates must be something you need to plan ahead... always leave at least 2 hours between flights
Verified travelerFlew with Alaska Airlines
LIR
-
LAX
Nov 2024
The airport is expensive. I would not buy things there. You don’t need to take off your shoes for security. Have your passport ready for boarding
Verified travelerFlew with United Airlines
LIR
-
DEN
Oct 2024
If you take another flight in Denver, expect to go through the security line again with all your luggage. Take enough time. Denver Airport is a mess, and the people working there are not patient; some are even rude.
Verified travelerFlew with Avianca
GUA
-
LAX
May 2024
Bring something to drink or eat, at least sweets especially if traveling with children or are elderly.
KathyFlew with American Airlines
LIR
-
DFW
Apr 2024
I was through security in 10 minutes. Food choice took some time, be aware that waiting 20 plus minutes for a hot sammie will be about right.
MichaelFlew with United Airlines
BZE
-
IAH
May 2024
Small airport. Easy and quick. Don’t get there too early though as it gets crowded and not really any food or shopping.
StephanieFlew with Copa Airlines
PTY
-
MIA
Mar 2024
Get to the airport early especially if you're not a US citizen because you have to pass through security twice.
Verified travelerFlew with Avianca
SAL
-
SFO
Mar 2024
Bring a pillow Bring phones charged Bring your own entertainment Be patient for luggage to get off plane.
JulioFlew with Avianca
GUA
-
LAX
May 2024
Check carry on status before. Check in online to avoid lines.
DominicFlew with Alaska Airlines
BZE
-
SEA
Feb 2024
Take the direct flight to avoid an overnight layover
MayumiFlew with Avianca
SAL
-
LAX
Jan 2024
Eat well before boarding and bring your own entertainment.

FAQs for booking flights from Central America to the United States

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from Central America to the United States?

    KAYAK is a travel search engine. That means we look across the web to find the best prices we can find for our users. With over 2 billion flight queries processed yearly, we are able to display a variety of prices and options on flights from Central America to the United States.

  • How does KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy my flight ticket from Central America to the United States?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from Central America to the United States is likely to change within 7 days, so travelers know whether to wait or book now.

  • What is the Hacker Fare option on flights from Central America to the United States?

    Hacker Fares allow you to combine one-way tickets in order to save you money over a traditional round-trip ticket. You could then fly from Central America to the United States with an airline and back with another airline.

  • What is KAYAK's "flexible dates" feature and why should I care when looking for a flight from Central America to the United States?

    Sometimes travel dates aren't set in stone. If your preferred travel dates have some wiggle room, flexible dates will show you all the options when flying from Central America to the United States up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

  • Which airlines fly most frequently to the United States?

    Central America and United States are connected by different airlines. The airlines that fly that route the most regularly are United Airlines (529 flights per week), Avianca (339 flights per week), and Copa Airlines (335 flights per week).

  • How many airports are there in the United States?

    There are 591 airports in the United States. The busiest airport is Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport (ATL), with 8% of all flights arriving there.

  • Which is the cheapest airport to fly into in the United States?

    Prices will differ depending on the departure airport, but generally, the cheapest airport to fly to in the United States is Orlando Airport (MCO), with an average flight price of $306.

  • What is the cheapest day to fly to the United States?

    Based on KAYAK data, the cheapest day to fly to the United States is Wednesday where round-trip tickets can be as cheap as $401. On the other hand, the most expensive day to fly is Sunday, where round-trip prices are $550 on average.

  • What is the cheapest time of day to fly to the United States?

    The cheapest time of day to fly to the United States is generally in the evening, when round-trip flights cost $325 on average. Morning departures are around 62% more expensive than evening flights, on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to the United States is generally in the morning, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is $528.

  • What is the cheapest flight to the United States?

    The cheapest ticket to the United States from Central America found in the last 5 days was to Newark Airport, at $218 round-trip. The most popular route is Belize City Philip S.W.Goldson Airport (BZE) to Miami (MIA) and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 5 days was $299.

  • What is the cheapest month to fly from Central America to the United States?

    The cheapest month for flights from Central America to the United States is December, when tickets cost $199 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are June and May, when the average cost of round-trip tickets is $317 and $312 respectively.

  • How far in advance should I book a flight from Central America to the United States?

    To get a below average price on the flight from Central America to the United States, you should book around 5 weeks before departure, which saves you about 25% compared to booking last minute. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 19 weeks before departure.

  • How many cities have direct flights to the United States?

    From Central America, there are direct flights to the United States from 10 cities. The city with the most direct flights is Panama City, with 692 direct flights each week.

  • How many direct flights to the United States are there each day?

    There are around 327 direct flights from within Central America to the United States every day. Most flights (50%) depart in the morning.

  • How many direct flights to the United States are there each week?

    Each week there are around 2,283 direct flights from within Central America to the United States. The most common day for departures is Saturday, with 16% of flights taking off on this day.

  • How long is the flight to the United States?

    An average nonstop flight from Central America to the United States takes 4h 30m, covering a distance of 1713 miles. The shortest route is San Pedro Sula (SAP) to Miami (MIA) with an average flight time of 2h 21m.

  • How many long-haul flights are there to the United States each week?

    Each week there are around 21 long-haul flights (6-12 hour flight duration), 1,062 medium-haul (3-6 hour flight duration) and 1,200 short-haul (up to 3 hour flight duration) flights to the United States. The most long-haul flights depart from Panama City.

  • What are the most popular destinations in the United States?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is New York (32% of total searches to the United States). The next most popular destinations are Miami (13%) and Houston (11%). Searches for flights to Los Angeles (8%), to Orlando (8%) and to Washington, D.C. (6%) are also popular.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines serving from Central America to the United States

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Central America to the United States? KAYAK airline reviews give an overall score for each airline based on loads of factors, including comfort, boarding, in-flight entertainment and more, to make your decision easier. See airline scores according to verified KAYAK customer reviews.
7.6
Copa AirlinesOverall score based on 1568 reviews
6.8Entertainment
7.8Boarding
6.9Food
8.1Crew
7.4Comfort
Airline reviews

stood in line to check in luggage for nearly an hour. very poor service and not excusable

4.0 OkayAnonymous, Jun 2026
PTY - AUS
Read more Copa Airlines reviews

stood in line to check in luggage for nearly an hour. very poor service and not excusable

Same as the previous flight as far as comfort and food. Entertainment didn’t have a watchable screen so everything would need to be watched on your own device in which they didn’t have a charging port that accommodated my iPhone. Seats were very uncomfortable. Staff was very friendly.

Do not book it’s a scam! They stole $1200 from me

Flight got delayed; had to go through security three times.

A lot things happened in this trip.The fly should be less stress.

Some of the Air hostesses are not that friendly. Need improvement

We had a great flight just wished they had a tv so we can see a movie that would of made my trip excellent.

horrible service, food was an embarrassment, no charging for cellphones, stay away

Great experience with a crew always thinking in the passenger

Had to go through security at the gate again. Had to take off shoes and go through the whole thing again even though we have global entry. They asked us to check in items bought at duty free during our layover and since we checked our luggage at the original departure airport, they forced us to check in a small backpack. None of this ever happened with other airlines. In addition, no vegetarian food option and no snacks during a 7 hr flight. Luggage limits are unusually small. This is unacceptable. Will NEVER fly Copa again and will tell friends and family to avoid this airline.

Great staff. Clean plane, but we were delayed for more than an hour due to maintenance issues and had to board another plane.

Friendly crew, but we were delayed for more than an hour and had to change planes due to maintenance issues.

I was exhausted from a long day. The flight was smooth. The first flight during my 3 week travel that took off on time.

There was a little turbulence taking off and landing but mostly it was too late for me to make my connecting flight to Greensboro. Everything else was excellent.

1 flight cancelled Had to fly out of different city Flight at new departure city was delayed 3 hours causing us to miss connecting flights. By the time we did make it to Prague our luggage did not. Had to wait day and a half for luggage to be delivered. Customer service was not good. Agents did not arrive at gate until 5-10 minutes before boarding

Awful. Delayed flights, missed connection to Toronto. Hotel vouchers were for already booked hotels x3. Giant waste of my time

Horrible I am at almost 2,000,000 miles on United. This was probably the worst flight ever. An hour and a half before takeoff I get a message that they’re changing the plane and I no longer have a seat in Polaris business Supposedly, there was a problem with the plane, but then there was no other plane Finally, they decided to bring a plane from Newark to Washington Dulles Of course the original flight was at 10:45 PM so by the time the plane got there it was 12:30 AM. It had not been cleaned. It had not been catered. They don’t really have people available to do those things when it’s not pre-programmed at 1 o’clock in the morning. The crew had to be changed And the new plane held 28 fewer people than the scheduled plane There is no way you can hate United Airlines enough The people at the gate were actually just fine, but it was management who was completely useless And did they send extra help to the people at the gate? Did they send supervisors? Of course not. Just don’t take United find somebody else or buy a boat

Great experience. Boarding was fast, staff were very nice and funny, everything at the seat worked well.

Boarding was great, and the crew were very friendly. The seats must have been a bit on the older side and you could feel some of the seat components through the padding. Also, the plugs did not work on the row's entertainment screen or charging ports. Checked bag was transferred for connecting flight, and we appreciated how early we had the connecting gate information.

Flight attendants were great. Food mediocre. Bamboo utensils not Great especially if you have to cut something. Seating a bit crowded.

I cancelled this flight 2 days before departure but I followed your texts and emails and IF you were correct this flight turned into a nightmare.

My flight was delayed twice. The first time because of “plane maintenance” and the second because the previous flight who supposedly “arrived early” took an obnoxiously long time to get off the plane. Total delay was over an hour for no reason. Not to mention your airline repeatedly changed our gate from one end of the terminal to the other. Not very happy about this experience. My previous flights with American haven’t had this many issues.

Very turbulent flight, no drinks, very little service, unorganized boarding, gate changed multiple times

Very efficient boarding and quick flight. Attendants don’t come by often so would often have a lot of trash at seat.

We’ve had a year of delays with American, and this one was another flight to add to that list. It just reduced our vacation by a day! So frustrating. In-flight entertainment (TVs) weren’t working, There was no drinks service due to delivery issues.

The flight was delayed significantly. Communication during the flight was abrupt and caused some panic as we were navigating turbulence. It was also too loud and every announcement felt startling. The flight attendants did not offer any assurances and I felt unsettled most of the flight. The seats, floor and tray table was very dirty. The seat next to me was broken and the passenger sitting there was very uncomfortable. He had a spring in his back and his seat made terrible squeaking noises through the flight.

2 hours delay on my flight causing me to miss my connecting flight. Cause was for maintenance. I understand maintenance is important but maintenance should be done before boarding people!

Better perks for corporate employees whom travel often and spend a lot of money with the airlines. Snacks were terrible chips crackers are ideas. Flight and crew were great comfort was fine entertainment not so great so so called status members means nothing

Air conditioning was out for about 15 minutes that made it uncomfortable. WiFi went out halfway into the flight. Flight was about 45 minutes late.

The flight de-boarded after being informed of a 3 hour delay. The gate agent said we could go to lounge. The flight ended up boarding 20 minutes later and I missed it.

When I agreed to give up my two seats because of overbooking by the airline, I should have been offered some sort of reward or credit towards a future flight. I was not. It was not until the next day when I mentioned it to a Jet Blue employee that I was advised to call 1-800-JetBlue. So here I am, having done Jet Blue a favor and I had to do the work to find out if I was going to get a credit. Such service

A nightmare. Scheduled flight delayed 2 hours then cancelled because pilot timed out . Unable to find another pilot. Really?! Weather certainly a factor, but JetBlue seemed totally unprepared for the chaos that ensued when flight routes were cancelled. More cancelled flights, finally many of us who had been bumped from other flights were allowed to board a Boston bound plane around 3:00am, delay after delay, sat on tarmac for another half hour while pilot dealt with weight distribution issues (?), arrived in Boston 4:30. Crew were wonderful- same attendants all day and night and they were exhausted. Fortunately for me and my son that Boston was our final destination, not so lucky for many who missed connecting flights.

Complete and total debacle from start to finish. HUGE mistake picking this airline. NEVER again! Rudest staff in the business.

It's not JetBlues fault but there was a smell on the plane (possibly other travelers) and 3 children behind me that never quit whining. Soccor fans that were very loud. Pilot brought the plane down from high altitude quickly, dropping us hu dress of feet at a time. I've never felt that intense of dropping on other airlines (usually fly Southwest Airlines). But I arrived safely and I'm thankful for that.

Seats were great, the staff was great, and the food was about the best I've had on a plane, and is especially the best of any US-based carrier I've flown. Free Wi-Fi was also great.

Good experience. Flight was on time staff was pleasant. One of the airlines I would highly recommend

The flight was delayed 14 hours and communication was very poor. No one seemed to know what was happening and the gate agent was trying to help people for several flights. She was by herself trying to help 100s of people.

Domestic flights are good. Just stay away from international travel

Every time I leave from sti Dominican Republic, there is always a delay with a flight , causing a rush to make it to the next flight considering you have to go threw immigration

Flight left 2 hours late with no explanation as to the delay

Horrible experience with Avianca, they delayed their flight and when we arrived to NYC, AVIANCA took 1 hr y 30 mins to park the airplane and all passenger get off the plane, it made me lost all my trains to get back home and I came back to my place at 3 am instead of 12 am. On the top of that their plane seat are so uncomfortable and is not enough space and killed my legs and knees, Avianca used to be good when it was a Colombian company, now after Brasilian company bought them, their service quality is bad and their flights are delayed and oversold.

I handed in my suitcase in perfect condition at SAL Airport. And in MIA Airport I received it with one corner broken and the wheels bent.

I like the crew members they're very friendly. Clean plane. The flight was on time. I dont like the comfort my car seat its better that the plane seats. They charge for everything. This airline was very good. Now it's a low cost airline

6 hour flight and have to pay for everything 100 dollars to add a carry-on bag is insane

The check in is the only positive thing in Avianca. The seat is the most uncomfortable I have traveled, the distance is minimal.

Not what it used to be. The sale of food makes them look greedy!

Avianca is not what it used to be. So disappointing

It was horrible. My experience with Avianca. I didn’t know it was Pakistan international Airlines but anyway, whatever it is it is bad horrible you guys need to upgrade everything in those planes. And you guys charge $130 for a carry-on did they wanna let me in with my carry-on that I travel everywhere with the luggage you guys are such a dog thank you

why did we have to go through security mid flight

A few years ago long flights 6 hours or so used to have video screens and they offered ear phones. The food cart used to come and drinks. Now absolutely nothing. Avianca is as bad as Spirit Airlines. Avianca will now be my last choice when booking my next flight.

Everything you need to know for your flight to the United States

Cabin class types available on flights to Central America

Cabin classes available on flights to Central America. Prices are the lowest found on KAYAK over the last 7 days. Price and availability is not guaranteed.