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R13 896 Find cheap flights to Central America

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from South Africa to Central America departing on 17/2. 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.
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Best Central America Flight Deals

Cheapest return prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours

San José
San José2 stopsR20 718
Guatemala City
Guatemala City2 stopsR23 136
Panama City
Panama City2 stopsR22 703
Liberia
Liberia2 stopsR23 696

Good to know

Low season

August

High season

December

Cheapest flight

R13 896
Best time to beat the crowds but there is an average 32% increase in price.
Most popular time to fly (7% more expensive on average)
Flight from Cape Town to San José

FAQs - booking Central America flights

  • How long is the flight to Central America?

    An average direct flight from South Africa to Central America takes 35h 17m, covering a distance of 20222 km. The most popular route is Johannesburg - Panama City with an average flight time of 23h 30m.

  • What is the cheapest flight to Central America?

    The cheapest ticket to Central America from South Africa found in the last 72 hours was R20 718. The most popular route is Johannesburg OR Tambo to Panama City Tocumen Intl and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was R23 515.

  • What are the most popular destinations in Central America?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is Panama City (45% of total searches to Central America). The next most popular destinations are Guatemala City (27%) and San José (18%).Searches for flights to Liberia (9%) are also popular.

  • How does KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a given destination and date is likely to change within 7 days, so travellers know whether to wait or book now.

See more FAQs

Top tips for finding cheap flights to Central America

  • Enter your preferred departure airport and travel dates into the search form above to unlock the latest Central America flight deals.

Top 5 airlines flying to Central America

Need help choosing which airline to fly with from South Africa to Central America? 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.
7,8
KLMOverall score based on 1346 reviews
7,3Food
8,4Crew
7,7Comfort
7,2Entertainment
7,9Boarding
Airline reviews

Good food. Excellent crew service. Clean aircraft. Narrow seats and isle.

8,0 ExcellentAdi, Nov 2024AMS - YYZ
Read more KLM reviews

Good food. Excellent crew service. Clean aircraft. Narrow seats and isle.

I tried to upgrade to premium economy anis seat online during the checkin process. The payment didn’t work due to a technical glitch on KLM’s website. I wasn’t able to change my seat unless I called Amsterdam. Since I was in Canada and there’s a time difference this wasn’t practical. So when I arrived early to Ottawa airport my seat wasn’t available and I could only get a middle seat in premium economy which isn’t great. These middle seats are priced at the same rate as an aisle seat which makes no sense.

Seats were comfortable crew members support was very good but AVML ordered or selected by us needs a lot of improvement.

Transavia flight, was booked as KLM but i couldnt select seat or access boarding pass with KLM at all. Crammed seating and very no frills experience all around. First and last time.

Transavia flight. Couldn't select seat or anything prior to flight. No connection with klm systems. Seats are very crammed. Extremely no frills.

Seats were nice and comfy. Crew was polite and attentive. Business class is awesome and worth the money.

Overall a very pleasant flight. No significant issues on either flight. Amsterdam airport is very convenient for connecting

The IFE was quite old, but it worked fine and the content was good. The cabin crew were excellent and the food was as also very good

It’s chaotic at the bus stop outside of the airport because of the Uber meeting point. You need to be alert and look for the KLM bus which is not branded or labeled. Incorrect information was provided to go to gate 28, when in fact the bus was at gate 27. On the plus side the bus left early and arrived early to Ottawa.

Great flight because I upgraded to Premium Comfort. Made a huge difference in the experience.

I did not get my baggage at my final destination..poor coordination with connecting flights with partner airlines (Saudi airways). Also the food was very mediocre.

Not great , just ok . I expected better food but it did not deliver . Flight staff was ok . The guy at the drop off bag counter was the only saving grace in this whole trip . He was pleasant, friendly and very helpful . You couldn’t ask for a better assistance from him .

There was 2 hours delay before boarding and 2 hours delay after boarding while waiting in the plane

Very good crew. Food service above average. Seats very small for a 12 hours flight.

Boarding was a disaster being moved by Air France by bus to the plane. The plane should have been at the right gate.

They lost my baggage and I still have not got it back. Disgrace

They lost my lauggage and I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED IT. NO ONE IS HELPING! PLEASE HELP FIND MY LOST LAUGGAGE

A disaster. Air France is a real joke. They overcharge us customers for absolutely nothing. Service was very poor, food was mediocre, entertainment non existent, etc. We paid thousands of dollars for our business class tickets and then we were told in Paris we could not access its lounge. Really Air France ? Congratulations on irritating your customers to the sky high level and ensuring we will do everything in our power to discourage others to travel with you.

They again did not offer any functioning WiFi in the transatlantic crossing.

The first half from DC to Paris was very good and the staff were very helpful and humble BUT flight from Paris to Mumbai was sad. 1) it was packed. 2) no space on head compartment 3) crews were unresponsive to the calls 4) one crew member literally banged the bottle of water after giving me glass of water. A little water splashed on me and she was unapologetic 5) with so many hours of flight, little leg space should be taken care else don’t fill your airline till brim which affects your crew and they remove anger on us. 6) huge line for washrooms. 7) 2nd half journey was pathetic

Food quality and the overall service of the staff and significantly decreased. The flight was delayed at the Istanbul airport and the passengers were kept onboard for more than 3 hours. The staff didn’t kept the passengers informed and everyone was upset.

Did not expect no entetainment, food was ok. No alcohol on a. International flight

The food served was frozen salad and hummus. The hot meal was fine. Crew was doing bare minimum

My experience was amazing. Very friendly hosts and impeccable service.

Plane was hot in our section of aircraft making it difficult to rest. We informed the staff but adjustments were not made. Seats were terribly uncomfortable- unlike the other long haul flights we have flown on Turkish Airlines. It seems both issues are due to plane being an older Airbus

Customer service is very bad. They don’t understand English or Arabic which made it very hard to communicate with them. Also when calling to discuss any issue with ticket reservation they hang the phone on you even when speaking to the manager. I will not fly Turkish airlines and I will not recommend to family and friends

Everything was great except the meat served was tough and overcooked!

Temperature in plane in both segments was warm. Otherwise, great experience

First was canceled no compensation second day was delayed Worst airline I have ever seen

Was not good experience going to Houston from Istanbul, had to wait about an hour and a half to just takeoff. Disappointed in that part.

ANA was great. United was horrible. They bumped us from economy plus to economy and were supposed to contact us for a refund but no luck. We booked the seats 9 months in advance.

We appreciated the friendly, efficient, and professional flight attendants. A wider selection of hot foods would be nice.

Never nice, United Express partners always do an amazing job.

Connection coordination with Star Alliance partner could be better. Lots of check in setup was not interlinked between operators.

The crew and flight was amazing. I haven't flown United in years but plan to switch to you being my main airline

Short flying. The seats do not recline at all and very uncomfortable.

The width of the chair is very small. Not comfortable at all.

Being stick waiting for gate at ORD cause me to almost miss my connecting flight…being deaf United made no no effort to keep me updated as I couldn’t hear the PA

The Economy Plus rows weren’t as roomy as expected, and the meal service left a lot to be desired for.

I still prefer Delta, but Delta doesn’t fly to State College PA.

Staff and crew where very nice and friendly. Just need to improve the timming om the meal and beverages.

Excellent except for checking in at Madrid Airport. Waited in line for over an hour and a half. Not enough ticket agents available and they were moving those with earlier flight times up in order to get them through. People were not happy. Staff did their best to explain, but just not enough to meet the need.

The seats of the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner were ridiculously uncomfortable. I was on 10 flights during this vacation and this plane was super uncomfortable both times I was on one whereas all of the others were perfectly fine. Additionally, these planes do not have any air vents that passengers can control, the climate is entirely controlled by the crew which made for an extremely uncomfortable temperature for the duration. The flight attendants tried to make everyone happy with the temperature but several people you could tell were excessively warm and just wanted a bit of airflow.

The least comfortable business class seat I have encountered for a while - very very firm when reclined making sleeping difficult. Cost cutting is visible everywhere - no offer to refill drinks (the wines were not good - so no real issue there :) ) Just not worth what BA charge

Business class in Club Europe is basically a slightly larger seat, with the middle seat blocked off. Not really business class, except for the free food/drink - which was also delicious!

Food made us sick for the rest of the day. Terrible passenger in front of me kept reclining and banging his seat, it hurt my knee multiple times. I kindly asked the attendant to intervene, she would not. Way too many sick people coughing on the flight without wearing a mask. Sick passengers should not be allowed to fly unless they wear a mask. I hope we don't get sick for our 2 week vacation

The lack of organization at the boarding gate was shocking. It was impossible to determine where the line was and it was hard to understand the announcements. It was so confusing that my wife wanted to get on the wrong flight. I am also annoyed that BA is adopting the sleazy policies that the budget airlines invented of charging extra for even the first checked bag or choosing your seat.

The flight was good, my only complaint is that we were delayed in leaving by a significant amount of time.

Flight cancelled! Rebooked by circuitous routing although there were seats available on other nonstop flights.

Flight got delayed which made my already short layover in london to be reduced to sn hour considerI had to change Terminals fir my ingoing flight to NY

Book Cheap Central America Plane Tickets

Recent return flight deals

20/1Mon
2 stopsBritish Airways
33h 25mJNB-SJO
23/1Thu
2 stopsBritish Airways
37h 09mSJO-JNB
R20 718
24/11Sun
2 stopsBritish Airways
33h 30mJNB-SJO
1/12Sun
2 stopsBritish Airways
37h 05mSJO-JNB
R22 234
15/3Sat
2 stopsUnited Airlines
41h 38mJNB-PTY
31/3Mon
2 stopsUnited Airlines
26h 50mPTY-JNB
R22 703
14/1Tue
2 stopsUnited Airlines
41h 38mJNB-PTY
6/2Thu
2 stopsUnited Airlines
40h 50mPTY-JNB
R25 175
15/3Sat
1 stopAir France
30h 05mJNB-PTY
31/3Mon
1 stopAir France
29h 20mPTY-JNB
R26 078
23/11Sat
2 stopsKLM
39h 40mJNB-SJO
30/11Sat
2 stopsKLM
41h 50mSJO-JNB
R30 535
23/11Sat
1 stopKLM
25h 15mJNB-SJO
30/11Sat
2 stopsKLM
41h 50mSJO-JNB
R30 716
9/12Mon
2 stopsAir France
34h 17mJNB-SJO
9/9Tue
1 stopAir France
29h 10mSJO-JNB
R31 365
12/12Thu
1 stopTurkish Airlines
31h 55mJNB-PTY
19/12Thu
1 stopTurkish Airlines
32h 00mPTY-JNB
R49 647
26/12Thu
1 stopTurkish Airlines
33h 45mCPT-PTY
3/1Fri
1 stopTurkish Airlines
31h 15mPTY-CPT
R128 277

Search by stops

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Recent one-way flight deals

17/2Mon
2 stops
43h 45mCPT-SJO
R13 896
30/1Thu
2 stops
30h 05mJNB-SJO
R15 484
15/2Sat
2 stops
35h 20mCPT-SJO
R16 260
26/12Thu
2 stopsBritish Airways
33h 36mJNB-GUA
R17 289
5/12Thu
2 stopsBritish Airways
31h 35mJNB-SJO
R17 524
2/2Sun
1 stopAir France
30h 10mJNB-SJO
R18 751
30/1Thu
1 stopSWISS
26h 30mJNB-SJO
R20 321
15/2Sat
1 stopKLM
25h 50mCPT-SJO
R21 313
5/12Thu
1 stopKLM
26h 30mJNB-SJO
R21 765
2/3Sun
1 stopSWISS
26h 10mJNB-SJO
R23 082

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Last minute flights to Central America

Last minute flight, train and bus deals

18/11Mon
multi-stopUnited Airlines
46h 14mJNB-BZE
21/1Tue
multi-stopUnited Airlines
45h 17mBZE-JNB
R24 129
18/11Mon
multi-stopUnited Airlines
46h 14mJNB-BZE
21/1Tue
multi-stopUnited Airlines
45h 17mBZE-JNB
R24 165
17/11Sun
multi-stopDelta
22h 12mJNB-BZE
21/1Tue
multi-stopDelta
21h 00mBZE-JNB
R25 193
17/11Sun
multi-stopDelta
22h 12mJNB-BZE
22/1Wed
multi-stopDelta
21h 00mBZE-JNB
R25 572
18/11Mon
multi-stopDelta
22h 12mJNB-BZE
20/1Mon
multi-stopDelta
21h 00mBZE-JNB
R28 442
18/11Mon
multi-stopDelta
22h 12mJNB-BZE
21/1Tue
multi-stopDelta
21h 00mBZE-JNB
R28 857
18/11Mon
multi-stopDelta
22h 12mJNB-BZE
22/1Wed
multi-stopDelta
21h 00mBZE-JNB
R28 875

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Everything you need to know for your flight to Central America

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.