A little digging shows that I can go from Panama to OAK with standard reward in FC or Y. I'm going to call the elite desk in the morning and see if they can book my return via Panama. There is an early morning Copa flight from UIO-Panama, and maybe I could get them to put me on that. It'd be awfully nice to get that return in FC for 30k miles...

I'll post whether or not I have any success with this idea. In the mean time, any other tips are appreciated!