Other North & South America Frequent Flyer Programs - 4 hr connection in PTY w Copa: advice needed

We have a 4 hour connection in PTY with Copa. Has anyone had a similar situation and what would you recommend?

1) hang around in the terminal? if yes, are there decent shops/restaurants or should we anticipate staring at walls for 4 hours? Any chance of an old-school observation deck to get outside for awhile ;) ?

2) is it worth it/possible to clear customs and just get some fresh tropical air outside the terminal? if yes, Do you get hit with a fresh round of taxes if you do this?

2a) If it's reasonable to clear customs, are there any interesting things do/decent restaurant or something by the airport?

3) something else to consider that I'm missing (can't really find anything on web as to what to expect/do?

I've been to Panama City before as a destination so I've seen a lot; but this is the first time I'm trying a connection there...so any advice on what to expect or do on a 4 hour connection would be much appreciated.

The Panamanian immigration authorities will not let you in with anything less than a 7 hour connection. Inside the airport there is a food court upstairs that has a Japanese place, Carl's Junior, Dominos, Crispy's, Haagen Daz, some healthy-oriented place, and a Margaritaville bar. There is also a Subway and a basic Panamanian restaurant located in other areas of the airport. There is an Admiral's Club as well if you happen to be a member.

thanks...I appreciate your input and that's good to know.

I can recall waiting in a long immigration line at PTY some 10 years ago, but simply have no memory of the departure area of the airport.

If you are a UA 1P, then you could get into the COPA club for free. If you are flying before the 3/3 date when the Continental and UA programs are consolidated, you might want to link your CO and UA accounts to get Gold status on CO and then put that number on your reservation.

As a CO Gold (or Premiere Gold after 3/3), then you will eligible for an upgrade on COPA and the free club entry.

That said, the COPA Club is nothing to write home about, but it's a little better than hanging out in the terminal for four hours.

If you want more COPA info: Since CO and COPA are so closely associated, you can find a lot of threads about COPA on the CO forum.

thanks again for the advice. a couple first hand comments.

I have to say I was pretty impressed with PTY as a hub. They had a lot of shops to browse (although the prices seem high). The upstairs food court is really a good place to kill an hour. CoolCoil's point about the Copa Club is true. In fact with their flight banks, the place gets so crowded that you cannot get a seat and we only spent about an hour in the club as it was rather calm at first then a zoo of folks stalking your every move for your seat. The bar/tender was the best feature and the food was basically crakers and a latin "chex mix" type of thing.

A few things to point out for anyone else's future reference:

Smokers--not me, but one of the people in our group,and if it's you, then you better bring the nicorette as there is no smoking room in the airport

No money exchange--for some reason thought I saw one on the flight down, but apparently that was my hazy recollection of another airport. Change your money before getting on the return flight home via Panama as you cannot change money inside PTY terminal (or at least past security).

carts are limited. I certainly didn't mind, but at NRT or LHR my wife likes to get a cart so she can nimbly check out the shops...she didn't like lugging her bag through the stores...as I said no worries from me;)...but if you do like to shop just keep a light bag with you.

All and all, a 2-4 hour connection in PTY is something I'd do again...especially given the extensive Copa connection options and fact you don't have the hassle of US customs + then transiting to domestic and a fresh round of domestic security screening...much easier to connect in PTY and clear immigration at the end of the line assuming Copa or another carrier flies to where you live:D.

One other final thing of note for US bound flights...the Panamanian authorities do a preboarding check of your luggage (everyone boarding) and you are not allowed to bring any liquids...even a bottle of water that you bought in the airport. I assume they wouldn't let you take liquor onto the plane (although as mentioned earlier prices are on the higher side anyway).

PTY is a darn good hub to transit considering others Ive seen in L. America. I feel safe even with just a 1.5 hour gap between flights. The airport is small enough that you can walk from gate 1 to 30 in five minutes, and Copa typically organizes arrival/departure gates for various flights near one another.

Pty has some good duty free shops to kill time, but nothing on the level of Europe or N. America. I have seen free wi-fi signs out in the public waiting areas.

I also agree that the 2nd floor food court has a lot of good options, very new, and at least one large sit-down restaurant.

PTY is a darn good hub to transit considering others Ive seen in L. America. I feel safe even with just a 1.5 hour gap between flights. The airport is small enough that you can walk from gate 1 to 30 in five minutes, and Copa typically organizes arrival/departure gates for various flights near one another.

Pty has some good duty free shops to kill time, but nothing on the level of Europe or N. America. I have seen free wi-fi signs out in the public waiting areas.

I also agree that the 2nd floor food court has a lot of good options, very new, and at least one large sit-down restaurant.

+1

- I fly COPA a lot, and have never had a missed connection. In my experience, their on-time record is fantastic.

- There is free wifi in the airport. It's not the fastest in the world, but it's there.

- I find that the only thing the duty free shops are good for is booze. Almost everything else is expensive and/or shoddy. However, that's not very different from my duty free experience in most of the world.

- The food court is generally pretty good, but stay away from the sushi. It's the worst that I have ever had.

- I find that the only thing the duty free shops are good for is booze.

+100. And just tell the shops where you're headed, and they'll deliver it to the plane for you, so the security checks don't get it taken away

+100. And just tell the shops where you're headed, and they'll deliver it to the plane for you, so the security checks don't get it taken away

I think it depends where you're going. If it is to the USA, you just get a receipt when you pay at the store and pick up your booze on the jetway after the liquids search.

When I am transiting to Colombia, they just give me the bottles at the store since there is no liquid security check for Colombia flights. I don't know if that is true for other non-US destinations.

If you like Scotch Whiskey, but are cheap like me, I recommend the Attenza Duty Free Store. They have a whiskey called "Label 5" for $13 a liter. My family and I think it's as good as mid-priced products.

...especially given the extensive Copa connection options and fact you don't have the hassle of US customs + then transiting to domestic and a fresh round of domestic security screening...much easier to connect in PTY and clear immigration at the end of the line assuming Copa or another carrier flies to where you live:D.

One other final thing of note for US bound flights...the Panamanian authorities do a preboarding check of your luggage (everyone boarding) and you are not allowed to bring any liquids...even a bottle of water that you bought in the airport. I assume they wouldn't let you take liquor onto the plane (although as mentioned earlier prices are on the higher side anyway).

Not having to clear customs until the final US destination is a huge plus for me. I used to fly MDE-MIA-DCA and had to collect luggage in MIA, recheck, and go through security again. It's really nice to be able to only collect my luggage once and go through customs without any connection time pressure.

To clarify, as I mentioned above, you can take duty free liquids to the US. You will get a receipt at the store and your liquids will be given to you on the jetway after you have completed the hand baggage search at the gate.