TravelinSperry

Does anyone have experience being asked for onward tickets on Copa?

For example, I flew Copa to Panama (where I stayed for a weekend) and then on to Santiago via Copa. In LAX the Copa agent made me show my onward ticket (leaving Panama). I had it... to Santiago. In Panama, I was not asked to show my onward ticket when checking in for SCL. Lucky too - since I didn't have one.

Now I'm looking to fly from Paraguay to Colombia via PTY. If I buy a one way business class ticket its $200 cheaper than buying a roundtrip back in economy (which I won't use anyway). The only reason then to do the rtrp is to get the return ticket in case I'm asked by Copa personnel. I have no worries Colombia immigration will ask... I am never asked by immigration authorities. Does anyone have any experience/suggestions here?

manneca

I've on occasion been asked about onward tickets by airline agents. It's more a visa issue--they want to make sure you are in compliance with visa restrictions. One time I had a one way ticket into a country and the airline wanted to see a ticket out of the country. I had a ticket back to the states from a third country within the no visa required period, but that wasn't enough. They also wanted to make sure I had sufficient funds for the trip. I spread out multiple credit cards and the agent talked with a supervisor. They let me fly. Otherwise, I would have bought a refundable onward ticket on the spot.

rrohio

we do one-way tickets a few times a year on COPA to South America from USA and 100% of the time have to show them a return ticket of some kind or they will accept a resident card of the country U are visiting if You have one of them

coolcoil

+1^

As a Colombian resident, I book RT's originating in Colombia. On the return, I always have to show my cedula (resident card) before they will give me my boarding passes. Other airlines, AA for example, do not require it.

TravelinSperry

Thanks all... it appears it's a COPA thing... I guess I will pay the little bit extra to get the rtrp I won't use and not risk it. Shame to waste the money though.

Thanks again

PTY1K

I've only ever been asked this on Copa when departure/destination is the U.S. I usually book an award ticket out of the country and cancel it after arrival. That works if you can cancel for free.

Or book a one-way out of the country on VivaColombia. They can be as low as $70.

coolcoil

I have had to show my cedula before getting boarding passes for MEX-PTY-MDE.

TravelinSperry

That's a good idea re VivaColombia. Perhaps just buying a throw away ticket on them... and then I can buy the one way on business like I want. Thanks. Or maybe I can even find a bus company that has a bus from Colombia to Equador and would be even cheaper.

coolcoil

It occurs to me that if you have the space on your credit card balance, that you could book a fully refundable fare and then cancel with no cost. It's not entirely ethical, but I'm just sayin...

NOTE: I would do it with UA or AA, since the refund process will probably go better, and you need to make sure it's the kind of refundable where you get your money back instead of full credit for a later flight. The airlines aren't always good about distinguishing between the two types on their booking websites.

TravelinSperry

I do know about this (or even the 24 hour cancel rule on United). I'm just always scared to buy such an expensive ticket in case anything goes wrong.

Kacee

And just to be clear, I would NEVER recommend doing this with CM. It is an absolute nightmare trying to get a refund out of that airline.

I recently refunded a ticket with AV on the other hand and it went very smoothly. Made the request online and it was credited promptly (within a couple weeks) to my credit card. Note that many AV tickets have only a $35 cancel charge.

coolcoil

I don't know if a lot could go wrong. I am fairly certain that if you buy a fully refundable (i.e. Y fare) that even if you completely forget about it and no-show you would still get your money back. I don't know this for sure, so if you were to do this, read the fare rules carefully.

I_Can_Fly_US_Airways

Just booked AV LAX>GYE via SAL in Business Class. $1,362.09
Same fare on Copa $2,422.59

I think the folks in Revenue Management need to take a HARD look at their fares. While I really like Copa, NO way am I going to paying 78% more for the privledge of flying them!!!

DarrenChannel

Based on my observations on Copa fares ex-MEX, they don't seem to have anybody working in their HQ who monitors the fares of their competitors.

Just this morning, I'm looking at fares MEX-BOG. Available for as low as $316 RT (econ) on AM. And on Copa? $700+! Same story throughout most of their route network. Copa doesn't even try to match AM's fares to Central American destinations -- the fare differences are often significant. (The only exception I can see at this moment is a fare war on MEX-MDE, with CM/AV/AM matching each other.)

I've been awaiting details of Copa's new FF program, to see if they're going to offer any sort of incentives to lure over FFers from AV (their most direct competitor), or even AM or LA for that matter.

coolcoil

CM has not offered me a competitive fare for MDE-USA since April of last year, and I have not set foot on CM metal since then.

UPDATE: I just looked up CM's financial results. Passenger Revenue per Available Seat Mile (PRASM) was way down in the 4th quarter of 2014 vs. the same period in 2013. Income results were not so hot either.

You can see for yourself here:

http://investor.shareholder.com/copa/results.cfmhttp://investor.shareholder.com/copa/results.cfm

They are blaming the decrease on lower demand.

Also, they announced that New Orleans will be their next new destination. I had not seen that news before.