KenInEscazu

I flew out of MDE Wednesday night, and I was jokingly whining about not having a Copa Club and how boring it is to wait for a flight inside security on the international side of the terminal. The agent shocked me when she said that the new club will open by October! ^ ^ ^

The gate agent said that it was originally scheduled to open in August, and that it is very near ready, so they may beat the new October estimate. Anyone who flies out of MDE knows how big this news is.

Just thought I would share this here, as I figured that since I had not heard the news, there are probably others here who haven't yet, either. This is the first I've heard that a new Copa Club was even on the drawing board. I love Medellin, but I dread the wait for boarding every time I leave. Looks like it will soon be much more pleasant for Premiers with intl. itineraries.

Kacee

A Copa Club or a new AV lounge? Seems AV has been revamping its lounges throughout Colombia . . . . The new one in CTG is quite nice.

EWR764

Kind of funny... Copa Clubs, which, for all intents and purposes, are United Clubs, in a place that UAL doesn't even serve! I'm sure it will appear in UC marketing materials.

KenInEscazu

It is a Copa Club. AV has a club in the domestic side, and it's OK. Why they couldn't have found a way to split it is a bit curious, but I think it's simply too far from the intl. gates.

Not all Copa Clubs are United Club clones. The Copa Club at SJO is most definitely unique, with a complimentary beverage served at your seat, and a real menu (good food/not free). They have limited free snacks that vary according to time of day, and a variety of local non-alcoholic self-serve beverages.

If the club at MDE is anything like the one at SJO, it will be a very big plus. Even as a UC clone it will be a big improvement over nothing. My money is on a more independent design operation rather than a clone. As stated above, UA doesn't fly into MDE, and Aero Republica is a Colombian airline operating flights as Copa.

I have stated before that I'm also expecting Copa to depart M+ when their contract expires. I can't remember if it does so in 2015 or 2016, but since they are no longer tied to and CO ownership, and since they run a great airline, I'm thinking they probably would like to lose the association with UA and the bad PR it brings with it.

Now... What to do about the livery. (Just one of many questions, for sure)

Skink

I took a picture but can't figure out how to post it from my phone right now. I'm the only passenger here. It's nice being able to find a seat unlike PTY at times.

coolcoil

Good news about the club! Though, as I foresee moving most of my travel to AA in the coming year, I suspect I will often find myself with my nose pressed up against the glass. That said, I usually don't arrive at MDE very early, so I rarely wait more than 20 minutes at the gate.

I'm not as confident that CM will leave *A. It's certainly possible, and more so now that they announced that they are leaving M+. However, they just signed up with *A a couple of years ago and I don't know how much they would value joining Skyteam. If they add ATL and DTW to their destinations, then we'll know.

grt

Nice. Is it a Copa or AV lounge? I guess the answer will not matter too much as long as it is (and remains) a *A Gold lounge.

Kacee

grt

I asked because an AV club in the domestic side does not do you any good if you are departing on an international flight.

Thanks.

uanj

Isn't AeroRepublica something like 90% owned by Copa?

As successful as they have become, they should want to have control over all aspects of their business. Launching their own FF program is about controlling their own destiny (and costs), not about a perceived damaged halo effect from United.

Kacee

And you think the timing is just a coincidence? The abrupt nature of the split indicates CM had a problem with the changes UA is implementing as of March 1.

coolcoil

Not necessarily abrupt. In the COPA 2012 Annual Report, they noted that their MP contract with UA ran through mid-2015 and that they had not at that time yet made a decision as to whether they would continue with UA.

drvannostren

Hooray! That's awesome. Last time I flew to PTY I thought the same thing "wait...there's a lounge but it's ONLY accessible from Domestic? that's dumb".

I honestly wasn't sure (I'm sure it's some kinda security thing) that AV just didn't build an entrance from INTL to the Sala VIP.

I usually fly domestic out of MDE just for the connections at BOG, but there's SOOO many seats from MDE-PTY everyday that CM makes them dirt cheap (currently, and hopefully still in the future) when purchased within UA bookings. CM fares from their site are often crazy expensive imo. But this is a great thing for all those times when I do fly to PTY. I always end up getting there too early cuz I overestimate the taxi ride up to Rionegro, and I try to arrive early simply cuz it's international and sometimes that Aduanas line is super slow even if it's not long, specially in the morning. Got there for my 7am flight last time (thank god I wasn't on the 5!) and just puttered around duty free for what seemed like hours.

Flying MDE-BOG-INTL after Christmas but when I go back during the year I'll be sure to try and catch a PTY flight to check this out.

bigmarley4

hey team, just got back from MDE and visited the lounge. Bottom-line: it's basically just a brand new United Club. It's nice to chill in before a flight, not very large at all, but had the Colombian version of United snack assortment.

Here are some pics in an album (let me see if I can do this successfully):
Copa lounge in MDE

KenInEscazu

It is surprisingly UC-like. AV's new VIP Lounge on the domestic side is actually much larger and nicer, but they also have many times more flights per day from MDE than does CM.

It's nice to have a place to connect to the internet after the long ride up to Rio Negro from the city, and a comfortable place to sit while awaiting departure. I'm almost always early because an accident or construction can cause a lengthy delay from the city, so better safe than sorry.

I have visited twice, and both agents have told me that my UC membership will not get me in when flying on AA after July 1st. The sign does not say, "...in Partnership With United Airlines," either. They obviously have plans to sell their own club memberships, and that makes sense.