They keep the money and give you a flight credit minus change fees. You listed how it works yourself.

Your money is gone. Copa sells refundable fares as well if this happens often. I am on a Copa refundable C (J) fare in CA right now. If I decided not to go my travel agent would have obtained a refund to my credit card in about 2 days.

If I went with say a D or I fare and saved money, the cost/risk is that I would never get actual money and I would get a net credit usually good for a year to fly on Copa later.

Your e-ticket should have all the terms as to the fees, can be anywhere from a few dollars but often $100-$500 depending on the cabin and distance.

In this type of ticket be sure to tell them to cancel since a no-show will result in not only no refund but no voucher, just no value at all.