FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - SFO-PTY business class experience
View Single Post
Old Apr 13, 2025 | 10:59 am
  #5  
HAF
40 Countries Visited
50 Countries Visited
100 Nights
15 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: HAF
Posts: 532
Answering my own question after experiencing COPA on SFO-PTY-UIO and UIO-PTY-SFO in business

The Good
  1. Plenty of space on the 737max9 with Dreams configuration - and for the duration PTY-UIO on 737 800 adequate space and comfortable seats. Due to the timing of the flights we were not able to get a full nights sleep - but especially on the SFO-PTY-SFO we were able to catch 3-4hrs of sleep which was great.
  2. Reasonable service from the cabin crew. But inconsistent. The SFO to PTY was bad: the single flight attendant we had servicing the whole business cabin was not attentive, for sure he looked tired and like he did not want to be there, started meal service late, forgot to pass amenity kits and headsets until people asked, messed up meal orders, and most of the time disappeared somewhere. All the other legs had above average service and especially the flight attendant - Alexandra - taking care of us from PTY-SFO was exceptional.
  3. Easy and painless transfer at PTY - especially T2 is new, good signage, easy to navigate and well air conditioned
  4. On time. All of our flights were on time. There was a 30-40min delay leaving SFO due to a luggage loading issue - but we made the time up in the air. All the other flights were on time or even early. Also we received our checked in luggage pretty quickly.

The Not so good
  1. Food. All I can say is that it is likely you will go hungry when flying COPA business class - so either eat before or bring food with you. The SFO-PTY meals were disgusting - I wish i had taken a picture to post here, but both my spouse and I were so disappointed we did not even care taking a picture. The "broccoli soup" they served was most like a broccoli paste / spread consistency, my SOs tortellini was half frozen and not cooked, stale and cold bread... oh and no menus so you do not know exactly what the options are especially when the crew is not proactive and capable to explain. The snack to go bag they handed upon arriving at PTY had a avocado/tomato sandwich in the bag but the avocado had gone rancid so i thew it away.
  2. No lounge access at SFO or UIO. We used our priority pass - but again bad for COPA not offering lounge access to outstations
  3. Lounge at PTY - overcrowded in the evenings - and with no food options - and bad coffee. Again you will go hungry when flying COPA - so make sure you have a plan to eat before or after the lounge especially on long trips. Early morning was ok, and shower facility was above average, but starts getting very crowded after 7am.

Overall - especially given the duration of our flights, COPA in business was ok. And we will chose them again if the Price/Schedule is right. Once we realized the sad state of their meal service we bought our own food at UIO (there are some great restaurants at the airport) so we were self catered on the return legs which was great.

--HAF

HAF is offline