I've been trying to figure out a good trip to Brazil for my friend's wedding in December. CO... doesn't have much in the way of reasonable airfares (>1400 in K class) from SFO/LAX.
Out of curiosity I plugged in CM (Copa) for a fare search and found that they were selling H fares for .. well < $1000, and "full Y" for 1000+ depending on the date, I found a full Y for my time at $1300 fully refundable LAX-PTY-GRU. Now, I realize that they certainly won't have J service, but the way I see it, much better than paying 1600 on CO, for no flexibility, a shot in hell at being able to spend 50k on a RT ug, etc..

So I bit, why not, its refundable. And, once it tickets, I'll get my elite UG to A, and 18,000 status miles. not bad.


But, I was wondering, how is Copa's service? are they as good as normal CO? Is the food/liquor good?

It seems that Copa, while not CO J, might be a nice economical way to get down to SA in semi-luxury.

I've used Copa to Santiago, Chile. The reason for the fare differential is that Copa's 1st class is equivalent to domestic 1st, not Int'l Business First. Aside from that, the planes are new, the staff excellent, and the food decent. Copa's hub in Panama City is crowded, but very easy to navigate and there's a PC. The Duty Free in Panama City is nowhere as good as it is in Buenos Aries or Santiago. Copa has an excellent on-time record. My only gripe is the flight from Santiago departs at 3:45 ! a.m.

COPA upfront can be like a good transcon -- the same first class service as CO. But flights to South America are long and the US departures from LAX, JFK and Miami are are tough times -- makes for a very long flight. That said, one advantage can be that they do upgrade elites to Clase Ejecutiva and though they sometime seem unclear about the process, it is a nice perk. Finally, I have noticed that the flights are usually pretty full.

I agree with the OP. Copa is useful. I was trying to book a CO Biz Class reward to SA (NOT!) and I found one on Copa from JFK-PTY-EZE in Biz.

Departure times may be brutal (like SCL and JFK) but the upside is that connections in PTY are always a snap. Just try to make a 30 min. int'l to int'l connection in any CO hub!!

In PTY, you'll either have 1 hour, 9 daytime hours, or 15 overnight hours. In any case, it's enough to get from 1 flight to another, have enough time to day-trip into the city, or comfortably get a good night's sleep at a hotel.

COPA availability does seem to be much better than CO-- and note that now with Sky Team, you can use AM to cross the US-Mexico border. Once you cross that availability barrier, you're really home free with finding seats.

IMHO, COPA may be a stepchild, but it's one of the more useful ones.

Being from Panama, I must say that I'm glad I see a good response for COPA. On availability, it's a plus having CM in the mix. I was able to get a standard coach reward for december, SDF-IAH-MIA (CO), MIA-PTY (CM) and back PTY-ATL-SDF. Before CO/CM entered SkyTeam, I was SOL with DAL to get standard rewards to PTY in december (kids in school going back for christmas, and only one DAL flight per day).

I agree, COPA is very useful...

I will be flying Copa to EZE from JFK. What are the usual upgrade chances as a Platinum?

What is the service/food like? Are power outlets available in Y or C?

Don't know about U/G chances. Does Copa give those to CO Elites?

Don't think there are any powerports. Planes are almost identical to domestic CO planes.

...WHY ON EARTH DIDN'T THEY MAKE THEM A SKYTEAM MEMBER? Skyteam execs must feel South America is already very well served by the alliance partners, right?

Copa does use the EUA system to give upgrades to OnePass elite (not NW). I've twice gotten upgrades as a silver to EZE, though obviously only found out about them when I arrived at the gate as they tend to delay confirming until the last minute. Upgrades also give you access to the lounges in MIA (run by AirFrance), the President's Club in Panama (very nice) and an American Express lounge in EZE (forgettable).

I would imagine that platinums would have a very good chance at upgrades, depending on the days flown.


As for power ports: nope, these are very simply 737s. The FA will sometimes let you plug in your laptop into the AC port in the galley.


I do not forsee flying COPA much more in the future as I now have NW status, having left CO over the 50% EQM. This is a shame as I fly a good deal to South America and that means I am now dependent on Delta if I want 100% EQM. I wish Skymiles were better south of the Equator.

I used a NW award to fly LAX-PTY-EZE earlier this year. It is a bit of a pain to book, but the flight's not too bad. I considered it a bargain of 70k miles for Biz class. I wish there were an easier way to do IAH-GRU-EZE. I've never flown DL Biz class, since they'll start to fly to EZE in December, that could be an interesting option.