I sang the praises of COPA on my November trip JFK-PTY-CTG where for the price of economy I was EUAed on all legs and given great service the whole way through.

Well, Im on the return leg of another trip and COPA is truly amazing. My flight from CTG-PTY on Saturday was fine, but the blizzard forced the cancellation of the 730pm PTY-JFK flight.

This was my first cancelled flight ever, so I didnt know what to expect, especially because it was caused by the weather.

Heres what COPA did-

Sent an agent to meet me at the PC where I had free access because I was upgraded on all segments.

The agent gave me the run-down -

1. I could be rebooked on Sunday in Economy or Monday in FC. It was my choice. If I stayed until Monday they would give me two free nights at the Marriott instead of the one night I was already getting.

2. Vouchers for Dinner, Breakfast and Lunch.

3. Agent then escorted me thorugh customs-immigration ' bypassing all lines.

4. Agent filled out a taxi vouncher and introduced me to a taxi driver who would bring me to the Marriott and pick me up at the hotel at 430pm on Sunday to return to the airport. THE SAME DRIVER!

Check in was a breeze at the Marriott. Got a good nights rest and am an hour away from going back to the airport. Hopefully the flight isnt cancelled again, but if it is there are worse places to be stuck than in Panama City ' especially for free.

I understand that this type of personal service isnt possible at every airport. But I only paid for an economy ticket and have been treated like a king. They take Elite Status VERY seriously at COPA.

Needless to say, COPA will continue to get my business.

I got kinda pissed off at COPA for not accepting a package I was trying to take with me LAX-PTY-GRU, they just refused to take it, nothing helped, offering to pay extra, whatever (I was on full Y) They also said F checked in full, and it was the only segment I hadn't been upgraded to initially.... fortunately they made that happen as I was boarding.

The manager offered to keep it in her office, and I ended up sending them a shipping label, and eventually got it shipped off... but goodness....
Fortunately, I was upgraded on all 4 segs, so that was good. And they treated me very wel onboard.

Unlike CO they serve alcohol in Y also. which is nice.

However, one more problem is that when I returned, my flights posted as Z and F, and so I didn't get the 6,000 or so EQM bonus I should have, it took a lot of calling up CO, CM, onepass... faxing stuff in, it was a mess because Onepass doesn't have access to Copa PNRs.

Eventually they fixed it, and I became plat (Retroactively for my next flight to Tel Aviv thank goodness!)

How big was the package - because they tout their courier service. Surprised they couldnt help you.

I actually took two bags on with me and I really should have checked one, but it was no problem. Worked out great as I spent the night in Panama with my luggage.

As an addendum, I took a tour of the Panama Canal, then returned to the hotel, had a free lunch, then went across the street to the Habanos Cafe across the street from the Marriott. Smoked a great Cohiba and drank Cuba Libres while sprawled out on a couch in the back room watching the first half of the Eagles-Falcons.

Crossed the street to the hotel and the driver honked his horn, letting me know he was there. Check out was 5 minutes and 20 minutes later was at the airport.

And to top it off, I was upgraded after all to the same seat - 1F. Im now in the PC, the Eagl�es just wrapped up the NFC, and the flight is scheduled to leave on time at 7:30pm.

Sometimes things just work out. . .

it's not like there are loads of flights on AM...

Would be nice, but it doesn't really matter if you're a OP member. Your miles are good on either. And NW miles are good on Copa as well.

Will NW elites get free upgrade on Copa as CO elites do?

SkyTeam membership for COPA would allow mileage earning benefits for members of KLM and Air France programs. There's no current direct link between them now.

Same goes for OK+ members- I'm one.

I've heard nothing but great things about COPA every since they entered thier partnership with Continental (owning 49% is the most they could do.. something tells me though if laws were to change they'd have 100% of COPA). I wish i had an excuse to fly them frankly... Maybe a trip to South American .. would be nice...


-Vincent