Hey everyone. I found some of the other COPA threads here really useful, so I'm going to hope someone can help with my own questions. I'm scheduled to go IAH-PTY on UA, PTY-SCL on COPA, then SCL-LSC on LAN. UA cancelled my original flight to PTY, which caused cascading misconnects on my remaining flights and is forcing overnights in both Houston and Santiago.

They rebooked me all the way through, including talking to LAN and getting me confirmed on a new flight, which I found to be a neat trick since they're in different alliances. They also put me up in Houston with no problems. However, they said they can't do anything right now to get me a hotel in Santiago. They put a note in my record that I should be accommodated once I arrive, so my questions are:

1) There are no UA personnel in Santiago, only COPA. Will COPA even be able to see this note? The very helpful lady at the UC here in IAH also printed out my entire record for this trip, and highlighted the note just in case. I assume COPA would be skeptical of a random printout, though.

2) If COPA sees this, will they care? I'll be arriving in Santiago at 7 PM, so I just don't want to arrive there and discover that I have to fend for myself while waiting for my LAN flight at 10 AM the next morning. I don't speak Spanish, and I get the impression there are no hotels that are directly attached to the airport, so I'm worried about the high odds of having myself a Foreign Adventure. After a solid 40 hours of travel (I didn't start in IAH!), I won't be in any shape for said adventure.

Thanks in advance for any help...

Actually, scratch the part about the neat trick. I investigated further, and apparently they only got a reservation made, but LAN wants me to pay for it as a new ticket. I guess I'm still stuck handling that part on my own...

Just to follow up, I never found anyone from COPA in Santiago who could help me out. I finally gave up and just went across the street to the Holiday Inn and booked a room for the night on my own dime. I got through to the LAN helpline as I was boarding in Houston and was able to officially change my reservation for the LAN flight to the time I wanted the following day, though I had to pay a difference of fare ($35) since they only had Y class available. It also did something else weird to my reservation (changed my passport number), so I still had to find one of the many LAN desks in Santiago and ask them to sort it out. Only took a few minutes, though.

Also, my bag didn't make it on to La Serena. As far as I know, it's still stuck in Santiago and won't arrive until tomorrow. Not the least bit surprising, given the combination of irrops and passing through the hands of 3 different airlines...

Sorry I missed this thread.

Remember that when there's no airline staff anywhere visible, there's always an airline's office hidden somewhere in the airport.

Though it may be closed (not common if a flight just arrived) they can always help. You should at least receive airline IDB pricing at the hotel, at your dime.

These offices are commonly located behind some kind of door or check in desk. Just don't be shy. Ask a security person where it is and head that way.

BTW, Once I arrived at SCL with AR and did not have hotel reservations. I was a TA fqtv so headed to their office for help. They kindly called the crown plaza ($150/night at that time) and got me a reservation for $40/night for 3 nights.

Yes, I think I found the COPA office at the west end of the second level. However, all the lights were off and the whole area was deserted. I asked at an information booth where I could find a COPA employee, and they tried to point me inside the international departures area. It appeared that I would need a valid ticket to get inside there, though. Definitely wouldn't have minded getting an IDB rate, if that level of discount is normal! I paid the rack rate at the Holiday Inn, but after about 45 hours of travel, I decided I would pay anything halfway reasonable to get a comfortable bed ASAP.

I think the lesson here is that there wasn't any rush to find LAN and make sure my ticket for the next morning was straightened out, since their operations never shut down. I should have stopped at the door of the aircraft and asked where to go for COPA assistance.

As an aside, my bag arrived 3 days later up in La Serena. It's a good thing I'm here on a fairly long visit, or else it would have arrived after I left to go home.