coolcoil

No E+. You want to be in a bulkhead or exit row seat.

Here is a link to the main page for the COPA Club:

http://www.copaair.com/sites/us/en/p...px#mileageplus

There is a link from there to the club rules page, which mentions that they accept one-time passes. I am pretty sure they are referring to United Club Passes, though I don't know for sure.

I am also not sure if having an upgraded BP to B/C will get you in or not.

hobo13

I booked some Copa flights via Priceline. Put my 1K number on the reservation via the Copa website. I was then able to select bulkhead seats. Anything else I need to do be upgrade eligible?

coolcoil

Nope, you are good.

ejh25

Copa doesn't seem to restrict any seats to elites (at least that's what I've found). If you're on the 737-700 18 A and F have a missing seat in front of them in row 17. Those are great.

coolcoil

Typically, they do if you are on one of the economy saver fares. If you are on one of the refundable fares, then all seats are open.

Personally, I prefer 5C/D over the exit as I like to be able to exit quickly, though 18 A/F is a very close second for me on either version of the 737.

jimaleg

I'm in Economy and I'm within 48 hours of checkin and I called COPA and they said I did not clear the upgrade list. I was getting offers from COPA to bid for an upgrade and yes I have my MP gold number in my reservation. My fare is a cheapie (not an award) and I'm GOLD (not silver as originally posted). They said BClass was full so I don't think I'll get upgraded Friday. I'm IAD to PCY then PCY to UIO I return the weekend before Thanksgiving. Does this sound right not getting an upgrade being a gold or did my cheapie fare screw me?

Kacee

Upgrade priority is based on status, then fare class. As a gold, you are behind all the 1Ks and Platinums, as well as golds on a higher fare class. It is not possible to tell in any particular situation what the determining factor(s) are. There may have been a bunch of 1Ks ahead of you or it could have been golds on higher fares. You just can't know.

Note also that passengers frequently change plans, so the fact that J is "full" at T-48 does not mean there is no chance of an upgrade.

Still, as a gold, an upgrade is never something you should count on, particularly on a long-haul route.

Finally, note that the airport code for Panama City, Panama is PTY, not "PCY."

coolcoil

I'm flying IAD-PTY on Friday too. I just looked at flightstats, and both the morning and afternoon flights show C7 D0, so there are open business seats, but only full-fare C. I wonder if the COPA rep meant that there are no open upgrade seats. IME, COPA will open those seats to I (upgrade) and D (discount business) some time before T-24 and upgrades will process.

I have only failed to get 1 upgrade as a Plat (now 1-K) on 40 -50 segments on COPA this year. Almost all have processed at T-36 or less. I only ever get earlier upgrades on Aerorepublica-operated flights.

With 7 unsold seats, I think as a Gold there is a pretty good chance you will get the upgrade on on IAD-PTY. For PTY-UIO, the afternoon flight has 5 open bus seats and the evening flight is wide open (C9 D9), so I think your odds are good there too.

Milkman

Even as Silver I get very frequent upgrades on Copa. I'm actually amazed.

Flew MEX-PTY-MEX in September, got upgraded on both segments. Flew MEX-PTY-POS-PTY-MEX a few weeks ago and was upgraded on all segments but one.

As a comparison, I've had more upgrades on Copa as silver member the past 2 months, than I've had in 2½ years as Elite member with KLM.

ToneDaBass

Does Copa give CPUs to MP Silvers?

Also, for GPU upgrades for LAX-PTY, is saver award space equivalent to upgrade space?

Kacee

Until July 1, yes. But if you're talking about LAX-PTY that's probably not going to happen. Something like PTY-CTG you'll have a good shot.

I believe you need Z space, not I. But that the two are correlated.