jamesb2147

Anyone know how the upgrade certs work yet?

Are the regional certs only valid within the regions (e.g. only within Central America; flights to/from US require global certs)? Do you have to use 1 cert per person you want to upgrade, or is it 1 cert per reservation? 1 cert per segment or origin-destination pair?

Their English FAQ is extremely light on details. Anyone light that can be shed is much appreciated.

N1120A

Their certs work the same way as UA's, with some added benefits. Regionals are available for use on ALL Copa and Aero Republica/Copa Colombia operated flights. That means you can use them on longer flights like LAX-PTY and PTY-GRU. The negative is that they can only be used on a single segment.

jonk

a follow-up to my question about how online upgrading works, it looks like something is wrong with the itinerary display page. i made upgrade requests that cleared for two of my flights (the ones in Z class, which are the upgrade buckets), and the page still shows economy with economy seating, but when i called the agent was able to give me first class seat assignments which also are not reflected when i pull up my reservation. (as an aside, i had them replace my FF# with my ConnectMiles number so i can try for a CPU on the PTY-SFO segment [no upgrade space is available now; can't waitlist, apparently], and it's not showing here either, although the agent confirmed it's in the reservation).

aza72

I've noticed significant differences between the mobile and desktop apps. They each have a unique set of bugs, so if something doesn't work in one, try the other.

Kacee

It appears that is indeed the stated rule. That was not the rule under Mileage Plus . . . a single instrument could be used to upgrade an itinerary with connecting flights.

N1120A

That seems to be the stated rule, but people seem to have the experience of multiple segments in the same direction being upgrade. I wonder if it is a translation issue?

jamesb2147

Excellent information! Guessing, based on the sparse UA documentation that I found, that certs are needed for every individual in a party.

At least you can upgrade LAX/ORD/NYC - PTY and then PTY - SCL/EZE/GIG with the regional certs! That's great news to me!

SkyTeam777

I'd like to status match and use the Copa upgrade instruments on Copa flights. But, in doing so, does anyone know if I would be able to supply my UA Mileage Plus number to earn UA miles once upgraded using a Copa certificate?

Also, how long are the status matches people are getting for?

dtokuda

I see a few people were able to match Etihad Gold, which is great, as I'm moving away from Etihad and trying to find a program to land on...but that you're only getting matched through the end of the year? Or did anyone get matched through next year?

pmarrsouth

Status matched a few months ago from UA Silver. Got Copa Silver right away (I presume that UA just gave them a db of their elites and CM could look at this and auto match)

I asked before matching if that if I made another level on UA that I could request another match. They said yes

Sent in screenshots showing my new UA gold status on the 10th Sept

Automated email received today 23rd Sept confirming CM upgrade to gold. Looking forward to making UA Plat

bgriz18

I don't know if anyone else got matched with Etihad other than me but my match to Copa is only to end of 2015. My plan is to match Etihad or Copa to Turkish next which is good for 2ys from matching date. You can also match Etihad to Alitalia for SkyTeam which should be good for how ever long your Etihad status if for.

Viajero Millero

Perhaps this will require a separate thread down the line but wanted to share my experience redeeming Connectmiles... miles.

You have to call in and after what felt a bunch of menus with eithe press 1 or 2, you will reach a first agent that may be able to tell you availability and/or prices. However, he/she can't ticket.

You need to ask for the "redemption department" for that. I'd advise you to save yourself some time and just ask for "redenciones Connectmiles" as soon as you get a human. Keep in mind this department has limited hours and is only open Monday-Saturday.

So if you want to redeem your Connectmiles on a Sunday, you'd be SOL.

Once you have someone from "redenciones" you can start the process. Award space on Copa that you see on the United website may not be 100% accurate. I found AC's Aeroplan to be much more accurate.

Even then, if you know what you see, feed each flight info to the agent. One by one. And ask to double-check if you are sure the space is there. This happened to me on two occasions and I kept insisting until they "saw" the space.

IME: The process for redeeming for Copa flights is relatively quick. 10-15 mins.

Redeeming on Star Alliance, however, is not. It can get messy and be brutally slow as they call the airline directly to confirm the space. This may take up to 24-48 hours.

Once you have your space, they will ask for your 4-digit PIN, they check the taxes (a few minutes on hold) and then ask for your payment info. At this point they also subtract the miles.

If everything is OK, the agent proceeds to issue the ticket and provide you with the record locator.

A few minutes after that you'll get two emails from Copa. One letting you know X amount of miles was taken from your account and one with the actual ticket.

Some good bargains to be had in the award chart and remember you can still request an upgrade on an award ticket.

The Mileage Millionaire

The 6 SWUs can be used on any UA flight booked in W class or higher. This is the same fare class that UA requires to use SWUs on (most of) their international flights. Each SWU is good for a single segment only.

Kacee

Actually, the GUs (Global Upgrades) cannot presently be used on UA for any flight.

ACC2008

I am a UA 1K and requested a match. We live in South America right now and it would make more sense for me to get matching status from Copa and fly Copa. But I was given a match only to Platinum. I was hoping a match to Presidential Platinum. Is there a way to appeal or contact someone at Copa to see if they will reconsider. Anyone out there with similar experience, please shed some light on this matter. Thanks