Using Copa RPUs on United
 

Copa website indicates that "The upgrades are valid on all Copa Airlines and Copa Airlines Colombia operated flights. Connect Regional Upgrades will also be available soon on United-operated flights."

Does anyone know when this "soon" will happen?

Also curious about this one. Haven't seen changes on Copa's front yet.

From Copa's September 11 e-mail:

Global and Regional Upgrades on United

We are happy to announce that we are planning to have these upgrades on United fully operational before the end of this year. We initially experienced some technological setbacks to deliver this product, but the issues have been identified and we are making the necessary adjustments to make them functional.

Thanks for the info!

It was confirmed by a ConnectMiles CSR that I can now apply RPUs to any United ticket. I can only do it over the phone. I need to call Copa, provide my UA Conf Number and they will apply the RPU to it.

Does it have the same restrictions as United? More specifically, can a RPU be applied to an award ticket?

That would be really interesting if it could be applied to an award ticket...

Did they tell you which fare bucket it clears into? R or I?

No it cannot. Nor can it be used for fare classes Z, P, S, T, K, L, G and N.

How will UA determine the priority when giving them to the CM customers

Tried upgrading the girlfriend on a UA itinerary about 2 weeks ago and was told over the phone that they still don't have the capability to do so yet, but will be able to "sometime around December".

Anyone have an recently updated experiences, wither positive or negative?

I tried to give two RPUs to a customer of mine who was flying to Buenos Aires from JFK. Copa says that their RPUs are good to all destinations, but what they don't say (or at least I didn't notice it) is that they require one RPU for each segment. Grrr...

Long story short, I was able to upgrade two of the four flights, but there was one small problem. Although they told me that they were applied, they weren't. Instead of this big favor I did to help one of my best customers, the RPUs were never applied.

I spent over two hours on hold, then speaking Spanish (good luck getting an English speaking CS rep) through what was a train wreck of a procedure. Although my customer doesn't blame me for it, I would sure prefer that he didn't have his hopes falsely raised. Not the kind of thing that I want to happen when I'm trying to schmooze people who help pay the bills. ;)

My biggest complaint in the whole mess is that they have no dedicated lines for Presidential Platinum. I was waiting right along with every other Tomás, Ricardo and Geraldo. Did I say grrr... ???

I dont think I have ever spent more than 10 minutes waiting to connect to an agent with copa, and always gotten an english speaking agent. From USA/Skype:

+18442870304 - 2, 1, 2 - Connect Miles

+18003592672 - 2, 3, 2 - Copaair.com

I agree if calling during the day. At night? I'm from Texas, but I know how to say fuggitaboutit. ;)

So we can apply Copa RPUs to United tickets? Do they have to be issued on Copa ticket stock? or does -016 UA stock work too? Since Copa RPUs work to South America, does that apply to UA that would typically need a GPU?

It looks like there are fare restrictions on using RPUs though unlike UA, which lets you use an RPU on any fare. Is that correct?