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?

upgrade form on the website
 

I think this is new. On the ConnectMiles website there is now a "Solicitar un ascenso" form under "Mis ascensos". It appears one may select any of the Star Alliance carriers.

It's actually pretty cool, if it works. Wonder whether it's instantaneous or whether it takes time.
Thinking of booking a UA flight in Y using the 24 hold and seeing how fast it takes.
Although, what happens to the RPU if you cancel your underlying flight?? Probably not automatic and you'd need to call.
Any idea what UA fare bucket is needed for the RPU to work?

https://sfo777.smugmug.com/Airlines/....24%20AM-L.jpg

As YadiMolina noted, the drop down has all S* members.

https://sfo777.smugmug.com/Airlines/....51%20AM-L.png

Not sure where he got this info, but Gary Leff wrote about this a while back:

"These upgrade certificates confirm into the same upgrade inventory – R class – that United elites use. However, a certificate may only be used for a single United flight segment. Connecting flights require more than one certificate. United economy fare classes S, T, K, L, G and N are not upgradable with these certificates."

The fare class restriction would be very limiting.

That upgrade feature is for Star Alliance upgrades, not Copa certificates, I believe.

Not really. W or higher, just like UA GPUs.

That's what's reported in the parallel thread (by a reliable member): COPA Upgrade Certs on UA/LH Operated Flights

And that you still can't apply a CM instrument to a UA flight.

But that's my point exactly. I find that very limiting.

I can confirm that I was able to successfully apply a Copa RPU to an upcoming EWR-IAH flight. I had to call the ConnectMiles service center and had to speak to a supervisor to do so. R space was available for this flight.

Who is the operating carrier - COPA or UA?

UA - Copa does not operate EWR-IAH.

What fare class were you originally booked in? I'm curious if there were restrictions on eligible fares...

You mean other than what's listed on the ConnectMiles website?

Ack, nevermind. I thought those referred to Copa codeshares on United-operated flights. Clearly they are the United fare codes.

Here's the link in case others missed it too:
https://connectmiles.copaair.com/en/...s-certificates

I just received an email from Copa this morning stating that "...the technology to use these certificates on United is now available" and extending the expiration date of the certificates to 12/31/2016. :)

The functionality is alive and it works... but it is a fairly involved process. As noted, the fare/region restrictions for UA RPU/GPU are the same.

I spoke with a Copa supervisor who took my United record locator and eticket number. Only one passenger can be upgraded at a time, so PNRs with multiple pax must be split. The process is manual but does appear to require supervisor-level assistance at Copa and calls to United to verify inventory.

Copa will not accept fees on United tickets, so once the upgrades are processed on Copa's end, call United to make sure your ticket is in sync, especially if the upgrade triggers an add/collect (e.g. departing the UK).

It took some time but the PNRs appear to be cleaned up and upgrades confirmed. Next question is whether it is possible to waitlist with a Copa RPU/GPU, or whether they must confirm into R.

Anyway, big ^. Major benefit that was not of much use on CM metal.

This is huge! So the three free upgrades we got from Copa, are those GPUs or RPUs?

Got the same email, looking forward to making use of it! ^

If they matched to Platinum, they should be RPUs. Mine are.
In theory, they should show under your ConnectMiles account (assuming you can get into the site, it can be very slow sometimes).

From their email and regional map, I guess they can be used from the US to go as far as Oceania, which is nice.
Can't tell if they would be permitted on any of the lie-flat routes, though - doesn't United tend to restrict those? (Not real familiar with United these days)

Here's their regions link:
https://connectmiles.copaair.com/sit...yRegion_EN.pdf

Edit as of March 20 - vdostoi1 added the following correction to my post above, I did not properly understand how Copa distinguished between Global and Regional -this should clear that up:
"Just to be clear - you can use your RPU WITHIN a certain region but not to GO to a certain region. You cannot use an RPU, for instance, to go from EWR to GUM. Maybe that was not the intent of your post but it sounded like you were saying that. "

I am assuming these are transferable like UA RPUs.

Anyone know if theres a limitation in segments or if its directional like UA certs?

From what I read on their site, it's one cert per segment.
Not sure on the transferability - their site doesn't really seem complete in terms of documentation.

From what I was told, Copa can't put you on the upgrade waitlist, but can only confirm you on flights with R inventory available at the time you call.

Has anybody been able to apply a COPA GPU on United operated flight when R space was available? So far the reports have been of COPA Regional upgrades.

Yes. Mine was a GPU on a longhaul UA flight.

Thanks for the report. Very useful information!