yscleo

Just checked. Copa club is airside, open 05:45 - 16:00 & 19:00 - 21:45 daily. Cardholders will not be admitted into the lounge outside these hours.

Tocumen Royal Saloon is landside.

Our connection is in PTY 17:00 - 18:24, so too bad the Copa club is not open at that time. We'll have to see if it's worth going thru immigration, to club, and back thru security with the limited time we have.

pmarrsouth

Apolgies, I meant the royal saloon is landside. Immigration can be pretty bad in the evenings, so it's unlikely you will have the time

YadiMolina

Still going as of Thursday, no sign of any changes. At 4 months plus and counting. Maybe they're putting in the 4th set of locks in there.

Club was full on Thursday morning.

soriano

Saw new changes to the Copa Club today. The bar has been moved, more lighting, but doesn't seem to have expanded seating as of now.

KenInEscazu

I was there yesterday and today, but I didn't have much time to walk throughout the entire new sections of the club either time.

Two things I did notice:
These are the two most important things to me, personally. I recently had a "loud talker" sitting next to me, but it wouldn't have been any better if I were sitting as far away as possible in that small room. He was a major distraction.

Nobody will acknowledge the possibility of a new or second (preferable) club when the new terminal opens. That could relieve all problems with the existing club if the traffic doesn't increase at PTY along with it. Otherwise, they are still going to serve us better by addressing these issues.

I would still like to see some "real" cubicles for conducting business with a laptop as another upgrade. Connections from MDE can sometimes be lengthy (ultimate destination dependent), and I would love to be able to do real work without someone making a conversation impossible for me or vice versa. I'm sure there are other origins/destinations with similar lengthy connection issues.

The tiny mens room is just downright unacceptable. It's even worse right now as they have closed some of the old restrooms in the older parts of the airport, and the public restrooms are completely inadequately attended, often making them useless.

An improvement is an improvement, so I'll take it for now, but it's important for us to let them know what we like/dislike so that future clubs (and improvements to this one) will be better designed. Everyone has different priorities, so there is a lot for them to weigh in these decisions. They read this thread, though, so this is a good place to make yours heard.

DarrenChannel

The inadequate restroom situation is the first thing they should have thought about. Pity.

Would love to see more on the food side of things. Something like the United Clubs and Admirals Clubs, with their soups and snacks, would be nice. There are only so many bags of Doritos I can stomach on a layover. Also, is it my imagination, or did they used to have a couple varieties of bagels at breakfast time? Last club visits, it was definitely just plain bagels. (Am sure I've had a blueberry one in the past.)

Milkman

Copa Club in PTY is just becoming worse and worse every time I visit.

Nowadays I find myself going to one of the public seating areas. It might not be as pleasant, the wireless is slower and you have to pay for coffee, but at least I dont get annoyed with the whole experience.
A lounge is supposed to be just a tiny bit exclusive, and instead you feel like you're sharing Copa Club with just about any passenger who ever sat on a CM plane.

They should look at AV's lounges in BOG or MIA for inspiration.

YadiMolina

I observed the Copa Club improvements. The bar is moved into the new expanded area (think of an extra 10 meters towards the Hagen Daaz in the food mezzanine). The former bar area is now a food bar. The old food bar and TV lounge area is now closed off for remodeling. But clearly there is added area.

The new bar area I found aesthetically pleasing and the breakfast food seemed to be better. It had coffee / cappuccino machines. I didn't note the variety of bagels. I noted cereal and yogurt.

I believe that when they finish the old food bar/tv lounge area, with what I don't know, there might be a slight increase in seating, but overall I was underwhelmed. And the restroom situation is still miserable.

copaflyer

I guess a lot depends on if another club opens in the new terminal. My guess is lot unless PTY went to US pre clearance with the new terminal being for US bound flights. Always flying out of PTY I would like that but would make for longer connections and having to recheck bags in PTY. That would take away from PTY as a hub.

Also depends on what happens to Avianca. If it goes to Delta then a lot of passengers would no longer use Copa Club. But a Copa Club would be needed in Bog. If Copa takes over more people are routed through Colombia north or the smaller Colombian cities to Bog/Mde then north avoiding PTY altogether.

Milkman

I'm not familiar with the Colombian market and the dynamics as such, but I'd think that if Avianca was to fold, Copa (and LAN) would rush in and add a lot of new routes to smaller Colombian cities, and international passengers from these markets would transfer through existing hub in PTY in stead of CM investing in a new set up in BOG and MDE.

copaflyer

Not fold but another company buying it. Starting Wingo out of Colombia and flying into Panama Pacifico is another sign that not everything may go through PTY.

keitherson

Avianca is up for sale, and the biggest bids are so far from Copa and Delta.

The Copa bid is probably not going to pass, because Copa already runs the only competitor (Aerorepublica) in the country.

If it goes to Delta, Avianca will likely leave Star Alliance. That will make the confusion with Avianca Brasil a complete clusterf.

LAN is a possibility but they already have... another.. merger.. that's still not completed and it's been over 4 years.

keitherson

Good god I never thought anyone would ever use AV's lounges in MIA or BOG in a good light. You're right though, even AV's sh*tty lounges (the international-business-class-only Diamond lounge in BOG is a joke) are better than Copa's, which is absolutely pathetic.

Milkman

What is wrong with AV's lounges in BOG and MIA if I may ask? I guess my standards have dropped considerably after moving to PTY 1½ years ago and now having Copa Club as my "home field"

Kacee

Haven't been in MIA, but agree BOG isn't bad . . . plenty of seats, showers, good wifi. Has the Copa Club beat on all those points for sure.