Business class upgrade - cash (Copa)
 

Has anyone booked a economy classic ticket and then went to upgrade your ticket to business class? I asked the Copa rep how can I find a better price. He said to book a economy ticket and then upgrade to business class. He said this price is usually lower... Yes?

A bid upgrade might work out cheaper, but is also not guaranteed

I doubt that buying an economy ticket and calling to upfare it to R would work out cheaper than just buying R in the first place, but it is copa…

My answer is exactly what pmarrsouth wrote.

The rep probably didn't worded it correctly and tried to say: 'upgrade will be lower via the bidding process in case it goes thru'

If want cheaper, the best option is offer a bid for upgrade but not guarantee the seats. With this option get benefits but not all benefits like more miles, refundable fare……

Buy economy and try change to J maybe will be more expensive because maybe charge a fee for change flight.

some time when i need rebook the ticket (change schedule) I ask for option same ticket and business. When this happens never see a discount J price, please note in my case only do a last minute change . That means don’t too much sets available

Bids are quoted in Copaair.com (If you are upgraded that is the maximum you pay)
Star Alliance Upgrades are also an option. (United, Air Canada, Singapore, others support) roughly 20k per leg, varies by region.

I recently upgraded 7/8 Basic Econ legs of USA-PTY-Brazil (2 trips). The pesky 8th shows 8 seats open in J for award booking, but no upgrade space exists for what ever reason. The bid is too high for me, $340 O/W, 1 Segment.

Totally forgot about this option, thanks for the reminder!

If memory serves me right I remember I also used upgrade instruments from United Airlines con Copa when they shared the loyalty program.

Can you buy a cash upgrade from a United award economy ticket?

Not sure quite how this works - if it is an actual bid/auction, or if CM keeps pressing for a higher fee.

IAD PTY SJO. When I originally booked, F was fairly pricey. And I booked CM because an UA flight was more expensive in Y (not PE), but CM earned slightly more PQPs.

Got a 'bid' opportunity about a week ago for the IAD PTY, I bid $250. Was informed yesterday morning, that if I bid $360 I was all but guaranteed J. I ended up doing that and IRRC, the Y + the upgrade was still considerably less than if I had purchased J in the first place.

Off topic, a nice ride down to PTY, great FA in F, food was OK, and I knew to bring entertainment with me. Interesting that the purser did not do anything the entire flight. Is that the standard for CM? The FA in F, 16/16, was still trying to deliver meals to row 3 and 4, but the passengers in row 1 were asking him to clear their trays. The purser just watched the whole time except for the 5 minutes she spent behind the curtain about 1/2 way through the flight.