I'm scoping out Copa for a possible BWI-GRU trip via PTY possibly late next year for CCXP (nerd bucket list thing) if I've got the PTO and can afford it

If I go, I'd likely book an Economy Classic ticket. One thing, though. I'm an MP member and their website is not clear about accrual for Economy Classic. United gave me a bit of a circular response, saying to check the same page I had just told them doesn't tell me what I wanted to know.

So what fare class would an Economy Classic ticket tend to be?

Are you flying with Copa and tring a code share with United. I booked a flight with Eva air code sharing and got burned. Didn't get my United miles because the seat class. Don't know if this will help or not.

This would be a ticket booked through Copa, BWI-PTY-GRU. I've been burned too, on a Boutique Air ticket that for whatever reason didn't accrue.

I recently flew Copa and had my mileage plus number in the reservation and it credited in 2 days. Have never had any issues with Copa flights crediting to UA.

Classic economy fares come with complimentary seat selection, one checked bag, flight changes (for a fee) and increased award and status mileage earning ok

Honestly OP, I would suggest opening a Connectmiles account with Copa. This way, you will get 100% mileage credit on Copa, and the mileage is based on distance flown rather than money paid like UA.
Later on, when you fly united, you can also provide them with your CM number instead.

Unfortunately it varies, and Copa continually changes their website interface to make it hard to find. First thing, with you based at BWI, I do not recommend a Connectmiles account, I recommend sticking with United as it will be more useful to you in the long run. That said, Copa economy classic books into a number of fare classes.

In my experience, I've booked economy classic directly from copaair.com and had it ticketed in Q, S, L, and T. Sometimes it's visible on the website before purchasing the ticket, sometimes not. It's not usually visible on the e-tickets they email.

So, rest assured it will credit UA RDM at 50%, 75%, or 100%.... but you will really have to dig to find it.

Here's where to find how fare classes credit: https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/mil...-airlines.html

If you buy directly from Copa, you will click 'Ticket number does not start with 016'

Enjoy!

if buy economy classic you will get Economy Promo W, E, L 50%.

I traveled a lot on CM using my UA MIleage Plus number and this was my experience as well. I generally purchased tickets off the website, picking the middle "economy classic" fare. I don't recall ever getting burnt with a 0% or 25%, and my records generally reflect that. The thing about hiding the fare class is frustrating.

I fly COPA routes a bunch and often get ~1.3X PQP per USD paid. You can see the fare class of the ticket you might purchase on the COPA website by selecting the ticket you want (e.g., "Economy Classic") and then when you're at the next page clicking on the "Economy Classic" button link (which highlights as "Fare Rules" when you hover over it). This link button is to the left of the "View Details" and "Change Flight" button links. Once you click on the "Fare Rules", it will show you the fare codes of each segment. Usually I find that it's T for the really low fare tickets (which it says earns 25% PQP on the United website) but often I also get W, E, or L (50%). Occasionally for higher-priced Economy Classic it's V, U, S or O (75%). I usually try to select the ones that are 50-75% earning.

Right you are! Great catch.

Very very good info! I never noticed the "economy classic" button was clickable.