UA or Copa to EZE
 

I have a NYC-EZE trip coming up. Options are:

Copa recliner JFK-PTY-EZE-PTY-JFK

OR

UA lie flat LGA-IAH-EZE, and use my own GPU to waitlist EZE-EWR (now RN=0).

Seat... lie flat is night and day comparing to recliner on 11 hour flight, but I am taking a risk of E+ on the way back, plus using one extra GPU

EQM... 16539 on Copa vs. 15007 on UA

What would you pick?

Does it have to be one or the other? Can't you combine carriers on this ticket? Take UA down and copa back. (Is the return a day flight?)

No... cannot combine since I have a cost ceiling to stay under

UA is 10pm to 6am for return (11 hours)
Dopa is 1am (yes midnight) to 12pm (including PTY connection)

As you note, recliner vs flat bed is night and day. Many people like Copa F but I was not terribly impressed. UA 767 seats are quite comfortable and IFE is good. I'd go with that. But good luck finding an FA in between meal times.

Pardon my ignorance, what is IFE?

Also from the chance of upgrade, is it fair to assume that EZE-EWR has a better chance than EZE-IAH (legacy CO hub so elite heavy, large Hispanic population and presumably more biz connection with Latin America)

In Flight Entertainment!

I've flown both routes. They seem to both be difficult upgrades. Going through Houston is a more "direct" connection for most of the US including the entire west region, southeast and Midwest. To my knowledge, there are no direct flights from East Asia to EZE so you probably pick up some Asian traffic as well. Out of Newark, you have some European connections and get a the Northeast traffic from Boston, NYC and DC, which are pretty large metro areas with UA presence. With only one flight a day from both EWR and IAH, loads are usually pretty high. YMMV.

I would fly Copa as it is more likely you will get upgraded on both flights than UA.

I upgraded 9/11 times last year with Copa and this year I am 2/2

I can buy in Copa F so it is guaranteed.

How do you like Copa F? is it more like United domestic first or like the old United recliner (like those on SFO-NRT two years ago)? How is the food and IFE?

Copa F is domestic first. You get a meal after takeoff and that's it, at least from JFK-PTY. Maybe there's a bit more from PTY-EZE. They have old fashion drop down screens, but from my experience there was never anything worth watching.

Nope, there's nothing more - but the other huge advantage I find to the Copa routing: no need for a redeye.

Copa actually has two different versions of its F (actually C) cabin. One is equal to domestic F (in terms of seat, not service). The other ("Boeing Sky Interior") is a larger recliner seat with (I believe) in armrest screens. Probably best to equate that seat to BA's or NH's premium economy seat, or HA's F seat on their 330's.

Boeing Sky Interior Photos here:

http://boeingblogs.com/randy/archive...get_happy.html

Also - PTY is one of the best airports in the world for transitting, IMHO.

I'm not sure they have seatback IFE. I couldn't find anything on their site or elsewhere showing that they do.

I flew the Boeing Sky Interior plane last year PTY-JFK, and the seat is more like the UA C p.s. seat in terms of pitch and recline. It was a quite pleasant ride, but there are only a few of these planes.