Has anyone flown COPA Airlines

[BadJokes]

Im looking at April flights from DC into STI. COPA Airlines have some of the best fairs to date.
I understand that they are a Panama based airline with flights covering the Americas and Carribean.

Has anyone ever flown with them and can offer a review?

Thanks

[mrblackluv]

I was wondering the same..
About a month ago...I booked with them for Spring Break (Apr 16-23).
JFK-STI for $330 all in.

I have to connect in Panama..but the price could not be beat. I could not get to ANY carribean destination for less than $900 for Spring Break week.

I am also looking at using them for a Santa Marta/Medellin/DR trip in June.

Considering JFK -SMR (connects thru PTY and BOG)..Stay for 3 nights.
SMR - MDE (connects thru BOG) Stay for 3 nights.
MDE - STI (connects thru PTY) Stay for 5 nights.
STI - JFK (connects thru PTY)...
The ticket price for above is around $900.

I think they are somehow affiliated with Continental..the logos are similar ..and they also have onepass..I was gonna see if I can get or use my continental miles with them.

[tgunz]

I have from ny to panama. its owned by continental, and service are the same as continental. the planes were older.The flight attendants were all smoking hot! I was upgraded to first class both ways for free. i booked with continental using my miles. flew to cancun and got on copa from there. hope this helps!

[Pacoloco]

I flew Copa a couple legs of my MDE trip last year on their Embraer jets, (I think an E-190 between MDE-BOG) wow what a nice plane with huge comfy seats! Have never heard anything bad about Copa, yes they are partner with Continental..

[Sidney]

Im looking at April flights from DC into STI. COPA Airlines have some of the best fairs to date.
I understand that they are a Panama based airline with flights covering the Americas and Carribean.

Has anyone ever flown with them and can offer a review?

Thanks
Yes, many trips from/to AR and Carribean. They are real scumbags! They rip-off all Dominicans because there is no competition. Small, cramped seats. Crap food. AVOID!

[deezl]

Yes, many trips from/to AR and Carribean. They are real scumbags! They rip-off all Dominicans because there is no competition. Small, cramped seats. Crap food. AVOID!

You can always count on Sidney to bring a ray of sunshine to any thread. :lol:

[PapiQueRico]

I've flown Copa four times JFK to MDE with stops each way in Panama City.

Three times with Continental miles once I paid only $357.

They are not the fanciest, but the staff is courteous (and hot) the flights run on time, the stop overs are brief and most important the flight schedule allows for early arrival and late departure.

I recommend!

[WickedWillie]

Yes, many trips from/to DR and Carribean out of both STI and SDQ. Never had a problem.

The claim that they rip-off all Dominicans because there is no competition is not strictly true, they have many monthly specials to all destinations.

My last trip with them only cost US$280 all in to Cartagena from SDQ.

[LJDMV]

What is it like transferring in panama city? Do we have to go through customs there if we are doing a stopover there on our way to Santiago airport?

[PapiQueRico]

What is it like transferring in panama city? Do we have to go through customs there if we are doing a stopover there on our way to Santiago airport?


No customs or passport control. You stay in the gate area. It's a smallish airport. About a ten minute walk end to end. Decent duty free, so so food. Suposedly free wifi but it does not always work.

[Sidney]

You can always count on Sidney to bring a ray of sunshine to any thread. :lol: This is an exampme of an ignorant critical post!:mad:
Sunshine this: there are 15,000 Dominicans living in AR. When they fly, they can't pass through the USA. There is little choice but to fly through Panama. Copa charges about 50% more than AA through MIA. Copa has them by the balls. Many Dominicans cannot afford to fly home. Some have been stuck there for years. :mad:

[Sidney]

Yes, many trips from/to DR and Carribean out of both STI and SDQ. Never had a problem.

The claim that they rip-off all Dominicans because there is no competition is not strictly true, they have many monthly specials to all destinations.

My last trip with them only cost US$280 all in to Cartagena from SDQ.



i am talking about AR to RD. I have studied the fares there for 6 years! Because of ''yield management'', there could be an occasional bargain.

[BlueDevil]

I've flown COPA many times, and my experience with them has been great. I highly recommend.

[joeysterr]

What is it like transferring in panama city? Do we have to go through customs there if we are doing a stopover there on our way to Santiago airport?

Very enjoyable. Can't complain about the double Elite Qualifying Miles I've got for a cheapie JFK-STI last fall, $334 all in(Jetblue was like $600+:rofl:), free emergency exit seat..leg roooooom. Gave me a whooping 12,000+ Continental OnePass EQM miles and with my last trip to Europe last month I made Elite Silver for the first time!!! And that Silver Elite status got me my FREE first class upgrade for my flight to MDE in just a few hours!!!!!!!!

[joeysterr]

What is it like transferring in panama city? Do we have to go through customs there if we are doing a stopover there on our way to Santiago airport?


Just hanging out at the stopover, while waiting for my JFK return flight. night activities

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCoVOG7KlFA

[tgunz]

sounds like copa is doing to Dominicans , what Dominicans usually do to gringos....lol. SOOOO as long as your not domincan copa is a good airline!!

[Sidney]

sounds like copa is doing to Dominicans , what Dominicans usually do to gringos....lol. SOOOO as long as your not domincan copa is a good airline!!
WELL SAID!:)

[LJDMV]

I like what i heard about this airline. I think i am going to pull the trigger and book a flight with them for the beginning of April. I Put in a request today for the time off. Once I get the the go ahead from work I am booking. Anyone know How much currently should the taxi fare be from STI airport to the bus station in US money? Either Metro or the other station..

[ErikS]

I just flew Copa last month from STI (Santiago, DR) to SCL (Santiago, Chile), connecting through Panama City.
They are affiliated with Continental airlines and use their OnePass FF program. They also recently joined the Star Alliance.

I was very satisfied with the airline and would fly them again. Both myself and my companion were upgraded on all four segments. With the upgrades come access to the VIP lounge in STI, and the Presidents Club in Panama City.

Flights to/from STI are on the smaller Embracer 190 regional jet. 1-2 seating in coach and 10 seats in Business Class. The flight to Chile was on 737-800 with 16 seats in first.

http://news.insearchofchicas.org/forum/imagehosting/49604d51f8d40a531.jpg


And as Joey mentioned, the extra Elite Qualification Miles and bonita FA'a are both a nice bonus.

And to second Papi's correct info on the Panama City airport, if you are connecting there, you do not even pass through passport control.

And FYI, Chile is one of several countries that Dominicans can travel to without a visa. They do however need a passport.
Entry for Dominicans is free, but the "tourist card" entry fee for Americans is $140 US (good until your passport expires)

[LJDMV]

what do i need to do to get continental one pass mileage when you book with copa airlines website?


I just flew Copa last month from STI (Santiago, DR) to SCL (Santiago, Chile), connecting through Panama City.
They are affiliated with Continental airlines and use their OnePass FF program. They also recently joined the Star Alliance.

I was very satisfied with the airline and would fly them again. Both myself and my companion were upgraded on all four segments. With the upgrades come access to the VIP lounge in STI, and the Presidents Club in Panama City.

Flights to/from STI are on the smaller Embracer 190 regional jet. 1-2 seating in coach and 10 seats in Business Class. The flight to Chile was on 737-800 with 16 seats in first.

Click to see pic (http://news.insearchofchicas.org/forum/imagehosting/49604d51f8d40a531.jpg)


And as Joey mentioned, the extra Elite Qualification Miles and bonita FA'a are both a nice bonus.

And to second Papi's correct info on the Panama City airport, if you are connecting there, you do not even pass through passport control.

And FYI, Chile is one of several countries that Dominicans can travel to without a visa. They do however need a passport.
Entry for Dominicans is free, but the "tourist card" entry fee for Americans is $140 US (good until your passport expires)

[deezl]

what do i need to do to get continental one pass mileage when you book with copa airlines website?

just enter your onepass number when you make the reservation or when you check in for the flight.

[ErikS]

what do i need to do to get continental one pass mileage when you book with copa airlines website?


It's easy. Just enter your OnePass number right on the Copa site. The OnePass program is Copa's program also. So you use your regular Continental OnePass number on Copa's site. And a few days after your flight, the miles will apprear in your Continental account.

2/4/2011 Continental 1468E New York/Newark-Las Vegas E / E 2,227 2,227 4,454 2,227 1

1/22/2011 Continental 0712ZW Puerto Plata-New York/Newark ZW / ZW 1,456 1,456 2,912 1,456 1

1/11/2011 Copa Airlines 438N Santiago-Panama City N / N 2,975 2,975 5,950 4,462 2 1/11/2011 Copa Airlines 796N
Panama City-Santiago N / N 921 921 1,842 1,381 2

1/11/2011 Copa 25% Elite Qualifying Mile Bonus 1,130

01/11/2011 Copa 25% Elite Qualifying Mile Bonus 349 0

1/3/2011 Copa Airlines 795N Santiago-Panama City N / N 921 921 1,842 1,381 2

1/3/2011 Copa Airlines 437N Panama City-Santiago N / N 2,975 2,975 5,950 4,462 2

1/3/2011 Copa 25% Elite Qualifying Mile Bonus 3490

1/3/2011 Copa 25% Elite Qualifying Mile Bonus 1,130 0

Above just now "cut & pasted" from my CO Onepass account.

[joeysterr]

I just landed last night from my round trip to MDE with Copa. Like I said earlier I was able to upgrade for free because of my small Silver Elite status with Continental on the first 2 legs JFK-Panama-MDE. Then on the return I didn't get the free upgrade for my MDE->Panama flight, the 1hr flight, still got my free emergency exit seat with empty seat next to me, the hood first class lol, but got it for the Panama->JFK flight, the 5hr flight which is more important and gives me lounge access in Panama for the 3 hour layover. Copa is always excellent!

[joeysterr]

1/11/2011 Copa 25% Elite Qualifying Mile Bonus 1,130

01/11/2011 Copa 25% Elite Qualifying Mile Bonus 349 0

1/3/2011 Copa Airlines 795N Santiago-Panama City N / N 921 921 1,842 1,381 2

1/3/2011 Copa Airlines 437N Panama City-Santiago N / N 2,975 2,975 5,950 4,462 2

1/3/2011 Copa 25% Elite Qualifying Mile Bonus 3490

1/3/2011 Copa 25% Elite Qualifying Mile Bonus 1,130 0

Above just now "cut & pasted" from my CO Onepass account.

http://news.insearchofchicas.org/forum/imagehosting/155734d52fc306cf41.png

Hey Eriks, is there another EQM bonus or is it because you also have status? Just trying to get ready because during their promotion last fall the double EQM miles in my account scared the shit out of me!!

Glad to be able to talk about that airline on the boards, flyertalk is slow when it comes to Copa talks.

[BadJokes]

I just flew Copa last month from STI (Santiago, DR) to SCL (Santiago, Chile), connecting through Panama City.
They are affiliated with Continental airlines and use their OnePass FF program. They also recently joined the Star Alliance.

I was very satisfied with the airline and would fly them again. Both myself and my companion were upgraded on all four segments. With the upgrades come access to the VIP lounge in STI, and the Presidents Club in Panama City.

Were you upgraded because of your points or did they comp you?

[ErikS]

Click to see pic (http://news.insearchofchicas.org/forum/imagehosting/155734d52fc306cf41.png)

Hey Eriks, is there another EQM bonus or is it because you also have status? Just trying to get ready because during their promotion last fall the double EQM miles in my account scared the shit out of me!!

Glad to be able to talk about that airline on the boards, flyertalk is slow when it comes to Copa talks.


I just checked my Continental statement online again (the whole thing would not fit when I cut and pasted it above).

For the flight from Santiago, DR (STI) to Panama City I received:
921 base miles + another 921 100% bonus
Plus Elite Qualification Miles (EQM) at 150% = 1381
Plus an additional 25% EQM bonus = 349

For the flight from Panama to Santiago Chile I received:
2975 base miles + another 2975 100% bonus
Plus Elite Qualification Miles (EQM) at 150% = 4462
Plus an additional 25% EQM bonus = 1130

So for the round trip flight I received a total of 15,584 base miles
plus 14,644 EQM's

I believe that part of the bonuses were based on my Gold Elite status on Continental. :iconTU:


With my return flight from the DR on Jan 22nd, and my Las Vegas Superbowl trip, I already have 21,192 EQM's in 2011. :iconTU:

[ErikS]

Were you upgraded because of your points or did they comp you?


I was comped (3 days in advance) because of my "Gold Elite" staus with Continental. "Gold & Platinum elites are allowed to comp "companions" to first class at the airport on the day of the flight. (I don't believe Silvers are eligible for this?)

FYI, I believe that for the past 3 years or so, I have received a comp upgrade on all of my Newark(EWR) - Puerto Plata(POP) & POP-EWR flights.
I've also used the Gold Elite Companion Upgrade feature to get several ISOC guys upgraded.
So if you see me at the airport, come on over and say hello! :biggrin:

[joeysterr]

For about a few weeks when looking for flights during the summer I get the a full 24 layover in Panama schedule. And I just found the correct wording of this:

http://news.insearchofchicas.org/forum/imagehosting/155734d56c5c40d4cf.png
http://www.copaair.com/sites/cc/en/Acerca-de-Copa-Airlines/Pages/6BankHub.aspx

"Beginning on June 15, the Hub of the Americas at Tocumen International Airport in Panama will be expanded from 4 to 6 daily flight-connecting banks. A “bank” is the term used to describe the moments of the day when the schedules of arrival and departure of connecting flights coincide. This means:"


we can kiss those $316 STI flight goodbye!!

[BlueDevil]

Another reason I like COPA, as mentioned above, is because of its codeshare with Aerorepublica and membership in the Continental OnePass program. Aerorepublica is another airline affiliated with Continental. I've been banking a lot of miles with OnePass lately... and helps with an occasional freebie to Colombia.