Copa Airlines

If there was an option to rate 0 i would. Flew Copa as a part of a groupon package from FLL to Panama City. Our final destination was JFK and on our returning flight back to the States the flight was delayed 3hrs. When the overhead announcement came on notifying us of the delay, i immediately went to the counter to let them know that we had a connecting flight to JFK and would miss it due to the flight delay. The agent at the counter took our information, and stepped away from the desk, and used a cell phone to call Copa in FLL. He came back saying that Copa agents in FLL will give us a voucher for a hotel and food since we would miss the last flight to JFK. Upon our arrival in FLL the Copa representatives told us that no one called them and that the reps in Panama should not have promised us anything. They basically dismissed us and left us stranded at FLL airport having to figure out how to get to NY on our own. We ended up booking an airport hotel on the phone and taking an über to get there. Once at the hotel, i called Copa customer service hoping to get help with getting on a flight to NY the following day. The man with customer service told me it wasn’t his problem but that i needed to take it up with the airport staff — which was closed because their last flight out of FLL was at 7pm and it was well after 9pm. This airline SUCKS and i will NEVER fly with them again. Based on the other reviews, it seems like they’re really unprofessional all around. Avoid them if you can.

If I could do 0 stars that still wouldn’t be enough. I’ve never in my life written a review, but the awful experience I had, I felt passionate enough to share.
TERRIBLE EVERYTHING

Awful experience. I flew on COPA to Panama City from nyc and back. The plus side is we were able to get exit row seats. Going to Panama City, someone cut the tab for the lock on my zipper on my new luggage— most likely when I arrived in Panama City. COPA said I should go on line to their site and make a baggage claim. Then on my way home to New York, when I got my luggage back, someone had sliced my bag open. I made the baggage claim on line almost 2 months ago and still no answer from COPA. Not even an acknowledgment of claim receipt! In 30 years of travel, I’ve never had anyone try to break into my luggage until now — - twice during a single vacation!

We flew down to Costa Rica on Copa: free alcohol, free food, free recent movies on individual screens. We flew back with American Airlines: pay drinks, pay snacks, no movies at all. Go Copa!

Amazing airline! The people working in the airlines are so kind. I was extremely surprised when I saw all the latest technology built in the plane. They had a large variety of movies. Had no trouble sleeping on the plane either.

If you dont speak Spanish, good luck. We got emergency exit seats for our return flight from Panama to JFK and they forced us out of our seats without explaining what was happening and then moved the entire plane around to find us alternative seats. It was a nightmare

We were supposed to be on flight 831 heading to Panama with a final destination in Quito. When we arrived at the airport, we went to the check-​in counter because we were unsure that our bags would be under the weight limit for overhead storage, and because we needed printed versions of our boarding passes. The line took a rather long time, so we began to check ourselves in online from the queue. We hadn’t finished before we were finally called up, but when the male ticketing agent saw my friend’s passport he said the photo on it was unfit for flight and calmly handed it back to us. The photo in question had some slight water damage that was not blocking any major facial features. He then told us that he would show his supervisor and pointed at another desk agent, and when she examined it she agreed with his opinion that it was not acceptable. At this point we had already finished our online check-​in and decided that if they would not agree to give us our boarding passes then we would just let an official TSA agent check the passport and see if it were fit to make our flight. Unfortunately, the mobile boarding passes that we had sent to us failed to get us to the security checkpoint so we decided to head back to the counter one last time. The final desk agent printed out our boarding passes when we showed her that we had already checked in online, she checked both of our passports, and we went to security. At that point, the official TSA agent carefully examined both of our passports and boarding passes and signed off on our tickets for flight. We finished our security checkpoint, headed to the gate, and handed off both our tickets and our passports to the agent who let us board the plane.
There were at least 4 individuals besides the initial 2 desk agents who examined my passport and allowed us to continue procedure to fly out at that time. Then, after we had properly stowed our bags and were comfortably seated for take-​off, two of the Copa agents came to our seats and asked my friend to take her belongings and leave the plane. One of the agents was the second person who agreed with the male agent at the beginning of this fiasco, and it seemed that she was just angrily holding a vendetta with us for making it onto the plane after she subjectively decided I could not fly with my passport. If another agent, two security officers and the ticketing agent at the gate saw my passport and had no problem with it, issue should not be taken with myself and my travelling companion but with those agents of flight operation. On top of that, if we’d had the time to print out and bring our boarding passes from home before heading to the airport, we would have easily made it onto our flight with no question, as the only dispute we encountered took place at the check-​in desk. Additionally, we were humiliated in front of the other passengers when she was asked to remove herself and her belongings from the plane.
It is now a few days later and my friend went to the Consulate General of the country of her passport this morning. They told her they were shocked she was not allowed to fly with her passport as there was no damage covering her face and the passport was biometric, meaning that it could be scanned to authenticate her identity and pull up a full photo. We are very angry with the choices made by a couple of agents employed by Copa Airlines and we do not feel it is fair that they want us to pay an additional change fee if we wanted to try to re-​book a trip with the money they already have from us. In fact, if we hadn’t already had to waste other valuable resources because of this missed trip we would not even want to use Copa in the future as we were wrongly removed from our flight and had to cancel other reservations that were in place for this trip. Now our vacation time has been limited and we’ve already lost so much just to try to make a trip we were ejected from.

Copa Airlines is a small Panamanian airline that’s putting large United States airlines to shame! Last week I flew Copa for connections to my destination of San Jose, Costa Rica. My flights to and from Newark were on United Airlines (I think Copa is one of their partners). The United flight from Newark to Panama City was 5 hours long and I was only offered two drinks. They didn’t even give complimentary peanuts! On the other hand, my connecting flight on Copa from Panama City to San Jose was about an hour and fifteen minutes. We got a meal! Passengers were served a turkey and cheese sandwich with potato salad and real metal utensils! Even alcohol was complimentary (my return connecting flight was at 4:30 a.m. and they served breakfast croissant sandwiches)! The flight attendants were incredibly polite and efficient. There was no fee for checked bags. Copa is not only a throwback to what air travel in the U.S. used to be, it’s a reminder of what air travel everywhere SHOULD be.

The airline is fine and the prices are good, but the booking process is a nightmare. The website is appalling