Review: COPA Airlines – A Panamanian Gem

So I’m a creature of habit. I follow the “better the devil you know” guideline when it comes to things like airlines and rarely branch out unless I’ve received a recommendation from someone I trust. And even then, I do lots of research on the airline before committing to barreling through the sky with them.

When I was looking into an airline to take from Costa Rica back to the states in time to catch my first Total Solar Eclipse, COPA Airlines kept coming up. I knew that a few of my friends had flown them before, but wasn’t sure if it was for me. They’re a Panamanian airline and my flight would backtrack a bit to Panama before continuing on straight to Austin, Texas.

• The Month Of The Solar Eclipse: April 2024 Recap

However, I read a lot of reviews and looked at their safety ratings and decided to take the leap and try a new airline. And I’m so glad I chose COPA 🙂 . They’re a member of the Star Alliance group of airlines with others such as my beloved Singapore Airlines, my friend EVA Air, and my nemesis United (I’m kidding – kinda 😉 ). If you’re curious, my experiences with Singapore Air those are below.

• Review: Singapore Air First Class Suites – A $4,280 Apartment In The Sky For $26
• Review: The World’s Longest Flight – 19 Hours In Singapore Air Business Class
• Review: Singapore Air First Class (JFK to FRA) – A $15,000 Flight For $27 [Part 1]
• Review: Singapore Air First Class (FRA to SIN) – A $15,000 Flight For $27 [Part 2]
• Review: Singapore Air 737 MAX Business Class AKA “The Throne”

Anyway, I had a fantastic time flying COPA so let’s see what that was like!

Booking

Before I chose my airline, I began my search in an Incognito window with Google Flights. And I saw something interesting: COPA Airlines kept coming up (despite my rigorous filters) as one of the better deals for flights on the route I was looking for.

• How I Choose And Book My Flights: A Peek Inside A Full-Time Nomad’s Travel Planner

So I decided to take a closer look at this new (to me) airline. I was curious to discover that they have a different pricing structure than I’ve seen before.

They have different tiers like a lot of airlines these days, but the cost differences and what each tier included was what I found interesting. For an additional $40 per ticket, I could be in Economy Classic, which includes a checked back up to 23kg/50lbs as well as advanced seat selection on this long flight.

However, if I had chosen Economy Basic, my Partner would have to pay $30-35 just to check his bag and we would have to pay for our seats on top of it. So Economy Classic seemed like a great deal and was what I went with.

Another interesting thing I saw on the COPA website was an option to hold this flight at this price for 24 hours for free, which I have seen on other international airlines. However, in addition to that option, there is also a feature I hadn’t seen before, which is to hold this price for 3 days for $10 per ticket and 7 days for $14 per ticket.

That’s not something I was personally interested in since I prefer to lock my stuff in and usually wait to do so until all my other logistical pieces are in place, but it’s good to know it exists in case I need it in the future.

Flights Details

• When: April 2024
• Where: SJO-PTY-AUS
• Flight: CM465 & CM715
• Flight Time: 1hr 12min & 4hr 46min
• Seat: 23F
• Distance: 3,619 miles
• Cost: $232.34 USD

Pre-Flight

4 days before my flight, I got an email from COPA and I was very impressed with their communication.

They were super clear about what I needed to do before my flight (nothing but contact tracing in this case), and how much luggage is included in my ticket, which I appreciate since it can get confusing since every airline seems to have different rules these days.

In this case, our Economy Classic tickets included 1 checked 50lb bag each, 1 personal item (up to 36 linear inches: 17” high x 10” long x 9” wide) and 1 carry on (22lbs and up to 46 linear inches: 22” high x 14” long x 10” wide including handles and wheels).

Given my amazing packing skills 😉 , the 40L backpack I travel with was below the requirements for a personal item, so I gave my Partner my one checked bag benefit so that he could check two of his bags ‘free’. Fancy!

And then, as per the above portion of the email, I completed their contract tracing when it became available 3 days before our flight. The day before the flight, COPA emailed telling me I could check in, but it only allowed me to check in for the first portion of our trip since the second flight was more than 24 hours away.

However, I checked in for the first flight and came back 24 hours before the second and was able to check in for that as well. They then sent me both boarding passes. Also helpfully, the passes had suggested times to get to the airport, check bags, get to the gate and when the gate closed. I’ve never seen that before – Nice! We were set.

However, less helpfully, I was separately sent 3 marketing emails from the COPA team telling me I can pay for an upgrade with them. One email I understand, but three was annoying and unnecessary. And I’ve worked in email marketing so I feel like I can say that 😉 .

Though I also know that the marketing team is likely separate from the rest of the company so I won’t blame COPA the airline for their over-enthusiasm. Besides my past career knowledge, another indicator that these emails were from different parts of the company (or even a separate one), is that the marketing/upsell emails were in Spanish while the airline update emails were in English. Interesting 🙂 .

San José (SJO) Airport

Check In

I called an Uber and it came immediately despite the early hour. Before I knew it, we had been dropped off at the downstairs section of the airport. Interestingly, members of the local police were by the door and I thought we were in trouble for some reason, but they just asked where we were going in an effort to direct us to the right place. So kind!

They showed us to an elevator and told us in Spanish to go to Level 3 (piso tres) for departures. When we entered the terminal, it was a big open space and we could easily see lots of kiosks for all airlines in one group.

I entered our confirmation number to print our tickets and checked baggage tags from a kiosk. Then despite already having us input this information online, they asked us to scan our passports, confirm our info again and re-enter our Redress/Known Traveler Numbers. Oh well. Interestingly, when we printed our tickets, they said “Pre-Check” even though that program is only within the US. Whatever 🙂 .

We then headed to Bag Drop. There was no line for regular check in, priority or bag drop. So we walked to the front and they asked for our passports and boarding passes in Spanish and also asked if we wanted to speak English or Spanish. Above and beyond 🙂 . They then took our bags after confirming that our final destination matched the tags we had put on there.

Security

Then we headed to security. First there was a Passport Control, which was quick and efficient. They just looked at our passports and boarding passes again. However, hilariously, I noticed that in between checking passports the officer was scrolling Tik Tok – you do you I guess 🙂 .

The Security Line has an interesting set up. Each security belt is a circle, so I needed to go to one side of the circle where the bins were (which is the end of the belt, but that was hard to tell in the moment) and then got in line. They wanted shoes on, jackets off and no liquids over 100ml.

No one said anything about taking things like laptops or Kindles out of our bags and I saw no signs about it, so I originally left it in, but then a security employee asked if I had a laptop.

I said yes and they asked me to take it out and put it in another bin. Alrighty then 🙂 . After I went through screening, I picked up my bin and there was a sign of where to put them in a pile on the floor.

THE JOURNEY

Then we arrived at the gate, which was easy to find because there were only 20 of them 🙂 . The airport had free Wifi so we logged onto that, and then recorded announcements started playing, which confused me for a hot second because I usually look up to see if my gate agent is talking to confirm it’s our gate. Instead, they would talk into the PA system and some time later, it would play their voice. High tech and confusing 🙂 .

Boarding

They made announcements in Spanish and English and I couldn’t understand either one –  oh PA systems 🙂 . When I thought I heard our boarding group, we got in line and once we reached the front they once again looked at our passport and boarding pass. After that, we got on the plane.

The Flight

I was excited to see that the plane looked amazingly new and had a wider aisle than US domestic planes I’ve been on. It also had comfy leather seats and a TV at each seat, which I wasn’t expecting since Google Flights listed this flight as only having streaming to device capabilities.

They quickly finished loading the plane for our one hour flight and we left on time.

After we reached cruising altitude, a drink cart came around and I was given healthy chips and a napkin. The chips were personally a little too ‘healthy’ for me in that they were bland 🙂 . I prefer more salt and flavor, but I salute the attempt at a healthier option.

I was then asked in Spanish what drink I wanted (though I heard the same FA speak English to other customers). They didn’t have tea (my original request), but did have coffee, water, orange juice and coke. I asked for coffee with cream and sugar and was handed 4 sugars and 2 creams for a small cup of coffee. I guess someone likes their coffee sweet 🙂 .

After I finished my coffee, another cart came by and it turned out that it was a trash can – fancy! I’m used to US airlines just carrying around a trash bag. I guess I’m moving up in the world 🙂 .

And before I knew it, we were landing in Panamá. After we landed, people clapped which I’ve only noticed during previous flights when there’s a lot of turbulence, but it was a smooth flight 🤷🏾‍♀️.

After landing, I turned off airplane mode on my phone and Google Fi welcomed me to another country and said I’d have phone data in a moment. Ugh I love it so much! No sim card scouting for me #EfficientSlothLife.

Panamá City (PTY) Airport

We left the plane and entered Panamá City airport. In my research before takeoff, I read in travel forums that this airport had no AC and was quite hot. However, these comments were left years ago and I was happy to realize that they are now out of date. PTY has AC and while our gate got a little warm, it wasn’t hot and the whole airport looked pretty fancy.

We then headed to our next gate and discovered that we could only get to it by going through another security check. I was asked to take off my shoes, take out any bags of liquids if I had them, and put my bags and shoes in bins – all in Spanish 🙂 .

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Luckily I knew what was going on so I got through quickly and sat down in the small gate seating area right in time for them to start boarding.

They started boarding by groups so we stood up with our group and got on the plane without issue. All the employees were very nice and helpful.

I got settled in my seat and then we were off! And once we reached cruising altitude, the FAs gave out free headphones for the TVs. I declined since I brought my own.

About an hour into the flight, the FAs came around with hot food. I know what you’re thinking: “Say whaaaaat?!?” I thought the same. Fancy!

We were given the choice of an egg and cheese sandwich or an apple pie, both with a side of fruit. I chose the sandwich and it was yummy. Then the drink cart came around and I ordered another coffee and received a more reasonable two sugars and two cream packets 😉 .

I then tried watching the new Wonka movie and gave up within 5 minutes – oops. I then decided to rewatch the Stathum classic 😉 The Meg while looking at the gorgeous turquoise water off the coast of México that was going by outside the window.

About an hour after that, a drink cart came around again – they’re really spoiling me. How am I going to go back to US domestic flights after this?!

I then rewatched the Guillermo del Toro masterpiece Pacific Rim – I will be taking no questions at this time 🙂 .

And when they were finishing kicking alien ass we landed in Austin!

Austin (AUS) Airport

We then deplaned and headed to customs. After following signs, we were brought to Baggage Claim carousels that had a lot of people right in front of them. However, I discovered that if I walked around the carousel towards the Global Entry kiosks, there was a lot more room to wait without standing in a crowd.

So we grabbed my Partner’s bags, which came out fast, and went to the Global Entry kiosk. It asked us to take off glasses and masks and then it just scanned my face and said to continue to the custom’s employee straight ahead.

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They asked if we were declaring anything and we said we had a package of peanuts, but they were cool with that and told us to go on and have a great day. Sweet!

After moving forward, we emerged near the standard Baggage Claim and I ordered a Lyft. And helpfully, it told me exactly where to go with clear pictures to find my ride.

We followed the instructions to color coded parking spots that had corresponding numbers saying where our car would be.

After ordering a ride while at baggage claim, it gave us an estimate of 3 minutes and we arrived when the car pulled up. Perfect! We were then on our way to our next adventure.

THE REVIEW

So that’s what happened, but now let’s get into the actual review portion and what I thought of the experience.

Customer Service

I have absolutely no complaints about COPA customer service. Everyone was kind and helpful and impressively spoke flawless Spanish and English. I’ve never had an easier time dealing with a new (to me) airline.

Seat

As I mentioned above, I was impressed with these seats. I appreciated the wider airplane aisles and found the plane seats comfy with a standard amount of leg space. The 6 total hours I sat in these chairs felt like nothing.

Food

For my first leg to Panamá, I was impressed that I got a drink and snack on such a short flight (we were in the air for less than an hour). Despite the chips being healthier than I prefer 😉 , having abundant coffee and great service made up for it. However, I was even more impressed by the yummy hot meal we all received on the longer leg.

Entertainment

I was also very impressed with the entertainment on this flight. As I mentioned, I didn’t realize we we would all have our own backseat TV and I used it liberally.

The TVs also have our seat numbers on it, which I found helpful since the numbers in the aisle can be difficult to see from the window. I was also impressed by the COPA safety video and learned that they have a stopover program in Panamá that I will definitely be using next time!

The amount of entertainment was good and had a curious mix of new films (like Barbie) and ‘ancient’ films like I Am Legend ;). The only weird part about the movies was that all cursing was strangely dubbed over, so I was glad I ended up only rewatching films I’d seen before to get the full effect.

The TV also had a section with connecting gate information, which I hadn’t seen before and found super helpful since we had a quick connection. I also discovered that the TV let you do “picture in picture” while doing something else – Cool! I’ve also never noticed that before.

CONCLUSION

And that was my first experience flying COPA Airlines! I was very impressed with their service and really enjoyed my time flying with them. Their standard tickets included more amenities than I expected as well as a comfy seat and obviously great service. It was also super affordable, more so than other airlines on the day I wanted to fly and I will definitely be flying them again.

What’s a good new airline experience you had lately?