#17 out of 93 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
77 reviews
Good news and bad news fills the air, as this will be the last series of trip reports for the next 1.5 months before I embark on 36 flights around Africa. The good news is that I'm going to leave you all with some (hopefully) interesting and unique trip reports before I bear a temporary farewell.
The first flight of this 7-leg trip covers Copa Airlines on their new 737 Max 9 in Business Class. I was especially excited about this trip as not many reviews had been published, and it was a product that I have always wanted to try.
The routing for this trip is as follows:
Copa Airlines provides a competitive, hard product on routes down to Panama. However, the soft product leaves quite a bit to be desired. Let's get into it!
Fares are typically quite high on Copa Airlines in their "dreams business class". However, I found an award that made me decide to go to Belize. Yes, it was that good. For 38.5K United Miles and 8$ in taxes, I managed to book Los Angeles-Panama City- Belize City all in Business Class!
Mileage awards on Copa Airlines are dynamic (I think the only partner award on UA, that is), meaning you will often see this fare going for around 200K miles+. If you are looking to book with cash, the fare would have come out to 1100$ one way.
After finishing up class on a Thursday night, I headed straight up to LAX to get a chance to review the Star Alliance Lounge.
With two flights heading out at similar times, check-in was quite busy.
But… there was no queue for business class!
Boarding pass in hand, immigration was imminent.
A cheeky bit of TSA precheck never did anyone harm…
Once through security, I made my way over to the Star Alliance Lounge at LAX. I love this lounge to bits, I'll share a couple of pictures here, but will attach the full report at the bottom. Food was on point and the outdoor terrace ugh!!!
I spent almost the whole time out here!
After spending a couple of hours in the Star Alliance lounge, I headed over at 1 am to the gate.
Boarding commenced at 1:15 am for a 2:11 am departure.
I asked to pre-board in order to take a couple of shots of the cabin, and they happily obliged.
Excited to board this bird!!!
The FA warmly greeted me at the door, and I made my way to my seat, 4F, for tonight's flight.
Shoes off, I was ready to head to sleep…
By 1:50 am, boarding was completed, and I found myself next to a man who had just upgraded (he seemed to be a top Copa elite).
Approximately 5 minutes after that, the FA came around and greeted us by name while asking for our meal order.
She first asked us what we would like to drink after takeoff, followed by letting us know there would be a sandwich served after takeoff. Lastly, there was a choice of breakfast consisting of crepes or scrambled eggs.
I decided on a mimosa and crepes.
At 2:01, we pushed back, and 6 minutes later, we began our taxi.
The safety video was played, and it was nice not to see an American Airlines one for once😅.
According to Flighty, we were airborne by about 2:22, but then again, I was passed out at this point😂.
The cabin on this Copa Airlines 737 Max 9 is an intimate one consisting of 16 business class seats laid out in a 2-2 configuration.
The footwells are narrow, so if you like a bigger footwell, I recommend row 1 due to the lack of seats in front of you.
The seat is practically identical to the A321T in Business Class on American Airlines (if you've read that report of mine). The seat controls and a remote are to your side.
And the tray table is located where it usually is.
Of course, there are two issues with this seat. The first is privacy… There is almost no privacy divider between you and your neighbor while sitting upright.
The second is storage. The only real storage space you get is behind your seat and over your shoulder…
In all fairness, this was a 2:00 am red-eye, so the only thing on my mind was to sleep. That I did, since I woke up 40 minutes before landing in Panama City! The bed was comfortable, and that's all I could have asked for.
Here are just a couple more shots of the cabin!
About 25 minutes before departure, the FA came around to offer us amenity kits and bottles of water.
I thought this was another great personal touch instead of just placing them on the seat.
The amenity kit was relatively simple inside but provided everything you could need on a 6-hour flight. The cloud socks, though!
The bedding was also laid out on the seats, consisting of a very soft (and warm) blanket, as well as an amazing pillow!
Considering I slept for 5.5 hours (ish) uninterrupted, I am not complaining about the bedding here.
For a narrowbody, the IFE might have been some of the crispest I have come across. It is large, responsive, and has a beautiful map feature.
Note to others: There is no wifi onboard Copa Airlines🥴 but you can stream the same entertainment through your phone.
How do I put this? I was really excited to try out this Copa Airlines product to review the whole experience, but I somehow managed to sleep the whole way… A big shame, and I am sorry. However, the crew did give me a paper bag (without asking) to go, consisting of a sandwich they served during the flight.
While the thought was nice, this didn't look too appetizing to me. The confirmation came later onboard my next flight up to Belize🥴. Guess I have to this flight all over again to get a better review of the food😅
At 9:20 am local time (2 hour time change), I was awakened as the captain came onto the PA to announce our descent into Panama.
The FA asked if I had a good sleep and provided me with a pen and immigration card to enter Panama. Country 84, wooooo!
It was a gorgeous morning to be gazing out of the window.
The plane took some twists and turns as we began lining up to land.
By 9:48 am, the cabin crew was instructed with "Cabin crew seats for landing."
We touched down at exactly 10:00 am on the head.
Panama is so beautiful!!! I digress.
Erm I don't think we are here (not yet at least).
It was a short taxi to our gate, and we were off the plane about 20 minutes early.
I headed out of the airport, got my passport stamped, and then went back to the lounge to enjoy some breakfast. Don't wait up on that report, as it's not worth losing sleep over😅.
Thanks for reading this flight report, I hope you enjoyed! Would love to follow along with everyone else's travels, feel free to add me on instagram @ktfxrce and I'll follow you back!
Also, if you are interested in a more comprehensive review of the Star Alliance Lounge at LAX, feel free to check it out here!
Copa Airlines has a very competitive, hard product when it comes to flights within the Americas. The seats turn into a very comfortable bed, and the pillow provides a great sleeping surface. The IFE is crisp, with plenty of options, and the service was pretty good on this flight.
However, from what I gathered in my to-go bag, the sandwiches came wrapped in plastic, no pre-departure beverage was offered, and there was no wifi on the planes. It seems like this product is great for getting on board, getting a night of sleep, and waking up at your next destination rested.
It is to be known that I am not saying I wouldn't fly them again because I would (38K United Miles) for this price. However, I wouldn't pay 1500$ to fly this route in Business Class as I don't feel that it is worth the money. The good news is Copa Airlines routinely sells bidding upgrades on this route for 350$. Now, that is a good way to fly!
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 4 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Los Angeles (LAX) → Panamá City (PTY).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Copa Airlines avec 7.0/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 6 heures et 25 minutes.
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6 Comments
Thanks for sharing though!
Hah yeah, probably good to have a little break. 1.5 months isn't too bad to have to wait haha.
Hot damn! That's a good price for a 5.5h flight in lie-flat seats!
Ugh, I really wish one of the oneworld lounges had an outdoor terrace, but they're both on the non-window side
Hah, good for you! I've never felt comfortable doing that, nice to see it can work.
Don't blame you for sleeping through the services...a 5.5 hour red-eye leaving at 2AM I would definitely be sleeping too!
Wow, that's great service! Very throughful.
Thanks for sharing!
I feel like there are very reviews on the internet of this cabin, and on the English version of FR couldn't find any, yet Copa flies quite a lot of Max 9;s. Interesting.
The best part is it included the next flight up to Belize as well! 10 hours in Business Class for 38K ain't too shabby.
From what I read, at least with BA, you get to board early with your kid right (lucky!)? Some airlines say no to me, but Copa was nice.
Thanks for reading Kevin and have a great day!
Its nice to see Copa is stepping up its hardware compared to LA, AV and AM on their narrowbodies. Sadly this came with the downgrade for the people in the back!
Copa seems to be hit/miss...never consistently good, but they must be doing something right to keep groing as they do.
The SA lounge at LAX looks awesome, it's a shame I don't have any excuse for visiting it and make use of my TK status that is soon to expire :(
Thanks for sharing!
It sort of does and sort of doesn't. The economy plus section is beautiful with great IFE, but the normal economy has been stripped of IFE and other stuff sadly. I don't think they charge too much for economy plus either so could be good value there.
It's interesting as I was reading up on them, and they are turning profit 🤔. Just like your hometown, it's a great centrally located hub in the Americas. Apart form AV flies Europe etc while Copa doesn't.
Noooo that's such a shame😒. Next time you get Turkish status again!
Thanks for your comments Chibcha, have a great day!
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