Copa Airlines Reviews 

I purchased a business class ticket with Copa Airlines from New York to Belo Horizonte (via Panama) on April 30, 2025 (Flights CM 803 and CM 765, reservation code BGYSEG). I specifically chose Copa because of their advertised “Dreams” business class, which features lie-flat seats and a modern cabin experience.

To my complete disappointment, both flights were operated using old aircraft with outdated and uncomfortable business class seats. There was no lie-flat seat, no upgraded experience, and no prior warning about the change. What I got was nowhere near what was advertised.

In the end, I paid almost double the economy fare just to check an extra bag, since the “premium” service I was promised did not exist. Copa’s response—that aircraft types are not guaranteed—is unacceptable and dodges the issue entirely. This is false advertising and a blatant bait-and-switch.

I am demanding a partial refund or travel credit, and I will be filing complaints with ANAC (Brazil’s aviation authority), the U.S. Department of Transportation, and leaving this review on all major platforms to warn other travelers.

Do better, Copa.

I have a ticket booked for Caracas Venezuela however Copa has cancelled all flights to Caracas. They refuse a refund because the ticket is non refundable ... but I didn't breach the contract... COPA breached the contract! Okay now try to change the date... they will let you reschedule but WAIT...you can't change the date because they DELETED your reservation code and ticket number from the system.

Try calling them on the phone and they tell you to go on the website... go on the website and you can't get in because your reservation has been purged... this airline is horrible. I was foolish enough earlier to purchase Connectmiles.... what a fool I was!! DO NOT FLY COPA! DO NOT BUY CONNECTMILES!

Copa airlines is the worst airline ever, the service on board is crap, the service on the ground is even worst especially the staff in the Dominican republic. They are rude, not educated, can speak only Spanish, the management of copa airlines is rubish. Please do not travel with that airlines for your own safety.

We booked a flight through Chase with my maiden name. I wasn’t let on the flight because of the discrepancy with my new name, so I rebooked, without my husband for the following morning. My return flight was then cancelled because I was a “no show”. I booked a flight the next day with them for an additional fee. We spent over 8 hours on the phone with Chase and Copa trying to get on my return flight, ruining nearly 2 full days of holiday.

A $107 name change fee would apply for my reservation, which we paid. Once we went to check in Copa then told us I was no longer on the flight. Now that there was no longer a seat on that flight we would have to pay an additional $100 change fee plus a $600 difference in flight rate. All of this to make a change for the original $300 flight. There is a constant runaround and company lines. They don’t care about what you do because there is not enough competition where they need to care. We visit family here several times a year. This is not the first time we have had an issue with Copa and will never be flying with them again. I will certainly book through competition Avianca, United, Spirit, or American Airlines.

Check in Counter My Booking AC2HMM
Sat Apr 12th 2025..
1) I was charged for 3 Suitcase with a total charge of $160...I had 2 Suitcases with Standard weight from SAn Jose to Panama city..How come 3?
2) Refused to talk to some one with English speaking to understand the reason for the charge..Refused
3) Ticketing was dome by Amex Platinum service..Should I call them

I’ve got nothing bad to say about this airline in terms of flight service and seat quality. But a truly HORRIBLE experience is happening to me as I write this review. When I arrived to La Aurora airport me being a South African citizen don’t need a visa for this country so I thought everything will be all good, immigration official stopped me when checking my passport and said I have to speak to a higher up, she asked me questions about what I do and why am I here I told her via a translator through her phone that I’m a Student taking a break and that I’m here to do a tour with G Adventures then she asked me do I have a credit card I said no I only travel with debt and told her I have $2000 for my travels and mind you I’m only in Guatemala for 5 days and then the tour group moves to the next country, she denied me entry and didn’t give me a reason why, im having to spend 5 days in a holding room and throughout those days I haven’t been told what they planing to do with me. So my friend im supposed to be doing the tour with went to the airport spoke to an immigration officer who told him its because I don’t have a credit card (nowhere I’ve been in the world said having a credit card is mandatory for entry to the country) and they going to send me back to where I flew from with the same airlines that’s where copa airlines comes in they’ve literally taken their time with this process it’s been 5 days and I wasn’t put on another flight. I don’t know I’ve been denied is it because I’m from an African nation? Because saying that I don’t have a credit card is the reason is insane.

Best Airline I have flown. Always great service, very comfortable, they provide tv's in front of you most flights, welcoming staff, provide USD outlets to charge your electronic devices, and great snacks.

I took 3 flights in one week with the same hand luggage and the same airline. On the last flight, I was connecting, the luggage was checked and accepted already at the first check-in of the previous flight. Before boarding the last flight they forced me to put it in the hold. I have personal documents, house keys, everything and I hope they don't lose it. I also have to wait a long time to collect my luggage, which I didn't want and hadn't planned. First and last experience with this airline.

One of my favorite Airline. The staff was amazing and I had a great flight.

The worst customer service at Santiago Airport that I have ever experienced in my life! No training, bad attitude, incompetent. Avoid at all costs!

These people do not help with Visas, although most of the flights stop in Panama, They do not answer the phone, or deal appropriately with emails.When I requested a visa for my Cuban husband to stop in Panama, (without which he cannot leave Cuba), they told me that Travel documents are my responsibility. when I have tried to contact them since I get "This is a "no-reply " email address - if you can, avoid this airline

I bought a ticket on March 3rd for my brother. I had to cancel the same day to buy a new flight. Today's the 11th, no refund yet. So I called Copa, and they are telling me that a) refunds can take 2x billing cycles to receive the refund i.e. 60 days, and b) the refund department has no way of contacting them.

Here's my question to Copa: In what normal business practice does a refund take 60 days? ESPECIALLY, if I was to purchase a new Copa Airlines flight?

How is this good business practice? You're getting a free loan for 60 days, you get to hold my $400-500 until you decide to return it.

You know that in today's modern and ELECTRONIC world, everything is done electronically. So why do you think it's OK to take 60 days to refund a purchase?

This is absolutely wrong and they are crooks for doing this. If Trump wasn't the president, I'd report this to the Dept of Transportation...

I had a great experience flying with Copa!

My luggage did not arrive at my final destination. The customer service does not help at all. They don’t have proper information and just apologize, saying that I have to wait 48 hours. When my luggage arrived at the airport, Copa Airlines simply closed the case and told me over the phone that I have to go find out if my bag is there or not. In general, Copa Airlines doesn’t care about you or your belongings

Absolutely HORRENDOUS experience with Copa Airlines – never in my life have I experienced this level of incompetence from customer service agents.

I booked two economy tickets with Copa Airlines in November 2023 for a retirement trip with my mom, flying from Montreal to Quito. Unfortunately, in January 2024, extreme violence broke out in Ecuador, prompting a state of emergency with mandatory curfews in the very areas we had planned to visit. As a little old senior lady, my mom no longer felt safe going (obviously), and we decided to cancel the trip. We knew the tickets were non-refundable due to the fare class, but I had coverage through my personal insurance.

All I needed from Copa Airlines was a simple letter confirming the trip cancellation.
***Please keep in mind that I was asking for nothing from them : didn't want money, or a credit, or a refund. I simply wanted to fully cancel my trip and then have a letter from them stating the trip was fully cancelled****

What followed was months-long nightmare of deplorable customer service.

It took countless emails, calls, and pleas just to get Copa Airlines to provide this very simple letter....I even wrote the template for them with the information.

Their agents were unprofessional, rude, uninformed and completely incompetent : phone representatives refused to give me updates, cut me off mid-sentence, gave me incomplete and erroneous information... I literally had to send them screenshots of their own policies (that were on their website)– which they either didn’t understand or chose to ignore.

They dragged the process out for months, leaving my insurance claim in limbo. Again, I wasn’t asking for a refund, a credit, a transfer or any type of re-issuance. All I requested, was for them to cancel my itinerary and tickets (because they are apparently different things), and then to provide me an official statement confirming the cancellation so that my insurance would refund me. Instead, I was met with stonewalling, misinformation, and total indifference.

Copa Airlines’ customer service is, without exaggeration, the worst I’ve ever encountered - across all industries. If you value your time, sanity, and money, avoid this airline like the plague. I wouldn’t trust them to handle a paper plane, let alone an international booking.

Would give minus 100 stars if I could.

Would highly recommend avoiding this airline at all costs. Their customer service is bottom of the barrel with absolutely zero ability to escalate or speak to a manager. We booked a flight with them, got a receipt and confirmed reservation. The next day we were emailed that the charge did not go through-- There is no reason that charge would not have gone through. The funds were there, the card was active, our bank did not even show the charge. I tried to talk to Copa to have them try to re-run payment. They refused. They said we could re-book the reservation (at $300) more or send a bank stmt proving there wasn't a charge? It was the beginning of the month and the statement will not show until the following month-- to which I asked if we sent a bank statement will the reservation be honored? The response: "well, no guarantee, this reservation is expired". So they are asking for over a month's worth of personal information (including a month where there literally was NO charges to COPA) with no guarantee to honor a reservation. ALL when the charging issue was on their end. This airline is just out to take your money. Take your business elsewhere if you can.

My girlfriend and I had planned a 5 night stay at the Marriott in Aruba. We did a lot of planning and I took care of getting our Copa plane tickets from David, Panama to Aruba. I went to the Copa office in David to buy the tickets and I asked the agent if we needed to have anything besides our passports to travel to Aruba. She told me no, that all we needed was our passports to be current. About 10 days before our departure, I went back to the Copa office in David to inquire about our connection in Panama City. We only had 1 hour and 5 minutes to make the connection and the airplanes arriving from David and departing to Aruba tend to be in different terminals with no good transportation between the two, plus you have to go through security again. She assured me that the flight would wait on us. I was skeptical since I had been left by Copa at least twice in the past on other connecting flights when the flights ran late and not because of weather. In those instances Copa did nothing to accommodate me even though it was their fault. I asked her again if we needed anything else to fly to Aruba. No, she said, just your passports. We checked in online yesterday and printed our boarding passes. Today when we went to the airport and went to the agent desk to drop our checked bags, they informed us that we had to have a Yellow Fever card. I explained that I had asked on two occasions at the Copa office regarding any other requirements beyond our passports and had been told nothing else was needed. After getting nowhere with the agent, Diego Polando, I asked to speak to his supervisor. The lady supervisor, Ashley Duarte showed up with armed police and informed me that no we could not fly. I was shocked that she would show up with armed police. We never raised our voice or showed any threatening behavior. After it was obvious that they were not going to let us go on the airplane, I asked for a refund. They refused. Needless to say I am appalled at Copa's behavior. They are the worst of the worst and I have been flying for over 50 years. I only fly them as a last resort. Avoid them if you can.
Kim P. Kornegay, DMD

Paying extra to have priority boarding and ending up to board last due to some mistake no one was able to correct. Trash airline

Flights were on time and painless. I encountered no issues and would fly with them again. Connection in Panama City was easy. Had plenty of time to kill even with an hour layover.

I am very dissatisfied with this company! On January 18, I bought airplane tickets on their website, then they returned my money to my card without explanation. A couple of hours later I repeated the operation and they refunded me again. I was already desperate and bought tickets from another company. And only after a couple hours I noticed that they charged my card 1700$. They do not answer in support, they do not respond to my requests. 0 customer focus. I will never recommend to use their services!!!