Copa Airlines Reviews

I had the worst experience with Copa Airlines in Trinidad on my way to Panama (final destination to Washington Dulles, IAD) on 5 March 2025. A stewardess harassed me about alcohol I was bringing on the plane from "Duty Free" after my passport and boarding pass were verified at purchase. The rude stewardess only stopped me from getting on the plane and gave no clear directions for me to properly board my flight. The incorrigible stewardess intentionally held me until all the passengers boarded the airplane and then instructed me to check my bag after several of her coworkers, other customers and I requested that she provide clear, standardized guidance. The stewardess was a terrible representative of Copa Airlines and because of her actions and lack of customer service skills my first flight with Copa Airlines will be my last.

Non existent customer support, no one answers calls, they only have automated service which if you don’t make a choice it disconnects the call. The options to choose in the menu didn’t offered what I needed or to transfer to an agent. Their flight was over 3 hours delayed, missed my connection and ended up having to wait 24 hours at the Panama airport, they did not offered accommodations, even though originally they told passengers that they would, needles to say passengers were not happy. Restrooms in the plane were dirty, the floor was filthy and the whole place stank!

Is better to travel with a local airline that have responsibility and face that with a brand like this that have no assist for his customers and don’t care about the passengers. This company don’t offer any kind of support in case of fly cancellations or delays out of the control of the passenger.

I am extremely disappointed with the customer service I received from Copa Airlines, specifically from a representative named Christian **. I had a time-sensitive issue, and instead of assisting me, Christian was rude, arrogant, and dismissive throughout the entire call. When I requested to speak to a supervisor or another representative who might be able to help, he repeatedly talked over me and flat-out refused. He showed no willingness to assist in any way, even going as far as to remain silent for extended periods during the call before hanging up on me.

I purchase 2 tickets to fly to lax to San Pedro sula Honduras. The system was show me the price and the date. I press the day and the price diciembre 20 then for some reason when I make the payment was change the date. I call customer service next day. I spoke to a agent. She said she will leave the ticket open. I make a complaint to my bank because the lady was tell to is better to make a claim on the bank. After that waiting for day the bank won’t help me. I call again. They said they close the ticket and steal my money was 780$ dollars. Now I contact bbb to complain. If they don’t response I’ll take it to the court to small claim and sue them for malicious business. I’ll wait for the respond to Copa Airlines.

This company, with the service it provides and the way it mistreats its customers, is a miracle that it has made it to 35 years. On December 11, 2024, I tried to buy a ticket with miles, but my balance was not enough. I told the operator to add the miles and she informed me that it was not possible, that I had to do the process independently and that when I bought them I should call again. In any case, she had located the required round-trip business class flights for me. The same day I bought the miles, the same day I received an email from Copa saying that the miles were credited and available, which turned out not to be true.

I had a flight with Copa Airlines today. Had me come down to the airport three hours before my flight left. I got here. The flight was delayed from 9:45 to 11:30 then it was delayed till 330 and since I got it through Expedia if I tried to cancel it, I could only get my money back for Coppa my hotel. I lost a day that I have to pay for that and then the airline coming back home. I would’ve lost all the money on that just because of Copa if you get a chance, don’t fly on Copa Airlines fly some use another airline because it’s terrible And on top of that they try to appease us by giving us some potato chips and fruit juice

I have wondered before if traveling on business class in this particular airline will be the same than others, or if it was worth the cost, and I can now confidently tell you that is NOT worth it. This grade of 1 out of 5 is not based on one just one portion of my trip to Lima from DC, but in the overall experience of my journey there and back.

They have the best price on all the search engines, ie. Kayak, but you cannot purchase. You call them and they say the price changed. Then they give a hard sell and you can go back online and find a better price. Careful!!! They are playing a game. The game is called SCAM.

Absolutely horrendous customer service experience. Spoke with Miguel C. Request **. When booking my flight, the site was having technical issues and Multi City wasn’t working. I had to book three one way tickets instead as we were going in a group and I wanted to make sure I was able to secure my flight and seats. My friend booked the next week using multi city feature and saved $300. I called customer support and they told me it’s not a problem and to file a claim using their online tool.

Context : I booked two return tickets from Montreal to Quito, Ecuador in November 2023 for my mom and I. In Janaury 2024, the capital went into a state of emergency and a lockdown was put in place. Canada's travel advisory then increased and travelers were advised to *Avoid non-essential travel—you should think seriously about whether you need to travel there*. Given that my credit offers coverage for cancellations as a result of violence, we decided to cancel.

I had the worst experience with an Airline, in my whole life. Copa Airline is not an airline that you want to use for any of your travel plans. They are cheaper and everyone loves cheaper, including us, but you’ll soon see that it wasn’t worth the savings. You always hear “You get what you pay for” and boy does that hold true, in this case.

Copa is a convenient airline when traveling in north, central and South America; however, their customer service are extreme scammers. They will try their hardest to steal money out of you for any type of situation. I’m so sick of this airline!! I am literally thinking to file a lawsuit, because they seriously need to be investigated. I am so confused by their system, lack of support and thievery. DO NOT FLY WITH THEM UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO.

Steer clear of this airline. 8 back to back flights and on the last one Eduardo in Tocumen Airport Panama to Miami decided to ruin our father's day and trip because our luggage that just went through 8 other flights, didn't fit, and it was a connecting flight from Copa! I couldn't understand what he was saying so he threatened to have me arrested and kept in their county and then had police ride on the plane and announced it over the intercom. I am 5 foot tall woman and he said I was an aggressive threat for not understanding a conversation!! I travel everywhere and have never been so disrespected. Copa Airlines should be ashamed of how Eduardo treated my family. As a trip advisor I will no longer send any clients through this airline or airport. Disappointed is an understatement. Be ashamed of your employees!

On June 9, 2024, I was scheduled for a flight at 7:40 AM to JFK. The security team was rude, aggressive and pushed the tray toward me. The woman in question was heavy-set and processed me around 5:00 am. At 6:05 AM in the waiting area another security check was performed and the entire space was filthy with buckets all around, filled with brown water. Passengers were forced to take off their shoes and step on, sticky unknown substances on the ground. Purchases made in the airport were forced to be thrown out and passengers were told that they could not use the bathroom. The staff appeared to be untrained and operated as though they were checking IDs to enter a club versus processing a security checkpoint.

Customer service is bad. On board the plane and at their call center. I would never fly Copa agian. It is the worst airline ever. I spoke to a lady in English and she said Spanish I don’t speak English.

My booking was suddenly canceled. I provided the requested documents. After four different calls and multiple attempts to resolve the issue, it was escalated to someone named Sonia, presumably a customer service supervisor. However, after an hour-long call, they simply hung up the telephone. I am extremely disappointed with the service. I advise against making purchases here

Absolutely worst! Absolutely worst! I have flown 32 flight with many airlines in last 12 Month, I found Copa Airlines by far be the worst, I was stuck in Quito airport for 9hrs due to mechanical problem with aircraft! I was faced with most unprofessional staff who were not of any help, they were keeping our passport which was very concerning! Out of 8-10 attendant only 3 people could speak English on international flight, only one person was authorized for decision making for over 200 passengers and she had to access her smart phone most time rather a computer to access information, passengers were highly stressed, one needed emergency care airport police had to be called due to passengers complaint! And to get compensated I had 25 corespondent through email to be paid a partial refund and they were insisting of giving Copa Airline voucher which I couldn't use. Never again! Date of travel: March 2024.

CopaAir I thought, was one very good alternative to travel to and from Bolivia as unfortunately there aren't too many companies going there, but I had never flown on it until recently. From NY to PTY it was a semi good experience until disembarking when all was chaotic and the service on board was equally bad. Once in PTY and waiting to go to VVI it became even worse and flying business did not pay off the money invested. Returning to the US was the worse experience ever. Also in Business class food was bad, the attitude of the flight attendants was terrible, using the toilet was not worth it and the disembarking was so chaotic that made me miss the organised way Boliviana de Aviacion uses -5 rows at a time- all passengers abide by. Business nor economy classes offered TVs, charging seats or anything similar. Since CopaAir is taking such a monopoly maybe they should try to improve aircraft, boarding, service and replacing more.

We booked a Business Class r/t from Mexico to Argentina. Fully paid 2 months in advance. When trying to check-in online, system would not recognize reservation. Contacted customer service by phone. After 2 hours of discussion and on hold, we were told the "system" had deleted our reservation and that it had been restored. However, the plan was overbooked so we needed to be on the wait list!! Return flight also could not be checked in online. Again called customer service who said they could not do anything. I was refused 6 requests to speak to a supervisor. In response to an email I sent to the airline, Copa expressed its "sincerest apologies." How badly would Copa treat a Coach Class customer???

On a recent trip to San Jose, CR, I called and requested 3 upgrades to business class because we were traveling with a one-year old baby. When we got to the airport, they said we had ONE upgrade and would/could not change it so we had three. I contacted COPA airlines when I returned to the US in January. They took the information and gave me a case number. As of February 6, nothing has been done. They said there is no one to talk to by phone, that I have to use email. Tried that, didn't work.

I was coming back from Panama on 1/21/24, and I felt sick. I was wearing my life vest due to my heart. They got word from the doctor to walk me, gave me oxygen, eat something salty and sip something sweet, wrote down all my meds, and checked my b/p. You all Rock! May God bless you all in Jesus Christ name amen! Keep up the good job! Chris **

Website only allows change of flight date but not airport. No other way to contact except call center and yet no one picks up call. Tried calling multiple times across multiple days and put on queue for hours and hours and yet no one answers… can’t change flight despite buying a changeable ticket.

I booked a flight prior with Copa Airline and my flight was cancelled two days before my trip, I was booked on a flight without confirmation for a day earlier than my original flight or confirmation that I was content with taking a different airline. Once at the airport to check in my luggage Latam Airline told me that my luggage was traveling to Brazil while my tickets were for Chile during the layover to reach my destination of Uruguay.

One carry-on for a trip from the north to the south of America (the continent)? Shame on you! Expensive, the food is garbage and they don't even authorize one big luggage. Too bad they had 83% bad reviews and they don't care a bit.

Last year, I purchased a ticket to travel to Puerto Rico with Avianca for the outbound journey and Copa Airlines for the return. Prior to the trip, COVID vaccines were depleted in my area, preventing me from completing the second dose on time, leading to the denial of boarding. Avianca understood the force majeure situation and refunded my money. However, I had to sue Copa, as they vehemently refused to do the same. After nearly two years of legal battles, a judge from @superintendencia_sic ruled in favor of Copa, arguing that the lack of vaccines wasn't a force majeure case that would allow the application of the then-current presidential decrees to provide relief to passengers affected by pandemic-related situations.

Massive protests/roadblocks throughout Panama- Copa airlines refused to change our flight dates, wanted us to arrive and spend weeks locked down in Tocumen Int'l Airport not being able to get anywhere? Unbelievable. The list of protesters blocked roads is mile-long. Roadblocks do not prevent Copa from flying, but all roads to the Airport in David, Chiriqui completely blocked=cannot drive anywhere nor even fly. This is a low-quality, irresponsible airline. This airline would be completely OK with leaving their customers in a horrible situation.

Don't waste your time, trying to purchase a flight through their website...it's horrible. Their rates are never updated there, so you are forced to do the purchase through their Call Center, where you get charged US$25 for each passenger. How convenient!

Very disappointed with check in at Logan. Staff needs better customer service skills and more sensitivity with elderly passenger's needs. The supervisor has a big ego and refused to provide her name or to make any exceptions. No tag to identify Copa employees. Is this Copa’s protocol? Supervisor refused to provide her name. How to file a complaint without names?

CM473 from LA to Panama on Sept 1,2023. The flight staff are super RUDE. This flight attendant Marcos slammed into me while I was sleeping on an aisle seat. I told him would you stop bumping into me. Instead of apologizing he confronted me. Said I can't criticize him. He turned on the light while I was sleeping, blasted air in my face, and gave me a lecture. Such RUDE attendants that when they bump into you, they don't apologize. Low life no class flight attendants not like on other airlines.

Never again will I book a flight through Copa and a 3rd party. Bought tickets months prior but our timing for check in was off so our seats were gone as well as our luggages. To assuage we were upgraded seats the following day. Yet on the 6 hour flight back we were given stationary seats, no reclining. Meanwhile there were other empty seats. Spiteful. Oh and our luggages were sent to the wrong place on the way back so the nightmare continued.

We had a recent flight to Colombia, this past July 2nd-8th, and decided to go through Copa because from all the options they have always been the best... Easy to travel, stops at Panama are stress free, good options for connecting, etc. This last time we were delayed by what seemed like negligence from the Airport in Medellin, as well as the airline. Between one and the other, we got stuck in the plane after boarding almost 3 hours, only to miss all of the connections and on top of that Copa personnel informed us that the next flight was 2 days later and they couldn't cover any expenses because according to them it was the airport alone who was to blame.

My mother and I purchased tickets back on March 16th, 2023, for a trip to Costa Rica. My mother experienced a major medical issue which eventually had her enter hospice care. I was provided a letter dated May 22nd by the providers for the hospice care with points of contact. I cancelled our June flights back on May 18th and never received confirmation for cancellation. COPA states that this was a non-refundable ticket which I wasn't aware of and will not refund my mother's portion of these tickets. They say we have a year to use flight credit.

I went on Copa website to book trip to Panama and discovered I can add a free stop over to another destination, so I chose Colombia. Colombia has issues with issuing visas and I am unable to travel there. Contacted Copa and their only option is to cancel and rebook and charging me a penalty. This doesn't make sense, panama is my final destination, they can easily remove Colombia, but they want to make money. Avoid this pitfall even if you can get a visa on time.

It has been a 1 1/2 yr. since my case started with Copa. They took over 4,000 and never got to fly with Copa Airlines. I talked to so many staff from Copa and no one can give me answers. All they tell me, "We have escalated your case," and I call almost everyday. I have send more than 30 emails to the supervisor Genesis ** and she doesn't reply back. I have talked to every employer from Copa. They were so focused on a stupid COVID test that I lost my fly and got stranded in another county with my 3 babies and being pregnant. Copa keeped taking out money from my credit card. Now I owe over 6,000 dollars in late fees because they keeped telling me to check my account that they refunded already when it was all **. Do not fly with Copa. No one helps you out when you have a problem. I had to ask the news reporters to help NBC to try to get me my money back.

I was served omelet for breakfast. It came with sliced cold meat. I asked the flight attendant if the meat was ham, they didn’t know. On the return flight, the flight attendants didn’t understand English. They don’t have customer service skills, and are abrupt with passengers.

I purchased tickets to go visit my father back home last year. Due to testing positive for COVID-19 I was unable to travel with my partner and three children. I was given a credit for the value of the tickets to be used in a year. 10 months later when I tried to book a new reservation under those tickets I was informed my reservation was split into three by a system error. I asked for the reservation to be put back together the same form it was purchased as I did not want my children seating on their own and the agent could not do it.

We were stranded in Costa Rica after Delta cancelled our flight (Sunday flight moved to Wednesday w/ our family of 4 on two separate flights). We got lucky to find reasonably priced tickets from SJO to LAX w/ Copa Airlines connecting through PTY. We book through Expedia. We did not have seat assignments for the first leg of the flight. I was a bit worried because of the Copa reviews so I called their customer service with questions. I got through to customer service rep quickly & they provided needed guidance. They advised seat assignments would be made at the airport. The service was great from start to finish. Thanks to Copa our 15 yr old only missed one day of school. Thank you Copa Airlines!

After emergency spinal operation I had to cancel a flight. Copa led me to believe that I would be able to get a refund based on my circumstances or to be able rebook my flight within 1 year of the flight I had purchased. After 3 months of several phone calls and emails I was informed that there was never a consideration of refunding me, and that I would have to rebook my flight within a year of the date the flight was purchased on, not scheduled for. At this time I am left with a few days to rebook. I also can only use up to the amount I originally spent on my flight but lose the remainder of the fair and there is a rebooking fee. I have been refused multiple times to speak to a supervisor. Countless hours of my time has been wasted with asking me to complete forms and gather information when there was no intent on refunding me based on my fair. Had they been upfront from the beginning I wouldn't be in this situation.

I had the worst experience traveling with Copa. They made my trip feel like a nightmare. Their customer service is so bad and they had me go back and forth with the counter service and customer service. I was stranded at the airport overnight trying to figure out my flight situation. They failed to notify me I had to have a COVID test, I arrived on time so I took an Uber to the closest clinic and had the test done. When I arrived 45 minutes early they didn’t want to help me get boarding passes because they had to help board the plane. I saw them got in their office and didn’t want to come help me at the desk. I missed my flight and failed to get me a new flight. I spend the entire night trying to figure out the situation and I gave up. I decided to book a flight with “AVIANCA AIRLINES.” Know a better customer service and cheaper flights. Highly recommend it. I learned my lessons, I won’t make the same mistake and book with COPA AIRLINES ever again.