Copa Airlines Reviews

After countless calls, submitting the form, today, December 17, 2024, that is, almost a week later, the miles appeared in my account. But my karma did not end there. I immediately called to finalize the purchase of the ticket, with my miles, but the agent said that it was not available because January 2025 was not yet open. The question is, how did another Copa agent locate the required flights on December 11 and now it is not available for sale? When I asked what date I had to call back, the answer was: there is no specific date from which ticket sales for January open. She then told me to call repeatedly until sales were open (that is, I have to call continuously until someone at Copa thinks it is possible).

I have tried to make a claim via the web, but since I do not have data such as a reservation code and ticket, it seems impossible. There is no fax number available to file this claim of abuse, mistreatment and generating great helplessness, but there is no fax number, which is why I resort to this method. Never in my life (and I am almost 80 years old) have I suffered such mistreatment, so many lies and so much frustration from an airline as with Copa. HORRIBLE.

I will start saying that our departure from DC was delayed by almost two hours, which it has a direct impact on my connection in Panama. Upon arriving to Panama I managed to make it to my gate in three minutes, and it was right at boarding time. However, to my surprise, I found out while trying to board that Copa has already decided to give my seat away and have changed my flight for another one leaving just a little later, that alone is terrible customer service and completely unacceptable.

After boarding on another flight in Panamá, we were hold in the plane for two hours and we were given the most ridiculous excuse, according to Copa, the Control Tower operator have left the room because of the smell of paint was too much to handle, as mentioned, ridiculous. I was already mad about Copa changing my original reservation arbitrarily, and now I’m being punished for it while my original flight, which I managed to made, has already left and was on it’s way on time.

Now let’s talk about the aircraft, from Washington to Panamá it was excellent, you noticed you are actually traveling on business class, but the aircraft from Panama to Lima, and Lima to Panama, resembles the experience you will get with a very basic fair for a domestic flight, the entertainment was non existent, the email you received at check in showing your seat with individual screens and the list of movies, was misleading and false advertisement. Now even headphones, and when you managed to plug mine in you realized that’s not even a music channel, terrible.

Needless to say, those planes are so old that you don’t even have an outlet to charge your phone if you need to, so don’t take a chance and save your battery life. To save time, the same experience applies for the flight from Lima to Panamá City, and from Panamá City to DC. To summarize, don’t waste your money on this service, find a better option, I know I will since we have to go Brazil shortly and Copa will not be our carrier.

Turns out, it was a problem. Miguel C said as I didn’t reach out and alert them of the technical difficulty or have documentation, they can’t adjust the price. I told him to cancel my flight and I’ll rebook myself and he said it’s non refundable. They basically scammed me and are stealing my money. I have used Copa Airlines over 6 times and unfortunately this is the last time I will be using them. They are a company who will never provide customer support and I will make sure to let all my friends know not to use them again.

To be clear, the ONLY thing I requested was an email from the company confirming that I had cancelled my trip. Did not request a refund or a credit. I explicitly stated that I was happy to renounce my rights to rebook at a future date. It took months and tens of emails plus multiple conversations with impatient and rude customer agents before I received a first version from them that was erroneous. They straight up refused to cancel my trip - stating it was against their policies. I had to sent them various paragraphs from their Transportation contract to show that customers have the right to fully cancel.

I spoke with customer agents that told me conflicting information. Agents that cut me off without even asking for context. Agents that sent me in circles. Absolute NIGHTMARE communicating with them. I can only imagine how terrible the on-fllight experience must be if this was my experience simply trying to cancel my flight. -10 stars.

Had a trip planned for the family to go to Peru. Got everything ready and headed to the Airport. Waited in a huge line but was there early so no big deal. Got to the counter and when they checked our passports, they found that our kids' passports were 5 months from expiring and that Peru wouldn’t allow anyone to enter if they were within 6 months of expiration. We were in shock to say the least. They said if you have a Peruvian ID, then Peru will overlook the passport. We said great since my wife has a Peruvian ID but Copa said the kids would have to have Peruvian ID’s. What kids walk around with ID’s?? They then said, "You can go to the embassy in DC and get an emergency renewal and fly the next night at the same time." We hoped that we could get into the embassy for an appointment and to DC’s credit they scheduled us an appointment that very next morning and we ended up in DC for the whole day, from 10:30 till 4:30.

After leaving with our kids' new passports, we called Copa to get put on the flight for that night and they were like “sorry that flight is filled”. We said ok, what can we do to get on a flight? They said buy more tickets!! We were truly panicked so we just bit the bullet and broke out our credit card and spent $4,200 dollars… Again!! They of course included $300 in penalties from Copa since they said they were doing us a favor. We felt like we had no choice. We had already spent $4,000 so no turning back now. We also were meeting my wife’s whole family for an 80th birthday celebration so we just went with it. I know you’re saying well it was your fault that you didn’t know about the passport restriction in Peru and you’re not wrong but to charge the customer the full amount again with no concessions at all?

A little story: A friend and myself were flying Delta and had a layover in Minneapolis, which was for 3 hours. We decided to grab a bite to eat and have a beer. Well it was football season and although I’m not a big college football fan, that place was rocking. We were having such a good time, we lost track of time. We figured out about 5 minutes before our flight and were unfortunately on the complete other side of the airport. We ran like crazy but the plane had already shut the door and we weren’t allowed to get on. Totally our fault but Delta said, "We can put you on a flight tomorrow morning or we have one going to another airport near you, which leaves in 3 hours." We took that one and had our ride just pick us up there instead. My point is unlike Copa, Delta didn’t ask us to purchase more tickets, they just put us on another available flight, at no extra charge. That’s what a good company does!

We pair for another flight and finally got on a flight headed to Panama for our layover. When we got to Panama, we noticed the plane just kept flying in circles. The pilot came on and said that the weather at the airport was bad and they had closed the airport temporarily and we would be flying to another airport to re-fuel then back to hopefully land. We were fine with this since we had a 2 hour layover and we would rather be safe anyways. We finally landed at Panama and only had about 10 minutes until our flight but thought it will be delayed, since the airport was closed. We get off the plane and Copa is saying on the board that the flight is on time. We are on the other side of the airport so we take off running and start hearing over the intercom, “Last call for boarding to Peru”. We are freaking out because they say this many times and we are with our kids, running as fast as we can.

We think there is no way after running for about 10 minutes and finally get to the gate and the doors are still open. We get on the plane and proceed to sit on the plane for 2 hours. We get to Peru and we are relieved to have gotten there but still upset about the excessive money spent. We get there and find our sister, who also flew Copa a week earlier, was dealing with Copa losing her bags. She had no clothes so my wife gave her clothes to wear and it took a week to get the bags from Copa. She had bought 2 really nice Samsonite bags for the trip and when she finally got them from Copa, one had a broken handle and the other had a wheel broken off. It’s not like Samsonite is cheap poor quality luggage. What more is there to say.” Copa is a terrible airline”.

We come back 2 weeks later and immediately had problems at the Copa terminal counter with them now trying to charge us for all our bags when we had paid for the 1st bag each with our original tickets. We find out that they didn’t include this on the 2nd set of tickets. We talk to the supervisor, who seems very surprised that we had to pay for the tickets the 2nd time but still begrudgingly waved the bag fees for us.

We get home and decide to file a case with Copa Airlines for everything that happened to us. We tell them this whole story and they basically blow us off. No offer of anything other than, after we file a grievance about their decision, they say they will give a reimbursement for the penalty fees, which they never should have charged. So we get back $300 and now were charged $3,900 for the second set of tickets. All we can say is do yourself a favor and choose another airline and if you have to fly on Copa Airlines, you better pay for any insurance offered because you definitely may need it.

Earlier in the day I spoke to a Copa agent that assisted me with an ID to check in online with Latam but did not inform on the destination difference between my luggage and my tickets. Latam could not book or help me with another flight and once I spoke to Copa they refused to put me on the next flight and tried to tell me I have to pay an extra $3,000 on top of what I paid for my original flight. Copa was not helpful and did not accommodate any of my concerns. They refused to book me a new flight due to their cancellation and mistakes when it was out of my control. I was told to wait for Copa Airlines to open to speak with an agent in person, once they opened I have already been in the airport for 5 hours waiting and the person directing everyone refused to get me a supervisor and kept telling me no one can help me there with a ridiculous attitude (his name is Luis, working in JFK Airport in NY).

I am already unhappy about the customer support to begin with and on top of that wasted my time waiting to speak with Copa in person. Regarding the time I also accumulated a payment of $80 for parking at the airport. I have called Copa today and they are also telling me my only options are a refund or they could book me a flight while I should be refunded as well as booked on the next flight out. They are informing me I have to pay the extra 3,000 myself as if it is my fault that Copa airlines has messed up my whole flight itinerary. I got through to a supervisor and all she gave me was attitude and I politely asked her to hold for one minute while I confirm with the other passenger and she ended the call, when I called back no one could help me get reach of her. Overall, Copa customer service was no help and I am very disappointed with my experience.

I am traveling for a family emergency and now I cannot be there for the death of a family member due to incompetent workers overall. Now, I am going to miss the funeral. I also want compensation for the parking bill, the loss in money for one night at the hotel I am staying at in Uruguay, the car rental fee that was gained due to a loss of a day which is around $100, the gas used for a 2 hour drive to JFK, the tolls paid to get to JFK, food purchased since I was not on a plane, and the time I wasted at the airport for absolutely no help or resolution to Copa’s mistake. On top of all this I had to purchase another set of tickets with a $464 difference and have to pay for gas, tolls, parking, etc. Again. Again, will never invest into Copa Airlines again or anyone I know.

While Avianca sympathized with my situation, Copa and the Colombian judicial system turned their backs on me as a user and citizen. Unlike Avianca, Copa chose to prolong this simple matter for 2 YEARS and pay lawyers to handle the lawsuit. My loyalty now lies with @avianca; I do not plan to travel with @copaairlines again unless it's an emergency.

After all the long, stressful, tiring experience, we were given the choice of staying 2 days on our own, or they would take us to a US destination, and we figured it out from there. Needless to say, we got home almost 30 hours later, sleep deprived and more than a thousand dollars less in our pockets, from buying tickets from other airlines to get us home as soon as possible. Copa, you've been my number one, but after feeling disrespected and neglected as a client, I'll check my options before choosing you.

They stated that they want a medical certificate indicating that the passenger is in a critical condition to authorize the reimbursement of the ticket. This violates HIPPA and I'm not able to provide my mom's medical condition to an airline. The letter from the Hospice provider provides contact information for those familiar with my mom's condition. They are welcome to contact them if they require something from them. I'm very disappointed how this airline handles these sensitive situations for their customers.

I called again the next day hoping another agent could help but I was given the same response and this time the agent suggested requesting a refund since the system split my reservation. I proceeded with the refund request and it was denied two months later. After going back and forth with emails for three months the refund department advised I could go ahead and book a reservation the way it was and ask the counter to give us seating all together since I have young children. The agents never explained that during my calls.

After receiving this advice from the refund desk I tried to book a new reservation for this tickets but unfortunately the year timeframe had passed so my tickets were no longer in the system. I have sent various emails to ask to request an extension and be able to book a new reservation but their answer has been sorry we can't help you anymore since these tickets are no longer in the system. Basically they kept the money I paid for this tickets. Copa refused to give me a refund or extension on the credit to book a new trip. I will never travel with Copa Airlines again and I am very dissatisfied as they kept my money.

She worked on the computer with another agent for about 15 minutes and printed our boarding passes only for Quito to Panama city and ASSURED US that we could stay the night in Panama City and board our flight from Panama City to Atlanta in the morning. We stayed the night in Panama City as planned but when we arrived in Panama City airport this morning to board our flight to Atlanta, we were shocked to find that because we didn't board the flight from Lima to Panama City our tickets from Panama City to Atlanta had been cancelled.

We had been given assurances by Copa representatives in the Quito airport the previous day that this would not happen. We spent about an hour talking with Copa representatives in Panama City about this but they were unwilling to help or honor the assurance that we were given in Quito. We were forced to pay a $535 penalty fee to re-instate our cancelled tickets to Atlanta. This is frustrating in the extreme and totally unacceptable given that we sought and were given permission and assurances in Quito that everything was in order.

Our flight number was CM288 and was due to leave at 1:24 am to connect through Panamá to Curaçao. At 1:36, after we missed the flight, the ticket agent told us that the supervisor would see us in a few minutes. The supervisor came at 3:22am. After speaking with us for a total of two minutes (I timed it on my watch), Supervisor Angie told us to stand aside while she waits for a follow up phone call. She said there are no flight to take us from Panamá to curaçao so she has to wait for a phone call. It is now 4:34am and we, my wife and 2.5 year old daughter and I, have been sitting on the floor in front of the ticket agents desk for over 4.5 hours. We have not received an apology, an alternative plan, nor even an apology from the supervisor.

The flight starts in Medellín Colombia on November 11 at 1:10 pm, with an itinerary of: Medellín Panama by Copa, Panama, Houston by United Airlines, and Houston, San Diego by United, to arrive on the 11th at 11:55 pm. And we arrived on the 12th at 11:55 pm. 24 hours of total delay and without luggage, which they deliver until Monday the 14th at 6 pm. Disgust of a company, which puts the name of Panama very badly. The entire floor of the airport is very dirty, the security personnel have a very despotic attitude, it seems that one is in a concentration camp, the seats are very very uncomfortable, in short, a very bad experience at that airport and with Copa Airlines.

Well upon arrival in Panama we were instructed to make huge lines to speak to Copa staff at the counter. Upon seeing this and carrying my baby I walked to the front of the line and spoke to the Supervisor, Yaneska, and asked for assistance since I had a 4 month. Well Yaneska was clearly frustrated and in a bad mood and took that out on me and my family. She told me to look behind at the line and that I needed to make the line. Well I told her that I take priority because of the baby as it had been the entire vacation while traveling. She told me to sit down that she would be with me whenever she could. About 15 minutes went by, me standing there with my 4-month-old baby, and she NEVER once looked my way nor did she assist.

Finally the other staff member next to her called me over. We then were hit with the surprise that their were no other flights leaving that night and that we would be leaving the next day. At this time I asked for a hotel stay and she responded "Copa doesn't cover hotel stay due to weather delays". At this point I was livid. After paying $1800 for our flights, checking in our bags and stroller to Miami because of incompetent staff, standing at 11pm in the Panama airport with NO clothes, NO baby food, NO diapers, NO NOTHING, and being told "we needed to figure it out on our own" is plain disrespectful.

I then wrote a complaint to Copa via email and spoke to Juan **, Customer Service Analyst, which did absolutely NOTHING despite the awful experience and treatment that I received with my family. NO ONE in this company had regards for my family and I and especially ZERO empathy for my 4 month old baby. As such I will NEVER fly Copa again and I will make sure to leave reviews on every website possible to ensure this gets out to as many people as possible.

Then the Colombian Manager lady came and instead of helping, she came with an attitude and started bullying on my “scratched” luggage telling me that I had to sign a paper stating that if my bag breaks was not their fault! Then started picking on my hand bag looking for reasons to avoid helping and telling me: "You can pay your $50, but you need to claim the $ 100 to see if I can get reimbursement," do the whole line and lose my plane because two hours were past. I ended paying $100, I feel robbed and humiliated by that manager attitude and overpowering behavior, which was very contagious to the other employees. As a businesswoman, I would never let any of my coworkers take this airline again and neither my family. A Latino company that bullies its own people instead of treating them with respect and help. What a shame!

For my part, it was my first and last time I used Copa, because I'm not cattle and I demand respect, because I paid the ticket and I deserve to be treated with respect, which I didn't. Also, I will warn as many friends and acquaintances as possible to avoid the Cup, as people in Tucumem do not know the difference between a passenger with rhinitis and a dangerous terrorist. So they treat everyone like a terrorist.

To add salt to injury, we were traveling with pets which proved to play against us as the pets were not in their records (fees had been paid to Copa) and a form was missing which we were never informed of in any of the more than five calls that we had with airline reps. We had prepaid our luggage and were told that they didn't have any records of such payment. We had to show our receipts as proof that we had already paid for our bags. We had paid three consecutive seats in the same row but we were given seats in different rows. We were only allowed to move after explaining our situation to later be asked to move again by a different flight attendant. I don't know if there is a way to make matters worse but they informed us that our connection flight would be delayed another 24 hours. I honestly don't recommend this airline to anyone and hope that everyone learns this lesson.

I showed him the test time according to Eastern Time but because he was late to boarding passengers (not my fault, was they system), I calm try to explain to him, but he was blind and extremely nervous. Well, he didn't give us opportunity to speak and scream to me that I better go, or we both would be left behind. He then told me to go, and he will put my wife on next flight, but part of our bags was already dispatched, and we use same luggage type and my wife stayed with two to take on the next flight as he promised. Again, he did promise to me that she would be in next flight, and we pay for business class, and she will be fine be on next flight. I left on plane on flight CM433 and I had no choice. We paid $500 for driver to take us from Galeão Airport to Cabo Frio and because his ignorance, I had to pay again because this city is 3 hours away by car.

Per his request because NOW HER COVID TEST EXPIRED, she was forced to pay $178 for a new Covid test. To make matters worse, he lied to us and left my wife on airport till next day and without her medication that was dispatched with me. I am handicap and my wife has serious health problems. When she checked to boarding, he told her business class was FULL and gave the er a seat on back of the plane. After few hours suffering without her medication, my wife start getting sick on plane and she was rescued by flying crew who brought her to business and they took care her and she noticed that he AGAIN, lied to her, was four seats empty and AGAIN, we did pay for business. At same token, I took picture showing that the seat on businesses that supposed be my wife was occupied by another PAYING passenger on 3E (I took picture to proof).

Now after she start feeling better, they refuse her a better seat and send my wife that was sick, back to economy even with business with four seats empty. When she arrived in Panama, another mistake, he put her on a 5 HOUR LAYOVER, at this point she was completely lost. She went to a counter and again, they did nothing to put her on a short layover flight. Remember that our original flight was on businesses and layover was 1.5 hours. After she seat for 5 hours, AGAIN she was told no seats on businesses, and she was seated in economic class. After losing 25 hours because an unprepared manager who did not listen to one single word, we were saying make a huge mistake, our vacation was ruined.

I was in Cabo Frio without any communication with my wife, but our transportation company got hold of her and find out that she was going to be on flight arriving at 12:45am. They couldn't drive her to final destination because was very dangerous. So now my wife that was already sick, had to wait till 5am (daytime) so transportation company could drive her for 3 hours and finally get her medication. My wife spent 25 hours between airports. Spent a full day at 5-star hotel sleeping recovering from all this trouble created by your poor trained manager in Miami. We start feeling better and tried to enjoy our vacation that was actually an emergency family visit trying to get in time to say Farewell to my uncle who is cancer terminal on advanced stage.

We got early on the 28 because our flight was on the 29th but AGAIN, this manager, put my wife on a different flight and AGAIN she was going to be left for hours in Panama without me. She is legally my caregiver, so you know, again, I am handicap. We spoke with Elizabeth (check-in manager at Galeão Airport, explained all we went through with Copa, and she told me everything will be ok. She saw the mistakes and actually she founded that the manager in Miami, booked my wife flight separate once again and she was going to fix. We requested an upgrade and I offered to pay because they took her out my reservation and only me was approved for business. Elizabeth told me business was full but did change my wife to my dear and I went to economic class. Based on her health issues we thought was the best decision. I offer to pay AGAIN for business to be next to my wife, but Elizabeth GUARANTEE me was full.

When we noticed business had AGAIN four seats EMPTY, I request flight attendant to contact Elizabeth because she was there, and I showed her that seats were empty and again I asked her to let me stay with my wife but was denied and she saw her mistake. We flew separated but Stewart saw our dilemma and allowed me to bring her medication and kept eyes on my wife. The crew from flight CM441 was amazing and is not at fault but my Godfather is the CEO for Tap Airlines and I know is not possible to change seat class after doors are close. They are not at fault but again, another manager lied to us. At Panama, I waited about 45 minutes and they tried to put us on a 5- or 6-hours layover flight, that is when I showed my health condition and customer service offered to send us to a hotel but was too late, I ran out my medication and I told customer service in Panama airport to take me to a hospital instead hotel.

The agent then make call and found way to put us on next flight to Miami about 1 hour later, I AGAIN asked for an upgrade that I PAID FOR but was refused. I flew economic, business and first since moved to USA in 1988 and NEVER experienced anything like that. I am preparing a letter to your corporation and post moments on video and pictures, but I will wait till hear from your company how so many mistakes happened with same passenger and on 4 of 4 flights with you guys. I need to return to Brazil in July, and I am very scared to use your airlines again. My whole family flew with Copa, they been using Copa for 5 years and warned me for some issues, but I thought was just delays. I was wrong. So please have someone from COPA Airline to contact me on my email ** or my phone **. I do have documentation and videos for all that I ate here.

She then told me it was my fault. She grinned and took pleasure in telling me I could always cancel my flight and try and find my unmarked bag somewhere in the Atlanta baggage underworld. Spent over 20 hours on customer service on hold Copa does not answer. My neighbor went back to Copa desk two days after and told disinterested Copa reps at check in where my bag was, at Delta lost baggage. Been 12 days since then my suitcase still intentionally being held hostage by Copa reps with an ax to grind. Unprofessional reps, no one will help resolve and they take it personal if you expect things to run well.

The second day, after getting the "lines are busy" message for hours and after waiting for over one hour in the queue, an agent answered and said the return flight was cancelled (which I knew already). Then she said she needs to look for options, took my phone number, and promised to call me in two minutes. She never did. This is my experience with these people on this last cancellation. The first two times were similar. It's almost impossible to get someone who can help. I'll never use them again.

I finally waited on the phone to be told the refund had been paid & case closed, hello where is my money - I explained that the details had been changed for my credit card & were not mine - I was told "NO way could this happen" so now someone in COPA has stolen my money and put another person's credit details against my flight and stolen my refund. No one will help me. Or give an explanation - I now have no money & can only complain - COPA needs to look into the theft as I'm sure I would not be the only one. STOLEN MONEY & NO HELP FROM COPA Airline in refund department. Susan ** Australia

When we got to the airport, all of the announcements were in Spanish first, check-in was EXTREMELY slow, and the employees didn’t seem to know what they were talking about any time you asked a question. After we checked our bags and finally got on the flight, 20 mins into the flight, they announced that we were having technical difficulties with the plane and that they were turning back to JFK. When we got off and I asked what the problem was, they said that they were having engine malfunctions. ENGINE MALFUNCTIONS! How did they realize that mid-air??? So we get off and while we’re walking to the boarding area, we were told that the next plane was “ready to go!” It wasn’t and we waited another 30 mins to board.

Meanwhile, my friend and I are worried about missing the connecting flight in Panama to Belize City AND the other flight we have scheduled with another airline from Belize City to San Pedro where our hotel is. But they assure us that it will be fine and we receive an email about how our flight in Panama is delayed, so we are temporarily relieved. But then 10 mins after getting on the plane, an employee comes to us and says “you two are going to Belize? Yea, you’re not going to make it there. The plane in Panama is not waiting for any more passengers, they are leaving.” So we ask if they can just put us on another flight in Panama to Belize and they say “Oh Copa only flies to Belize every 4 days.” So we would be stuck in Panama for 4 days! My friend and I are livid, we get off the plane and demand a refund and our checked bags.

After another 10 mins of the employees trying to find us and the other 5 passengers that were also going to Belize another flight (although we’ve made it clear that we want a refund and our checked luggage so we can go home NOW), they tell us and the 5 other passengers that our luggage is on the plane...that just left to Panama. So WE got off the plane but our bags were left on the plane! How did they not take our bags off the plane although 7 passengers in total had to get off because of their mistake! The incompetency was out of this world! I am a photographer and had thousands of dollars of equipment in my bag and another person had cancer medication in his bag. We were told that it could take 1-3 days to get our bag but there was no way to know. I completely lost my mind. How in the hell did they do this??

I then asked about my refund because at this point, we lost our money with the hotel reservation, we lost our money with the next flight from Belize City to San Pedro since we can’t even get to Belize at all now, and we lost the money we spent for Ubers to the airport and the ridiculous amount spent on nasty airport food. But apparently we have to speak to someone on the website to get a refund, there’s no phone number or department in the airport to speak to.

I’m writing this review one day after the incident and I still have yet to receive my bag OR the screwed up itinerary with all of Copa’s changes to our flight. And to make matters worse, when we checked our flight on their My Flights website page, it had the nerve to say the flight to Panama was arriving “On Time”. On time! 2 hours later! Yet it says on time! Copa Airlines is by far the worst airline I have ever flown and the fact that even an employee said that we’d have better luck receiving a refund through our bank than through Copa is extremely telling of their greed and disregard to customer needs. Do nots waste your money on this airline.

Original Review: One star is too high!!! I got turned away one hour before my flight for reasons that are still unclear. They said I had an onward flight to Colombia (I did not) and I needed to show them some paperwork (which I obviously didn't have). And now??? Customer service is useless. No information to share. Might as well have been talking with a picnic table. Avoid this airline!

Of course I didn't accept that and I told them, "You cancelled my CONFIRMED and PAID for reservation, you have to give me a solution." They simply kept me waiting on the phone and finally hung up on me. I have NEVER experienced anything like that in 30 years of international travel. This is obviously a terrible company. Why would they cancel a paid for ticket and not notify the passenger? I sincerely encourage everyone to stay away from this terrible airline.

I asked to speak to a supervisor & he was no help at all. So I had to book a new flight with American Airlines & pay extra money plus delay my trip by 4 days because of them. Now I have to wait a extra 8 weeks just to get my money back. I would advise everyone to just steer clear of this airline. Their customer service is horrible & I feel like I’m going to have a very hard time trying to get my money back.

We were allowed to board SFO to PTY and a later flight from PTY to UIO but in the meanwhile, we were refused boarding and had to wait almost 5 more hours to get to Quito. At one point a manager told us that if we didn't like the carry-on rules on the Copa website, we should contact them about changing them. Seriously? The gate agent refused to follow Copa's rules then a manager, we still have questions about this guy just being a friend of the gate agent's, tells us we should contact Copa about changing their policy.... Never again. For all the goofy stuff that goes on with air travel, this is the first time that our contract was changed on the whim of a gate agent that was probably having a bad day and decided to take it out on the Gringo.... Save yourself the problems and stick with American flagged airlines to Latin America.

Several more days and frustrated phone calls went by. Finally I went in person to the Copa sales office in the city. They called the airport and told me I had to go to the airport (1 hour away) that afternoon and talk with the person there. I went. The person there said that my bag had been there from the beginning, but I hadn't claimed it, so they sent it to Panama City. He told me to call customer service and gave me another email that replied with another automated response. In short, it's been 10 days, no bag, no help, no competency from anyone at the airline. They seem trained to pass the problem along without offering the slightest bit of customer assistance. Absolutely disgraceful.

After hours of trying to call them we managed to make a complaint and now we don't know what is happening with our luggage. The Copa customer service at the Miami international airport is horrible, the woman lied to us and let us believe that she was going to take care of the missing luggage. The Copa customer service online doesn't work either and calling them is even worse. Now we have a missing luggage with a least $1000 in value inside and nobody give us an answer. They made the end of our vacation a nightmare. I hope there is a lawyer out there that can do something about situations like this, airlines are doing whatever they want with the customers.

I've been calling customer service since 6am. They have not wanted to give a refund for the missed flight that was their fault and they cannot put me on my flights that I was originally on. They told me to come to the airport. Now the lady at the counter is saying she can't help me for another hour and a half and she did not guarantee anything either. This is a mess. They have wasted so much of my time and ruined my trip. I've lost so much money on the flights I had to purchase on Avianca and the Ubers back and forth. Hopefully I can get on the flight back home. Forgot to mention they lost my friend's luggage on December 28th and they still have no idea where it's at.

On my trip to return to the states, I was presented with the situation that I had to pay for my second check-in luggage. Before making my trip reservations I called the airline asking about the luggage. I was told that I could take 2 for free. I called 2 days before making my reservations which were I believe on July 14 or 15. When I checked in on Aug 9 I didn’t pay any fee for the extra luggage. On the way back, however, I had to pay my luggage which is insane. For this, I would like to get a refund for what I had to pay. I hope my issues able to get solve fast.

The mistake was with Copa on multiple levels. The app and online check-in is broken with passports, you gave seats away from a customer that paid months ago, and had terrible and condescending staff to make things worse. I was given a voucher but I will never use it on this terrible airline so that doesn’t do anything for me. The person I’m with and I were to attend a wedding tomorrow that will now likely not happen due to the flight that we were placed on being delayed. I have flown a lot. I have had other bad experiences, however, other airlines have outstanding customer service and dedication to customers make the difference... Copa does not.

I have sent emails to Copa because no one will talk to you over the phone dealing with refunds. Every time I call, I am receiving the runaround and no one seems to know what I am speaking of. This is ridiculous. I have never experienced this issue with other airlines. I had an issue with American and within days my refund was in my account. Copa is not big on customer service. They are big on giving you a hassle. Several Expedia reps I've spoken with stated the same.

At approximately 0720 hours, I noticed the screen changed to another flight and we asked the Copa Airlines worker for the flight that was supposed to leave at 0725. The airline worker stated that the flight left at 0718am. Never once was there an announcement or a "LAST CALL" for the flight. I took the responsibility for missing this flight which left a lot earlier than stated on the ticket. We went to Customer Service Desk and she found a flight to Medellin at 0745am. We asked her if that was enough time to make it to the gate. The employee said that we had enough time but we would have to run to the gate as she called the gate to let them know that we were on our way. SHE PROMISED AND GUARANTEED US THAT WE WOULD MAKE THE FLIGHT.

I paid almost $1000 US Dollars for that flight and it left at 0728. We arrived to the gate at 0724am. NOW THAT IS 2 FLIGHTS THAT WE MISSED BECAUSE COPA AIRLINES LEAVES WAY BEFORE THEIR INTENDED TIMES AND EMPLOYEES LIED SAYING THAT THE FLIGHT WOULD WAIT FOR US. I requested for Copa Airlines to send us back home to Los Angeles and a refund of what we lost because there were no other flights to Medellin till Thursday. Copa employees stated that I would have to file a claim online and "hopefully" they can reimburse my money. So, to summarize this, please watch Copa Airlines, they are thieves and it's sad to see that they are getting away with stealing people's hard earned money and we didn't even get to see our family.

I would rather pay a little extra and fly directly to Colombia on an American flight if we have another chance in the future. I Wish we can start a movement on behalf of everyone who has been robbed by this airline. I've never seen so many people upset and literally crying in an airport for unknown reasons but all related to COPA Airlines. NEVER AGAIN!

So if you book with a 3rd party Copa will ALSO refuse to work with you (see review below from Erik of Mountain View, CA). Copa's "solutions" were large scale financial burdens and no gains. My husband and I are out over 2 grand now and are buying our tickets, again, with another hopefully more ethical airline. Lessons learned, don't fly Copa. They'll make mistakes and charge you for them.

I have traveled with Delta. Excellent service and Caribbean Airlines excellent. Copa Airlines ruined my vacation and I am truly disappointed in your service. The company I work for uses this service to travel back and from Panama weekly, my director told me to send this email since he recommended your airline and I'm regretting it. All my stuff gone, I declared the items on paper 500 USD before arrival to JFK. I paid in full for year service. My sister and I sat at the airport and cried, Because there was no one to help, NO WINTER COATS and we couldn't find the stuff we bought for my sister who we have seen in 15 yrs. To be honest everything else was perfect. The flight was on time. The food was delicious and the flight attendant was rude when I inquired about my seat I reserved for my sister and I. I couldn't even get a blanket when I was feeling cold. Such a shame.

In closing I would like a full refund for my stolen/missing items and a replacement for my suitcase. My suitcase had max 50 lbs. When it arrived it was empty. Clothes, bags, shoes and snacks from my country missing. When I was booking at your agency another guy was complaining about the same thing and he was given help. I don't know if it's a class thing but I'm sad and fear that we may never use your service again. Everything else was okay except the above mentioned. I had to borrow my sister's suitcase to return to Guyana. Thank God nothing happens to it which tells me this incident is not habitual. I also paid extra to take this suitcase to America.

Unfortunately, Copa Airlines never put my bag onto the plane, and my carry-on bag together with my passport was still back in Panama! Copa Airlines never put my bag on the plane, even though it was on the gangway literally 5 feet away from the plane before take off! Everyone else who had their bags checked in last minute also did not receive their bags. The immigration supervisor would not let me into Colombia, since my passport was back in Panama! I was forced to stay overnight at the airport and was forced to take the next flight at 5 am back to Panama!

It was like the movie Terminal with Tom Hanks! Even though I had a hotel booked for that night, I was forced to stay overnight in the departure lounge, and got no sleep all night. I also eat only kosher food, and all my food was in my bag, so I also had nothing to eat. When I arrived the next morning back in Panama, I had 3 hours till the next return flight back to Colombia. After complaining & screaming for over 3 hours to so many people at the Copa airlines customer service desk, they finally found my lost carry-on bag, and I was able to get my passport for the flight back to CLO.

Copa Airlines would not let me take my bag with me on the flight, as they claim that my bag was in a secured area. Copa then had to get special permission to allow me to re-enter Colombia, since I was denied entry the first time. After 40 minutes of the airline attempting got make an international call, they finally managed to call Colombia and get permission for me to go back there and legally enter the country. I then flew back to Colombia for the 2nd time, and when I arrived this time I went to collect my suitcase and carry-on, and they lost my bags for the 2nd time!!! Not only did my bags not show up, but there were about 15 other people whose bags also did not arrive from my flight alone! I had to file a 2nd lost baggage report 2 days in a row!!!

Copa airlines then informed me that there are 2 more flights going from PTY to CLO that day, and they would deliver my luggage to my hotel, as soon as it arrives. My luggage never arrived that day, and I finally received it the following evening when I got back to my hotel. The baggage got delivered literally the night before my flight back to the USA.

I had no kosher food to eat for my entire stay in Colombia, and was living off fruit and water! I had the expense of the hotel for the 1st night that I was not able to sleep in, and missed half my business meeting in Colombia. It was a terrible experience, and have asked Copa for compensation. Every time I called them, they were just useless, kept me on the phone for ages, and then did nothing to help me. My only recourse was to send them a email, which I did, and I'm now waiting for a response, which I doubt I'll get! Terrible airline, never fly with them if you want your bags to arrive with you!

I made a second phone call to confirm which address they needed to forward my bag to. The new representative had no record of finding my bag. You can’t do this to customers that have spend hundreds of dollars on airfare through your company. I have been calling relentlessly without a single return phone call. I have priceless items in my bag and these people don’t even have the decency to call me back to get the situation figured out.

Plan B was to call the reservation center which we did at about 2 AM in the San Francisco airport. We were then told that our tickets were now invalid and we would have to pay over $1100 to go to Panama City Because prices had increased since we made our original booking. We agreed to think about it, and looked for a hotel. Try to get a hotel in San Francisco in July; not possible. Furthermore the reservation center told us there were no available seats on the next night's flights. That meant spend two nights minimum in the San Francisco airport hoping we would be able to get a flight out in two days. Mmm.

Plan C was to make last-minute bookings on other airlines (at extortion level prices) in order to get home and get some rest as soon as possible. This was the option we chose which cost us, in addition to the cost of the Copa tickets, an extra $2400. In spite of a later call to Copa's call center, after returning home, we were unable to recoup one cent from our San Francisco to Panama leg with Copa.

Ironically, an identical situation occurred on November flight with American Airlines where I missed the connecting flight in Miami because of a late arrival. As you can imagine, I no longer fly Copa, in spite of the fact that its route map is more convenient for me and despite the fact I have a free ticket which I likely will never use. American Airlines provided me with accommodations, transportation and food and a ticket on the first flight out the next day at no additional cost.

My advice to you as a passenger, considering Copa Airlines is to purchase travel insurance particularly, if you take if your flights require connections, involving Copa Airlines. As for me personally, I much prefer American Airlines customer service as opposed to Copa's version, which they term "Customer Care". As a result of my experience, I filed a complaint with the US DOT. I did this, because Copa would not respond to my initial complaint report on their website.

In Copa's response which is required under DOT regulations, a Copa representative explained their customer care policy to me. Their regulations made it clear that my situation was not a simple oversight or unique in any way. It was clear to both my wife and I that Copa's procedures were carried out to the "T" exactly as the Copa letter explained. I do not know what your experiences are or were, with Copa, but this trip ranks as my "travel experience from hell", one, which I hope I will never have to repeat, prior to my departure from this planet. You will quickly learn that If you experience Customer care issues on the ground, with Copa Airlines, there will only be one winner. Copa's Customer Care policies are designed to benefit Copa Airlines, not you, the passenger. Caveat Emptor!

I asked for the direct email and was informed they cannot provide to me. Same response I receive every time I call. No phone number for customer service or baggage claim either. All correspondence is via email. The site states a response within 15 days. However, no response to any of my emails and forms I have completed. The is the worst airline to travel with. Customer service is not their number one priority and their baggage department takes no responsibility for their actions. The least they could do is refund me my ticket and the items in my suitcase. Unfortunately, they have not done anything to resolve the issue. I went as far to go to my local airport to talk to someone there and no one at ticket counters nor a baggage claim area. The airport officer informed me they have a lot of customers very upset with this airline and he informed he will never travel with them as he sees the many disappointed customers each day.

Every personnel I talked to including other airline carriers informed me that Agents are only there when a flight arrives or departure for max an hour and then they are gone. What kind of business is this airline running. I do not recommend this airline to anyone and lesson learned it's best to always do carry one when possible. After researching the amount of luggage lost everyday is unreal. Their policy or corporate responsibility is a joke "Mr. Pedro Heilbron - CEO of Copa At Copa Airlines, we take pride in providing all of our passengers with world-class service, the best on-time performance in the region, and access to the most destinations through the Hub of the Americas. We are also proud of our ongoing efforts to ensure that we have a positive impact on society and the environment."

They need to adhere, honor their policy and abide by Code of Ethics they claim on their site. Till this day not one person has ever responded to me to even apologize and provide a response or refund of my items in my suitcase. Very bad customer service, I have notified BBB and all social media to warn people not to travel with this airline. If there were a negative zero rating I could provide, I would gladly do so as rating 1 is not even deserved. Stay away from Copa Airlines!!! No world class service provided.

This is ridiculous and untrue. I asked 2 different customs officers in the USA and they actually laughed at how ridiculous it was. I also asked about the alcohol and water and was told none of it should have been taken. If there is truly a restricted item list to bring into the USA as stated by the staff then it should be given to people. The next issue was that we had food and drinks after we went through security in Dominican Republic airport and we were not told we would have to throw out our water before we got on a connecting flight or we would have drank it and we were forced to throw out the water. The last thing that was taken was 2 bottles of mama Juana liquor that we were told would be able to make it through to the USA on our carry on because it was sealed with a wrapping on it.

This obviously was not the case as they also were taken. The items should not have been sold and it should have been told to us that we would have to go through a separate security prior to reaching the USA when we asked about it and that it would not be allowed into the USA. This is actually my 3rd time flying Copa and previously I did not have issues. To avoid problems in the future there should be a list of restricted items and an advanced warning that a second security would need to be gone through. This would avoid problems and confusion for passengers and make for happier customers on a whole. I have previously been happy with your services but will be considering different airlines in the future before using your airline or recommending it to others in the as I previously have always highly recommended you.

Eventually they told me they couldn't refund my money because my bank was not on their list. I'm still waiting to see if they will send a check to my address, but after 20+ hours of effort on my part, and 2 months of waiting, I'm not optimistic. Advice on next steps would be welcome. If you do use Copa, be aware that if any issues arise with your ticket, you may be stonewalled in your attempts to resolve--particularly if you're hoping for any money back. At a minimum, be prepared for a very frustrating and time-consuming process.

After 3 days I received a call from United saying that Caleb was not going to be allowed to fly by himself if he was not 15 years old or older according to their policies, and that they didn't understand why Copa Airlines allowed me to get this ticket knowing his age and their policies. So they suggested I called Copa Airlines, ask them to cancel the United flight and give me another option for Caleb to go to DC.

So I called Copa Airlines asking for help on this matter, and I spoke with 3 different representatives plus what they call a "supervisor" and this is their response: ""Ms Diana, you should have read the "migratory requirements" that says that minors of more than 12 years old can flight ONLY in flights operated by Copa, so to cancel the flight with United that you purchased through our website, you are not only NOT going to receive the refund but you are actually going to have to PAY 360 dollars for the penalties that will be caused by the changes you want to make.""

I was like wow! Not only I'm going to have to drive my son to VA, not get a refund for a ticket he is not going to use because Copa Airlines wasn't clear or said anything about this restrictions, but I'm going to have to pay them for the changes? Holy cow! This is serious!! So I went and read the migratory requirements that they were talking about, because how dare I didn't read the little letters right?... Nothing. there was nothing on those requirements that even mention anything about a minor.

Then they told me... "Oh, what you didn't read were the "terms and conditions". So yes, we can't help you and you are going to have to pay for the ticket your son is not going to use." So I went and read the Terms and conditions, every single little letter in there and... nothing... So they replied: "Oh no! Is not the terms and conditions is the "Transportation contract" what you didn't read Ms Diana," so I went to find the little link, and saw a 60 pages contract, and on 1 of the clauses, on page 15, they mention this weird clause that if any of you read you will not even understand that what they are saying is that minors older than 12 years old can only flight in airplanes operated by Copa.

Seriously? Copa Airlines? You guys are telling me that because I didn't read a 60 pages contract, and a clause that nobody can even understand I'm going to have to pay penalties for a ticket I bought from you guys? When YOUR system allowed me to buy this ticket, when you don't even mention in any step that if the flight wasn't operated by Copa, minors cannot fly without an adult?

What really worries me, is how they treat people, and how it seems like they just train people to act like robots that are only repeating a script over and over again instead of really helping the person. They treat people like they are dumb, like "How could you not read a 60 pages contract" right? And they give you the same answer over and over again, and there's no way you can talk with a manager or someone who can actually look at the case and be flexible and care about their CLIENTS not a stupid protocol. ** Copa Airlines even if you guys don't even care, I will never buy a ticket from you guys ever again.

"The responsible adult must submit the request for the service for the minor without a companion to the airline at least 48 hours before travel or at the time of the reservation through our Sales Offices or Reservation Center." Our kids are travelling alone, we are taking them to the gate and they are being picked up at the gate, calling 24 hrs in advance should be plenty of time to enter the information required and pay for this "service" however one staff member (out of the 3 calls we made) insisted that this rule means the request MUST BE MADE 48 hours in advance and we had to change our ticket because we were calling 24 hrs in advance.

The staff overall seemed very unfamiliar with their own policies, their main concern was for us to change our ticket and charge us $2000 per ticket to make this change (we paid $300 per ticket originally) and when we pointed out they were wrong they would come up with another issue where we had to change our ticket. In the end, it was resolved with the last person when they gave up and said "well our website is wrong so you should be fine."

After basically almost cursing I was then transferred to a supervisor who did nothing to help or make the problem better. I agreed to pay $214 to change my ticket when I saw a ticket online that was $580 my original ticket was $750 which would have been an even exchange. I was on hold with the supervisor for over an hour with the same results! The supervisor was very rude and left me on hold for over 20 minutes because his “computer needed to be rebooted and not once did he check in on me. I must say that I will never use this airline again!

When we booked our flights, the COPA agent never advised us that after a layover in Panama City, we would be required to have the Yellow Fever vaccine in order to fly to Nicaragua. The COPA agent at Logan Airport in Boston who checked us in (on March 10, 2018) also failed to inform us of the Yellow Fever vaccine requirement. It was not until we arrived at the Panama City airport to check in for our flight to Managua (on March 11, 2018) that we were informed by COPA agent that we could not check in, that we would need the YF vaccine and a 10 day quarantine. We were effectively stranded in Panama City with our 5 year old, while the rest of our family was gathered in Nicaragua.

As a result of COPA’s failure to inform us of the YF vaccine requirement for passengers flying from Panama City to Nicaragua, we lost money in COPA flights, domestic flights within Nicaragua, and fees for cancelled/no-shows at hotels in Nicaragua. We incurred significant costs finding room and board in Panama. When we attempted to head home, we were informed that we’d have to pay for new tickets, change fees, and penalties. It is incomprehensible to us that with Panama City being COPA’s hub that it would not be routine to warn all passengers traveling through Panama to Central America of this vaccine requirement. Aside from the incalculable emotional hardship our family was put through due to COPA’s negligence, we are asking COPA to reimburse us for the costs that we incurred, while never reaching our destination.

We have submitted our complaint through the COPA Airlines website and have taken to Twitter with our story to warn others about this YF vaccine requirement, since COPA doesn't seem concerned with informing their passengers about it. Not surprisingly COPA is happy to charge customers for having to change their flights due to the vaccine restrictions and regularly emails customers about frequent flyers programs yet never sends a single email communication regarding the YF vaccine requirement to COPA customers.

We finally got to our destination and of course OUR LUGGAGE DID NOT ARRIVE! I was furious and they assured the 7 passengers that were on the same flight that our luggage would come the next day... I had NOTHING. No clothes for my daughter, not change of underwear. Nada!! The next day I went back to get my luggage (I had to stay there for 2 extra days because I had no luggage). They only gave me 2 of my suitcase!!! The next day the rest came except for one. Which had all my daughter's medications. They said no one can find it.

At this point I’m livid. And all they could say to me was “why would you put it in the luggage” and I said (yes I yelled) “I didn’t think you guys would lose all my flippin' suitcases!!! And if something happens to my daughter and I don’t have her medications this will not be good for you!" Well I ended up travelling to my locations and guess what, after one 5 days. Yes 5!!! They found my luggage. I’m am now travelling once again with my daughter and Although the flight attendants were absolutely great, I don’t think I’ll travel Copa Airlines again.

But, this was only on the departure leg. For the return leg, that involved the same situation (the lower price was a different fare class than the original purchase fare class), they did not change that price to the higher one (thankfully though). I understand that most people do not change ticket dates but typically it is not this hard. If this is the start of my trip I can imagine it will only get worse and I will be sure to spread the news of COPA's ineptitude and terrible customer service. I will gladly pay the extra cost in the future to travel on a different airline. At this rate, I could have purchased a first class ticket.

Every day I was lead to believe my bag had been found and it would be there the next day. For a international company, I found that I could get no one to speak or understand English in Columbia that worked for Copa. I had to get a the bride to call every day to speak Spanish to get any information, she really didn't need the extra stress. Then when I left and landed in Panama City the first English speaking agent told me they hadn't even found my bag. A very special occasion was Tarnished all due to COPA Airline. Fly any other carrier than COPA. If you're into getting a runaround, getting frustrated by more than 12 Copa reps then go for it, and good luck.

Also, one day before my trip leaving from Montréal to Lima, when I went on the website to do the web check-in, something was wrong with my e-ticket and I was told that my reservation code was not working (it was working before). I got really stressed and didn't know what to do, so I went on the chat to ask someone to help me with that situation. Someone speaking a good English answered me right away and fixed what was wrong (took less than 5 minutes) and I could process to do my web check-in. So, in my opinion, you shouldn't hesitate to book with them (even if they are not always the cheapest).

In mid-May I received some bad news from Quito, where I learned that my mother was diagnosed with cancer and they did not give her more than 3 months to live. I immediately bought some tickets and on May 23 flew to Ecuador to be at her side. Two weeks later I returned to the United States because my mother was a little more stable. Unfortunately, a week later I had to return again because it got much worse. This time I ended up staying until July 27.

On July 2, 2017, my mother succumbed to cancer and the rest of my family traveled to Quito on July 4 as scheduled. But as I was already in Quito, in mid-June, I called Copa Airlines to tell them that I was not going to use the first part of the travel ticket since I was already in Ecuador. They told me that I had to call Orbitz, since I had bought my tickets there. I called Orbitz and after 2 calls and 5 hours of talking to them, they just sold me a one way ticket for almost double the money of my regular fair that already owned.

Copa Airlines told Orbitz, if I did not use the first part of my ticket (Boston-Quito) They would cancel the return too. So I was forced to buy a new ticket so I could return to Boston with my family. Not only that I was not allowed to use the return ticket that I already had, but they charged me a fine for canceling the first ticket and switching to a new one, using the same day and flight that I bought more than 5 months in advance.

Orbitz asked me to send a letter from the doctors who took care of my mother and also the death certificate. On my return I put everything together and sent as I was asked, 2 months later after not hearing anything from Orbitz, I called again, they put me on hold for over an hour and when the person came back, he asked me to resend all the paperwork again. All of that just so that days later Copa Airlines said that the death of a parent is not a basis to return any money, including the penalty for the change of flight.

If that is how they treat passengers in domestic calamity, how would they treat others? I will never fly that airline again, I guess I can’t be the only one who has gone through this, but the greed of this airline is worth sharing and asking everyone if they can, not use it in their travels. To add to the insult, they sell tickets offering Wi-Fi and entertainment, the planes are so old that we did not even have Wi-Fi, nor did the ceiling televisions work. Please share this experience and let people know how Copa Airlines treats its passengers and how they make their money. Please help me change these policies that benefit only these airlines and leave customers without resources to do anything.

After all I went to an office of Copa Airlines in San Jose, Costa Rica. I explained everything and the lad talked to Copa Center and she said me that Copa will make my refund, the process couldn't be done. So I should to buy a ticket at this office, then I bought. However even I sent all my documents and everything to Copa Airlines e-mail addresses about this issue, they even send me any response neither any apologize nothing. Basically they stole my 882,80$ and I couldn't get any information from Copa Airlines side. You can see attached all my documents.

My wife got the 1 day overstayed fixed with Immigration. As she went back to the counter the Supervisor big shot tells her that she was going to miss the flight even though the plane was still loading passengers... "Therefore she had to be placed on the next day flight but there was going to be a 1200.00 to 3000.00 dollar charge".... Got on the phone and Copa or supervisors nowhere to be found. I had to purchased a new ticket through American and my wife was able to make it in the next day. I am suing them!!!

There is an announcement for cabin staff to prepare for takeoff and then we head off. The plane has leveled off but the seat belt sign stays on and lights are off. Twenty five minutes into the flight three people have got up to use the toilet but seatbelt sign still on, no messages in Spanish or English, no turbulence. My husband has now been holding a half full sick bag for around 50 minutes and we don't have a spare. Seatbelt sign eventually off I press the call for the steward, call sign goes off with no help.

On the second try a lady arrives, my husband holds up the bag and asks for water, even saying 'aqua.' I ask for another sick bag. She looks like she has never seen a sick bag in her life and looks at us hopelessly. We repeat, "Water and sick bag please and pass the bag." She disappears, at least she took the bag, but does not return with a spare bag or water. Fifteen minutes later I press the call button again, after about eight minutes a different steward arrives, we ask for water and a sick bag, she doesn't seem to understand sick bag so I opened the pocket to show what was there and mimed throwing up, she nodded returned with a water in a plastic cup (hence a small serve) in about three minutes and came back with two bags after another five.

After half an hour or so my husband was sick again, he really was very discreet and as quiet as possible. I pressed the call button and after ten minutes a steward arrived and we handed over the bag, though the presentation of the bag seemed to perplex and surprise the steward, and asked for water, getting a small cup in about three minutes and another bag dropped in passing about five minutes later.

When the food trolley arrived the steward wouldn't make eye contact with my husband in the window seat and looked to me, I got water for my husband and a drink for me. I wasn't going to risk the food as it was the previous flight that had caused the problem we think. Luckily he wasn't sick again, we made one more call for water, but that was because the two third full cups were not a lot of water.

We're told we will be landing in twenty five minutes. About ten minutes later US customs forms are delivered. Well in my case dropped from over my shoulder behind me by a different steward, it was the Spanish version. I hit the call button, and one of the female stewards nervously comes to my spot, I hold up the form and say, "English please." This seems an unusual request and she rifles through the pile of forms and finds an English one. I can't believe our being English speaking is so difficult since we are about to land in New Orleans!

I feel like the cabin crew are barely trained, surely English for sick bag please while holding a used one is no leap. But most significantly there was no basic human caring, no sympathy. Even if one person being sick is scary surely they should do their best to make us comfortable so we don't disturb other customers? I don't think other customers were aware because we were very quiet but also the lights were off for the whole flight from 6:30 pm to 11:00pm except for the last ten minutes of landing, I felt the whole light off thing was to minimise any service opportunities. I tried to use the website to complain about our treatment. When I get to the right section it says I have to load the form in Google chrome. I download and use Google chrome and the same message appears, clearly they are not interested in improvement. We won't be flying COPA again.

Here I am, in Sao Paulo, with a paid, confirmed boarding ticket in my hand, with vacant seats on the plane, but I am denied boarding. WHAT??? Well, the COPA reps tell me to call reservations and ask to rebook. On the phone, COPA reservations reps say they cannot see how much was the fare because it was bought through a travel agent so they cannot do anything about it (?). Can't rebook, not even for a penalty. Computer says no! As one of the reviewers above me said once they go into "not our problem" mode, there's no way out. "Go talk to your travel agent, go talk to United, not our problem." Called United, they insist that they did book an upgrade for me, but they cannot do anything because it's not their ticket. Go call COPA... Catch-22.

UPDATE: United budged and put me on a flight back... Even they couldn't cope with COPA! If it was up to COPA, I think I would be stuck in Sao Paulo forever. In summary, I've been mistreated and abused by airlines many times before, but this certainly sets a new record. And if you are considering flying COPA I say to you: NO! NO! The sweetness of the fare is not worth your well-being and mental health.

She suggested to call Copa customer service or come back to her later on. She also said the airline was going to charge us for putting us into the next flight schedule for 2:25pm and that it could be less expensive for us if we decided to do it right there with her instead of calling customer again. She recommended us to come back to the counter at 10:15am and look for help and try to get into the next flight. We did so.

Unfortunately for us the new agent, after us telling her the incident said our reservation was completely cancelled due to a NO-SHOW (no matter we were there 10 min before the closed the flight). She also said we had to pay a fee of 140 dollars per person and to buy a new ticket to come back because ours was also cancel. This new ticket to come back to NYC was around 1000 dollars.

We left the counter to discuss our financial options and after 15 min we went back to her to explore fair and accessible options for us. Close to 11:20am we spoke to two other different agents asking for help.The looked at each other like not knowing what to do. One of them tried explaining the other one the charges we were supposed to pay but even her couldn’t understand why and how much. Apparently neither of the agents who were talking to us were able to calculate the correct charges and/or give us options.

Overtime we went back to the counter it was a different amount and the prices were inconsistent and higher every time. At 1:10pm, 15 min before closing the second flight to Panama, the agent notified us with the correct amount we were supposed to pay. It was $1200 dollars per person. We explained we did not have that kind of money and that we were willing to pay the fee and begged them to put us on the flight. They said NO. The only way to take the flight was buying a new ticket from them right there for $1200 dollars. At 2:25pm the flight left. An hour later after debating about solutions we decided to call Copa customer service again and ask one more time for help.

After more than 40 minutes of waiting someone asked me to tell him the situation one more time, then she put me on hold for another 10 minutes. When she came back she said our roundtrip flight was cancelled because we did not arrived (which is not true). I tried to explain what had happened so she could help us since I was still hoping someone would give us options and understand the situation. I asked four basic questions about our situation and for each of them she put me on hold. It took 5-7 minutes per question. In the forty minutes duration of the call this person did not understand what we were going through. What she offered us was continue waiting at the airport for 8 more hours and pay a penalty of $280 dollars plus $150 dollars for agency fees and other $108 for other fees and $1000 dollars for the flight back to NYC.

As the reservation was made through Expedia I contacted them around 5:00pm. They explained to us the only charge we had to pay was $280 and I could be able to use the ticket at any time in the future. They said Copa had cancelled the flight. She suggested to take the third and last flight Copa had schedule for that day at 1:00am. She said if we decided to take that fly we could work all the changes on Copa website or at their counter by 10:00pm and that they, Expedia, will contact them also to discuss the situation. An hour later I tried to check the information on the Copa website and after several attempts I was not able.

I called Copa customer service again and they said we already were on the next flight for 1:00am. After almost 13 hours at the airport I called them again to notify them I wasn’t going to be able to fly. I was already feeling sick and not in good condition to be on a plane. The person this time told me they already had withdrawn $280 dollars.

This is the worst experience ever. Copa Air service is insensitive. It is solely designed to get more and more money from its customers without any human consideration and without offering any kind of customer service. Their ticket brokers at JFK, JFK managers, website check in and customer service over the phone are inefficient. In more than 20 years that we have traveled we had never experienced a bad treatment like this, such complicated and inhuman service.

The lack of communication is ridiculous! After almost an hour on the phone they miraculously find the email I sent and tell me it's being worked on and I should hear from the agent in charge of my claim, Genesis **. I received one email from this person and nothing more. Considering this is their mess and it consistently happens (based on past reviews). For anyone reading this DO NOT PURCHASE ONLINE WITH THIS AIRLINE! In the end you will pay more out of pocket than what you think you are saving. HOW MANY MORE DAYS FOR A REFUND?

He didn't care that we already paid for the flight and our connecting flight was delayed. We asked him for a later flight and he said nothing was available for that evening or THE NEXT TWO DAYS. We ended up flying one way with American Airlines because Copa wouldn't let us board. When we tried to return they charged us each an $160.00 "missed" arrival flight fee! They would not let us fly home if we didn't pay it. Keep in mind, this is a flight that we already paid for!!

When we got back to the States, I contacted their Customer Service and that's when I really found out how much of a joke this "business" is. On their automated email signature it says they will respond to your email within 15 DAYS, and they responded to me in 14! Wow. I spoke with Evelyn ** and Diana ** and they stand behind their airline agents not assisting us with check-in.

I now see why my deal through Groupon was so cheap. No one would book with Copa if they had the choice! If you want further verification of Corrupt Copa, read their review on Consumer Affairs, their Boycott Copa Airlines Facebook pages, Yelp, etc. They only had 3 desk open and it's 2016 but they don't have self-check-in kiosk. COPA JUST WANTS YOUR MONEY. PLEASE RUN!!

The manager informed my friend to tell me to go back in an hour and that he would check me in. I was in no state to fly. I had been crying for a very long time. Now, Copa Airlines has said to me that if I want to fly I need to buy another ticket at a cost of almost $1,000. I was going to Guatemala to spend Christmas with my family and celebrate my niece's 15th birthday and my nephew's 18 birthday. 34 years ago, my father was killed on December 30 and my brother is celebrating their birthdays on December 29 to have better memories. Unfortunately, Thanks to Copa Airlines Staff, I'll still have the sad memories of my father's assassination.

My aunt Consuelo dropped my grandmother off at the Copa Airlines check in counter in Santiago, Chile at around 9 a.m. on Tuesday, November 29th. After checking her in, she left my grandmother in the care of the third party company that offers the wheelchair transportation services to seniors and trusted that they would take her to her departure gate on time. After all, this is the reason why they are contracted by Copa Airlines and why my grandmother gave the woman a tip. My aunt left my grandmother at the airport three hours before her flight which was scheduled to depart at 12:26 p.m. The woman who transported her in the wheelchair across security dropped her off at gate 17 and told her she would be back to take her to her designated departure gate once it was announced.

Over 2 hours passed, and as time approached boarding time, my grandmother alerted the Copa Airlines personnel that she needed to be taken to the correct gate. These people assured her that she would be taken on time and that the woman would be back for her. When my grandmother realized it was almost noon she started becoming very upset because she knew that if she wasnt taken to her departure gate she would miss her flight. At this moment, one young gentleman tried to rush her to her gate only to find out that her flight had already departed. This incident unleashed a series of events. My grandmother missed her connecting flight to Panama and as a result her flight to her final destination - Pereira, Colombia, which was scheduled for later that evening at 9:34 p.m.

The Copa Airlines employees at the Santiago Chile Airport apologized for their negligence of transporting her and set her up to fly 11 hours later to Panama. My grandmother spent 11 hours sitting around waiting for the flight that would take her to Panama. While in Chile, the employees put my grandmother in the VIP lounge where they made sure she was comfortable until her next flight and not left alone in case of an emergency. My family and I found out about the inopportune event when my grandmother called and we immediately contacted Copa Airlines in Chile. They assured my grandmother, my aunt and I that she would also be put in the VIP lounge in Panama since she would arrive at 6 a.m. the next day and would have to wait over 16 hours until 9:30 p.m. when her next flight would depart because there is only one flight per day to Pereira.

When I called the Copa Airlines USA customer service number on the 30th of November to verify that my grandmother was still in good health considering the strenuous circumstances she was being put through due to their negligence, the manager Christina that came on the phone tried for over 2 hours to call the Panama airport and locate my grandmother in the VIP lounges. After waiting for 2.5 hours on the phone, Christina came back to tell me that they had lost my grandmother after she had been taken off the airplane and that she was not in one of the VIP lounges as had been promised.

Apparently she had been dropped off in one of the departure gates to wait for the next 16 hours alone. My grandmother was left completely unattended for over 16 hours at a random gate in an airport. Christina informed me that she was trying to contact the manager on duty that day, Mr. Arnunfo ** so that he can make proper arrangements for my grandmother while she was at the airport in Panama. The manager Christina was not able to locate Mr. **. Furthermore, when we contacted the Copa Airlines in Chile where my grandmother had been the evening before they assured my aunt that she was in the VIP lounge in Panama, which was not true.

My grandmothers health was put in jeopardy by Copa Airlines. If the woman at the Chilean airport had taken her to her gate on time, my grandmother would have not spent over 36 hours in airports waiting to get to her final destination. When I bought her ticket months ago, I took great care to explicitly buy a ticket that would prevent her from waiting in airports a long time. Furthermore, I purchased travel protection. All of that didnt matter at the end. All the extra money I spent did not matter because my grandmother arrived to Colombia on Wednesday night, over 38 hours later with swollen feet and enormous fatigue and discomfort on her back and legs.

It has taken me four days to calm down and write this complaint. Also, I have been in conference with my lawyer reviewing the possibilities of a lawsuit against Copa Airlines for negligence and for putting the welfare of an elderly customer in jeopardy. My grandmother has been visiting her doctors in Colombia and they are completing a thorough checkup in order to rule out permanent damage from the exhaustion and fatigue she suffered while in the care of Copa Airlines. I request a full refund for this trip. I am embarrassed to find that Copa Airlines is in part a Colombian airline company. You would think that they would take care of their own people, instead of turning a blind eye when clearly it was their mistake that my grandmother missed her flight and was left alone to suffer for almost two days.

It is revolting to think that this is how Copa Airlines treats their customers, especially the elderly whom require more attention and are left in the hands of their third party companies, which provide services like wheelchair transportation. An airline that makes these kind mistakes should not be in business. This mistake could have been costly. It could have cost my grandmothers wellbeing or even worst, her life. More severe health complications could have afflicted my grandmother as a result of waiting two days in airports completely unattended, all thanks to the negligence of Copa Airlines.

I was finally checked in at 4:50 am, leaving me 35 minutes to clear security and be at my gate by the 5:27 am gate check-in. I did get through security and made it to my gate. I boarded my flight, which was only 5 minutes late in departing, by some miracle, and we arrived on time in Panama City. That is where the real nightmare began -- I didn't realize it, but the antics in Guatemala City were just a warm-up.

I had an 8 hour layover in Panama City, so I thought I would find something to eat, browse the stores a little, and get to my gate in plenty of time. However, customer service at that airport is nonexistent. Service was so excruciatingly slow in the food court that I finally ate the Guatemalan candy in my carry-on that I had purchased as souvenirs for friends at home. I got a bottle of water and a Coke at some stand and began to peruse the boards to see if my departure gate had changed from what was on the original boarding pass.

I looked at those flight boards for 7 hours, and my flight was never posted. I went to the Copa customer service desk, but there was never any personnel staffing it. I went to gate number 4, where I was supposed to depart, but was told my flight wasn't scheduled for that gate. I went back to the central area, checked customer service, which still wasn't staffed. Checked the boards, which still weren't updated, and sat at Gate 20. After about 4 hours of this, a woman leisurely strolled up to the customer service desk. I immediately approached her, was told I would have to wait while she checked something else, and then looked on in astonishment as she finally got up, walked away, and disappeared. It was another 45 minutes before someone came back.

I was finally told my departure was at Gate 4, so I went back over there to wait for another 3 and a quarter hours. A flight to Quito was boarding, but I waited through that and the new information that was posted confirmed it was my departure gate. I settled in to wait, with my water and Coke purchased at the airport. There were 2 other people waiting for the flight, both of whom were trying to rest. This proved impossible, as no fewer than 12 women appeared, apparently ready to perform another security screening at the gate. They sat in all the customer seats (which were by now filling up with passengers), screeching, gossiping, and cackling at the top of their lungs. This continued for well over 2 hours.

Then, as abruptly as they had descended, they all got up and meandered over to the security screening equipment, while one woman started appearing before passengers, giving them commands in Spanish. As I didn't speak Spanish, I didn't know what she said. When I said, "No habla Espanol," she rolled her eyes, spluttered off something else, then pointed in back of me. It appeared we were going through another security screening, as the entire area had been cordoned off. Fine...

It was now one hour before the flight was to depart, all the passengers were appearing for the boarding check-in, and after spending 2 hours sitting around listening to the security personnel trade personal gossip, they were finally going to start working 300+ passengers through a screening. So I went through the screening, where they confiscated my water and Coke. When I told the I had purchased them in the airport, they just jabbered, waved their hands, and threw the liquids in the trash. I wouldn't have minded if there was a sign in English explaining it was policy or something, but I was angry that there was no one who could explain anything in English. I found a seat, waited... and had to go to the bathroom before the 5 hour flight I was about to board.

I grabbed my bags, walked under the rope, and went to the bathroom. When I returned and attempted to re-enter the waiting area, one of the women planted herself in front of me and started talking again, jabbing toward me with her finger. I repeated I didn't speak Spanish, so she then pointed and gave me a shove toward the screening line, which I went through again.

No one spoke a single word of English; there were no signs or instructions in English; and this was a flight that was going to Chicago, Illinois in the US. Needless to say, after all the screenings, which proceeded at the pace of a turtle stuck in hot tar on the road, the flight was half an hour late departing. While the flight crew was fine, they could not make up for the downright insolence and in-your-face attitude of the airport personnel.

The icing on the cake? When I finally arrived home, eager to give my kids their souvenirs, I opened my bags only to find complete mayhem. The worldwide accessible, TSA-approved locks that I had been assured by Copa Airlines were easily accessible by their personnel with a key? Gone. They had not only been removed from my bags but were not returned, leading me to believe that the baggage security in Panama City had never bothered with a key, but just cut them off. And my baggage?

They had opened every zippered bag, every wrapped object, every plastic bag with dirty clothes and souvenirs and cosmetics, etc. and literally just dumped it all together in the center of each bag. It was a jumbled mess, with liquids over everything because even the clear Ziploc bags that held my shampoo, etc. had been dumped and the bottles had come open (or were perhaps deliberately opened). Several of the souvenirs I had purchased had been stolen, as were a few coins and notes of Guatemalan money I had unwittingly left in a zippered bag.

Dishonest. Rude. Unprofessional. Deliberately aggressive and unwilling to help. Take your pick of an adjective to describe Copa and the Panama City airport in particular. I will be writing to my congressmen, state representatives, and the Department of Transportation to find out why we allow this airline to do business with the United States. I will be avoiding this airline in the future, and I would highly advise anyone else to do the same.

Further, customer service representatives don't know what they are doing. When you call or write an email, everyone will give a different answer. They bounced customers around in their call center and treat them like pigs. If you don't speak Spanish, they will hang up the phone in your face as well. When you inquire about a refund, they will tell you that they are not responsible in order to avoid paying the full amount.

I clearly don't know why the United States allow this airline to do business in the U.S or land in our shores. They are not compatible with the fair business practices that we have in this country. They should remain in Panama and treat their people like that rather than create glitch in their system in order to steal our citizens' money. I will contact the department of transportation to report this unfair act. I notice COPA Airlines is a company that does not understand customers and they treat them like pigs. It is time to petition this company and look into their business practices. Perhaps and only perhaps customers can get a peace of mind. Please please get rid of COPA so that they don't land in our shores.

The following afternoon, I reached Tocumen airport to get on my rescheduled Copa flight to Rio Janeiro. This time, Copa's flight was delayed, and yet they didn't inform the passengers until they arrived at the gate. There was no apology, customers were laying around like cattle and the delay was over 3 hours. By this time, I had unnecessarily spent ~24 hours at Panama City which was horrible as I lost one day's worth of work. The flight from Panama City to Rio is almost 8 hours long, the seats in business class don't even recline beyond 45 degrees, and it's an overnight, very uncomfortable flight. Food was terrible, there are loud TV announcements going off in the middle of the night.

The fare wasn't cheap. For the delay caused and the unapologetic, customer insensitive behavior, Copa's behavior and service is like that of a third world airline treating its passengers with no dignity. My colleagues who flew United all the way from Newark to Rio through Houston or American through Miami, had no issues at all. I dread going back home as I will have to fly Copa again. That will be my last time. I would advise everyone to avoid this airline and Panama City airport.

Problem 1... outward bound. Arrived Panama via AirCanada Rouge for connection to Ecuador via COPA. Went to get our boarding cards from COPA agent. "Nope, you have no tickets." The COPA agent was banging on the computer like it was her first time. After 30 minutes looking, "nope, no tickets. Not our problem, you need to call Aeroplan." What????? I'm in Panama with no phone, and my flight is in 1 hour. Isn't there something else you can do like talk to a supervisor? "Nope, not our fault, call Aeroplan."

Luckily, the flight crew was still kicking around from my AirCanada flight... explained the situ... showed her my confirmed itinerary. She went in to her system, pulled up my e-tickets... yup, everything is fine... COPA are idiots (like this isn't the first time)... let's go. So, now I've got an AC employee holding COPAs feet to the fire... After 20 more minutes or so and another employee... yup there we are. Seems we have confirmed tickets after all, but tickets booked with points are put into a different place and blah blah. Got our boarding passes. Later on I thought what about coming back??? Went to a different COPA agent, she popped in my name, up comes all the info for my return trip... yup... were there... no problems. Printed off my full itinerary to assure me. OK.

Problem 2 homeward bound. Day before travel went online to see my COPA reservations for Guayaquil Panama - Bahamas. In Bahamas I switch to AirCanada. I'm not worried about that. Only thing coming up is Panama - Bahamas, no Guayaquil - Panama. Tried inquiring via their chat service, but that was a useless endeavor. Off to the airport. Yup, I have a confirmed ticket from Panama, but not to Panama. "Well, how can that be? Don't you see it's the same trip?" "Yup, we have your name but Aeroplan obviously didn't confirm the seat. There are seats available, but none that I can give you because you're in the points category points fly standby." Well that's a new one.

"No no no look at all the documentation I have Aeroplan says confirmed, COPA itinerary I got in Panama says confirmed I am not standby." I explained the problem I encountered (and resolved) on my way down... try looking elsewhere. "Nope, you have to call Aeroplan." Tried convincing the agent she has to look for me in a different way. "Nope, not our fault, call Aeroplan." 1 hour later no success talking with a human from Aeroplan. Only sitting on hold before the automated system booted me.

Back to desk, "please try harder to find me." Same response. "Only option is to buy a ticket Guayaquil - Panama... only first class left. $800 please." Off to travel agent across the hall. Yes, she'll sell me one but she's worried I would be stuck in Panama given this comedy of errors that is COPA... I should go back and get proof in my hands that Panama - Bahamas is confirmed.

OK, back to COPA... but now I ask to talk to the shift supervisor. Same story... "nothing we can do... call Aeroplan... their mistake..." blah blah. "No no I'll accept that. I just want you to print off confirmation of my Panama - Bahamas ticket. And if possible, a document showing the screw up on the Guayaquil ticket so I have something to use when I get home and talk with Aeroplan." Whenever I have problems with companies I always try to turn verbal into written. Watch Judge Judy for insight into that. OK, she can see me but doesn't know how to print my confirmation. She calls someone. Blah blah... click click click. Oh, look, my seat on Guayaquil was just confirmed BS... I understood the conversation perfectly. She was just told how to pull me up... JUST LIKE I was trying to explain about what happened in Panama.

I have my tickets. All is well. Later on, check on line, yup, everything is now showing. Morale of story. Be prepared to go through hell to get your tickets when booked with Aeroplan. This is not the fault of Aeroplan, but clearly COPA employees do not know how to use their own system. And when confronted with the need to step up to go above and beyond to help a (about to be) stranded traveler, their default mode seems to be "not our problem." Yes. Yes it was, in both cases.

If you find yourself having to deal with COPA to get your confirmed tickets, once they go into not our fault mode, you'll need to find some way to change the script so that they're forced into doing an action that makes them have to talk to someone else who is hopefully more competent. They will not do it willingly. Only when you can maneuver them into a situation where they cant use not our fault as a reply will you have a shot at getting a different outcome. I don't know if this is a cultural or corporate attitude, but I only got unstuck in both cases by luck, in my opinion. I don't like traveling on luck.

Well what happened was disgusting. The dog was never walked or fed for the entire time. When I picked him up inside the kennel the dog had no choice but to pee and poo in the kennel. The food and water were still taped to the kennel. Nobody did anything so for almost 24 hrs my sweet dog was in horror. Nothing was done. Unreal. They all lied to me.They also stole my leash and dog collar. I should of known better when they would only accept cash. Very very bad company. My dog drank 3 bottles of water as soon as he got out of the kennel. Of course I put the water in his bowl. The water was finished within 3 min. Please do not send your pet with this place.

I was on a return flight Lima-San Francisco with a layover in Panama June 24 2016. I knew I had to leave the airport in Panama and may miss my connecting flight. I tried to make the airline aware of these unexpected errands because of checked baggage. There was nothing they could do about stopping my bag. Fine... Understandable (if that was truly the case). I did not make the connecting flight, however a friend who I was traveling with did and called to tell me that my bag was in SFO and hers was still in PTY. Why? Because they pulled the wrong bag off the plane... WTF. They told her my bag would be sent back that same night. It wasn't. She picked her bag up the following night and my bag was still sitting in baggage claim.

I've spoke to customer service every day for 6 days trying to locate the bag and they didn't even know it went to SFO. Now they can't even locate it. The numbers they give me to contact baggage claims in SFO and PTY are never answered. Somehow, my calls are conveniently dropped when speaking to "customer service representatives". When the calls are not dropped, I get the same speech: "Someone will call or email you within 24 hours"... Never happens. They'll say anything just to get you off the phone and push the issue to someone else. Just about everything in these other reviews I've experienced or have seen first hand happen to someone else during my travels.

If I could have given Copa a half star or no star, I would have. If I had 4 thumbs, they would have received 4 thumbs down. On a scale 1-10, they would have received a 0. Moral of the story, DO NOT SUPPORT a company like Copa Airlines; "THEY GOTSTA GO". Instead, pay the extra few bucks for a competitors service and help ensure companies like Copa stop getting away with this BS. Good luck and safe travels friends... but remember to support the competition.

After that on 18 June 2016 we call to cheaptickets. They pickup the call, talk us then put our call on hold for 40 to 50 min. After that without any solution they just hang up the call. It happens 2-3 times. Finally on 19 June 2016 we talk to them for 16 hours. They talk with Copa airline and Emirates. After then they provide us new tickets 9 hours before departure. Its takes 10 hours to go Belize to Cancun via road. But luckily she reach on time. On 20 June 2016 when she go to Copa airline counter. Again they say the same ** that "your tickets are not confirmed." It's very hard to travel with child - she have to go back to Belize which is 10 hour drive. I'm very disappointed with Copa airlines and cheap tickets. She has suffer with all these things. It was an emergency in India. And she is still in Belize.

Apparently they forgot to order the bus to take us to the terminal at the end of the flight so we were left standing in the aisle for another 20 minutes. And they also forgot the wheelchair they had made such a point to promise before take-off. I am not a frequent flyer, but I have taken about 100 flights in the last 10 years. This was, bar none, the worst flight I have ever taken. I will pay more to use Avianca Airlines for future Latin American travel.

After over two months, they emailed me that the backpack was lost and offered to cover a fraction of my claim. I responded that the claim (which I generously underestimated) should be paid in full. Now, May 11, 2016, it has been over two weeks since that email and despite talking with them over an hour on the phone, I've still no resolution. Moral of the story: Copa's customer service is horribly organized and I would advise against trusting them with your baggage.

I understand that not all complaints can be answered immediately, but the time frame for them is that they will reply within 30 days. For a company that is trying to provide "world class service", they have a long way to go. The planes and service were mediocre but for the price, I assume that is where the value lies. If I were to fly this airline again, I know I would need to lock up my bags since they have unethical employees who go through bags. Im sure if they did an investigate at this airport it would be easy to catch. Since they dont value customers it will probably never happen.

It was very late after 13hrs of flight time, I just took it home and unpacked it the next day. I found my carefully packed bag (to protect fragile gifts) was completely ransacked. None of the gifts were taken, just valuable personal property. I immediately called Logan Customs and TSA. They assured me that they ABSOLUTELY DO NOT open bags unless the owner is present. After talking with some of the others on the trip I find out that 4 others are missing property... We had 39 in our party, THATS 10% WTF. After some research, this is very common with COPA and a stop in Panama city. So, after 7 phone call to COPA and 2+hrs on hold, a plethora of arrogant, unhelpful "Customer Service Reps" (No Service Reps) that speak less English than a 1st year ESL student and a miserable phone connection to boot, I was "accidently' disconnected 4 times.

I tried filing a claim online... The website does let you submit your claim, SHOCKING!!! I had a Native Speaker friend call to initiate my claim. It was like pulling teeth even for him. ALL I CAN SAY FOLKS IS, PLEASE RECONSIDER GIVING THIS AIRLINE YOUR BUSINESS. I've used LAN/TAN and they're a little less corrupt.

Nonetheless, your customer service representative refused to issue my boarding pass Panama-Rio as I did not have my Bulgarian passport with me at check-in. Since my sister's check-in was at the same time, the Montreal customer service representative contacted the Toronto check-in desk and assured her that I do have a valid passport to enter Brazil and they suggested to swipe my passport and issue my boarding pass from Montreal. However, the Toronto customer service representative chose to disregard that option, cancelled my flight and suggested for me to purchase a ticket for the next flight from Panama to Rio with Copa for 3000$.

I tried to explain to her several times that I wasn't violating any rules and regulations, as I was going to leave Panama and arrive in Brazil with the proper paperwork in hand, yet she threatened to cancel all my flights and prevent me from leaving Canada if I did not respect her decision. Therefore, she issued my boarding pass Toronto-Panama, cancelled my flight Panama-Rio and left me stranded without a ticket to my final destination. Considering the circumstances, I had to purchase a one way ticket Panama-Belo Horizonte-Rio de Janeiro, causing an additional travel time of 16hours, an unexpected financial burden of 1608.67$, and not to mention the physical and emotional stress I underwent as I missed my cousin's wedding, which was the reason of my trip.

In 2008, I traveled Montreal-Buenos Aires-Rio de Janeiro with American Airlines, under the same circumstances with my dual Citizenship and did not experience any of the above mentioned problems. I left Canada with my Canadian passport, connecting in Buenos Aires, and arrived in Rio de Janeiro with my Bulgarian passport.

As a star alliance member and frequent traveller, I have never received such poor customer service. At Pearson airport, your customer service representative was not only rude, unprofessional, and lacked a basic understanding of international laws, but most of all she was aggressive and unhelpful. As I try to put myself in her place, I think there were many different ways she could of approached and resolved the situation. She could of accepted the Montreal customer representative to issue my boarding pass using my Bulgarian passport as he recommended, which would of allowed me to fly as scheduled. She could of assigned me a seat on the next flight Panama-Rio de Janeiro 6hours later with Copa Airlines, without charging me 3000$ for the ticket as I had already paid for my trip.

As you read this, I hope you can put yourself in my situation and ask yourself whether or not you think I was treated fairly by your team member. How would feel if the following had occurred to you? As mentioned above, there were many ways to resolve the situation, none of which should of involved having to purchase a separate ticket or being delayed by 16 hours. Therefore, I ask to be fully reimbursed for the additional expenses I was imposed by the incompetence and lack of knowledge of your staff member.

Having read the online reviews of your airline company on various websites, it is undeniable that your customer service team does not understand the importance of developing and fostering long term relationships with clients in order to allow the long term growth and success of Copa airlines. You will note a growing number of negative comments and experiences by various travellers around the world, that I hope you will read and take constructively in order to improve the quality of your services and long term success of your company.

For unforeseen reasons we were forced to change our return date for this short vacation, and we contacted Copa customer service. The first thing they uttered was "there is a penalty fee". $160 isn't terrible. Then they advise us that we have to go to the actual airline office in San Jose because they cannot do that over the phone.

We waste a whole morning going to their office and talking to the [extremely obnoxious] customer service lady. First she restated that there was a $160 penalty per ticket. Then she goes ahead and says that there are no seats available at our rate range, and we would have to upgrade all 4 tickets to executive class, at $1400 each, plus, of course, the $160 penalty. This was simply outrageous. Then she quickly suggested we try another airline. Of course we were going to try another airline.

We got our flights booked in American at $400 each later that day. Out of curiosity we checked if there were seats available in Copa for that date, and to [not really] our surprise, there were tickets available at about $400 on the same date we were traveling. Copa is a greedy company that knows absolutely nothing about customer after-care. Once they have your money, they will treat you like dirt, and if they can squeeze more money out of you they will.

Needless to say, this was the first and last time we use that airline. We were surprised when we started reading other reviews here in ConsumerAffairs about this airline, as they seem to align with our experience. Copa should not be in business. On these times, where there is high competition for traveler's hard earned dollars, a company that has the level of customer service that Copa has, falls way below the average expectation of travelers.

After November 24, 2015 the old passport was not good to leave Colombia, but again, as a Colombian citizen you can enter Colombia. If you, a family member or a friend were denied boarding, not allow to continue your journey into Colombia or were mistreated by Copa for this issue, please contact me at **. Legal action might be pending as Copa is too negligent to do what is right for customers. As an air passenger you have rights. Copa is just another company which has to respect individuals and work on our behalf as a paying customer.

Eventually one of the agents said that frankly they did not have a seat for my daughter at the price I had originally paid. I asked that my tickets be refunded but she said Copa did not offer refunds. She said my only recourse was to get a chargeback (refund) from Visa on my daughter's ticket and then repurchase a ticket for my daughter. This is ridiculous of course. Why should I have to pay more for something they already had sold me? There was no reasoning with them. (They would also not let me talk to a supervisor despite repeated requests.) Unbelievably - the price for this seat was now $1,920.69!

I was stuck because they would not refund my ticket. I was either going to be out my 1358.00 or have to pay this new inflated amount for my daughter. Very reluctantly I purchased the ticket, and as directed, I put a chargeback in to Visa in the amount of $1,358.00 for the original ticket that I purchased for my daughter that Copa was unable to deliver on (the Chargeback). Yesterday upon arrival at the check in at Sea-tac airport I was told that my ticket was invalid because Visa had cancelled the charges back in Sept. Copa of course never told contacted me about this. Turns out Copa never supplied the proper info about the purchase to Visa so the wrong ticket for 1358.00 was charged back. My ticket had been cancelled instead of my daughter's.

Consequently, we were unable to fly to Panama because everything was sold out. In addition to losing out on our Christmas holiday, we are also out the cost of our condo which we prepaid 2770.00 USD for and is non-refundable. This has definitely been a NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS. I fly a lot and have never experienced an airline with policies like theirs. I truly don't know how they are allowed to stay in business and will certainly never book a flight with Copa Airlines again.

Shortly after, she came on the plane looking for my passport. They made me leave the plane because her supervisor, Mrs. Natalia **, wanted to check something with me. The supervisor asked again about a visa and told me that I was not allowed to go to Mexico without a work visa. I explained again that I was going on business and not for work. At that point she asked if I had a flight to exit Mexico. I said that of course I did and she asked me to show her the ticket. I told her that I had to turn my computer on and that it would take a few minutes and I did not want to miss my flight.

Anyway, we turned on the computer, showed her the ticket and she agreed that everything was in order but she informed me that at that point had missed my flight and that the next one was at dawn. She informed me that they would pay for breakfast, lunch and dinner and that was it. I asked to be put on an earlier flight and to talk with someone else, but she said she was the supervisor and she was the only person I could talk to. I insisted that all of this was unacceptable. I will be arriving 2 days late, and miss 2 days of work apart from being stranded in an airport without any support for a whole day. She even mocked me with her colleagues.

I was told that no ticket was available at this time and that they would provide one later. I asked that to compensate they should at least put me on business class. They said they "would give me a better seat but they could not put me in a higher category". By the way, I was given a voucher for meals in a place where I was told I could have a ham sandwich for breakfast, a bigger ham sandwich for lunch and another sandwich for dinner. I said that I am a vegetarian and I was told "sorry, no vegetarian options here".

I went back to talk to Copa and discovered that nobody was there anymore and that Copa has no offices or contact points in Santiago airport. Now I am stranded here in the airport, apparently there is nobody to talk to even from the airport management. I have no ticket and I cannot leave the airport, nor I can get help from Copa or the airport.

This situation is disgraceful, had I been asked for my return flight at the check-in all of this would not have happened. Copa staff made a mistake and I am paying the consequences. It is UNACCEPTABLE what has happened and even less acceptable the way this all situation was handled. I demand a refund for all that has happened, for the days of work that I am going to miss as a consequence as well as an apology for all of this. I will address this letter to Santiago Airport and the local press and social networks to make sure people are aware of the treatment passengers receive from this airline and think twice before booking their flight.

9/22/2015: Spoke with Copa staff at 1-800-359-2672 and was instructed to email supervisorescallcenter@cccorporation.com for full refund request. I emailed as instructed. 9/24/2015: Received email from call_center_services@copaair.com with ticket number. But unsure if tickets are useable. I wrote back to supervisorescallcenter@cccorporation.com about status of full refund. 9/30/2015: Multiple email exchanges with Mireya **, Refund Desk at Copa Airlines. Mireya said the refund must be requested in the same place of purchase or in Copa Office. The ticket do not have credit card to return the purchase. I wrote back and explained that I paid via bank transfer.

10/01/2015: Mireya emailed back and said, Request the refund personally at a Copa office. I asked for more clarification. 10/02/2015: Mireya emailed and said if the customer paid with bank transfer, that the customer must request refund personally in any of Copa Airlines office. I explained that there is no Copa office in San Francisco where I live, and I cannot go to Los Angeles to personally complete this request. I also wrote to salesusa@copaair.com, the sales office, in hopes to connect with the Los Angeles sales office. I also called Copa staff at I-800-359-2672, but there is no phone number for this office which is at the airport.

10/05/2015: Sales office at salesusa@copaair.com emailed to me and the Copa Refund Department, to ask the Refund Department to process the refund for me, and to contact headquarter to complete the transaction. 10/14/2015: I emailed Sales office and Refund Department for status of refund. 10/15/2015: Mireya emailed and said the ticket fare basis is not refundable plus it was paid in cash, so not refundable on their end. I immediately called Copa at I-800-359-2672 for status and they said this was not true, that it was refundable, especially since I haven't used the tickets at all. It was suggested that I submit the refund request on their website, so I did and received case number **.

10/29/2015: I emailed refundsonline@copaair.com and refund@copaair.com regard status of refund. 11/2/2015: Mireya wrote back to say that my ticket policies and this fare do not apply for refund. And that tickets has one year to use from date of issue. I have made frustrating multiple calls to Copa, many with wait times of over an hour, with various staff providing different answers. Mireya did not show me why this fare was non-refundable. Just by merely saying is not enough, plus I've gotten confirmation by the phone that these are refundable tickets. I want my money back. These tickets are never used.

I got married in Cuba, my daughter was born in Cuba, I have been going to Cuba since 2001, but these incompetent police officer never bother to check that out. My Copa Airlines electronic ticket bears my frequent travel number which I obtained since I started flying with Copa Airlines on 2002. That frequent travel number contains all my personal information, including my Canadian passport information and address in Montreal. I have traveled on business related trips with Copa Airlines to every single country in Central America, and that information could have been available if someone would have asked Copa Airlines. Tocumen International Airport is a transit area, and technically I was never in Panama, I never went through immigration. I was taken to another gate to take a flight back to Cali.

My Canadian passport was seized, and was not given back to me until I reached Cali and that was after I was interviewed by an immigration officer in Cali. Because of the actions of these airport police officers I lost $600.00 USD which was the amount I paid Copa Airlines. Additionally, because of the actions of these airport police officers, I had to purchase another ticket with Avianca Airlines which cost me approximately $500.00 USD to get my flight from Cali, Colombia to Havana, Cuba on July 13, 2015. I strongly believe Copa Airlines should reimburse me for the expenses I incurred on the trips from Cali to Havana. Through a private investigator I hired, I found out that one of the Copa Airlines flight attendants on that flight from Cali to Panama, reported to police that I did not have breakfast, and that apparently triggered the whole episode.

Copa Airlines should train better their flight attendants in order to prevent situations like the one I experienced. I sincerely hope no one will have to endure what I went through with those incompetent police officers at the airport in Panama, and that flight attendants should be more psychologically trained to avoid committing these kind of mistakes. Through the Canadian government I am filing a complaint against the Tocumen International Airport Police officers.

I called 5 times within the hour to see if either I can cancel or rebook without paying the $150 fee. Forget it... The customer service at the end of the line is as stupid as the Airline. Website is badly design. Customer service can speak English with a heavy accent. I had to repeat myself 10 times. I had to pay $150 plus the difference in fee for the 5 min. mistake which cost $600. Anyway, I will think twice before booking with Copa Air... What a ** company run by a 2nd or 3rd world company. Maybe they need more siesta to figure out what they are doing.

OMG, well I looked at the line, it was like 70 people waiting on mine. I answered, "I already made this, how you going to send me again?" The lady got very angry to me 'cause I didn't want to make the line again so start pointing her fingers through my face. My husband who speaks no Spanish ask me what happened. I said she is very rude, she is an idiot for being treating me like this, she is not my mother. So my husband asked me to make the line again, and I did. After all those people, she came and checks my backpack. I took my computer out, the lady came to me and tell me after she finished checking my backpack that I won't leave on that plane. I said, "well, if you bought me ticket you can decide this, but you didn't."

Well when the time to go on board came, we all making the line and Copa Airlines people stopped me and my husband and said I can't board the plane 'cause I am threat person, so I couldn't get on-board. OMG, are you serious Copa? I got very angry, I was shocked. So I even apologize for anything just they can let get on the plane 'cause I had to get home with hubby. He had to work next day and I had to picked my dog.

Well you, Copa people, didn't let me get the plane. I lost the plane. You Copa people took my suitcases out of the plane, and move my flight for night. I spent 12 hours at that airport with my husband waiting for that flight. You still had the nerves to put me a penalty of 156.00 dollars to each one of us, when it was you who dumped me out my flight. I got nowhere to go at that airport, we were 12 hours there. This is ridiculous. I going to lawsuit you for it, we won't take your airlines anymore.

Original Review: June 30, 2015

I have been traveling with Copa for last 5 years now. My mileage plus account number (OnePass) is **. I am deeply disturbed about an experience I just had with Copa 446 from Panama City to Orlando on 12th June 2015. I was traveling with my family, wife, 2 kids. Due to my Star Alliance status, I was given automatic upgrade but as I had 3 more tickets, I requested to put one companion with me on upgrade wait list. I must say that the staff at the check-in counter of Copa have the best of the customer service attitude. There were 2 of them and very helpful. While getting through security, my younger daughter (7 years) kept saying that if I get an upgrade, she wants to come and sit with me to experience the business class. I kept saying hang on, it depends on the number of people above me in the queue.

Anyhow when the time for boarding the aircraft came, I had a rude surprise. The person, a female, who was scanning the boarding pass scanned the pass of my wife and another boarding pass came out. But to my surprise, she returned the same old boarding pass to my surprise. I knew very well that unless the upgrade is not confirmed, there cannot be another boarding pass coming out. Now I knew that there is an upgrade and I told my family to wait as it takes time and they will come inside the flight to ask for a change.

This person, the female staff who had the boarding pass, made several rounds inside the flight as I could see but as I was busy with kids to put bags, etc. I couldn't call her - also being aware that she will call. But to my utter disappointment, she didn't confirmed anyone one of my family in flight. I have been traveling for long time - been Premier 1k, Platinum, Gold member - I have a fair experience on the upgrades.

Later on while the in-flight steward Mr. ** was servicing, I happened to see the list of business class and could see the name of my wife and her assigned seat as 2A. This confirmed my assumptions. This means that the boarding pass attendant didn't confirm my wife seat due to: (1) Looking at me, I am an Indian and have brown skin. This looked as a clear case of racial and social discrimination. (2) Saving some money for Copa Airlines and thought she can be clever, smart to fool me. I am a strict vegetarian and my food was pre-requested, so there was nothing to be saved. (3) The attitude which was like a dominator or boss, unlike the staff at the check-in counter - she was opposite.

The moment she saw my face and passport at the boarding gate, her eyes as body language had signs of disapproval. This was seen from the way she asked boarding pass and looked at the passport to get more disturbed that me and my family is from India. We are brown skin and should be treated as racist. My country struggled to get independence from Britain way back in 1947 but even before that, out great father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi rebelled against the same Britishers who discriminated on the basis of colors in South Africa . Long before Nelson Mandela started the struggle, it was Mahatma Gandhi who initiated this. Beyond me, it's my family, my wife who is surprised that Panamanians still follow the racism like British did. We are educated, groomed and from a proud nation of India - why do you treat us like this?

I have the proof of the confirmation list d first class where my wife's name is assigned on 2A . Later on when the fight took off after I checked with Juan, my wife was invited to come and take the 2A seat but she refused on protest. And that's correct. I am a managing director of a company which has been registered in Panama and we employ Panamanians. We have millions of dollars invested in this country. I like Panama in general but I must warn this attitude of this staff is totally unhealthy for the operations and success of Panama and Copa airlines as such. There are so many Indians in Panama, 3rd or 4th generation and even I had a staff who is half Panamanian and half Indian in 3rd generation. I am surprised and disturbed by the behavior of this staff.

I am not greedy or needy about business class my sole contention is why I was not informed . What made Copa staff not to intimate this to me? Was it racism or attitude or saving money ( for whom) ? Being prejudicial thinking we are beggars or low levels and don't deserve business class? She cannot even imagine the class and quality of service meted in some of the Asian airlines have. The service industry survives on smile and being helpful. It doesn't have any place for people like the one I met today from Copa. I need an explanation from Copa and also unconditional apology signed by the staff who scanned the boarding pass. The main culprit. I hope to receive the reply soon. Kind regards.

First, when we got to the airport, we waited to check our bag for an hour. They said the system was down. We arrived at 5 PM for a 7 PM domestic flight and we didn't get to check our bag until around 6:30 PM, giving us half an hour to get through security and OCCRE (a necessary registration office for the islands). We just barely made the flight and I'm sure a few people missed it.

We arrived in Bogota and then boarded for our next flight to Medellin. We arrived in Medellin around 11 PM. They called my friend's name and told us that the bag didn't make the flight and was still in Bogota. No apology or sympathy, just a matter of fact. In the bag was my clothes, prescription glasses, toothbrush, deodorant, contact lens solution, and an extra pair of contacts. Meanwhile, I had a flight back to Boston at 9:30 AM the next day (Saturday). They said that the bag would come in from Bogota at 8 AM the next morning and would be transferred to my flight to Boston and I could pick it up in Boston. Meanwhile, I had to buy contact lens solution at a 24 hour pharmacy at midnight in Medellin costing me $15. Also, we had planned to transfer the contents of the bag to my suitcase and then return the duffle bag to my friend's mom, but now we couldn't do that.

So, I get on my flight the next day and arrive in Boston around 6:30 PM. No bag. I go to the lost baggage counter and the woman says she would check the office and leaves for about 15 minutes and then comes back and says the bag is still in Medellin and didn't make the flight to Boston. I asked her why and she said she didn't know, it just "happens" sometimes. She said the bag would come the next day (Sunday) on a flight around 6:30 PM and would have to go through customs and then would be delivered to my house late Sunday night or Monday morning. I told her I have to work on Monday and she said they would give me a call when the bag arrived to give me a time of delivery. She also gave me a phone number to call (the local Boston Copa office) to check on the bag.

Also, I asked them to pay to send the bag (just the empty duffle bag, not the contents) back to Medellin to my friend's mom, since I was not able to give it back to her because they had lost the bag. She said she'd ask her manager and they would call tomorrow. Second person I spoke to without any apology. On Sunday mid-day, they called saying it would come that night on the flight they mentioned and confirmed it would be delivered Sunday night or Monday morning and they would call me to confirm the delivery time. The woman also informed me that they "cannot" send the empty bag back. I explained that it was their fault that I was not able to get the bag back to her and she put me on the phone with her supervisor, who told me that they can't send it back. I asked if they would reimburse me if I mailed it back to Medellin and she said she had to check with her manager.

Okay, that was the fourth person I spoke to about this bag without apology, so I told her that and she said "yeah, everyone's belongings are important to them, sorry for the service, but this happens." She said I could call back later after the flight to check. Ok, fine. I tried calling the number they gave me around 8:30 PM, no answer or voicemail, just endless ringing. I called an hour later, the same. Ok, so I wait until this morning, around 9 AM. Still no answer on the phone. My friend called in Colombia and connected with someone saying that the bag is still in Medellin, when they told me it was on the flight to Boston! I called again at 9:30 and someone finally answers.

She informs me that the bag arrived in Boston the previous night and is with the delivery company. She will call me back in a few minutes to confirm when they will deliver it. Ten minutes later she calls and says the bag is in Panama! It never made it to Boston and was never out for delivery. Now she says it will arrive on a flight tonight around 6:30 and then will go to the delivery company who will call and tell me when it will be delivered. I have no idea when/if I will receive this bag. This is the fourth time they tell me I will receive the bag. Let's see. This is a horrible airline with horrible service! The logistics are horrible, not to mention the flight wasn't too comfortable. Avoid Copa at all costs!

Ten minutes after booking the flight and while trying to get in contact with somebody to get assistance (Chat, phone) finally I got in contact with one of the most impersonal, robotic and careless person in customer service **. After explaining my situation and not getting any kind on empathy, courtesy, willingness to assist from her I asked for a supervisor. The only answer I received like 5 times was the same to every question I had, like she was not listening to me "You have to pay $115 plus and adjustment to the fare". I asked, "Are you listening to what I asked you?" I had to raise my voice and asked again for a supervisor. She placed me on hold for couple minutes and then she returned saying the supervisor said (guess what??) yes, same thing - "You have to pay $115 plus and adjustment to the fare!"

My dissatisfaction was to the limit and I told her, "I do not need you to tell me this anymore", I asked you that I need to talk to him, not for you to ask him. She then told me that he was busy and it will take a long time in order for me to talk to him. I decided to wait anyway. After waiting for more than 20 minutes, the call got disconnected (what a convenience coincidence!)

This morning at 6:22 am EST I called again and spoke to **, the answer again with the same lack of courtesy, "You have to pay $115 plus and adjustment to the fare". I asked him that I needed to talk to his supervisor then he told me that there was no supervisor at that time and if I want to talk to him I would need to call back later, there is nothing he can do. I guess at this point you can understand my frustration even more. An hour after I called again at 7:20 am EST, I got ** again and I asked him for a supervisor, the result was to transfer me to a Voice mail of **. I left a VM with my name and phone number but no call has been returned.

I can understand if this request is made say 1, 2 or more days after booking but 5-10 minutes after it, please!! Either COPA is trying to squeeze every penny from their customers and make money or the lack of empathy, human touch, courtesy is not part of their values. It is really a shame that I have to voice my concern via this email, any other Social media and corporate office for the treatment received.

Finally I spoke to supervisor after talk to a person who offered me talk to one and transferred me to another agent and I have to explain that and told me he was not a supervisor... Short story, the supervisor **, who told me the same, she is not empowered to make that decision, not even her manager (of course, her manager wasn't available). And that I needed to send an email to them and they will reply in 15 days!! Great dissatisfaction!

I took a cab to the DULLES AIRPORT and got there 2.5 hours before my flight. I got in line for check in with COPA AIRLINES, and when it finally got to my turn was informed by the attendant that THEY WOULD NOT LET ME TAKE MY THIRD SUIT CASE. And I would have to DISPOSED of it. I asked If I was going to have to THROW MY THINGS AWAY and she said yes, I would have to. I went crazy, I didn't have time to go back home and take my things. I didn't want to miss my flight. I begged the COPA attendants, including the manager (at the Dulles Airport) ** (which was a complete **), to let me pay for an extra bag, they would not let me pay. They said that COPA's policy for the month of December is to not allow any excessive or overweight bags. I was NEVER informed of that. I did not see this information on their website when I search for the price of extra bags.

I went into a family bathroom with all my bags that I spent a whole month packing, and that now I would have less than 2 hours to rearrange my suit cases and decide WHAT GOES AND WHAT STAYS. I spend another 45 minutes doing that. I left a whole suit case with dresses, pants, shoes, and other stuff. When I was walking out of the bathroom I ran into the janitor, and I told him I had to dispose of all that and that there were really nice things in that bag, and if he wanted he could keep it. He took the bag and I believe he did keep it. I walked back to the check in to talk to the **, the manager, which made me get back in line to check my bags..again.

I was weighting the second bag and the attendant told me that it was over the weight limit and they said I would have to get rid of more things. They would not reason with me or show any type of flexibility. By then I was dealing with the attendant called **, which was another rude attendant, calling for the next customer before I had even finished talking. I was crying by then. I had 45 MINUTES before my flight took off. I went back to that bathroom and dresses myself with another 5 shirts under my jacket. Got rid of several craft things I was bringing to my niece, and threw away 2 tennis shoes that I was bring for exercising.

I went back to the line one more time. MY PLANE WAS ALREADY BOARDING. The 2 big bags passed the weight test. Then the attendant said my carry-on was overweight and I needed to THROW AWAY SOME MORE THINGS. She actually said: THERE IS A TRASH CAN YOU CAN USE, and pointed to the trash can by the door. That was so disrespectful. I felt like crying but I could even afford to take time for that. I really wanted to be with my family, now more than ever. I walked to the trash can and just took a bunch of hands full of things from my carry on and dumped into the trash can. Two DULLES AIRPORT employees came to see why I was doing that and I told them. One of them told me then that the airport offered a service that they would hold the bag for me. But by then most of my things were already in the trash and I had given away a whole suit case full of things. The COPA attendants never informed me of such service, and in fact did enforce more than once that I would have to throw away my things, even pointing me out to the trash can!

By the grace of God I was able to make it to the airplane. But I will NEVER EVER EVER EVER FLY COPA AGAIN... And they also broke the handles of my suit case and told the company's policy does not included those types of damage!!! #ihatecopa #copaairlines #copaneveragain #copadulles #copaair

However despite the fact that the delay was caused by COPA, my mother was allocated to a flight with a layover with a tight connection (arriving in Sao Paulo at 9h45pm and leaving to Belo Horizonte at 10h35pm), what is a very unfortunate arrangement for an elderly having to deal with the pressure of getting quickly from one flight to another. While contacting attendant Glen ** explaining the situation and requesting a change of arrangement, I was informed that there was a place in the direct flight on that very day but that we would have to pay for the change. When asked to explain the situation to a supervisor, was left to leave my contact and waiting in line (so far have not received any phone call). Never flying COPA again.

They said maybe the computer make a mistake because the calendar of September and December layout look exactly the same, both September and December, 22nd and 29th are on Monday. But, no exception, charge 115 dollars for change paid ticket. I explained to them that it is not because of me want to change the date but I found the ticket was printed on the wrong month. They have to correct it. I also have a round trip ticket from Chicago to Panama on September 13th to September 28. What in the world I want another round trip ticket of September 22nd to 29th? How can I physically possible to use this wrong ticket?

This should be a class act lawsuit for those customers who pay upfront and find out the mistake immediately within 48 hours should never have to pay 115 dollar penalizing fee.

Only after 30 to 45 seconds did the disturbance cease. No explanation was forthcoming from the crew, which confirms my suspicion that what happened was not due to weather conditions. I think that I am entitled to an explanation. Does anyone out there know what happened? Did the pilot fall asleep? Is there any sort of quality control at Copa regarding the proficiency and physical/mental condition of the pilots? I am certainly wary about using this airline in the future.

We wrote to Copa Airlines and protested. But they have so many complaints to deal with they never replied. So we went to the Managua ticket counter with our complaint. The manager said he would see what he could do. He just wanted to see my email to Copa customer service. I showed it to him. He eventually sent a message to the ticketing person that he could do nothing. He claimed that the Cancun agent told us we were buying one changeable ticket and one non-changeable. I find that hard to believe since it was over a month since we bought the tickets and I doubt the Cancun agent even knew who we were.

I asked why the manager didn't have the courtesy to tell us directly. The ticket person said he was "in a meeting" but assured us that he would meet us at gate 7 and tell us personally. HE NEVER SHOWED UP. We waited as long as we could and boarded the plane when it was obvious he wasn't going to show. I really think COPA is only interested in charging change fees. People in Managua make about $1 an hour. So a change fee of $120 represents 3 weeks’ salary for one of their employee. That's a lot of money to Copa. If they can charge enough change fees, they can pay the cost of much of their staff.

Someone at the call center gave me an email address to write to customer service which I did in November 1 and got a response by Ana ** on November 14 that COPA was sorry for the treatment I received, etc. and that I will be hearing soon... I wrote back to her but got not reply. I wrote again to the same customer service email address but got no reply. I went to COPA's counter and presented my complaint/request for refund there and they said they will forward it to the correct department. That was about 3 weeks ago. I have not heard from anyone from COPA in any way to correct the problem and give me a refund. COPA has the worst customer service I have experience in my over 50 years of travel.

At that time, the lady that printed my boarding pass handed my passport and boarding pass to a gentleman standing beside her. He then took the boarding pass out of the passport and called someone from his phone and stated my name and that I would be a no show for the flight. He then returned my passport to me and simply stated to me, "I am sorry but you will not be flying today." He put my boarding pass in his coat. I asked him what his name was and he zipped his coat to cover his name tag completely. At this point I asked to speak to a supervisor at which time he blurted out, "I am the supervisor." I then told him that I would not be checking the third bag and my mother would take it home with her. He then stated, "I am sorry but you are out of luck." He walked away after this statement. A family was standing in line waiting to check in behind us that were a witness to this entire event. Sadly they were not helped either and were denied their flight as well. The lady at the checkout counter advised me that I should contact the Dulles airport police and file a complaint.

At 2:25 I contacted the airport police and filed a formal complaint. Officer Melanie ** was the officer that took my complaint. After I filed my complaint with Dulles airport police, I attempted to get another flight with COPA and they responded that no flights were available until December 28, 2012. I am attempting to try and fly tomorrow, December 20, 2012. If there are no available flights, I will have no choice but to book another airline at a higher cost. COPA Airline gave no reason for denying my boarding pass and has offered no assistant in either putting me another flight or refunding the ticket price. This airline was not only disrespectful toward me but behaved with ennui with no regard to the many problems they caused regarding my travel. I sent this letter on December 19th 2012. I didn't receive any response from your company in regards to the bad performance of your employees at Dulles Airport in Washington DC and about reimburse my ticket. This happened in December 2012 and until now this company never response this complaint.

When we finally got to Panama, that's where the proverbial poop hit the fan. After 14 hours (yes, you read that right – 14 hours!!!) of Copa telling us different times of when our flight was leaving for Lima, they cancelled the flight altogether! This means that we would miss our connection for Cusco. Apparently, the law is they HAVE TO provide you with a hotel if you're in the airport for more than 8 hours due to their error. We arrived at the Panama airport at around 7:30pm on October 19th. They didn't get us into a Panamanian hotel until 8:15 pm on October 20th, which means we spent more than 24 hours in the airport. It got really crazy.

Police and the army were called in. A lot of the shops closed for fear of rioting and looting. We literally felt like caged animals. It was awful. We were being held hostage in this airport! We were sleeping on the filthy floors. People were smoking in the bathrooms which kept setting off the smoke alarms. Someone even defecated on the floor! It was pure madness. I've never experienced anything like this in my life. The Customer Service desk was mobbed with people, and Copa staff members were brought to tears. There was yelling, chanting, protesting, barricading – the works!

When we were leaving to go to the hotel in Panama, we went to collect our bags. Well, of course they weren't there! Apparently they had been sent to Lima already (how our luggage got a flight and we didn't is beyond me). We were now re-scheduled to fly to Lima until 8:56pm on October 21st. This means that we definitely could not do our original trek that we booked (which was the whole point of our trip!!). When you fly to Cusco, you need at least 2 days (if not more) to acclimatize because it is 11,200 ft above sea level and that really messes with your system (nausea, vomiting, dizziness, the works). There is no way we could do a strenuous trip like this without acclimatizing first, plus, you need to book the Inca trail months in advance because a permit is needed.

We finally arrived in Lima at 2:30am on October 22nd. Copa promised that they would arrange for a flight for us that morning and that they would contact our hotel with details. Yeah right! By 10:00pm that night, we STILL didn't have a flight leaving Lima! We thought enough is enough. We went into town and booked a flight with a different airline (at our own expense!) to get us the heck out of Lima. We finally arrived in Cusco on October 23rd at around 1:15pm. On November 1st, it was time to go home. Luckily our flight from Cusco to Arequipa to Lima was with Taca Airlines so I didn't have any worries.

When we got to Lima, we had to go back and fly with Copa Airlines. Amazingly, there was a plane there for us to fly out on! We boarded on time, I was in shock. We only had a 1 hour layover in Panama, so it was imperative that we were on time. We pulled out of the terminal, got onto the tarmac, and then waited and waited and waited. 20 minutes later, the plane reversed back to the terminal and we were told to get off the plane! It was like a repeat of the beginning of our trip. So now, we of course missed our connection from Panama to Toronto.

About 1 ½ hours later, we get back onto the plane (which apparently had a fuel leak) and we fly back to my personal hell on earth – the Panama airport. After getting the usual Copa airlines runaround, they booked us on a flight for the next day. We now have to fly to Cancun, Mexico and then connect with Air Canada to fly us to Toronto. Our first flight that day started at noon. We didn't get into Toronto until 3:30am on Sunday (a day later than planned). I have never been happier to be on Canadian soil. We pretty much pranced through Customs with the biggest smiles on our faces. Copa will certainly be hearing from my lawyer to recoup the expenses that we incurred. They should also pay for a whole new vacation since we lost 5 days of it because of them.

Then they stole my passport from me. One agent asked me to give her the address of the relative I would be staying with. I was refused access to phones, so I got out of line and went to make a long distance call at a phone booth to retrieve the exact address. Then after returning to the counter, she demanded the ZIP code to go with it. I left again and obtained the zip code. Then I came back, and this time she was insisting that I had to purchase another ticket or I could not fly. She was waving my passport in front of me, in the air, and refusing to give it back to me. I was already holding my boarding pass and other documents.

After arguing for half an hour and being told I might still be able to catch my flight if I cooperated, I finally agreed to buy a ticket on the condition that it was 100% refundable. She told me the cost of a refundable ticket was more than $1100. Mind you, the only possible route is Miami - Panama City - Toronto. An outrageously long journey for what is normally a short flight. I again told her the price was irrelevant as long as the ticket was refundable without penalties.

I was forced to climb under the baggage scales, into the employee only area, and put my PIN into their credit card machine WITHOUT VIEWING ANY TICKET, PRICE OR AGREEMENT WHATSOEVER. My credit card company called me immediately to alert me to possible fraud, as there was no recognizable transaction associated with the charge. As I ran to catch the flight, which was thankfully delayed, I flipped the ticket around to read "NON-REFUNDABLE. PENALTY FOR CHANGE". As I got on the plane, the pilot apologized for the scorching heat in the cabin that was due to a mechanical error with one of the engines. That lasted for the rest of the flight.

I called the office twice that day, and was told different things by different agents. I had to go downtown Miami to their headquarters just to get my complaint registered, and I was told there that I'd have to pay a penalty of a few hundred dollars for cancelling my ticket. They eventually waived that, but not until I spent weeks emailing and calling with no responses before contacting the CEO directly. He apologized profusely and told me the agent was in the wrong. They have the audacity to charge more than double (sometimes triple) what other airlines charge for the shortest journeys. All 3 of my flights were delayed more than half an hour. Staff was rude and inconsiderate. They do not address any concerns from their customers.

When I finally retrieved my flight information, they told me that I had a 'hold' on my flight through the travel agency and wouldn't be able to fly until the third party agency lifted the hold. So I called the agency and they had to recollection of the flight so they called Copa to find out what was going on. Copa then told the other agency that I hadn't paid for my flight, only reserved it. I told them, "Yes I paid, it was clearly taken out of my bank account and I will have proof." They said "She doesn't really have a ticket because she hasn't paid." I told them the date I paid and said I have proof on my bank statement.

Now, I have to go back months to find my bank statement, and go into the Copa Airlines ticket counter and prove that I paid for my flight. As of now, I have paid for a flight that I am not allowed to travel on. I am furious. It's been a horrible experience, and I am going to potentially demand a refund due to this horrible service. I do not want my money going to this company in any way. Don't fly COPA!

And you are in airline? How can you limit your self in Spanish? Look, I'm not looking for a special treatment, but I deserve the same treatment as a passenger not as an animal. If she can't be a manager then don't. I'm here flying your airline, not boarding in a cargo. Or unless your staff is just racists. I thought you're star alliance member and a well known airlines in the South America, I think you can do better in finding a manager.

I did not mind paying for the upgrade, however why would he penalized me for just changing the class of service for upgrading to a higher class and retaining the same traveling dates? Well I had to pay the penalty as I did not have a choice, however I am extremely disappointed. For some reason most agents are trained to behave like robots or computers.... Copa, you need to work on your customer care.... At the end of the day if you have no customers left.... your business will go belly up as so many airlines.

A week later, the price that was originally on my account of $1,160 changed to $935 and a second charge was processed for $1,135. I was in complete shock. We had worked so hard to save the ticket for my first daughter and then without my authorization, COPA AIRLINES decided to charge me an additional $1,135. I contacted them and they stated YES it was a mistake but unfortunately, I would have to follow their policy of requesting a refund and that it would be processed in 30-60 days. I was left with $18 in my account. They have no shame. I just hope my bank is able to fix this for me. DO NOT TRAVEL WITH THEM!!!

Well, I went ahead and bought it knowing that if I didn't, they wouldn't let me get on the plane. Although, they assured me that it was flexible, as well as refundable. A few weeks before my flight, I looked at the ticket more closely only to realize that they had booked leaving out of A DIFFERENT CITY than the one I was coming to Mexico. They just picked any random city it seems. I called to try and take care of this problem, and they kept telling me I had to talk to Copa Airlines at the airport here since I bought my ticket at the airport; it can't be taken care of any other way. The only problem is that there is NO COPA AIRLINES IN THE AIRPORT HERE. This is a concept that they didn't seem to understand as I told them I need another solution, and they told me there not one. I told them there needs to be because the solution they offered me is not possible. Do they think I will fly to another city to talk to Copa to get my ticket refunded?

To sum things up, I talked to about 10 people on the phone who all gave me other impossible solutions, including telling me that I had to be at the airport where the ticket was purchased in order to change it or get a refund (how much sense does that make?!). The only thing I was able to accomplish was to change the flight of my ticket to a littler later in the day so that I would have time to take a flight to the other city they had me flying out of. So, not only did I not get to change or refund my ticket, I had to spend an extra $150 to fly to a different city to take my flight.

Not to mention, everyone I spoke with at Copa was completely rude, unsympathetic and unapologetic about the fact that one of THEIR employees made a mistake. What is the point of buying a refundable ticket when the airline does everything in their power to not give you that refund??? If you have to buy from Copa (though I highly advise against it), do not waste the extra money for the refundable ticket; it will be a fight to the death (ending in your death) to get the refund. I was so frustrated with them that I was red and the face and crying by the time I finished my 3 hour battle of calling this person and that person. They’re the WORST COMPANY EVER!!!

Everything seemed in order until the next day when I wanted to pay for my reservation. I called Copa Air to make the payment, and they told me that if I'd like to pay over the phone, it would be $25 additional. Ok, so that was the first inconvenience, fine. I logged on with my confirmation code and noticed that the price of the new ticket still corresponded with the price of the old one. I figured, once they process the card, the difference in price will show (of course if I had done it over the phone, this wouldn't have been a problem).

Minutes later, I received my e-mail confirmation, with all the wrong info - the flight was wrong, the price was wrong. I checked online and everything was correct as it should be. I called the company and they said that payment process could take up to 6 hours so I shouldn't have gotten a confirmation already (?) and that in their system, they saw the correct flight.

My mind was put at ease when they told me their system showed the correct flight. The next day, I did not get a new confirmation, but online it still showed the correct flight information. A few days later, I received an e-mail confirming my flight (which was 2 days away). This e-mail confirmation was still incorrect! So I went online to verify the info and the flight had changed! So I called up Copa Air and I spoke to a lady who said she'd look in to it. "Can I put you on hold for 3 minutes?" she asked. I was on hold for over 11 minutes until I decided to hang up and call back, hoping for someone who knew what they were doing.

I immediately called back and spoke with someone new. I told the new representative (a man) the entire situation. I made sure to be extremely calm and enunciate carefully as all of the representatives spoke broken English (it appears) and I didn't want to use my sub-par Spanish on something this important. After hearing the situation, the man simply said, "Well, you paid for the ticket leaving at 10:52pm, that's what I see here." Ummmm, hello?! Clearly he didn't listen to a word I had said. So I just said, "Ok, can I please just change my ticket to the 5:25 flight. I understand that it is more expensive and that's fine, I'll pay the difference." He literally just said "Ok, sure" and there was silence for about 2 minutes.

After a while I said, "Are you there? I just want to confirm that I'm changing my flight from 10:52PM to 5:25AM." With an attitude he replied, "Yes, that's what I'm doing, can I put you on hold for 3 minutes?" I'd heard that before so I said, "Do you know how long it'll be?" (since last time it was over 11 min). "Just let me put you on hold," was his reply. Eventually he corrected the ticket and sent a confirmation. The price was still wrong but the flight info was correct, so I just let it be.

I can almost guarantee there will be problems once I reach the airport. However, I honestly don't have the strength to deal with it now. Hopefully, others will learn from my mistake and choose another more competent airline. Honestly, I blame myself for trusting an airline with such obvious poor quality. Their websites and confirmations are filled w/ typos and it should have been a sign.

At that time, the lady that printed my boarding pass handed my passport and boarding pass to a gentleman standing beside her. He then took the boarding pass out of the passport and called someone from his phone and stated my name and that I would be a no-show for the flight. He then returned my passport to me and simply stated to me, “I am sorry but you will not be flying today.” He put my boarding pass in his coat. I asked him what his name was and he zipped his coat to cover his name tag completely. At this point, I asked to speak to a supervisor at which time he blurted out, “I am the supervisor.” I then told him that I would not be checking the third bag and my mother would take it home with her. He then stated, “I am sorry but you are ** out of luck.” He walked away after this statement.

A family was standing in line waiting to check in behind us was a witness to this entire event. Sadly, they were not helped either and were denied their flight as well. The lady at the checkout counter advised me that I should contact the Dulles Airport Police and file a complaint. At 2:25, I contacted the airport police and filed a formal complaint. Officer ** was the officer that took my complaint. The official report number is: **. After I filed my complaint with the Dulles Airport Police, I attempted to get another flight with Copa and they responded that no flights were available until December 28, 2012. I am attempting to try and fly tomorrow, December 20, 2012. If there are no available flights, I will have no choice but to book another airline at a higher cost. Copa Airlines gave no reason for denying my boarding pass and has offered no assistance in either putting me on another flight or refunding the ticket price. This airline was not only disrespectful toward me but behaved with ennui, with no regard to the many problems they caused regarding my travel.