Copa Airlines Reviews 

I am unable to walk over long distances in airports due to a permanent damage in my leg's veins. Therefore, we requested a wheelchair for arrival to Santo Domingo on Copa's website, but there was none when we landed. After politely asking a flight attendant for assistance, was harshly told that there would be none as I had failed to inform Copa's personnel at the gate before departure. In other words, their website is useless and you are expected to become a psychic when flying with these jokers.

I did not wish to argue with this mean hearted stewardess about whose fault it was, so I simply asked if she would be kind enough to call for a wheelchair. To my surprise I was flatly refused, and so we left the plane. Fortunately, right upon setting foot on Las Americas airport there were many wheelchairs freely available. It would have taken no more than two minutes for that flight attendant to solve a small problem, instead I got a condescending lecture, and Copa now gets this negative review.

There are many other negative experiences that I could narrate about Copa that speaks poorly of the quality of its service, but it is not worth my time to invest an effort describing it. Thus beware, for that incident described of the mean hearted stewardess is just the tip of the iceberg of Copa's mediocrity. Do yourself a favor and avoid this airline at all costs.

I had a booked ticket for a round trip and receive an offer from COPA to change the departure and return dates for free. As the new options actually fit my plans better I change the ticket. I then receive a confirmation with a return date time that is actually BEFORE my departure time. Upon calling the ConnectMiles service centre and ask how this is even possible, I am told that in their systems I approved the change even though 10 days were between departure and return in the change I made. The friendly call centre now informs me that they can change the return date to fit my needs for several hundred dollars! I was as well informed that I can file a complaint! This for sure is my very last flight with COPA airlines. This kind of so called service is outrageous.

Let me start by saying that his is one of the worse experiences my family has ever had. My mother that's 62yrs old with health issues flew from Boston and stopped in Panama, once there her flight was changed 3 times, the whole flight was delayed (total of 3hrs) and she had to move from gate to gate (this is a person that needed wheel chair) they made her walk, on the third time they delay and change the gate her and more people were running to get there and once they got to the gate they were told NO and the customer service rep had the audacity to blame my mom and blame her for missing the flight, it looks like they chose and pick and believe other people that were offered hotel stay, they made my mom stay at the airport and wait until the next day to see if they had space for her? are you serious? no food, no sleep and at this point her medicine is in the the luggage, you guys are lucky she didn't get sick without her medicine. The next day she was able to get in flight CM358 to Guatemala, once she got there another surprise was waiting for her, my mother's luggage was destroyed, brand new and wont be able to use it anymore, everything inside is soaking wet, all the gifts, clothes everything smells bad, moldy and wet, I cannot believe how careless this people are, our family had the worst 2 days thanks to your bad service. People should stay away from you. Who is paying for all the ruined clothes, gift, luggage now? nothing can be use and this is very upsetting.

Horrible, horrible customer service!!!
They are rude, do not ever try to be helpful. They canceled my flight, then told to come back the next day. I was fine, no one can control the weather. The next day I call and tell me that they have a flight for me, TWO days later. I told them no, I was going to the airport, like they told me to at the counter, the day before. At the counter the did put us on a flight to Panama. They changed out connection time from the afternoon, 4 I think it was, to 9:00 pm. So now I have a 10 or 11 hour lay over instead of 6. Last time I fly with copa.

WORSE air company and customer service that I ever had. I’m trying my refund for almost 3 years and I have all the emails that I talked to Copa Airlines and all the calls recorded (more than 10 calls). I’m still waiting my refund of a flight that COPA AIRLINES canceled, not me, because of the pandemic. First they asked my bank account and said that was not able to send the refund there cause it was wrong (WHICH WAS NOT). Almost 6 months later they asked my address to send a check deposit and I never received this check.
For the third time, they sent me an email with a deposit confirmation that was going to be done in 5 business days (THIS WAS 3 MONTHS AGO). Then I contacted again and they said that the deposit failed again and that they sent a check in my mail (WHICH I NEVER RECEIVED).
Now I'm waiting for 2 months an answer from them why the financial didn't deposit. I called 3x during this 2 months and the answer is: THEY ARE STILL INVESTIGATING. That company is terrible, terrible customer service. I have almost $2000 to receive in refund for more than 3 years and never saw my money back!

Great airline, one of the few that is actually professional. Flight from San Jose to Montego Bay and back. Very comfortable and they gave us snacks on both flights, and it was quite a nice snack.

Can't give 5 stars cause they asked me for an onward ticket for my return flight when I was checking in for Montego Bay. I thought they were checking i met the requirements for my destination but they were asking for the return which makes no sense at all. First time I experience that.

The worse airlines and customers service. It been two most waiting for refound.

This incident took place on Thursday, August 3, 2023 while boarding aircraft 73P scheduled for departure at 8:50 am from Cali (CLO) to Panama (PTY).

As a passenger, I had already done online check-in and was traveling without any checked bags. When I arrived at the Gate at 8:25 am, the Gate had already been closed by the Copa Airlines staff, although the flight was scheduled for departure at 8:50 am. They closed the gate 25 min before departure. Copa Airlines clearly states on its webpage that the Gates for international flights closes 10 minutes before departure. In this case, the gate was closed 25 minutes before departure and there was no call for my name on the loudspeaker from 8:15 am in the area for departures either.

Even though the aircraft hadn't left for the runway, and the door was still open, - Copa Airlines crew could enter and exit the aircraft -, they wouldn't allow me to board the aircraft. As a consequence, I was rebooked for a later flight. Furthermore, I was not informed about any overbooking and/or any request for a volunteer reassignment of my seat. Nor did I receive any compensation besides being rebooked against my will.

Worst airline I've flown with, even worse customer service than low cost airlines in Europe. Flight was delayed due to Copa internal issues and lost my connection. They didn't want to pay for my hotel or transport since they put me in a flight for the next day in the afternoon. They only gave me 2 meal vouchers which I could use because everything in the terminal was closed at that time (22h). Wanted to use the vouchers for lunch the next day, but couldn't because the date on it was the day before. Copa client service desk unattended for hours, staff are rude and unprofessional, no commitment whatsoever to assist passengers in need. Do yourself a favor and avoid Copa airlines and Tocumen Airport altogether. Wondering how star alliance accepts such mediocre airlines giving the alliances a bad image and reputation.

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

We have a 14 hour lay over in Panama.When I complained to Copa, they wanted $2000 dollars to fix the problem. They create the problem, then they lie, cite a policy and try to gouge you to fix it. The amount they demanded to fix the situation and get us home in one day, as requested originally, is more than the cost of the round trip flight for my wife and me. I got a hotel reservation in advance so so we wouldn't have to sleep on the airport floor. I don't trust Copa Airlines. It must be run by Curly, Larry and Moe, with Shemp as CEO. Joe is in charge of public relations. Mr. Haney from Green Acres is Chairman of the Board. I'm praying I won't have any more problems. I hope they remember to put gas in the plane. Fee schedule:
fee for tickets
fee for boarding pass
fee for gas
fee for air in cabin
fee for seat
fee for foot rest
fee for safe arrival
fee for meal
fee for drinks
fee for bathroom
fee for answer from flight attendant
fee for baggage
fee for baggage pick-up
fee for music
fee for TV
fee for wifi (ah, ah, ah, business class only)
fee for no crash (hey isn't covered in safe arrival)?
fee for boarding and exit ramp
fee for blanket (ah, ah, ah, business class only)
fee for hot towel (ah, ah, ah, business class only)
fee for pillow ( ah, ah, ah, business class only)
fee for trained pilot
fee for wings
fee for jet engines
fee for tail
fee for flight instruments
fee for landing gear (tires included!)
fee for flight attendants
fee for long layover
fee for sleeping on airport floor due to long layover
fee to look for lost luggage
fee for being on hold at customer service
Did I think of everything? Probably not.

Copa upgrade offer
I purchased 4 tickets on with 2 reservations on Copas airlines. The reservations had 2 different reservation numbers. 2 tickets for my wife and I and on the second reservation two tickets for friends. I received an email from Copa today with an offered to upgrade our flight. The email did not have a reservation number. I paid for the upgrade. Then I received an email confirming the upgrade. The upgrade was shown for our friends tickets. When I called Copa I was told there could be no change, refund or cancellation of the upgrade. I had no intention of upgrading our friends tickets which I paid for.

Do NOT fly with Copa airlines. Worst customer service I have ever experienced. Refused to give me a credit of a 1000 EU flight and demanded rebooking fee for mistakes they made. Regret not reading the horrible reviews before booking. Be warned..

My boyfriend is a first-time traveller (like, had never even been on a plane before) and went to South America. When trying to fly from Rio de Janeiro to Medellin, he was told he needed a Yellow Fever vaccine and couldn't board the flight.

We were caught out because a Yellow Fever vaccine isn't usually required for Colombia - it's just because he was travelling from Brazil first.

Nonetheless, we didn't expect any kind of refund or help with our fares because it was his fault, and Steven from Copa Airlines kindly gave him credits to use anyway - even for the flight that was due to depart in an hour.

We are so thankful for this as it saved my partner more than €800, and it made a bad day and a silly mistake a lot better.

Refused to accept Laissez-Passer Document from the Camerounian Embassy citing reason "not official document"

i am sorry to say, but they are apparently following a racist agenda and capitalizing on passenger.

They did *not* offer any alternative, leaving us with 100% of the damage.

Absolutely unacceptable.

Lawsuite against Copa will follow.

If you travel without a strong passport - stay clear of Copa Airlines. The capitalize on weak nationalities.

My baggage was lost, never arrived to my final destination on May 19, 2023. It's almost 2 months later and they have not resolved my issue. I keep calling them and sending notifications every 1-2 weeks to no avail.
Their commitment to their customers are just words written on their website.

I was waiting in line to speak to gate 121 attendant Melanie Alvarez (name could be different as clerk refused to show her id) to see if I could pay to upgrade my seat to Business Class, I was second in line and several folks were standing behind me, someone skipped the line and started talking to the clerk and requested to be helped, Melanie proceeded to help that passenger ignoring the order in which we were standing in line, I brought this to her attention and she looked at me and said "what do you want" in a nasty tone of voice, I said "excuse me?" and she repeated "what do you want?" I asked her to call her supervisor because i intended file a complaint, she never acknowledged my request and did not call a supervisor, I asked the male clerk next to her to call a supervisor and he told me that he didn't have the authority to call a supervisor, that only Melanie could, I was never allowed to talk to a supervisor, when boarding started and as I was going through, Melanie sidelined me and had me wait allowing many passengers to board, I asked what the issue was and she said that they had to check the size and weight of my carry on bag, I said I just arrived from Punta Cana and they had done it already, it was obvious that Melanie was retaliating against me, i asked the other clerk (male) to check my bagage and he easily slipped a cardboard sleeve over my bag and told me that my bag was fine and allowed me to board. I am filing a formal complaint against the person alleged to be Melanie Alvarez who manned gate 121 on July 13, 2023 for flight CM830.

The crew made me check a sealed duty free alcohol bottle at the Panama airport and let someone else with the same sealed back through without issues. I had to check my backpack and carry around a load of my things in my hands. The crew was also rude. They also charge you like $50 to select any type of seat and the seats are tiny. I’ve flown with around 15 different airlines and Copa is about as bad as Spirit or Ryan Air while charging premium airline prices.

Charged us 1.2k for two flight tickets. Proceeded to then cancel the flight and reject all claims for a refund or an alternate flight. Highly advise avoiding this company!

I WOULD RATE COPA ZERO STARTS, CUSTOMER SERVICE AT DULLES AIRPORT THE WORST, CUSTOMER SERVICE AT VIRU VIRU, NOT KNOWLEDGEABLE AT ALL, THEY COULD NOT DIFFERENCIATE BETWEEN TOURIST AND BOLIVIAN CITIZENSHIP, THEY OVER CHARGE FOR SEATS, AND ADD FEES FOR EVERYTHING!