Copa 737 MAX Business Class: At Least There Are Flat Beds?

Something else to mention is that every Copa economy fare is upgradable with United Plus Points and usually there is good upgrade availability. This is useful given how many red eye US-PTY flights they have.

There are no circumstances where I'd find a lay-flat seat a good thing if there isvsomeone next to me. And double yuch to having to climb over or be climbed over. You want my J bucks, I'm in 1 of 1-2-1 J (OK, maybe in the 2 if well divided). But, I only fly to places I want to go.

It’s all in the name, Ben: Dreams. The one thing you can be guaranteed of on Copa’s 737 MAX 9 is solid dreams… in which you visualise yourself flying Qsuites or Air France or JAL or something of that kind! 😉

Thanks for your review of this, Ben! Happy to have this review to know what I'm getting into as I look for S.America awards from SFO.

Any plans to try the new Korean Air 787-10 business class?

A lot of people were looking forward to that review from your original itinerary.

Count me in to that "a lot of people". But I'm sure that Ben is still looking for a chance to fly on KAL B78X - he said that intersted him, so...

Honestly, now that I know that both GOL and Copa experiences were nothing to write home about, I'm kind of disappointed that he diverted to South America. At least BOA business class sounds interesting enough though.

I used to get business class awards all the time to South America on Copa using Avianca LifeMiles. About a month ago, there were none. Do I have to go to United or Aeroplan?

A year ago after buying my ticket on CM I used 20k UA miles for a Star Alliance Upgrade Award LAX-PTY. Using cash the fare difference would've been $500.

@angetenar can you or anyone else with knowledge of this [Copa upgrade] elaborate on exactly how to upgrade a Copa flight with United miles, eg where/steps?

And is it possible to upgrade using a friend's miles? Assume I am flying Copa economy and want to upgrade to business. I don't have United miles but a friend does and is willing to letme use them for this purpose. TIA guys!

Oh stop bitching and get real. It's a 737. The lay-flat seats are fine, and the rest of what you're whining about is unimportant nonsense to fill space. Lack of direct aisle access? Oh boo-hoo, cry me a river. You step over your partner or they step over you, it's not the end of the world. It's a 737 on a short flight, fer cryin' out loud. I've flown on these planes in these seats (and yes, with that unattractive food) and will do so again happily whenever I need to get there. Have some frigging perspective, princess, and come down to earth. Sheesh.

The wifi on a flight that distance wouldn't bother me.

I just flew the non stop Perth, Australia to London flight. 18hr7min airborne. No wifi. Yup. And I don't mean it was broken or something, NO Qantas A380's or 787's have WiFi. Gobsmacked with some of the lengths of flights they operate.

Yeah a lot of people were disappointed. It's actually even more interesting now since China Airlines and Korean Air have some new A3210neo seats that look very interesting to compare with.

Where is VT-CIE?

Ah dang, he's down below.

If it's of any consolation, the only thing that's missing from CM's pre-pandemic service is the printed menu.

Does the bulkhead in row 1 give you more leg space?

Hola, Angetenar....

Do you have to buy the ticket from UA in order to use the PQPs for the upgrade? Can you buy the ticket from CM and then add the upgrade through CM, or only through UA?

Thanks for mentioning this...I fly CM pretty often and never knew!!

Hey Mike, COPA has some of the longest 737 flights serving Panama from as far as BUE and to the USA West Coast

Ben nailed it right, indifferent flight attendants, lousy meals, but great value. Finally with a limited number of lie flat seats you might get lucky to get a decent night’s sleep.

Check your attitude buddy, Ben was not whining.
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Finally someone who gets it. These are relatively short flights on a 737. I think our "princesses" are getting pretty soft and spoiled. By God, I bet they didn't even offer pajamas. Time for a reality check.

I’m neither a complainer, nor usually hyperbolic — flying up front, especially in a flat-bed seat, is a privilege — but I found COPA’s food disgusting, not a word I use lightly. On recent flights, I was served a chicken rice dish that wasn’t just flavorless and virtually chicken-free, it left a greasy film on my tongue and palate that took hours to be rid of. On my return itinerary, I resorted to airport-bought M&Ms and Pringles rather than ingest the slurry (it was the same dish in both directions) . Yes, it’s the definition of a first-world problem, but this is a product I will only fly when lack of funds (miles or money) steer me to that direction.

I see some value in reviewing new (to the blog) experiences, but it's kind of amusing that so many people bitched about the previous itinerary only for the revised one to consist of exclusively and predictably lackluster products.

I'm not saying these reviews won't be useful to some, but certain commenters were foaming at the mouth like there were undiscovered riches onboard GOL and Copa rather than unremarkable 737 seats that some might actually go out of their way to avoid

Apparently having business class seats on a narrow body gives some people expectations about everyone having direct isle access. I can't recall being on any flight on a B737 of any type with every business class seat having direct aisle access. So, I guess this is a non-complaint as there's nothing else to expect, really. Still, you get a flat bed and you managed to get some sleep. And, surprising for Boeing these days, you actually managed to survive the flight.

But, it seems like Copa's hard product is excellent in its category and gives very decent value for money. And by the looks of it, you didn't die of dehydration or starvation either. Have you considered pushing the service button in case you wanted a refill or so?

He quite literally provided some perspective if you'd read to the end. This is a fine product for the price. It's not competitive with a true business class product on a widebody aircraft. It's all about priorities and many people don't have all the information you and I do as to the relative quality of Copa.

If you're paying for it, Ben clearly stated it can be very good value for money. If you're using award points and have another option for the same or similar points, it's a poor value, especially when that person you're stepping over (or who's stepping over you) is a STRANGER.

Perhaps they emulated their catering to be very similar to UA's procedures?

From all the people, according to @Mike Mohler's opinion, that needs to "stop bitching and get real. It's a 737" would like to thank VT-CIE for the pressure so we all end up reading reviews on GOL and COPA instead of 787-9 787-10 and 777-300ER.

You don't need wisdom like @Taylor for "undiscovered riches onboard GOL and Copa rather than unremarkable 737".

Thank you, VT-CIE.
I'd love to see more 737 reviews.
I can't wait till some mediocre airline put a shower in this 50 year old plane design on a 3 hour flight.

What do you expect.
Now moving forward let's all pressure Ben to avoid Ritz Carlton and do more reviews on middle of nowhere Residence Inn.

I end with VT-CIE would be infamous quote for the next Ryanair review.
"visualise yourself flying Qsuites or Air France or JAL or something of that kind! ;)"

Send your thanks to VT-CIE

@NS

You can thank VT-CIE for that.

Yes, it does. On YouTube you can find some videos that show the bulkhead seat and its bigger space for your feet.

South America... I'm not missing much.

For upgrading copa flights with miles, see the United star alliance upgrade page. For both miles and pluspoint upgrades, the flights can be booked through Copa or United. Upgrading with a friend's miles should work as well.

I flew Copa 737 Max Dream business class nonstop roundtrip from SFO to PTY recently.
The flights left on time, the planes were clean, flight attendants friendly and the flat bed seats on a narrow body were a welcome perk.
The seats were comfortable, the food was ok and the entertainment system was adequate.
The southbound flight left at 1:15 AM, getting into PTY around 10:30 AM.
The return flight left around 6 PM, arriving into SF at 11:30 PM.
There's usually good availability for United Mileage Plus members for reward travel in Business class and connections through PTY are much easier than LIM.

It's not just that though. The itinerary was already booked, and then he deliberately changed it based off of one person's not so great suggestion.

And the suggested change wasn't even convenient for routing purposes. He returned home to MIA, which defeats the purpose of taking advantage of being in MEX in the first place.

It was just such a bizarre decision since he could've just done this later once he went back to MIA at a later date. There was nothing convenient or opportune about reviewing these products tbh.

Who hurt you?

I was actually looking forward to the Korean Airlines review. I just booked a flight for my partner in 2025 and was curious what to expect from the soft product. Hopefully there will be a review in the near future.

Exactly, Ben even made a post about KE's new product earlier, seems like a fun way to get to review it.

This whole Copa/Gol saga doesn't even seem to have been particularly convenient to review these carriers, given that he anyways returned to MIA to do this trip. He basically could've reviewed all these airlines any other time, so I'm genuinely confused why he thought this was a better idea.

My two cents about @Eskimo’s and @yoloswag420’s comments targeting me below:

1. If Ben weren’t as excited as he was about flying these Latin American airlines, he’d never have taken this trip and would have stuck to the original Korean Air itinerary. He himself said that being stuck on an Aeroméxico 787 to Tokyo for over 17 hours wasn’t going to be kind on his body, so I hope you’ll appreciate that he could live his dream of flying BoA’s A330. And it’s not that people didn’t want these Latin American products to be reviewed; many said that it would be useful instead of some Northeast Asian carriers again.

2. I know many wanted to see the KE 787-10 being reviewed, and if you want him to do so you can always request for it, but there’s a better, more civilised way to do so than finger-pointing and blaming someone for forcing him to change his itinerary at the last minute. There’s always another time to review the KE 787-10, and he’ll do it soon enough.

That’s why my username is an ordinary, no-frills Air India A320neo, and not a luxurious A380 or something, because international travel can sometimes consist of very non-glamorous products and it’s your choice to accept them or not. Peace.

You very pressed, despite the fact I didn't even mention your name a single time. It's just a fact that multiple people were disappointed, it's not wrong to point it out.

It's also true that there was nothing advantageous about the routing to fly BoA. The fact stands is that he reset his trip by returning to MIA and then booking these flights. Like you said "There’s always another time to review the KE 787-10, and he’ll do it soon enough", the same applies here to BoA/Gol/Copa. This was the crux of my critique anyways, nowhere are you being personally "targeted".

People are free to state the truth and their opinions, whether you accept it or not. The feedback several others shared also did not personally attack you, if you are upset by it, that's on you, not others.

Your last paragraph above is partly true and partly false. I agree that you did not called me out personally, contrary to what I wrote above. I clubbed your disappointment in Ben’s not reviewing Korean Air with Eskimo’s anger in him reviewing inferior 737 products, and that’s why I wrote it that way.

People are free to state whatever they like, and I don’t have to agree with them. Of course many people wanted KE, and they were disappointed, and called it out without referencing me like Eskimo did, and I appreciate that. But many others who wanted OB, if not G3 and CM, like me got their wish, and I’m happy for more Hispanic reviews.

But if you think I’m upset, you couldn’t be more mistaken — in fact I understand your perspective that you didn’t want him to return to MIA, but that’s the only way for him to review BoA’s A330. That doesn’t mean that I’m upset in any way that others (not you necessarily) chose to take out their anger on me. We all have our likes and dislikes when it comes to award travel.

You keep extrapolating things I'm not saying, and that may be more telling about your genuine reaction than anything else.

You are clearly somewhat bothered and affected by the criticism (which is what I actually said above), and likely why this elicited a set of lengthy responses from you.

I do understand why you would feel defensive, and at the end of the day, I don't really have any qualms with you. For the most part, I can see that you are respectful and insightful in a lot of your other comment history.

I primarily felt (and still do think) the decision to pivot was perplexing and not optimal routing, but that's not a decision you made, so you shouldn't feel the need to defend or justify it either. No ill will between us at all.

I think Ben was pretty balanced with his review highlighting the pros (lie flat seats, good value for money) as well as the cons (bad food, indifferent service and no wi-fi).

I looked at a couple of videos but didn’t find it.
Will try again. Thanks

Ben
now go and travel TK on their 737 max on routes to Africa - and compare Copa's seating to TK's business class seating on that same aircraft.

@VT-CIE -

2. I know many wanted to see the KE 787-10 being reviewed, and if you want him to do so you can always request for it, but there’s a better, more civilised way to do so than finger-pointing and blaming someone for forcing him to change his itinerary at the last minute. There’s always another time to review the KE 787-10, and he’ll do it soon enough.

Be real mate, you are the one who had the strongest voice against Ben's original itinerary (AM + KE). What it seems like to me is you're just not accepting the truths and consequences.

Also, regarding the part where you said yoloswag420 (and others) should have just requested Ben formally instead of blaming/shaming Ben, isn't that exactly what you did when Ben first said that he'd end the current trip with Aeromexico B789 and KAL B78X + B77W?

Longtime blog reader (10+ years). Just want to say THANK YOU for this review. Some of us travel frequently to LATAM, and this review is extremely helpful. I personally think it’s great to have variety in reviews, and Copa 737Max9 is probably the most competitive business product to North South America/Central America. Thank you, Ben, and please keep up the great work!

To support VT-CIE, as a long time reader of the blog, we’ve read dozens if not hundreds of reviews of Asian carriers. Meanwhile, LATAM has always been a very underrepresented region. This review is more valuable than yet another KA review. Thank you, Ben.

Copa 737Max9 is probably the most competitive business product to North South America/Central America.

There's simply no way that you wrote this with an honesty. How is this supposed to be more competitive than US3 and LATAM, and soon also Avianca?

Perhaps you just didn't like the fact that Aeromexico and KAL plan was far better than BOA, GOL and Copa plan.

I'm sorry, but Ben, you shouldn't have listened to those guys shamed you for taking a route which had flights than could have offered you better and more interesting experiences. Those who should really need to be shamed are them, not you.

"After takeoff, he was in the cabin once to hand out the snack and offer a drink, and then he emerged before landing to offer breakfast and a drink." How would you know if he walked around in between? You said "I did manage to get some solid sleep in my window seat." Plus, that breakfast looks perfectly fine. Also consider that COPA's main competitor in the region is Avianca and as such, COPA is golden.

I have been taking COPA in business yearly since 2014 from Montevideo to Los Angeles and in 40 flights I have never had a good meal or good service. Their gate agents in LAX are invariably rude and unhelpful but it is literally the only game in town.

I agree the only redeeming feature are their seats and if Avianca could upgrade their service from MVD to Bogata and then give me assurance that there would be a business class on the run to LAX it would be a no brainer but Avianca does not seem to know what it is anymore (maybe read the trades about Southwest and Spirit and become a real airline again with competitive pricing)

I first want to start this just as another poster have perfectly said.

"That's not a decision you made, so you shouldn't feel the need to defend or justify it either. No ill will between us at all."

Now to your 2 cents.

1. Ben is excited if the readers are excited. That's how influencers operate. FWIW, if readers wanted Ryanair he would have done it. (At the cost of alienating those who wanted to see A380 showers, or like another site, Matthew's abs). Why do you think Delta posts here attract so many interactions. Because the reader(s) love Delta or because Ben loves Delta?

2. So you admit that you "forcing him to change his itinerary at the last minute". Then own the consequences. I also didn't say I wanted to see KE in particular over COPA. I was just echoing people who said it. It's a few hours on a 737, what do you expect.

And I couldn't care less on your username choice. But while you are correct "international travel can sometimes consist of very non-glamorous products and it’s your choice to accept them or not."
ICYMI, People don't come here for the non-glamorous products. Do you seek the thought leader (divider) expecting something other than race cards and brainwashed politics?

And by the way I'm not trying to say you're a hypocrite, but luxury is relative.
A320neo, which is luxurious if you compare to CRJ-200 and not if you compare to A380.
So why not VT-ZOA if you wanted ordinary?

And to clear the air, I'm not angry with Ben or you or even Tim Dunn on a different topic.
I called you out because it was the consequences that you even admit to.
Just like how in the future all Ben and other readers need to do is
"visualise yourself flying Qsuites or Air France or JAL or something of that kind! ;)"

Peace.

See what I mean VT-CIE, 737MAX on TK?

But fear not.
A wise ordinary person once told Ben.
"visualise yourself flying Qsuites or Air France or JAL or something of that kind! ;)"

I agree! I flew overnight BC with them and didn’t get lie flat. Every part of the experience was disappointing, from boarding to seats to service to lounge. Sleeping without lie flat didn’t work and it was a rough night. Lounge food is abysmal. Ordered a special meal, and they knew it on board but didn’t have it. FA’s are often rude, and never ask for language preference- they just bark at you in Spanish. They’ll often skip drink or snack service without reason. Priority bags coming out last. Just a sub standard experience.

@Eskimo

Bravo. Everything was spot on.

VT-CIE and Yafi, stop lying to us and yourself.

I know you two are acting like that not because he'd be reviewing airlines he have reviewed a lot of times before, but rather because it was Korean Air. I'm sure that none of you would have cared if Ben was planning to take, say Singapore Airlines or ANA business class for a returning leg instead of those messy products that Gol and Copa offered.

Btw, the most recent review of both have taken place later than that of Korean Air. And Ben have also reviewed pretty much of all both airlines' premium class products as well.

VT-CIE's beef with Korea is insane!

I'm using Copa about twice a year for connections through Panama (which adds up to about 8 flights). I often travel to non-hub destiations, e.g., Brasilia, Quito, Asunción, which otherweise require more complicated connections and PTY is very smooth. I agree that food is not a strength of Copa, and it's even worse in their lounges (which are nice otherwise).

I try to avoid red eye flights, much rather I spend a night or two in Panama City - which I find very enjoyable, with a lot of good hotels, restaurants and interesting tours. In Panama City right now.

@angetenar or Ben or any other good samaritan:

Can you elaborate on the steps needed to upgrade using say United miles for a flight purchased from Copa? How exactly does this work and/or where do you go to do it?

Can you upgrade, to use the same example, a Copa flight, with ANY star alliance member miles? And if so, are the rates consistent across all airlines or are there "sweet spots" ?

Thanks guys/gals

I'm curious about how many scheduled flights there are around the world at that hour?

Honestly copa was quite pleasant in my experience, although I've only flown them CUN-PTY-MIA on business, with an ok meal service, as well as MIA-PTY-MIA.

What caught me off guard was that my return PTY-MIA was in economy last month, and on that flight they serve a hot meal in the back. Although I'm still not quite sure what exactly I ate, it was still better than nothing.

Biggest complaint I have about them is the lack of wifi, and lack of food options in their PTY club.

I've flown with UA, DL, and AA and never have I been asked about my language preference. I've been barked at in English even in itineraries to Latin America.

I generally agree this is a lower tier oft product. The reason we go back to Copa is we can fly from Orlando to southern South America on daytime flights both directions rather than say on AA or DL with overnight flights each way at a much higher price. Daytime and lower cost gets us past all the service issues. YMMV.

I guess there are no good samaritans here 🙁

Ben - don't leave me hanging man; loyal reader here who helps you earn that ad revenue 😉

I can wait for the Asian business class reviews. There's very little out there for these airlines. I found this very useful as I'm looking at flights from LAX-SXM and Copa comes up at 70k miles R/T in business class. So as Ben says, its a great deal in comparison, but sure you get less. Thank you for this review Ben, I now know what to expect.

This is my first flying with Copa and I must say the last. I found the flight attendants not so friendly, the drink choices very limited, and I'm talking about sodas, the food not that great. I've decided to upgrade my flight back home to Business Class, we'll see how that goes.

Flew Copa for the first time to Brazil with a 5 hr layover in Panama. I found the seats uncomfortable even if I paid alittle extra for added leg room and comfort, it really wasn't. The choices of soft drinks are slim, and there's no snacks, whatever entre you choose it's not good. I found the flight attendant not so friendly at all. I truly wish I could change my coming back to the US flight to another airline, but I can't so I decided to upgrade to business class, stay tuned for my review on that. Buy no, I would not fly Copa Airlines again.

They don't call Avianca, Avianunca for no reason!

I have flow Copa business to Peru from ORD and chose to fly the again to Buenos Aires and Home from Rio. I had a wonderful experience with the flight crew on my flights to/from Lima. My flight to BA will be the first with the lie flat seat and for the price I'm perfectly happy with the lie flat bed. Other amenities are great but my priority is the seat and sleep. Other airline schedules to South America from Chicago are just terrible.

I just flew LAS - PTY nonstop on Copa in business class. CANNOT recommend! It was an overnight flight of 6:30 hours, departing Las Vegas at 1:45am and arriving into Tocumen at 10:15am. We paid $550 more per ticket in business than the economy seats were. What a disappointment! These were NOT lie-flat seats, despite what the gate agent told me. They were the same size seats as Spirit's Big Front Seat (which unfortunately no longer flies to PTY). For an overnight flight that's over 6 hours, these seats were miserable and were only slightly more comfortable than economy. I specifically booked this ticket rather than United from LAS to PTY via IAH (which generally leaves at 10:30am and arrives at 6:45pm) because it was nonstop and got us into Panama City in the morning so we could immediately continue to our final destination in Panama without having to spend the night in Panama City, and I figured we'd get a solid 6 hours of sleep in lie-flat seats. But I will never do this route on Copa again - the extra cost of the business class seat does not prevent a miserable night's sleep given the cheap Copa business class seats. The cabin service was ancillary to my desire to get some sleep - but it wasn't spectacular, either. They ran out of business class meals and the woman across the aisle from us couldn't get what she requested. There are very limited food options. Only breakfast was served, and neither dish was vegetarian (we pre-ordered vegetarian meals so we were ok). No milk is served onboard - why??? So we had black coffee rather than artificial powdered creamer. But no pre-departure snack or drink was offered - I've never seen that before in business class on any flight anywhere, regardless of flight length. No alcohol was served at all.

I'll keep flying Copa because we spend a lot of time in Panama, but I'm not going to waste my money on a Copa business class seat again. And next time I'm coming from Las Vegas, I'll fly United instead.

Flying SFO-PTY round trip in Copa business class in Feb. can the lie flat seat fit a 6’3” man?