Review: Copa Airlines Business Class Panama City, Panama to New York, United States

Book your flight on COPA here.

After my prior flight that day I again was busy in managing expectations. After leaving the Copa Club I turned to Gate 21 for my flight to New York.

There was an additional, impromptu security check - not unusual for flights to the United States. However it was rather chaotic with passengers cutting lines and just a small area to get rid of all your belongings for screening. Needless to say - there was no priority line for boarding or the security screening.

This time the 737-800 was equipped with large leather seats but those featured no foot rest and just minimal recline. The seat pitch also seemed smaller than in the prior version.









Only 2 of 16 business class seats were filled.

However there was a proper food service that the flight attendants rolled out after take off. The food was just ok. Certainly edible but nothing I'd remember in a positive light. The champagne was good though.













I caught up on sleep and we got into wintry JFK early.

It was my first time I wanted to use Global Entry and while the machine worked just fine - it would not give me a receipt. However the immigration agents could not have been more helpful and processed me manually. I do notice an improvement in courtesy and basic friendliness by immigration agents. During the last decade the US immigration has earned a worldwide reputation as horrible. Slow processing that treats you as a terrorism suspect instead of a warm welcome to eager tourists. This attitude seems to slowly change in most airports now. There is no need to screen less but the attitude needs to be better to compete in a world of many friendly countries. I'm glad this is improving!



Book your flight on COPA here.