Flying to Curacao/Copa Airlines

[DiverGirl82]

I'm going on a dive trip to Curacao in Nov and I'm having trouble finding decent flights. Flying from Southern CA to Curacao almost everything I'm finding is over 20+ hours with 15+ hour layovers. I've never seen anything like that before. Is that normal? The best flight I found is out of Las Vegas which is about 3-3.5 hours away from me but it's only $596 and has the best times (9+ hours there and 12+ hours coming back.) Unfortunately it's with an airline I've never heard of before called Copa Airline so I did a quick google search and they have horrible reviews. Now I'm not sure what to do. Any advice from people who have flown to Curacao or that area before or who have flown with Copa Airline would be great. If you've ever flown with Copa before how was it? Any major problems?

Thanks

 

[diversteve]

Everything under $700 LAX-Cur. First 5 are a red-eye outbound




This one looks like about the best except for the evening arrival:



Use your dates here: Matrix - ITA Software

 

[DiverGirl82]

Wow, I put in my dates and the best I found was $839 but it's with that Copa Airlines that has the bad reviews. My dates are 11/21-11/29. Amazing the difference a couple of weeks can make.

 

[diversteve]

That is odd how much it changes by the end of the month.

That COPA flight goes thru Panama City, Panama. Not sure I'd want to if I had a choice.

 

[DiverGirl82]

Yeah, I guess I have to decide if I want save $$$ or if I want to save time/hassle. Looks like I can't have it both ways. The more $$$ I save the more diving I can do but I hate the thought of a long drawn out stressful flight with potential major problems.

---------- Post added June 13th, 2014 at 02:43 PM ----------

have you ever had a layover in Panama city? Is it bad?

 

[cmulvaney]

Fly to Miami and spend the night, hit South Beach, have some Cuban food, and fly out in the AM.

 

[DiverGirl82]

Hmm, now I'm looking at reviews of Copa Airline on Tripadvisor and there are some really good reviews on there. You also get a free checked bag and a free meal. Those kinds of fees can really add up.

 

[diversteve]

I can't say anything bad about Panama City or Panama in general but my concern is always I bring all my gear. So I check most of it. If it doesn't make it then you're faced with being in a Dutch country, dealing with an employee of the airline calling a Latin American country to locate it and forward it on.

I know they probably forward as well as anybody else but just not the kind of hassle I want. I always look for the shortest flights, least connections, longest possible connection times (within reason) so they have a chance to move the bags. If that costs a little more - I pay it.

On the flipside, Copa is Star Alliance - the big partner there is United. So pay your money and take your chances...

Do more shorediving on Curacao if the budget is tight. Last time we were there we only did one afternoon of boat dives and I don't think we missed much. Except Watamula - that's still on the list.

Maybe get an American/US Airways CC. My first checked bag is always free now afaik - they just sent me something about it.

 

[Damselfish]

Wow, I put in my dates and the best I found was $839 but it's with that Copa Airlines that has the bad reviews. My dates are 11/21-11/29. Amazing the difference a couple of weeks can make.

Flying around the Thanksgiving holiday probably isn't helping the prices.