Fly United from Houston to Curacao

[ReefHound]

Anyone here have experience flying United to Curacao with an overnight in Panama City?

I am planning a trip next year and looking at air options. The easiest and quickest option is American through Miami with travel time each way around 7-8 hours. But Houston is a United town and most people here have United cards and miles and status.

United flies through Panama City and codeshares with Copa Airlines for the PC-CUR segment. The problem is that Copa flies once per day in the morning and the first of two flights United flies into Panama arrives well after this Copa flight, so there is an overnight layover going there. This isn't an issue on the return as the Copa flight gets into Panama before the United flights depart for Houston so the travel time is about 7 hours.

The overnight layover is not a deal breaker and might even be fun to see Panama City. United flies in at 2:30pm and 6:30pm. I'd probably opt for 2:30pm to give time to settle into a room then go exploring the area. Here's a couple of questions though.

1. Will the checked bags be retained at the airport and loaded onto Copa the next morning or will we have to collect the bags then re-check them Sunday morning? (Hoping the former so as not to have to lug them around, clear them through Panama customs, or re-check them next morning.)

2. Arriving at 2:30pm gives time to walk around the old town and have dinner and a few drinks but not to take a city or canal tour. When I try to book multi-city to give myself 2 or 3 overnights it says no flights found. Maybe it can't be booked online but is something customer service could do? Both airlines fly the routes on all the days in question. I could book each segment separately but a) it costs a lot more, b) can't book Copa with United miles, and c) they are separate tickets and neither is responsible for changes with the other.

3. Any other thoughts or ideas?

 

[runsongas]

1) depends on layover length, especially since the next leg is a partner. if the layover is over 12hrs, the likelihood you will have to pick them up goes up. And be prepared that even if you are told by United that it will transfer that it does not because the partner airline won't take possession that far in advance.

2) extended layovers have to be put through by calling the united reservation desk if you are using miles

 

[scubadada]

I went to Galapagos in April-May, 2018. I flew from Miami to Guayaquil on American. My return flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems and American booked me on Copa Airlines from Guayaquil to Panama City, to Miami. I did not have a long layover in Panama City. The Copa flights were both excellent. I would not hesitate to take a Copa flight. American reimbursed me the frequent flier miles I lost when switching to Star Alliance from Oneworld. I have always regretted being switched to Oneworld from Star Alliance when American Airlines took over US Airways. Being in Philadelphia, I was trapped, and still am

 

[ReefHound]

1) depends on layover length, especially since the next leg is a partner. if the layover is over 12hrs, the likelihood you will have to pick them up goes up. And be prepared that even if you are told by United that it will transfer that it does not because the partner airline won't take possession that far in advance.

2) extended layovers have to be put through by calling the united reservation desk if you are using miles

Thanks but I need someone with direct experience who can tell me what they actually did. The layovers easily exceed 12 hours. The United flights get in at 2:30pm and 6:30pm and the Copa flight leaves at 9am.

 

[runsongas]

you may want to try flyertalk or another FF forum then if you want someone that has flown that exact route.

 

[ReefHound]

you may want to try flyertalk or another FF forum then if you want someone that has flown that exact route.

Maybe so but Curacao is a major diving destination and there are lots of divers in Houston and many more that connect through Houston. United has been flying this route every day for years. It's the same schedule as when I researched a trip in 2019. Regardless of what they may do in other cities, they have an exact process for this airport and this route. When the baggage handlers pull them from the plane, they either take them to the baggage claim carousel or to an overnight storage room.

 

[ReefHound]

The trip in post #1 will be happening at the end of this month so I will be able to report back with firsthand experience on what United/Copa actually do here.

Does anyone have recommendations for a short Panama Canal tour. Turns out it may be possible for a tour guide to pick us up at the airport, give us a 4-5 hour tour, and drop us off at hotel. This will negate the need for airport shuttle to hotel and help mitigate the cost of the tour. I have a few options from big tour brokers like toursbylocals.com but I'm really a fan of private family owned tour operators, if possible.

 

[ReefHound]

Just to follow up on this, we are back from our trip. You can read my trip report on CHUM site and comment here but I'll address a few things here.

On the flight down, we did have to get luggage and pass through customs for our overnight layover.

We were not charged an immigration tourist fee. I've heard it is $50 but maybe it was in our ticket. Panamanian immigration was very slow, taking 10-15 minutes per person. The agent spoke very accented English and kept asking the same questions about how long here and how long elsewhere and wanting to see boarding passes for next flight when we hadn't even checked in yet. Finally he accepted a screen view of the full itinerary. Customs was more efficient but did search a few of our bags. No problem.

We decided against trying to cram a canal tour in so took our arranged shuttle to hotel in Casco Viejo then joined a walking tour of the area followed by a nice dinner. Our short visit there was pleasant. We used the same booked shuttle to return us to the airport early the next morning.

Copa charged us $35 per checked bag each way even though our United ticket shows first bag no charge on every segment. I have a case in with United to address that.

Immigration and customs into Curacao was a breeze. We used the automated kiosks for immigration and customs was not even scanning bags or talking to anyone so we were in without talking to anyone at all. The exit process was also smooth.

Coming back, more Panamanian nonsense as there was additional scanner and security at the gate. After waiting in a long line, the agent was trying to tell us in Spanish that we had to go somewhere else. After a bit another agent came over that spoke some English and said we needed to go to immigration counter and pointed vaguely off in a direction to have our documents "verified". With a one hour layover and plane about to board, I was in no mood for it and kept saying no and finally said strongly we need to get on this plane and our documents are just fine and we don't have time for this BS. With six of us around her trying to understand what we were supposed to do (and apparently no one else on the plane needing to do it) she decided she could look at the passports and "verify" them. Gee was that so hard? Still not sure if this nonsense was coming from Panama or United. If indeed there was some required step then there should have been signage and United should have given us information about it. With a one hour layover there is little time for confusion and bureaucracy.

On the return, baggage was checked through.

 

[AdivingBel]

Enjoyed your trip report.