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ConnectMiles is a loyalty program offered by Copa Airlines. If you are a frequent Copa flyer and want to maximize the benefits of flying with Copa, then you must know about their loyalty program. It is aimed at benefiting frequent flyers of Copa Airlines. Members earn miles every time they fly with Copa Airlines, Copa Airlines Colombia, or any of the airline’s partner airlines.
Copa Airlines offers flights to a vast network of more than 80 locations in North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean. The airline maintains a significant presence in Panama and also provides a stopover in Panama, with its primary hub situated at Tocumen International Airport in the capital city of Panama City.
Copa Airlines is a member of Star Alliance, which means you can redeem your ConnectMiles with any of the Star Alliance members, such as United Airlines, Air Canada, Lufthansa, etc, other than Star Alliance Copa has partnered with other airlines, which includes Aeromexico, Azul, Gol, Emirates and KLM. Before, Copa Airlines used MileagePlus, which is United’s loyalty program. In 2015, Copa launched its own loyalty program named as ConnectMiles.
Read More: Copa Airlines Business Class Flight Review
Pros And Cons
Pros
- Star Alliance member, earn or redeem miles with any of the 26 members
- The flexible routing policies offer the option of one layover and two open jaw stops on round-trip awards
- Wide range of redemption options
Cons
- No 1:1 transfer partners
- Lower redemption rates as compared to partner airlines
-
Surcharges and additional fees that add to the cost of award tickets
How To Earn Connect Miles?
By Flying with Copa and Its Partner Airlines
A first and simple way to collect ConnectMiles is to fly with Copa and its partner airlines. To ensure that you earn miles for your flight, simply provide your Connect Miles number when making your reservation. It’s important that the name on your reservation matches the name on your ConnectMiles account. Your miles will be credited to your account within a few days after the completion of your trip.
Copa offers a calculator that enables passengers to determine the amount of award and status miles they will receive for their flight. Miles earned on flying with Copa and partners airlines depend on distance, status and class.
If you’re looking to earn miles by flying with Copa Airlines and Copa Airlines Colombia-Operated Flights, you can look at the accrual chart shown below:
G, I, N, P, X, Y, and Z are the fare classes which doesn’t earn any Miles.
| Class | Award Miles | Qualifying Miles | Qualifying Segments (QS) | |
| Economy Basic | L, A, T, E | 50% | 50% | 0.5 |
| Economy Classic | H, Q, K, V, U, S, O, W | 100% | 100% | 1 |
| Economy Full | Y, B, M | 125% | 125% | 2 |
| Business Promo | D, R | 150% | 150% | 2 |
| Business Full | C, J | 200% | 200% | 2 |
For Example, A flight from Miami(MIA) to Panama City(PTY) in D class
Distance – On average, 1157 miles
Miles Earned – 200% of 1157 that will be 2314 miles
With Star Alliance members and partner airlines, you can earn up to 50% to 200% of the miles flown, depending on the fare class and flight partner. For example, with United Airlines, you can earn award miles up to 100%. You can find the full list of details Here.
Other than the Star Alliance partners where you can earn ConnectMiles are:
| Other Airline Partners | Maximum Base Miles |
| Aeromexico | 150% |
| Azul | 150% |
| GOL | 150% |
| Emirates | 150% |
| KLM | 175% |
Earn ConnectMiles With Spending On Credit Cards
At the moment, there exists a single credit card that enables you to accumulate ConnectMiles directly, that is BAC Credomatic Visa Platinum card. Upon spending $500 or more in the initial 3 months, this card yields a welcome bonus of 10,000 ConnectMiles. By using Copa Airlines, cardholders can earn 2X miles for every $1 they spend and 1X miles for each $1 they spend elsewhere.
Transfer Partners
At present, there do not exist any partnerships for ConnectMiles that facilitate point transfers from U.S. credit card programs. Therefore, the conversion of points to Miles is not possible. The most straightforward approach to earn miles is to transfer points from Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards. This involves a 3:1 transfer ratio of Marriott points to ConnectMiles, So 1000 Marriott points will be around 333 miles, also, there is an additional bonus of 5,000 miles granted for every 60,000 Marriott points transferred.
Other Ways To Earn ConnectMiles
With Hotel Stays
Copa has established alliances with several hotel chains, including Marriott Bonvoy and IHG Rewards Club, among others. As part of these partnerships, ConnectMiles members can accumulate rewards for their hotel stays, which can later be transformed into miles. Also, you can earn Miles with Booking.com, Rocketmiles, etc.
The rate of rewards earning can differ based on the hotel chain and membership status, although typically, travellers can collect between 1-3 ConnectMiles for each $1 spent on hotel stays.
Car Rental
Copa Airlines has established collaborations with rental car companies, like AVIS and Budget, to offer travellers opportunities to gain ConnectMiles rewards throughout their travels. By renting a car from these rental car partners, members can earn points for their rentals.
In addition to the previously mentioned methods, there are various other ways to earn ConnectMiles rewards. Copa has formed a partnership with Grand Tours, a company that provides miles for cruise bookings with select partners. Additionally, when purchasing foreign currency at a Travelex location situated within Tocumen Airport in Panama City, Panama, you can earn up to 750 ConnectMiles.
ConnectMiles is primarily focused on rewarding its members for travel-related activities, such as flying with Copa or its partner airlines. As a result, the program does not offer as many shopping partners as some other loyalty programs. While there are some options for earning miles through shopping, the list of partners is not as extensive as with other programs.
If you’re close to reaching the required number of miles for a significant award redemption but still need a few more, there is another option available; you can directly buy ConnectMiles.
Redeeming Connect Miles
Redeeming With Flights Booking
Of course, the easiest way to redeem is by booking a flight, especially when you can book flights with any Star Alliance member. Copa offers an award chart that applies to all program-related flight redemptions, including partner airline flights.
Miles, you need to redeem your award ticket on flights operated by Copa :
Copa Airlines collaborates with both non-alliance and Star Alliance airlines. The airline employs a region-based award chart to determine the pricing of partner awards. You can see the full list here, with Award Chart and regions.
When booking a flight on Copa Airline, you can easily determine the number of miles required for redemption by using the airline’s award redemption calculator.
How To Book A Flight With ConnectMiles
It is a very easy and simple process to book a flight with ConnectMiles; you can follow these simple steps:
- Visit the Copa Airlines website and log in to your ConnectMiles account.
- Enter your flight search criteria, such as origin, destination, and travel dates.
- Choose the flight(s) you want to book and select the “Pay with Miles” option during checkout.
- Confirm your flight details and the number of miles required for redemption.
- Complete the booking process by entering your personal and payment information, if applicable.
Alternatively, you can also book award flights by contacting customer service via phone or email. Keep in mind that award availability is subject to change, and certain blackout dates may apply.
Reward Redemption Rules
- The PreferProgram does not consider travel awards as qualifying activity, which means that travel awards do not earn mileage.
- Late booking fees may apply to award tickets booked within 7 days or less from the day of travel.
- Saver Awards have limited availability, especially during peak travel periods, while Standard Awards offer more flexibility and expanded availability.
- Round-trip award travel allows two open jaws and one stopover.
- Members are responsible for paying all applicable fees and surcharges related to their award travel, including federal inspection fees, customs and immigration fees, and other fees.
- Fees and surcharges must be paid at the time the award is ticketed, and some international departure fees are payable in cash only.
- Once an airline ticket is issued, the name on the ticket cannot be changed, and the ticket is non-transferable.
- The administrative fee for ticket issuance is non-refundable, except for applicable airport taxes.
Book Flight With Emirates Business Class To The Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia or New Zealand And Save On Fuel Surcharges ( Like U.S. To Dubai 80000 Miles)
The advantage of booking with ConnectMiles is that you won’t be required to pay a fuel surcharge. Additionally, Copa has very few routing restrictions, allowing passengers to take a longer route to their destination if they wish. You can take Houston (IAH) – Dubai (DXB) nonstop in Emirates business class one way for 80,000 miles + ~$10 in taxes and fees.
Flying in a premium class seat on a certain airline for a long-haul trip can be an extravagant experience. And while the redemption rate of 80,000 miles may not be insignificant, it’s rare to find an airline that permits such a complex itinerary as travelling from New York City to Sydney via a stopover in Dubai.
U.S. To Maldives Business Class (80,000 Miles)
If you are looking to use your miles for a business-class flight from the United States to the Maldives, you can take advantage of Copa’s collaboration with Turkish Airlines. You can fly from the United States to Istanbul in Turkish Airlines business class, with a stopover, and then continue your journey to the Maldives on a Turkish Airlines partner airline, Maldivian, in economy class. The total cost of the trip is 80,000 loyalty miles and approximately $250 in taxes and fees.
Although the first leg of the trip is in business class, the second leg is in economy class. Nonetheless, it is still a great value if you prefer the business class experience on the long flight.
Elite Status
ConnectMiles offers elite status levels, including Member, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Presidential. If you hold elite status, you may be entitled to several benefits, including priority check-in, boarding, and baggage handling. Depending on your elite tier, you may also earn bonus miles for flights and access to airport lounges. You may receive upgrades to higher classes of service, waived fees, and dedicated customer service support. The level of benefits will increase with higher elite status tiers.
Signing up for the ConnectMiles program automatically earns you Member status, while reduced qualification criteria apply to earning elite status in 2023 for all other tiers.
| Silver | Gold | Platinum | Presidential | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying Miles | 20000 | 35000 | 60000 | 70000 |
| Qualifying Segments | 20 | 35 | 60 | 70 |
The benefits you will receive with the elite status membership are:
How Much Worth Is The ConnectMiles?
The worth of ConnectMiles can fluctuate based on various factors, such as the route, travel period, and travel class. In general, each ConnectMiles point can have a value of approximately 1-2 cents, but this may not always be the case.
To determine the precise value of your Miles, you may want to compare the miles required to book a flight or upgrade to the actual cost of the same service. Additionally, it’s important to keep up with updates or changes to the program’s terms and conditions that can affect the value of your miles.
What Are The Best Credit Cards To Get Rewards With Copa Airlines?
BAC Credomatic Visa Platinum card
Using the BAC Credomatic Visa Platinum card, you can earn rewards like ConnectMiles miles. By making purchases or cash advances of US$500 or more within the first three months, you can earn 10,000 ConnectMiles miles. Additionally, you can earn 2 miles for every US$1 spent on Copa.com. These miles can be redeemed for a range of rewards, including travel, merchandise, and gift cards.
United℠ Explorer Card
This card does not directly transfer points to Copa Airlines, but it is a co-branded consumer United Airlines credit card. As United Airlines is a member of Star Alliance, it is possible to transfer miles earned on this card to be used for booking with Copa Airlines.
With the United℠ Explorer Card, you can earn 50,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 within the first 3 months. Generally, United MileagePlus miles are worth around 1.3 cents, but their value depends on how you redeem them. The United Explorer Card can be a great way to collect points and redeem them with Copa.
Bottom Line
Copa’s loyalty program’s benefits lie in its flexibility with routing rules, lack of surcharges, Star Alliance membership, and other partners despite having a less generous award chart. ConnectMiles boasts an elaborate loyalty program structure, with several foreign credit cards and airline partnerships available, and a transfer partnership with Marriott Bonvoy, providing numerous opportunities to accumulate miles.
Furthermore, Copa is among the Emirates partners that offer reasonable business-class redemption rates, enabling travellers to use ConnectMiles for flights worldwide.
Interest in flying around the world using credit card points? Check out our site to learn the basics, and follow our blog for more tips on how to make your dream vacation a reality. You can also sign up for our travel concierge and get an unlimited credit card and travel assistance for one full year.
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