Copa, a Panamanian airline, today announced further changes to its ConnectMiles frequent flier program that will take effect this month.
The airline is reducing elite qualifying miles requirement by roughly 30% this year, and Platinum and Presidential tier members have more fare classes eligible for complimentary upgrades.
You can access Copa here.
ConnectMiles elite qualifying requirements 2021:
Presidential & Platinum Upgrade eligibility:
Presidential PreferMembers are now eligible for upgrades on award tickets and paid economy saver. Platinum PreferMembers upgrade eligibility has also been extended to these economy savers but not awards.
Here’s a copy of the email Copa sent out:
Conclusion
Copa used Onepass as its frequent flyer program for a while when and after Continental partially owned them. The airline withdrew from MileagePlus and launched ConnectMiles in 2015.
Not sure if merely reducing the elite qualifying miles and segment requirements by 30% is enough in 2021, considering that the travel is highly curtailed, likely until very late in the year.
Here is the small print about the benefits change:
The requirements in point #3 are effective from January 1 to December 31, 2021. Miles and segments flown on Copa Airlines, Star Alliance member airlines and / or other airlines associated with the program, during the calendar year (from January 1 to December 31). Minimum of four flight segments paid for and flown on Copa Airlines during a calendar year. A flight segment is defined as a flight with a takeoff and a landing, except for flights with an intermediate stop in a city other than Panama.
The new PreferMember status either for qualifying miles or segments after the reduction of the qualification criteria will be reflected up to 15 business days after reaching the new status.
Progress bars in our mobile app will not reflect the reduced qualification criteria changes until October.Point #4 is effective as of January 15, 2021. Presidential PreferMembers will be eligible to receive complimentary upgrades when traveling with award tickets in Economy Saver class in addition to Standard Economy class. These upgrades will be granted from 24 hours before the flight, after the regular ticket upgrade process has finished. Platinum PreferMembers traveling with award tickets in Economy Standard class will also be eligible to receive complimentary upgrades, complimentary upgrades will be granted from 24 hours before the flight, after the regular ticket upgrade process has finished and after the upgrades of the PreferMembers Presidential with award tickets are granted. Gold and Silver PreferMembers will not be eligible to receive complimentary upgrades when traveling with award tickets in economy class.
