Friday Fare Alert: Washinton (IAD) To Buenos Aires Business Class From $1,414 (£940/€1,260) Return

a white airplane on a runway

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Ok, before I get accused of writing a click-bait headline let me say upfront, for anyone that didn’t notice the featured image, that this is a fare on Copa Airlines who are not known for having the most luxurious of Business Class seats. If you’re looking for lie-flat comfort you’re in the wrong place.

Right, now that that’s out of the way let’s get on to what’s on offer:

Copa Airlines, a Star Alliance member and one time MileagePlus participant, has posted some pretty impressive Business Class fares between Washington D.C and Buenos Aires (via Panama)

Copa Business Class To Buenos Aires

Pricing: $1,414 (£940/€1,260) Return

Route: IAD-PTY-EZE-PTY-IAD

Travel dates: November 2015 – 31 March 2016

Blackout Dates: 20 – 30 November 2015

Booking: Must book by 30 October 2015

Minimum/Maximum Stay Requirements (click to enlarge):

Screen Shot 2015-10-21 at 15.23.38

As you can see from my selection, there isn’t a lot of restriction on how long your trip has to be to get the good fares:

Screen Shot 2015-10-21 at 15.28.56

Example flight/routing (click to enlarge):

Screen Shot 2015-10-21 at 15.22.59

Availability:

Availability for the very best fare starts out quite limited in November:

COPA-EZE-NOV

But it starts to get better in December….

COPA-EZE-DEC

There are a lot of options in January and February….

COPA-EZE-JAN

Copa Business Class To Buenos Aires

…..before availability dries up in March:

Copa Business Class To Buenos Aires

The biggest issue with this fare is the Business Class product itself – it’s not exactly what you’d call luxurious, but then again it’s not exactly terrible either.

Copa uses Boeing 737 Aircraft on most (all?) of their routes which means that their Business Class product is much more akin to US domestic First Class than an international Business Class product.

Copa Business Class To Buenos AiresCopa Airlines Business Class Cabin Boeing 757 – Image courtesy of Copa Airlines

Copa Business Class To Buenos AiresCopa Airlines Business Class Seat – Image courtesy of Stefan Krasowski via Flickr

And you can see the recline that you can expect in this next photo:

Copa Business Class To Buenos AiresCopa Airlines Business Class Recline – Image courtesy of Stefan Krasowski via Flickr

The fact of the matter is this:

If you were faced with this seat on a US domestic trans-con journey you probably wouldn’t be too disappointed and these flights are either around the length of a domestic trans-con or a little bit longer. If you select your flights with care you can also ensure that you only have one overnight flight – so is the lack of a flat-bed seat that much of an issue?

In addition, the layover times in Panama aren’t too long and Panama Airport is a very easy airport to transit – if you’re catching a same-day connection to South America (which you would be) you don’t have to pass through immigration again and most of the gates are nothing more than a short walk away from each other.

For the distance you’re traveling (10,745 miles) this is a pretty good fare….

Copa Business Class To Buenos Aires

…and you’re paying around 13c/mile for a trip in relative comfort to a very cool South American city – I visited earlier this year and loved it.

So, are you tempted with this fare or is the Copa Business Class product putting you off? 

Featured image: BriYYZ via Flickr