Interline Baggage Policy

If your trip includes flights operated by other airlines, then your checked bags will be considered “interline baggage.”

Interline baggage just means checked baggage that will be transported by two or more airlines.

There is a policy valid for all IATA (International Air Transport Association) airlines members which comes into effect to calculate the baggage allowance of inter-airline flights using the concept of the Most Significant Carrier (MSC) in order to determine whose baggage rules to use in an interline itinerary.

Most Significant Carrier (MSC)

If the geographically longest or most significant stretch of your journey is not operated by Copa Airlines, but by another airline, this airline’s rules may also apply to Copa Airlines flights or Copa Airlines flight numbers.
If Copa Airlines operates the geographically longest or most significant stretch of the journey, then the Copa Airlines rules and charges apply.
The applicable free baggage allowance is shown on your ticket.
The MSC rule does not apply to journeys to/from the USA.

To determine which airline is the most significant carrier for your trip, consider the following areas where you may be traveling.

Area 1: North America, South America, Central America, and Hawaii.
Area 2: Europe, Africa, Middle East.
Area 3: Asia and Oceania.

Based on these areas, the most significant airline will be:

"The first airline that crosses from one area into another".

Example: the airline that crosses from America into Europe.

"The first airline that crosses from one sub-area into another".

Example: the carrier that crosses from South America into North America.

"When traveling within one sub-area, the first international airline in that area is the most significant carrier".

Example: on a trip from Medellin to Caracas, the first international airline is the most significant carrier.

Subareas

CARIBBEAN		CENTRAL AMERICA	NORTH AMERICA	SOUTH AMERICA
Anguila	Haiti	Belice	Canadá	Argentina
Antigua and Barbuda	Jamaica	Costa Rica	U.S.A	Bolivia
Aruba	Martinica	El Salvador	Greenland	Brazil
Bahamas	Monserrat	Guatemala	Mexico	Chile
Barbados	Netherlands Antilles	Honduras	Puerto Rico	Colombia
Bermuda	Saint Kitts- Nevis	Nicaragua	Saint Pierre and Miguelon	Ecuador
Caiman Islands	Saint Lucia		Virgin Islands (U.S.A)	French Guyana
Cuba	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines			Panama
Domimica	Trinidad and Tobago			Paraguay
Dominican Republic	Turks and Caicos			Peru
Grenada				Suriname
Guadalupe				Uruguay
British Virgin Islands				Venezuela

Note: The most significant carrier rules does not apply to flights from/to The United States or Canada.

Rules for travel to/from the USA and Canada

Under a consumer protection law issued by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), the following baggage rules apply to flights to/from or across the USA and Canada:

Consistent baggage rules apply to all parts of a journey to/from or across the USA and Canada. These include the free baggage allowance, the dimensions and weight of each of your bags, the level of any charges that may be incurred and hand luggage regulations.
For codeshare or interline flights to and from the United States and Canada, the baggage allowance policy that applies are determined by the first marketing carrier (FMC) for the first segment of your itinerary. The originating Marketing Carrier is the airline whose flight number is assigned to the first segment of your itinerary. If this airline or carrier is not Copa Airlines, different charges may apply.

Connections through the US or Canada aren’t subject to these rules and MSC would apply

{{bookingTab[language] ? bookingTab[language] : (bookingTab.label | translate)}}

{{bookingTab.label | translate}}

{{"flightinfo.flightstatus.searchbyflight"| translate }}

{{"flightinfo.flightstatus.searchbyroute"| translate }}

Interline Baggage Policy

Most Significant Carrier (MSC)