I've always copied over chainstate... so you're saying you don't need to copy over chainstate on a --reindex?
Correct; the chainstate DB contains data about unspent transaction outputs, and is rebuilt when you run a --reindex (see https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Data_directory#chainstate_subdirectory). I'm not certain if it just applies to the wallet or to the entire blockchain, but judging by its size (and by how full nodes work) I'm guessing the entire blockchain. In that case, my earlier post is incorrect, and you should always copy over the chainstate folder as well to avoid needing to reindex; however, if you don't, it'll just rebuild when you first start the client. Since it doesn't need to download anything and is only using information from the blocks DB, it may take a while depending on your computer but it isn't dependent on network speed.