There are round trip flights for some Fridays this fall from SFO to FRA, ZUR and MUC on TAP for under $300. These all involve a reasonable length stopover in Lisbon. There may be other US airports where TAP flies too but I only checked SFO. There are many pros and cons to this airline, route, history and price. Evaluate accordingly. It was reported on Scott’s Cheap Flights and I checked on Matrix.itasoftware.com. I didn’t go to TAP’s website to attempt to book because we already have September tickets to Germany.
Posted by
New Zealand
496 posts
the main risk is a stop in a 3rd country - but given both are EU I'd probably count it as a low risk. I've always been for the cheapest price on flights -but now I look for direct flights to minimize dramas of shutdowns and quarantines
Posted by
Franklin, TN, USA
917 posts
Saw this and it looked really good.....don’t know anything about Portugal airlines or Lisbon so I passed and went with a familiar airline to Christmas Markets in December.
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6918 posts
There is nothing wrong with TAP, they are the Portugese flag carrier and a member of Star Alliance. So not a strange low cost carrier where you have to pay to use the bathroom. I would not hesitate at all to fly TAP if I found a good price.
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
Mona, Ryan and his girlfriend are flying TAP for the 1st time on 6/17. Flying French Bee back, same crazy low airfare. I’m looking forward to hearing about both.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33720 posts
is there really an airline calling itself "French Bee"? Really?
Posted by
8164 posts
In my younger days, I would take cheap flights to save $$$ but the trip would go through five airports, when I could have done the same trip on a direct flight or single connecting airport. Now, I go for the quicker flights.
Your question about stoping in Lisbon would not be so bad for the great price. Matrix is a good source of cheap flights as are Kayak
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4087 posts
Nigel poses a good question (as I would expect). I wonder what 'Bee' translates into in French?
It operates an Internet site, which is no guarantee of anything these days, with promises of budget prices to exotic French locales plus NYC and and SF.
I couldn't get test reservations to function (also no surprise for me). With all the uncertainties up in the air right now, I'm filing this away for future reference. Maybe far in the future.
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6918 posts
Yes, there is an airline called French Bee. They focus on long haul domestic, and also have the record for the longest domestic flight in the world, from Papetee to Paris non stop. But they also sell tickets to San Fransisco which they use as a fuel stop in normal times.
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
French Bee flies non-stop SF-Orly for appx $400 r/t on an Airbus (my favorite) so it’s very appealing to us. We loved Norwegian Air which no longer flies from SF, both airlines are very similar, and everything is à la carte, which I really like.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
Susan, which à la carte options do you recommend on French Bee ? Meal? Extra leg space? Cozy cabin?
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
Lauri, I haven’t flown French Bee yet. My son will in July and I’ll know more then. I hope to soon. I would not pay for the cozy cabin, or extra leg room. The Airbus A350 is a very comfortable plane, plenty of legroom and and the ceiling is high which makes a big difference. Seats are very comfortable for me. I might consider paying for a meal. On Norwegian Air I paid just a little more to check a bag.
What I like best about the Airbus (and NA’s Dreamliner) is no jet lag. I used to suffer 3-5 days of intense jet lag but not with these 2 planes. The cabin pressure is lower or higher (I always forget which), they pump in way more fresh air during the flight, and they use ambiant light in the cabin... for me, these differences from other planes means no jet lag.