We are doing the Rick Steves Adriatic trip in Sept. 2020. Our return to the U.S. includes taking TAP Portugal Airlines from Rome to Lisbon and then Lisbon back to the U.S. We have only a 1 hour layover in Lisbon, which is making me VERY nervous. The TAP website guarantees that they will take care of us if we miss our connecting flight. My biggest concern is passport control. Will we have to go through it in Lisbon? Thanks for any insights!
Posted by
winston salem, nc, usa
1078 posts
Yes you will go through PPC in Lisbon-that's pretty tight even if you're on the same itinerary. Are you already ticketed? If not, would see if you could expand the time available in Lisbon by maybe taking an earlier flight from Rome.
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Posted by
Chicago
7808 posts
I would not worry about it. The flight could change between now and 9/2020. If you miss it they would just put you on the next available flight. One takeaway is to never rush to buy a ticket with layover that would make you nervous 9 months in advance. You will end up paying big flight change fees.
Posted by
Chicago
1323 posts
Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about it right now, there’s a real good chance something could change regarding the timing between now and September.
My advice is always to make sure you’re comfortable with the flights before you buy, especially on the way over. I’d hate to be on a flight to Europe and sweating it all the way because of a tight connection. But, as long as it’s all on one ticket, you’ll eventually get there or get home.
Posted by
7 posts
We had a short layover in Lisbon heading to Venice, like you, about an hour. Staff was very pro active in getting folks out of line who needed to meet a connecting flight. A good experience.
Posted by
Sweden
6335 posts
Don't be nervous, a lot of things can happen before September. And, if TAP didn't think it was a reasonable connection they would never sell you the flight, because it would cost them a lot of money if you'd miss your connection.
I have never been to Lisbon airport, but one advantage of flying through smaller hubs like Lisbon, Stockholm, Copenhagen or Vienna is that the transfer there is usually much easier than at the mega hubs like Heathrow, Amsterdam or Frankfurt. SAS has a minimum connection time of 20 minutes in Stockholm for some flights and that is perfectly doable without being stressful.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thanks to all who replied to my post. I am going to go with the idea that TAP Portugal would not have given us this itinerary if they were not going to accommodate us if we missed the connection. We got a great price so it will be worth it one way or the other.