TAP Portugal Airline MAJOR CONCERNS- Should I cancel my trip?

Where are you getting these opinions “0nline?” From The Points Guy? Sky trax? Did you check the airline before booking? I would fly with them.

I don't know why anyone would eat a $600 ticket pre-emptively instead of rolling the dice. I would stop reading reviews and keep track of any flight changes and deal with issues as (and if) they come. Be prepared for any changes, as they have affected all airlines this year, but don't lose your mind way in advance.

I canceled a trip right after booking with TAP solely because of their strict carry on policy. It’s been a bit of a hassle to get my refund but they are absolutely available by phone. I’ve had to call twice and each time it took about 30 min to get someone on the phone. If you already booked the ticket, I would still go through with the flight. Buy some travel insurance so if anything goes wrong or flights get canceled you can at least recoup the cost and that will make you feel a lot less stressed about the situation.

I’ve haven’t used TAP to fly internationally, but they were fine for a flight from Barcelona to Lisbon.

We flew on TAP a few years ago from the USA to Lisbon then to Barcelona. We stayed in Lisbon a couple of days. No issues at all, but we didn’t try to cancel or change our flights.

The internet is full of bad airline reviews. For some reason, they tend to be negative. Probably because happy customers don't feel the need to write reviews. Pre-covid I read through a number of airline reviews and came to the conclusion that I wouldn't bother with them. Too many people who are upset after having bought the cheapest possible ticket and discovering that they have to pay extra to check in three 40 kg-bags.

TAP is a state owned flag carrier that has been around since 1945. They wouldn't have survived so far if they treated passengers like that. And as an EU airline, you are covered by the EU passenger rights (often called EU261) if you fly with them.

I flew Tap from Dublin to San Francisco in 2019. With a layover in Lisbon or Porto for up to 5 days. You got to choose on their website. It was an inexpensive way for me to return home after a fun Solo European adventure.

I chose 5 days in Lisbon. Had an amazing time. The only hiccup with flying them was the mistake of checking my Rick Steve’s Convertible Carryon. They put it in a plastic tray and lost it. It never made it on the plane. It sat in the rain for a few days until someone noticed it and they got it on a flight back to me. It was delivered to my door in the middle of the night. A lot of stuff was still wet.

I would definitely fly them again. Just not check a bag.

If you are worried about them not connecting you, make a list of low budget flights you can book in a pinch. Definitely less than a $600 loss.

So if you don’t fly them who are you going to book? And have you checked the reviews for that airline? Because like somebody said but the real truth is people only post reviews on airlines when they’re not happy.

And by the way Read the reviews carefully. I find a lot of unhappy reviewers are people who thought they should get some special exception to the rule because it’s a random Thursday in July and the airline didn’t agree with them

My son has flown TAP three times, most recently last month on June 17/18 from SF to Paris via Lisbon. He’s had no issues or problems with TAP.

They were having a rotating pilots' strike after we'd booked them to fly from London to Lisbon. We got to Lisbon eventually--about 11 at night instead of 2 in the afternoon. (Fortunately, the woman we'd rented our apartment from was understanding.) Their communication at the airport was terrible. They kept posting a flight time and then changing it at the last minute. They also closed up their desk with a line of people waiting in front of it. However, under the circumstances, it was okay--they got us to our destination, and the flight itself, once we got on it, was pleasant and uneventful enough.

Would it stop me from flying with them again? Well, they wouldn't be our first choice, but we also had a flight to Paris cancelled due to rotating strikes by British Airlines. This happened the day before our trip--our first to Europe--and they couldn't rebook us within a reasonable number of days. I booked us on the Eurostar instead (we were scheduled to have a layover in London), and then fought with them for a few months to get a refund. I'd still fly British Airlines in spite of that experience. So....

As someone who for years flew every week my theory is any and all of them can have a bad day our event. The closest I’ve seen to perfection was Singapore airlines but they don’t fly to Europe so from here so that’s not real helpful

If I basically said I’m never flying again any airline that has had significant delays, rude employees, lost my luggage Or otherwise had a service failure. (Including some really epic service failures) honestly I’d never be able to get on a plane again. American, United, Delta, Southwest, British Airways, air France and more (including a lot that are no longer even in business) have all been entertaining at times.

When I travelled in that area I used TAP quite regularly and always without any problems.
They are now offering flights to Tunisia and Morocco.
They aren't Qatar or Sing Air, but for a "local" operation they do pretty well.

I've flown internationally with TAP 3 or 4 times and each experience was uneventful (which is good!).

I flew TAP Lisbon->Brussels September 2019. I don't think it was TAP's fault per se, but we were 45 minutes late departing because we had no departure slot. I should have had plenty of time for my connection for BRU->IAD, but we deplaned at gate A48, the slidewalks were not running and I had to do the length of concourse A at a dead run, slalom though duty-free, stagger up to passport control, then run the length of concourse B to be the next to last to board my flight. I made it, my bag didn't.

"If I basically said I’m never flying again any airline that has had significant delays, rude employees, lost my luggage Or otherwise had a service failure. (Including some really epic service failures) honestly I’d never be able to get on a plane again. " I feel the same way. I have had some really epic failures with United, Delta, and British Air but I still fly United and Delta and the only reason I stopped flying British Air is their IMO ridiculous seat reservation fee and not the fact that they lost my luggage three times.
My husband has flown TAP and he says he remembers nothing about them that would make one preemptively cancel a trip. What he remembers is uncomfortable seating. It just does not make sense to me to eat $600 of losses out of concern for the possibility that a flight might be canceled. If your flight from Lisbon is canceled, there is a Swiss Air flight that leaves later in the day that you could take and proceed to enjoy the trip without having to cancel reservations. I read somewhere that there was a baggage handlers strike in Lisbon earlier this month that led to the cancellation of around 300 flights out of Lisbon. That could have resulted in the surge of complaints that you are seeing now.

Thank you, everyone for your responses. I feel better and will risk it by going. Unfortunately, I bought my ticket over 2 months ago and discovered that I had to buy travel insurance right away to have the flight covered. I thought that my AMEX card would provide flight travel insurance but it doesn't. I should have used my VISA to pay for the flight. Oh well, I'll keep my fingers crossed that it all goes as planned.
FYI, the negative reports were from their TAP Facebook page

I flew TAP from Amsterdam to Lisbon in the summer of 2019. I traveled very light with an international sized Eagle Creek two wheeled carry-on bag and a personal item.

Although my carry-on met the TAP size and weight limits, I checked it. I'm always concerned when I check a bag. My much smaller and lighter personal item with extra clothes if needed became my carry-on. I needn't have worried about my checked bag, but perhaps it being an intra-European flight made the difference.

The plane was an Airbus 320. I found it as comfortable as any similar plane.

Look at the facebook pages of a couple of other airlines, the comments will not be better there.