TAP Air Portugal

I'm flying with them in march. I had no hesitation booking with them. Like you, i want that nonstop flight.

They're fine.

Just be sure you understand the details of the ticket you are purchasing - like many airlines, TAP sells some fares that have some things you might expect to be included that have been "un-bundled" - eg seat selection, checked baggage, refund-ability/changeability, etc. So read the fine print before you buy. It's a common way that many legacy airlines (TAP is Portugal's national airline and has been around since 1945) compete with low cost carriers. A very common practice with European airlines.

We flew TAP from DC to LIS in May 2022. The service was as good or better than US carriers.

I just flew TAP from Naples to Lisbon a couple weeks ago. It was ok. On the plus side, I found their pre flight communication very good. Lots of updates via email about what to expect and the mobile app was very informative. Boarding was a little sketchy but I think that was more to do with the Naples airport than TAP. Pay attention to the baggage rules. I followed them and had no problems but others did not and were flagged at the gate to pay up. The plane and staff were very nice. I would fly them again.

TAP is the national carrier of Portugal but not for long. It is being privatized and sold off with Lufthansa, AirFrance/KLM and even British airways interested. I don’t recall the specific details but there was a lot of brouhaha over government payouts and reshuffling of people that has left them financially unstable resulting in the sale of the airline. It doesn’t sound as though they will completely go away but be aware change is happening. Google “TAP financial difficulties/sale” to be better informed before purchasing tickets. Buyer beware.

I have flown TAP many times in the last eight years and have always been happy with the planes, staff, etc. I’ve flown with them to and from the US and within Europe. I’m planning to purchase tickets to the US again this week. It’s the customer service that has always been problematic. They are great unless you need to change a flight. For the long flights I always buy the Premium Economy- or whatever they call it. It provides a flexible ticket - while giving me a better seat, etc. And, fingers crossed I don’t need to change anything!

The good news, IMO, is the airlines interested in purchasing TAP, are some of the better airlines in Europe. And, the likelihood of the purchase happening any time soon as slim.

We have flown TAP many, many times over the last 8 years or so whenever we visited our daughter who, until recently, lived in France. We fly out of Boston and would change planes in Lisbon on our way to Marseilles. We have no complaints whatsoever. One time, our flight from Lisbon to Marseilles was cancelled due to an air controller strike in Marseilles. We couldn’t get a flight out until the next day. TAP bused us to a nearby airport hotel, paid for the hotel, gave us food vouchers, and bused us back to the terminal the next day. So, no complaints at all.

I flew TAP from Heathrow to Lisbon last year and it was fine. No complaints.

I've flown with them a few times, most recently last week. I've found the customer service helpful and relatively easy to reach by phone if needed (just be prepared to wait a bit. I put my phone on speaker and did housework while I waited). The food is not good, but then I don't care for airline food as a general rule. The flight attendants and desk staff always seemed polite. Seats are probably about the same as other airlines.

I have seen them pull out people's oversized carryon bags in Lisbon a few times, but just from my casual observation, they seemed to enforce the rules with the people who threw hissy fits or argued when they were questioned. I know my backpack was over the weight limit once, but it met the size requirements and I was polite, so they let me on through. It may have been coincidence though too, but I typically go the polite route first in most things anyway.

We flew on TAP from Chicago to Amsterdam via Lisbon at a heavily discounted price last April. They are a great airline, especially with their layover policy where (I think) you can add up to seven days layover in Portugal at no extra charge. They are very serious about carry-on weights and sizes, I remember one frustrated-looking woman taking shirts and sweaters out of her bag and putting them on at the gate. We had a delay on our return trip that caused us to miss our transatlantic flight, which was difficult, but they took care of us better than a US-based airline would... the put us up in a very nice hotel, gave us meal vouchers, and arranged an uber to and from the airport. We would fly with them again in a heartbeat.

Wouldn't flt with them again, the stress of whether or not they will refuse my carryon was not worth it. We have a Rick Steves bag that we've taken carry on for other trips no issue but it definitely would NOT pass on TAP. Also the seat selection process feels like a low cost carrier like Ryanair. We ended up spending about $400 more than our "low" price on things we would have gotten for no cost on, say, Lufthansa. (Also bought a new piece of luggage to meet their standards.) The plane itself was quite comfortable, with better legroom than some NA carriers.
We also hit a 4.5 hr delay Faro-Lisbon and customer service was available for about 15 mins about 2 hrs into our wait, then they disappeared again. No info on the screens, no live number to call, chat response came next morning
... So yeah. Not for me.

We flew with them from IAD (Washington DC) to Barcelona (via Lisbon) and returned from Lisbon to IAD.

We were looking for price and direct flights, and found them to be competitive price-wise and the direct return was good. We paid extra for ONE checked bag each way ($85x2) and better seats each way ($79x2 & $74x2) - mainly for the seat near the front in case of a late arrival, but also to stretch out a bit more). Still, it was very inexpensive vs some other flight options.

Overall, they were fine - but it is hard to judge an airline during good weather and less busy times of the year (mid-Oct to early Nov this year), so I do wonder how well they do during the heavier travel times or in a bad weather situation. Our flight to Lisbon left at least 30 minutes late (bad DC weather) but we arrived on time in Lisbon to get to our "tight" connection (1hr 20 min) to catch the BCN flight. The Lisbon airport is small, so it was easy to hustle over to new gate with minimal headache and our bags checked through to our destination.

Planes were new Airbus ones with nice seats and entertainment options. Food service was barely adequate - tasted fine, but skimpy on things like water refills (free) or having a "whole can" of drink like most airlines vs small cups. Maybe not a TAP issue in general, but the front bathroom ran out of (never had?) paper towels, so folks just started using Kleenex tissue to dry their hands and that created a mess in the bathroom I used. Not sure if the turnaround ground team missed it or not, but that was a real negative.

Also, Lisbon seems to lack terminal/gate space, so both the LIS-BCN connecting flight, and then the LIS-IAD flight were "take a shuttle from the terminal to a far away holding area" where you depart the shuttle and walk up some stairs to board the plane. Not great in rainy weather like we had when we arrived in LIS from the US, but I'm waterproof enough that it didn't matter. :-)

If we go back to Portugal, I think we would definitely use them again for the direct and reasonable priced flight, but I would not consider them for any non-Portugal flights. With United and Delta flying a lot - many direct - from IAD, I generally have better luck just using them for many European airports.

Their on-line check in process was a PITA. It worked, but since it was always going to require we meet with an agent at the airport for final passport verification, it kept throwing ambiguous error messages without just being direct and saying "All set except you need to see an agent before final boarding".

We flew TAP Air April 2023 from Chicago through Lisbon to Amsterdam. I was impressed with the new Airbus Neo planes and onboard service. We flew economy so the food selections were, as expected, minimal. However, the food quality was pretty good overall. We did experience a flight delay on our return trip out of Amsterdam which caused us to miss our Lisbon flight to Chicago. We were rebooked the next day from Lisbon to Boston to Chicago which, obviously, caused some inconvenience. However, TAP Air provided shared ride service to/from the airport to hotel, the hotel accommodations, dinner in the hotel, and a voucher for breakfast in the airport the next morning. Much better than I have come to expect from U.S. airlines. We would not hesitate to fly with TAP Air in the future!

My wife and I flew TAP two years ago. For me, I liked the lower price and the cabin seating. We booked two seats together: window and aisle. I'm not thrilled with their customer service: I waited for a long time trying to connect with someone on the phone. Also, they have the strangest pricing. I booked tickets today for a trip to Germany in September. Pricing varied by as much as $500 one day to the next! Their AMEX card save me a few dollars but overall it isn't as good as other travel cards.

I have not flew with TAP yet. However last week I purchased two one way tickets for LHR to Lisbon in late September. I used my Chase Ultimate reward points for economy plus tickets. All went well until I tried to choose seats. I spent a couple days working on updating information on the TAP site. Finally gave up and waited for midnight in Lisbon and called the service number. The call was answered quickly and the agent was able to help me book our seats. (Ps their seat map is not up to date.)
Next day I got an email indicating we needed to enter addition ID and contact information. I spent two more days attempting to update the required sections only to have the site time out after 20 min.

Finally gave up and called again and the agent loaded all the required information in 15 minutes.
Very nice agents and easy to work with so don’t waste your time if you are having trouble call their help center 1-866-331-0773
Safe travels to all, and see you travel mates for Heart of Portugal on Sept 18th

We flew TAP from DC to Barcelona with layover in Lisbon. The biggest issue for us was travelling with only carryon bags and their very low weight limit. Buy a luggage scale and don't pack so that your bags looks like they are about to burst. We had no problems but I was really anal about juggling things around between 2 suitcases & 2 backpacks until weight was not problematic.

I am flying TAP to Lisbon from Porto, and then Delta to Atlanta but can’t seem to find a way to be assured my luggage will transfer from airlines since TAP is not a partner of Delta? I was told to retrieve my luggage in Lisbon from TAP and then check it with Delta at Lisbon. Does anyone know of a better way to handle this? Thanks.

Unfortunately, the two airlines are not partners (actually, they are in rival alliances) and as such do not transfer ("interline") bags, so it's not reasonable to expect they would. You'll get the same answer if you asked Delta to transfer your bags to United or American Airlines.

TAP is a member of "Star Alliance", same as United and dozens of other airlines. Delta is in "SkyTeam" (literally, a competing team), so...you would need to claim your bag in Lisbon and check it with Delta there. No better way to deal with this, given the combination of airlines.

Funny that this popped up. I'm debating whether it's worth 700 to update to business class on my way over so I can get some sleep. They do the auction process and apparently 695 is the lowest you can bid. I love the idea of extra space and lay flat seats, but ouch that's a lot more money. I think the way it works is I put in a bid for at least that much, then I can still be outbid. I'd do 400 for sure, but I don't think I can justify 700. Does anyone have experience with the auction process for TAP?

Respectfully, you should probably start a separate thread for that question (as should have the previous poster) rather than re-animating a 4-5 month old thread.

Based on numerous RECENT data points from friends, family, colleagues, neighbours about TAP's strict enforcement of their fully disclosed policy (so cannot fault them) about carry on weight as well as reported service quality challenges when something goes wrong, made us give up on Lisbon-Porto open jaw that TAP so conveniently offers.

United for example, has no weight limit on carry on (only size limit).

If I am traveling alone, I would have no issue selecting TAP if it was significantly cheaper than say United or Delta or American. But I understand that for many travelers, no weight limit on carry on that United offers is a big advantage.

To the original post as to comments pro or con with TAP:
For a flight this spring, easyjet canceled our Porto to Toulouse flight and the replacement flight on TAP goes from Porto to Lisbon to Toulouse and costs about twice as much. In addition, we had to pay for seats on each leg of the flight.

I've had some recent experiences with TAP Air Portugal, and overall, it's been quite positive. The service has been decent, and the flights have been relatively smooth. However, like with any airline, experiences can vary depending on factors such as route, time of travel, and specific aircraft.

In terms of the Chicago to Lisbon route, TAP Air Portugal is indeed the only airline offering a direct flight, which can be quite convenient. Despite some mixed reviews you might have seen from a few years ago, I would recommend giving them a try, especially if the direct flight suits your travel plans.

Just be sure to check the latest reviews and consider factors such as pricing and timing before making your decision. Safe travels!

Experience of previous poster with TAP Portugal is not an everyday experience (if course if it were, airline would be bankrupt) but issues like these with TAP is not unheard of

Usually, people are eager to post that "I flew TAP and everything was fine" because that's what is expected. It's like "I yay walked 5th avenue and still didn't get hit by car" type of statement

When you choose to fly airlines with less than stellar reputation, it is a calculated risk especially things can go wrong with reputable airlines too (may be less frequently and may be customer service could be better)

Best thing to do is to buy food travel insurance that will reimburse you in such cases to simply go ahead and make alternate arrangements.

They are not expensive at all if you do not go for " cancellation insurance" part

Good luck to you.

I have just returned from my trip, Chicago to/from Lisbon on TAP, and wrote about my experience with TAP in my trip report:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/solo-in-lisbon-portugal-my-trip-report

Another bad data point on TAP from a friend last week.

His carry on was weighed.
(He was warned and TAP is very upfront about their policies)

He was two pounds over the limit.
He took out a heavy hoodie and put it on. Now he was at limit. It was a hard car carry on.

So entire process did not decrease and volume nor any weight on the plane.

I guess it's their airline their policies and their decision how to enforce them.

TAP is perfectly ok average airline until something goes wrong (like flight cancelled for whatever reason or bags lost or God forbid reservation system loses your reservation!!)

TAP staff is on strike or going to be soon.

Flew from Marrakech, Morocco, to Lisbon on March 25, 2024. It was every bit as good as any of dozens of airlines we have flown although the only free serving is water. You can buy other items.