The Honest Guide to TAP Air Portugal

I booked a flight to London on TAP Air Portugal and to my surprise, they offer an overnight layover in 3 cities of your choice: Lisbon, Porto, and Madeira. We chose Lisbon, and I was so excited! Portugal has not been high on my list of places I want to visit, so I am excited we get a taste of it without having to commit to a full trip.

Overall, it is key to know that TAP Air Portugal is a budget airline. We flew Boston to London for $328 roundtrip, which it seems is typical for flying with them. I’m going to share our experiences prior to flying with them, in-flight, at the airport checking in with them, and the stopover.

Prior to Flying

The website and app are not very user-friendly. It’s easy to book your flight, but book everything at once - your seat selection, any upgrades, your luggage, etc. Once you book, it is very, very difficult to make changes. We added luggage and it was an ordeal. We tried to pay for seats next to each other and it was also an ordeal and we didn’t even get seated next to each other on the flights.

the seats

So be sure you’re seated with your full attention to booking your flight - and book everything. Their phone customer service is easy and helpful, but try to avoid that altogether by just booking all of it on the front end.

It may also say you’re a Mr. or a Mrs. if you aren’t (it had Ro and I both as “Mr.,” - don’t worry about it and don’t try to change it.

I also would not use points if you have them. The conversion is not worth it. The flight was $328, but it was asking for almost 120,000 points for the same route…

In-Flight Experience

Lovely! The food was great, the seats were mostly comfortable and seemed to be more spacious than normal American flights. the TVs were pretty big and the selection of movies were great!

the screens

The flight attendants were very kind and helpful. They even offer a Portuguese wine flight if you’d like! I had a great experience on all of the flights.

I sat in the emergency row on the flight to Europe, and a regular economy row on the flight back. I wouldn’t change a thing!

Airport Experience

Similar to most airlines, you can check-in online 24 hours in advance. While the check-in process was easy, the staff were a little rude. Not completely unhelpful, but definitely won’t go out of their way to ensure you have a magical experience.

Again, this can mostly be remedied by booking everything in advance.

the space

Stopover

I LOVED this! It is a short stay, but was such a nice treat to be able to visit Lisbon for a little taste of Portugal. I don’t think I would’ve chosen to spend a lot of time in Lisbon prior to this, so being able to experience it quickly was nice. I’ll definitely be back!

Final Thoughts

I would definitely fly TAP Air Portugal again! I learned some lessons, but it definitely was the worst airline experience I’ve had (ahem Aer Lingus). I love the stopover option and really enjoyed the entire experience!

Keeping your expectations in line and understanding it is a budget airline is key.