Tap Air Portugal

[Anonymous]

DC and I are going to Portugal for vacation. DC's city only has direct flight to Lisbon via TAP. We have United, Lufthasa and TAP here. Should he come to DC first (easy flight) or take the risk and fly TAP from his city? The TAP reviews on TripAdvisor are scary.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think taking TAP is a big risk. It’s not quite as nice an airline as some of the big legacy European carriers but it’s not Ryanair either. It’s like Icelandair— smaller planes but overall ok.

[Anonymous]

I've never personally flown TAP but I've also read bad reviews. I will say that I'm in a portugal travel group and there are MANY, MANY people on that group who travel regularly on TAP and say it's fine.

I flew United nonstop to Portugal last summer and then UA had outsourced my return flight with Air Canada and that was A MESS. The actual main flight itself was fine but the complete and utter disorganization both in portugal and in Montreal was awful and resulted in significant stress and a missed connection so just be careful with that. Could be a "summer 2022 craziness" situation hard to say.

[Anonymous]

It’s not a big risk but it’s not a great airline in terms of comfort, food, service and risk of bags going astray if connecting flights. People in the industry say TAP stands for Take Another Plane! But if it’s a direct flight and the price is good it’s fine.

[Anonymous]

TAP is fine.

[Anonymous]

TAP last spring break was the worst airline customer service I've ever experienced. Read the Tripadvisor reviews. And note that you should disregard prepandemic reviews - apparently, they cut tons of employees during the pandemic and haven't staffed back up. 3+ hours to speak with a customer service personnel at the Lisbon airport. 6 hours on the phone to change a flight. And there was no weather issues, strike, etc. This was normal according to folks I talked to.

My girlfriend ignored me and flew TAP several months later. She still hasn't seen her luggage.

I will say, though, that other than 1+ delays in both directions, the flights themselves were pretty uneventful.

[Anonymous]

We've taken TAP a couple of times and it was completely fine.

[Anonymous]

We had a bad experience with TAP over Christmas and almost missed our connection. Flights are very often late. Maybe less of a problem for direct flights.

[Anonymous]

I've never flown TAP, but my worst flight experiences were the flights from DC to Philly and then to Lisbon on United. Every leg both ways went wrong in some way.

[Anonymous]

We're flying Iberia to Portugal. How are they?

[Anonymous]

I've flown TAP and United to Portugal. Both are fine, especially on a direct flight. Pretty difficult to lose luggage that way.

Just be prepared for long check-in lines in LIS.

[Anonymous]

PPs: thank you! We will go with TAP

[Anonymous]

TAP is a dumpster fire

[Anonymous]

We have flown TAP.

You'll be fine.

They have only had one fatal crash in around 75 years, so it is one of the safest airlines in the world.

[Anonymous]

We had no issues with TAP on a trip to Lisbon over Winter Break. We only had carry-on luggage, though. They do sometimes measure and weigh carry-ons. So, be sure you've got items that fit their measurements.