Air Portugal recent experiences

[Anonymous]

I think CDG is marginally less horrible atm. Heathrow and Lisbon are both disaster zones. I would try to take direct flights if at all possible till this is all sorted out.

[Anonymous]

My memory of TAP was not being able to get wine before dinner. They would serve a cocktail or beer, but no wine. The wine was only served WITH dinner.

Turns out that's true across Portugal. I had to switch to the hard stuff if I wanted anything to drink before 10pm, when dinner is served.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think CDG is marginally less horrible atm. Heathrow and Lisbon are both disaster zones. I would try to take direct flights if at all possible till this is all sorted out.

Agreed, I'd probably choose CDG over those options- MAD would work as well for that destination. The best airport to connect at in Europe is probably Munich, with Zurich right behind.

With southern France as a destination, no shot at a nonstop from DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think CDG is marginally less horrible atm. Heathrow and Lisbon are both disaster zones. I would try to take direct flights if at all possible till this is all sorted out.

Thanks. We can't take a nonstop flight as none exist from DC, so it's just a question of where to change planes. I go to London a lot but that's usually my final destination so I haven't connected there for a long time. If we are on BA flight and arrive and depart from T5 will we need to clear immigration/security at Heathrow or is it just treated as a connecting flight? Last time I was there (November) the immigration line was actually very fast because US citizens can use the kiosks. But security may be another issue.

[Anonymous]

We flew TAP from DC to France via Lisbon a few weeks ago. The flight was fine, though we had a long delay on the second flight. However, one of our bags did not make it - we knew it had arrived in Lisbon but it did not make the second flight. It took 2 weeks to get it, and it was extremely frustrating because once you have filed the report, there is really nothing you can do and no one to speak to (I mean, you can call TAP endlessly but they have no information). We are returning next week, hope it will be OK but have heard that there are baggage handler strikes coming up. When I spoke to TAP about my bags they said that Lisbon has been one of the worst airports this year for baggage issues, and it is because there are so few people working there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We flew TAP from DC to France via Lisbon a few weeks ago. The flight was fine, though we had a long delay on the second flight. However, one of our bags did not make it - we knew it had arrived in Lisbon but it did not make the second flight. It took 2 weeks to get it, and it was extremely frustrating because once you have filed the report, there is really nothing you can do and no one to speak to (I mean, you can call TAP endlessly but they have no information). We are returning next week, hope it will be OK but have heard that there are baggage handler strikes coming up. When I spoke to TAP about my bags they said that Lisbon has been one of the worst airports this year for baggage issues, and it is because there are so few people working there.

Just more proof that “getting from point A to point B” should never be the sole consideration when choosing an airline. Customer service, reputation, connecting airports, random upcharges all factor into your travel experience. There are many carriers to consider in this space. TAP may have the lowest ticket prices but not if you factor in the hassle and time spent dealing with missed flights and lost luggage.

[Anonymous]

Just to throw in a data point, we flew from Dulles to Bilbao, Spain through Lisbon in May. Total cost per person was $500, which was the reason we booked. All of our flights were on-time. Food was okay. We had a 10-hour layover in Lisbon which allowed us to put our luggage in lockers and spend the day in Lisbon before flying out that night.

I agree with other posters that the Lisbon airport is over capacity. Not an issue for us coming in and going through immigration in the early morning, but flying out in the afternoon, it looked like the immigration line was hours for in-bound passengers. Flying out, you can't enter the international terminal until a set time before your flight, and despite immediately entering the line, we spent 45 minutes waiting in line for a passport check. Many people in line had earlier flights than we did and were worried about missing their flight. Once you enter the terminal, it is a sterile gate area with no ability to leave the gate once you enter. Not TAP's fault, and not sure if Heathrow would be better, but I'm sure the capacity issue is in part because of TAP's low fare pricing and attempting to make Lisbon a one-stop into Europe airport like Icelandair and Wow do/did with Keflavik.

The only negative with TAP was that their staff at the gate on the return flight were aggressively attempting to check people's carry-on luggage at the gate, despite there being plenty of overhead bin storage once we got on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

And there was a charge (I think around 100 EU) to check a carseat. I instead opted to carry it on, only to be told well after takeoff that I couldn't have it in the middle of the middle row due to safety reasons. I was told they'd have to take it from me for landing, but then they never did. I've never before encountered a charge to check a carseat.

Car seats always have to go in the window seat.