TAP Air Portugal - good to go or steer clear?

shuffles03

Hi all 👋

Travelling to Brazil this July and currently looking at flights. TAP Air Portugal are the cheapest by far (literally €700-€800 cheaper).

However, I saw a lot of reddit complaints warning people to avoid them at all costs. (Now, I know you generally only see the bad reviews as people that are happy generally do not comment. However, there were quite a few so wanted to check to see others’ experiences)

I live in Spain so would be going from Valencia or Madrid to Fortaleza.

Current pricing with TAP is about €1,200 per person return (last week of July, first week of August).

Price jumps considerably with other airlines.

Yay or nay?

JVince

Beware of online reviews.

The person who gets decent service rarely will go online and say so.

The person who doesn't get milk with their coffee screams blue murder and rages.

There are so many snowflakes out there that want to blame their errors on others, especially companies. Read reviews for other airlines and you will see a trend.

I fly into Lisbon 2-3 times a year. Usually TAP as their flight time suits me, sometimes Ryanair and never aer Lingus (purely because times don't suit).

Never had an issue. The odd delay. I don't expect a food service and rarely buy airline food or drink.

I plan to go to Peru next year and most likely will use TAP

spurious

They are like Ryanair. Lots of add ons, luggage fairly expensive.

Usual types who do not read the small print will moan about them. Only flew with them twice, both times no issues.

bewhiched

I went to Portugal and Cape Verde and found them brilliant we'd a sand storm flight was delayed and the put us up all inclusive for two nights ...

Gael23

Flew with them last summer to avoid Ryanair. Can’t complain about anything. Only thing I’ll say is the plane was tiny, far smaller than Ryanair or Aer Lingus planes. There was 2 rows of 2 seats rather than 3 seats.

Caranica

Had a nightmare with them last year and it took 8 months to get the refund I was due for expenses after they cancelled our flight(s).

Having said that I'm flying with them again in two weeks.

kindalen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121847048#Comment_121847048

Can be long wait for the toilet on smaller planes(Embraer), usually won't let economy pax use front toilet(am sure they would if emergency...)and only one down the back. Wouldn't bother me, but may be an issue for some. Ratio of about 100 pax to 1 toilet in economy.

AngryLips

Flew them to South America last year. They're on a par with Aer Lingus transatlantic in my experience, very similar level of service.

TAP is an old airline with almost an unparalleled safety record, from that point of view alone I would recommend.

VG31

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121847375#Comment_121847375

I haven't flown on TAP's Embraers (I flew with them in 2019 when they uses A319s/A320s to Dublin), but I was on a Finnair Embraer 190 from Helsinki to Dublin last year and the one toilet for economy is definitely a negative. Thankfully the flight wasn't too full but there was still often a queue for the toilet. You only need one person to be in there for ages to cause a huge queue!

The 2x2 seating is definitely nicer though. I've flown Embraer 190s with BA CityFlyer, KLM and Wideroe and find them a nice aircraft. Wideroe don't have business class so you can use both toilets.

WishUWereHere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121875342#Comment_121875342

I flew with them years ago to JHB via Brazzaville. I’ve also used them last year to fly to Lisbon. Absolutely no problems with them.

Also

in case You need any reassurance:

https://ittn.ie/travel-news/tap-air-portugal-named-best-european-airline-flying-to-south-america-and-africa/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20ITTN%20eBulletins&utm_content=Daily%20ITTN%20eBulletins+CID_e7d355ae7d3273035945517c2d026586&utm_source=CFEmail&utm_term=TAP%20Air%20Portugal%20Named%20Best%20European%20Airline%20Flying%20to%20South%20America%20and%20Africa