SATA Air Azores

✅ Verified Review | Toronto to Lisbon via Ponta Delgada. We were flying to Lisbon with 2 carry on bags and 2 bicycles. My wife emailed ahead and confirmed bicycle tranport with weight and dimensions. She asked for price and was repeatedly referred to a website with no costs included on it. She asked again no response, just a website. Chat requests are directed to email. Long story short, the mobile version of their website differs from the dekstop version and omits critical information. I got dinged with significant oversize fees for bikes that i had previously provided info on and asked for cost. A link with the info or a heads up that i was looking at an extra $600 would have been helpful. Do not expect [email protected] to fill in the gaps or do anything beyond the minimum - actually dont even expect "the minimum". Do not expect check in staff to do anything but plead "no authority". If flying out of North America on an evening flight do not expect anyone to be available that has "authority". In fact do not expect to ever speak or IM with anyone. IMs result in being directed to email. No in flight entertainment. Meals and seats were fine. No complaints there. In a hated industry, with ever dissatisfied customers, SATA successfully lowers the bar one more notch.

❎ Unverified | We travelled on Flight S4301 from Lisbon to Toronto on Feb 10th. Firstly, the entertainment system did not work on our flight to Lisbon on Jan 7th and still was not working on Feb 10th flight. Most importantly: We never check baggage when flying: however SAT Azores limits cabin baggage to 8 kg so we reluctantly checked two small bags weighing approx 10 kg each. Arriving in Toronto the whole flight's luggage did not arrive on carousel 9 for 1.5 hrs. Other flights landed after us and had baggage on carousels before they got thru customs e.g. Georgetown/Port of Spain, Miami and Reykjavik. 1.5 hrs to get luggage is totally unacceptable - no one can leave for a connecting flight without taking luggage thru customs. This caused undue stress and frustration for the whole flight.

✅ Verified Review | I have mixed reviews. The check in process in Boston was extremely smooth and my flight was right on time. My first leg from Boston to Ponta Delgada was on an old plane with very small seats and tiny overhead bins. I have never been on a plane with smaller seats. I am 5ft 2in and when the tray for the meal came down I couldn't move my legs one bit. We landed in the Azores on time and instead of going through the transit line like the people going to Lisbon, the connecting flight to Porto had to go through immigration and customs (even though I had a boarding pass for my next flight and the flight was made all on one booking), out to the check in area and back through security, only to walk directly back past the transit door on the way to my gate. My next flight to Porto was delayed two hours because the plane was late coming in from Toronto, but delays are expected so that didn't really bother me. My plane going to Porto was a newer plane with large, leather seats and lots of space in the overhead bins. If only that was my plane from Boston I might have gotten some sleep. The flight was smooth and the flight attendants on both flights were nice and helpful. The food was fine, nothing special but not bad. Overall, it wasn't the worst travel experience but not the best. I would fly them again if it was the cheapest option by a significant amount but would probably pay a little extra for a nicer airline.

✅ Verified Review | Lisbon to Toronto via Ponta Delgada. There is absolutely no explanation for why people fly with SATA Azores Airlines, there is no entertainment on board, not even the old ones - they have the screens in every chair, however there is no actual program running on them. The food is a complete disaster, sandwiches are freezing cold! I have made a stopover in Ponta Delgada on my way to Toronto, where people is obliged to stay in two rooms where there is only one place that sells food or water while they wait for their flight. If you ask to go to the rest of the airport, that is just around the glass wall, where the restaurants and space that can actually support 600 persons stoped on these 2 rooms, no one will let you! There is no seats available half the people they obligate to stay in this rooms.

Boston to Sao Miquel, Azores. Worst airline I have ever flown. Our flight was delayed from 10:15 pm on Oct. 11, 2016, until 9 am on October 12, 2016; and we did not leave until 11 am on the 12th. Therefore, we lost an entire day in the Azores. After all the delays, one would expect the airline staff to be especially friendly and attentive. Worst crew I have ever come across, and I travel on airlines frequently. Not a smile. After having no service for food or drinks for two hours after take off, I asked for water and was told to go to the back of the plane to get it. The flight attendants, except for one, were actually nasty. Only one had big smiles and was very helpful.

Ponta Delgada to Boston with SATA. Flight was delayed 4 or 5 times throughout the day. 8-9 hours later it was cancelled for "technical" reasons. They couldn't figure out all day that this one and only plane could not be fixed. Now we are waiting in line for over an hour while 2, yes only 2 people help an entire plane with hotel vouchers. Ruined a great vacation. I will never come back here again until real airlines start flying here. SATA has not figured it out how to take care of its customers. They don't even have a second plane to assist. One guy has been here since Sunday trying to fly to Boston. It's now late Tuesday. Are you kidding me?

✅ Verified Review | Porto to Ponta Delgado. Well, bellow average service from a below average company. Long boarding times for such a small flight. Overhead bins were stuffed because the company couldn't be bothered with asking the passengers to let their extra items go to the cargo bay, and didn't care with checking baggage sizes and number of bags per costumer which lead to a lot of passenger not having space to stow their belongings while other carried much more than they paid for. This lead to delays on the departure and lots of confusion and upset passengers. They seemed a bit amature and not profissional ground and cabin crew. At least one of the stewardesses tried to find me space for my, bag. She was in fact one of the nicest I have ever had on this company. Food was plain, boring and uninspiring, consisting in a boring (and rather small) sandwich with not so fresh ingredients (seriously, the lettuce was so dark it looked like it was out of date), a drink, a coffee and some sort of assorted cookies, all terrible and dry. Inflight entertainment was non existent and they only screened a movie about the Azores, in screens to small that no one could actually read the subtitles and with no chance to hear the sound. No wifi options were provided and the stewardess forced me to turn off my phone, even though it was in flight mode, way before the landing, other companies don´t do that. For a 130€ price for a 2h flight, service was substandard and it was very overpriced.

✅ Verified Review | Boston to Ponta Delgada. While the staff and crew were very friendly, and attempting to be accomodating, this is the worst plane I believe I've ever flown in. After a four hour departure delay, which I was told by several of the airport vendors 'was quite usual,' we finally left Boston and headed toward Sao Miguel/Ponta Delgada. The plane was very stuffy snd warm, there were no air vents overhead. What? I've never seen a plane without overhead ventilation controls, typically next to the overhead lighting and flight attendant call buttons! Even after asking flight attendants for assistance, the flight was very warm and uncomfortable. No in-flight entertainment whatsoever. Screens were in place on the back of each seat, but they were not powered on, and there was no cabin movie. The seats were tiny, and very uncomfortable. And the very bright, cabin lights were left on during the entire flight (2am -7am) rather than dimming them for sleep. So, a major delay in departure, bright lights throughout a night flight, no AC or even circulating air, tiny seats with no legroom, no in-flight entertainment. They get kudos for getting us here safely, but if there were another alternative, I would never fly this airline again.

Do not fly SATA unless you love airports. We have been to Sao Miguel five times and experienced delays on three flights. Delays of 7 hours and 2 hours previously and we are now in the middle of what will be a 27 hour delay. They want us to fly Lisbon to Manchester via Amsterdam despite the fact that we will miss a connection again if there is a delay of 45 minutes. An inept airline.

Ponte Delgada to Boston with SATA Air Azores. Only a fool would fly on this inept airline. The disorganization and the confusing communication are just part of this chaos. I had injured my leg while on vacation and had to use wheelchair assist. Imagine my shock and dismay to learn that they board wheelchairs after the rest of the passengers are already seated. When I requested a seat that had some room to accomdate my braced and bandaged knee, they lied and said I had a wheelchair seat. It was row 18 in the back of the plane and a standard seat. I couldn't even get in the bathroom.