SATA International

✅ Verified Review | 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 8kg 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.

Boston to Terceira. Inept baggage handling. I flew into Boston on Delta. I picked up my bag after the flight and hand carried it to the international terminal and checked it in at the ticket counter. The agent tagged my bag, gave me the barcode (attached to my boarding pass) and I was happy. Next day I arrived in the Azores but my bag didn't. Where was it. SATA had no idea. Five days later I receive a phone call from Delta at Boston. They have my bag and want to know what to do with it. I called SATA to tell them. After 9 phone calls (placed on hold then dropped) and several emails (none answered) I called the SATA desk at Boston and explained my frustration. The agent, very polite, said "I'll send someone over to pick it up... it's there, I've checked, and it will be on the flight tonight." Nice... it didn't happen. I called Delta again, they still had it. As of now, 7 days later, still no bag, still no help from SATA. The Delta agent is now trying to route the bag on TAP, through London and Lisbon so I can get it before I have to return to the US. SATA is the only game in town for direct flights from the Azores to Boston. If they had competition they would be out of business.

Toronto to Ponta Delgada. Paid for seats in 1st row of plane due to my husband having a knee replacement surgery not long before our trip, worst seats on the plane, people crawling on top of us to use washroom since they were told that they could not go across in the business class section, constant line-up to use toilet which was right beside the seats, disgusting. Contacted airlines and received this response: "Please accept our most sincere apologies for the delay in sending our answer. We inform that, at the time you purchased your preseat, a fee was paid in order to guarantee the service. At this moment regular seating reservation is not subject to the payment of a fee, however, should you want special comfort seats these are still paid. We apologize for the inconvenience but, since you travelled in the seats reserved, we cannot refund any amount. Additionally we inform that we have forwarded your comments to all departments involved so that they are aware of your dissatisfaction and so that any changes may be implemented in order to improve our services and conditions onboard our aircrafts." This is the worst airline we had ever travelled with, we ended up sitting in the back of the plane on some of their broken down seats just to get away from the traffic and washroom in the first row. Shocked at how they treat their customers, will never fly with this airline again.

✅ Verified Review | Lisbon to Boston via Ponta Delgada. Our experience was entirely different to many of these reviews. The flights were low-frill, but we paid about half the cost of the ticket price of a larger airline. The seats were no more uncomfortable than most economy seats on US carriers, and though there were no air vents over each seat, the plane did not become unduly stuffy. The flight was an hour late - well within the depressing norm for all too many US carriers - and the crew made sure that passengers with connections were able to leave first; furthermore, they passed on the news that one connnecting flight was also delayed, which no doubt eased anxiety for many passengers. The food was adequate if not delicious, and the cabin crew were friendly and responsive. They handled an in-air medical emergency efficiently and discreetly. Boarding was more chaotic than on many US carriers, but everyone got on, and all baggage was accommodated. We had no special needs in terms of boarding or diet, so we can't comment first-hand on the airline's ability to manage such situations. For what we saved in ticket price, we were able to afford two extra days in Europe. Should our travel plans intersect with SATA's flight paths again, we would definitely consider flying with them.

✅ Verified Review | Ponta Delgado to Porto. Ground staff wasn´t all that helpful and nice (as usual), boarding was long and the waiting room had insuficiente seats. Cabin crew almost never smilled and didn't seemed particularly interested in serving the passengers or making their flight feel more pleasant. They let a lot of people carry extra items as carry on luggage, much of them exceeding the regulation sizes and as a result, lots of passenger didn't had space to stow their carry ones (which were inside the companie's regulations) and I was shocked to see that an elderly couple seating in the seats across the isle from me, was forced to stow their backpack on the gentleman's feet. He complained, he stated that he needed a place to stow the back pack and that it was inside the mandatory dimensions and that other had exceed the limits but the crew didn't care and didn't even tried to find space for the backpack even if the seat next to me and the gentleman was empty. I had to step in and ask him if he wanted to stow the backpack in the seat next to me, the cabin crew couldn't care less about the passenger's concerns or comfort. No entertainment except for some video in very small screens which no one could understand as subtitles were too small and no sound was provided, no headphones, nothing. Also no wifi was provided. Meal was poor to say the least, a simple sandwich with stale bread, some juice, coffee and a little snack candy. The crew never asked the passengers if they desired any extra drinks. Very crude service, it almost seemed as if the passengers were there to service the cabin crew and not the other way round. Very expensive flight for such a short route and such a poor service. The filght was late, as it usually is with SATA International.

✅ Verified Review | I was a passenger on SATA flight # S4232 from Boston to Terceira on April 27th. Midflight, I started feeling very hot and nauseous. One of the flight attendant that passed by me noticed that I did not look good and asked me if I needed anything; that’s when I asked for a glass of water and she immediately came back with it. Few minutes went by and she returned to ask me if I was ok and if I needed anything else to let her know. At this point, I decided to get up and go to the bathroom and while I was waiting for my turn, I fainted. When I came back to my senses I was in business class with the cabin crew members surrounding me and providing water soft drinks and instructions on what I needed to do to recover. They also got a passenger nurse to check my vital signs to ensure they did not have to deviate the airplane to the nearest airport. Thank you to the crew members of SATA flight S4232 for your professionalism and wellbeing of your passengers!

✅ Verified Review | Porto to Ponta Delgada with SATA Azores. Good choice if you like being insulted by the crew. The crew was very rude and didn't care much for the passengers, at one time, one of the crew members decided to remove my bag from the overhead bins and gave it to another passenger to hold it! I was stunned by this and was even more amazed when the crew member went away and left my belongings being hold by a complete stranger. I called for the attendent and asked why was a stranger holding my personal luggage and if he wasn't going to put it in the overhead compartments, the crew member did but put my bag no in it's orignal place but some seats up ahead, so I called him again and asked him why he had removed my bag from his original place and he said it was to put another passenger's bag. Then, came a female crew member who arrongantly sent him away, put my bag back where it bellonged and proceded to tell everyone on the plane that I was very angry because my bags where too far away. I couldn't believe how a crew could be so rude. If the company knew the plane was full, why didn't they asked people to check they luggage at the boarding gate so it was sent to the cargo bay and make boarding and seating easier. The crew wasn't by any means pleasant and seemed like they were doing us the favour of carrying us onboard. And the price wasn't that cheap! Very high indeed. Food was terrible, inflight entertainent was a joke and the flight was late. Don't recommend them at all.

Flew SATA International from Lisbon to Boston. Aircraft quite old no personal TV screens. The food was very poor and very limited choice. We did not get a drink for one and half hours after boarding the plane. The staff seemed quite disorganised but were polite. I have flown with Air Transat across the pond and they seem a bit more organised and better food and aircraft.

Overall, a very good experience with SATA International from Toronto to Madeira in poor weather conditions. Rapidly deteriorating weather (snow, ice and wind) delayed the departure from Toronto for about 3 hours. When conditions improved, and after a complete deicing, we were one of the first planes to leave. SATA automatically rebooked us for our missed connection in Ponta Delgada and we arrived at our final destination about 4 hours later than scheduled. Pretty good food and wine on board. Friendly staff from check in to arrival. There was a small luggage problem in PDL that was resolved brilliantly by SATA ground staff. Great price.

Boston to Lisbon with SATA International, and we booked a package deal with SATA that included a car rental. One month after returning home, the car rental company charged us for repairs for damages that we did not incur. When I contacted SATA they were abrupt and told me that this was not their problem. Beware!