TAP Portugal

Not Verified | Tried to book online 3 months prior to travelling passport had expired but had sent off for renewal. Couldn't book as couldn’t pass the API information had to put in passport number so phoned to book flight, 1 hour waiting to get through to English speaking person. Booked a flight, got reference number, took 30 minutes with lots of reiterating name address etc. They took my credit card details, said I would receive documents within 24-48 hours. 1 week later nothing. Emailed with reference number got reply stating “to book this service contact “contact centre” ? What does that even mean? So no booking, no reply, no outcome. And where’s my credit card details I gave gone.

✅ Trip Verified | Paris to Montréal via Lisbon. Worst airline ever. Seriously, do not fly with them ever, even if the ticket seems cheap. They are getting their money another way, that involves ripping their customers off. For the specifics, I was flying from Paris to Montréal with a stop in Lisbon during the pandemic. TAP Portugal website was only displaying the information "due to covid-19 pandemics, check with the country you are flying from, by and to what the regulations are". I did, and I wasn't requested to show anything for my Paris to Portugal because I had my European sanitary pass. For Canada, I was requested to have a PCR test done 72hr before "the last country you flight from", hence, Portugal. I therefore had my test done in Paris and that would have been ready by the time I arrived in Portugal (which is what happened). Nonetheless when I tried to register in Paris airport, the TAP employee told me they will not allow me because I did not have my PCR test. Even though TAP website only indicated to comply with the countries I was traveling from, through and to, regulations, they made up a rule at the entry point, saying I had to present my test then and refuse me the boarding. They refuse to let me in the next flight even if there were seats available because I would have only 50 minutes to change plane in Lisbon. My PCR results arrived before my flight left Paris, but it was then too late to register. I had to take a plane with another airline, which cost me more than a thousand euros total and while I sent many emails to TAP following that I never got an answer. They are truly an awful company, and they will rip you off, even if you think you did everything right and did check in advance for the possibilities they could rip you off. They will find a way.

✅ Trip Verified | No vaccine proof control to access the airport in Lisbon. No vaccine proof control to access the airplane. Boarding. People pressed together for ten minutes on stairs before boarding the bus. People locked 10 minutes in bus on tarmac before getting on the plane. One of the travellers was either drunk or sick, in both cases he should have been controlled. Fortunately he was asleep for the whole flight. Passengers not wearing masks for the whole flight and cabin staff would not ask them to do so. Staff were kind but definitely not efficient. TAP says - Clean and safe - on it's communication. For sure it's not, though it might be the same for other companies. The Reservation system is hazardous: you book a flight, pay, and find out you are booked on the next flight. You are invited to check in online before the flight, but online check-in is not accessible to you (my friend could do it). Food and beverages were extra like low cost companies.

✅ Trip Verified | Our flight experience in Premium Economy was well below industry standards. In the Premium Economy area (rows after Business Class) we were not allowed to use the overhead bins directly above us as these were also reserved as "backup space" for business class / we were asked to put our hand luggage under the seat - on an E190 we were not allowed to use the lavatory three rows in front of us - again reserved for business - but had to go to the one rear lavatory where a queue had formed, staff showed no ability or will for flexible solutions. No complimentary meal or even water was served on a 4hrs flight LIS->RAI in Premium Economy. We bought water and ordered a lasagna, the packaging, quality and taste of the food was unsatisfactory. Bottom-line: until huge improvements in the cabin service have been made we will avoid whenever possible to fly with TAP - but if you have to fly with them on a midrange plane, we recommend not to book Premium Economy as in our experience you are way better off with a regular economy seat, you can sit closer to a usable toilet and use the overhead bins. On the expense of Premium Economy guests staff is totally trimmed to focus on the business class, there seems to be no concept for the "preferred" seating area behind business.

✅ Trip Verified | Customer service is non-existent! Tried for two days and a total of 15 hours calling TAP Reservations center, always on hold for minimum 1 hour before someone picks up the phone, once they pick up they can never help and always have to transfer you to some other department which takes another hour before that other department picks up the phone. By the time you finally get lucky to speak to someone, they disconnect you as you’ve been on hold for too long. And you have to start all over again. I’ve tried for a total of 15 hours but never got through to them in the end. Avoid flying with Tap, especially long haul and business class, as it will be a total waste of your money. You won’t get any customer service from them and for sure will be disappointed, even if you have such a basic issue to resolve such as rebooking your flight, they won’t be able to help you. Truly, it was the worst experience.

✅ Trip Verified | Business class product on European routes is back to pre-covid standards, at least on E-jets. No neighbor, priority boarding etc. Better even, as for flights departing from LIS, you may chose your meal on a menu emailed previously by TAP. Meal that was good by the way. Crew was extremely efficient and present.

✅ Trip Verified | A lot might be said about travelling during pandemic times. It is hard for passengers, and hard for crews, as well as airlines management. I would like to point out how disappointing was my first trip on the new A330Neo by TAP: Business class cabin is an extremely high density place, much more packed than on their A330-200. There are so many passengers and they are so close each other that is now a noisy place. As a consequence, seats are too narrow. And place for legs and feet were not sufficient for me. I could not move at all (seat 5A). Feeling of a magnetic resonance imaging bed. I started to feel bad. This is a typical profit targeting mistake. It is no use paying for a business class ticket, if you cannot breath. Worse: as (I suppose) a pandemic protection, business class toilet was for crew only. 34 business class pax had to share 2 toilets with 80 Economy Extra pax. I let you guess the result after a 9 hours flight, as crew never cleaned. Which is by the way, a bad decision in Covid times. My opinion is that TAP Portugal, for the first time, is offering such a downgraded product in Business Class that they will lose their most loyal ( 40 years) customers. Do not pay for it, even cheap.

✅ Trip Verified | I was a but worried about a transatlantic crossing on an A21neo LR. The business class throne/pod seat was very comfortable, cabin felt new and modern, and the entertainment system was easy to use and had good content. Food was fine but a bit slow to be served - 65 minutes from take off and only 14 business passengers. For a short night flight it would have been nice with an express service (there is no pre dinner drink service anyway. Pillow is very good. Staff not very welcoming and quite robotic (well confused robotic). Flight left 50 min late but arrived on time. No business class bus service on arrival. Luggage arrived very quickly.

✅ Trip Verified | We entered in the last minute, due to a late incoming TAP flight, so we cannot say anything about the boarding process. We sat down in our seats, we had the two middle seats (1-2-1). Felt the seats were a bit narrow. They have put a menu on each table, and a stewardess walk her way down to take our orders. Before they came to our row (9), we heard she said they were out of beef. And when she came to take our order, we could choose between baccalao and spinach pasta. I should have understood that if i wanted beef, i should have ordered it online, before the flight. I told her i did not want any dinner. It took almost 1.5 hours before they cane with the drink trolley. Another stewardess offered me a beef stew that they served in a bowl. The taste was actually good, but looked boring . We had a big tv screen, and enough choices of movies. After dinner they turned of the lights, nice to relax, but do they need to keep the temperature on around 30 degrees ? Its so warm when i tried to lay down and sleep. They served a light meal one and a half hour before arrival, When we came to Punta Cana there was remote parking, and they got us in to two busses, very crowded. I have had trips with 5-stars airlines before the covid-19, and the difference is really big. TAP can improve in all sides of their product, disappointing trip.

✅ Trip Verified | Madrid to New York. Even before the flight it was impossible to speak with customer service about adding additional baggage. This was a problem because it is cheaper to add baggage before going to the airport, however in the end we had to pay the maximum cost because we could never get a hold of customer service over the phone. At check in, we were checked in by a third party company that could not help us with any questions related to TAP Portugal. One flight was delayed and when we arrived to the connecting airport they treated us like we were responsible for the delayed flight. Then when we got to Newark they didn't have our stroller set (which included 3 seat attachments and the bassinet for our son to sleep in). No TAP representative was present in Newark to help locate the stroller or take a report of the lost stroller. Eventually when we arrived to the final destination and there was no stroller. I tried calling them many many times and I was always on hold for at least an hour or longer. When someone picked up the phone, I was transferred and then placed on hold for another hour or longer. When I messaged them on Facebook I was replied to with a generic message and no one was there to help me. I tried messaging on LinkedIn, Facebook, and received absolutely zero assistance. No one has been able to help us with our lost stroller. Even today I am trying to call them and I am on hold for hours, with receiving any help or speaking with anyone. Do not use this company, if you do make sure you have third party flight and baggage insurance, because if they lose something they are not going to be responsible. Literally the worst travel experience we could have imagined.