TAP Portugal: An Unbiased Review
This is not a paid or sponsored post. I paid for these flights with my own money, and no one at TAP Portugal was made aware that I’d be writing this post.
Before booking my trip to Marrakech, TAP Portugal was an airline that I’d heard of, but knew next to nothing about. They popped up in my hunt for tickets, and ended up being the lowest price on the most desirable route. It looked good, but I’m no fool so I did my research.
Just the Facts
TAP Portugal is a European budget airline based in Lisbon, Portugal. LIS is their hub (Think Delta + Atlanta) so a large number of flights include a layover there. You also have the option of including a stop over in Lisbon or Porto with your trip. Since TAP is a Portuguese airline, they only depart from 7 US airports: BOS, ORD, MIA, JFK, EWR, SFO, and IAD. This means you’ll end up booking 2 separate sets of flights if you don’t live close to one of these airports. I chose to fly out of MIA, which is a mistake that I will NEVER make again. I mean unless we’re talking free tickets in premium economy or better.
How Budget is Budget
So what’s so budget about this airline? Like most airlines in the “budget” class, TAP Portugal’s tickets are relatively inexpensive. They make their money on “extras” such as selecting your seat or checking a bag. TAP has a tiered ticketing system, which isn’t uncommon. The difference is the number of tiers. There are 6 ticket levels split between 2 primary groups. Ultimately, it’s a “Cheapest ticket = the least amount of perks”. This means that your cheap ticket may not be so cheap after all. The entire system is a bit convoluted, but at the same time I get it. Don’t pay for things you don’t want, and as a result you can fly for less. Sounds simple enough!
| Economy | Executive |
| Discount Basic Classic Plus | Executive Top Executive |
At this point, we all know that I love a deal, but I don’t mind paying a little more for the sake of comfort. I went with TAP’s “Discount” tier, and then paid to select seats. Because it doesn’t include a checked bag, this method definitely works best for travelers who are about that carry-on life. With that in mind, my ticket still came out cheaper than a ticket that included seat selection as those tickets also include a checked bag. Speaking of bags, let’s go back and discuss TAP Portugal’s carry-on situation. TAP is in line with other airlines when it comes to the size of your carry-on (referred to as hand baggage on their site), but the weight limit is a bit lower than some others.
What cha Packin’
With the “Discount” tier, you are allowed 1 piece of carry-on baggage and 1 personal item. Your carry-on can not exceed 22x16x8 inches, and 17 lbs. As long as your bag doesn’t look overstuffed, you may be able to get through even if it is a bit over the weight limit. If you think your bag may be too heavy, I strongly recommend smiling, and being very nice to the people at the check-in desk. Should that fail, you’re looking at paying around $120 to check that baby.
Your personal item can be up to 16x12x5 inches and 4 lbs. It all sounds reasonable until you consider how much your bags weigh all on their own. If you’re a plus-sized woman with big feet, like myself, you know that the weight of your clothes and shoes can add up pretty quickly as well. I packed so light that I didn’t even bring any of the camera equipment I normally carry…I was still slightly over, weight wise, but they didn’t hold it against me.
My Experience with TAP Portugal
I previously mentioned that I opted to fly out of Miami (MIA). If you’re going to do this, it’s important to know that TAP Portugal only accepts hardcopy boarding passes that have been printed at the check-in counter. That means that you’ll have to stop by check in no matter what. Other than that boarding was quick, and very simple. I also appreciate that they did front and rear boarding when it was logistically reasonable. It was nice to not have tons of people squeezing past to get all the way to the back of the plane.
The Plane
I was fortunate enough to fly on one of TAP Portugal’s new Airbus A330-900neo planes. It didn’t exactly have that new car smell, but it was obviously a newer plane. There were plenty of bells, whistles, and bathrooms aboard for sure. Of course my favorite part was the number of ports for charging all of your things. In a close second was the seat-back entertainment system which was loaded with plenty of great music, movies, and tv shows. Entertained? Check!
Have a seat
I did pay more to sit in Economy Extra on the long haul (MIA–LIS/LIS–MIA) portion of my flights. I’m used to feeling squished and uncomfortable on planes. Needless to say, it was 110% worth the extra cash I paid. There was ample legroom, and the seat width didn’t leave me with what I call “fat girl squeeze”. This got even better when the person in the aisle seat moved and I could leave the middle armrest up. I was able to easily stretch out my legs which goes a long way (coupled with compression socks) toward keeping my sciatica in check. I will say that the seat position wasn’t super comfortable because of my back, but I think those without back issues would find it comfortable. Comfy-ish? Check!
Take a bite
I’m a vegetarian 98% of the time. The other 2% consists of I had no choice, or the temptation of chicken in some fried form was irresistible. For my in-flight meal, I requested an ovo-lacto vegetarian meal. I generally don’t have high expectations of these meals, so TAP surprised me. My meal was not only hot (I hate cold food), but it was also delicious. The meal consisted of orecchiette pasta with marinara sauce, cheese, and veggies. The “salad” left lots to be desired so I didn’t even bother to open it. There were also crackers, vegan butter, and a fruit cup that was mostly honeydew. The meal was served with real silverware which I thought was a was a nice touch.
The morning snack brought me back down to earth, and it left a lot to be desired. It was sort of a poor man’s cheese board made up of a few slices of 2 different kinds of cheese, some odd tasting dried fruit that I initially assumed was cranberries, the same crackers from supper, the vegan butter, and some strawberry jam. I basically ate cheese and crackers supplemented with the nuts I’d packed to snack on. Oh, lest I forget, there was also one of those little cups of nasty Minute Maid orange juice.
On the way back it was pretty much the same situation, great actual meal, and craptastic snack. I think the common denominator here was that everything I didn’t like was something savory, that actually tasted way too sweet for me. There was also the whole cold food thing. Cheese and fruit are basically the only things I will eat if they’re cold so that explains a lot.
LIS
Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado/ Lisbon Portela airport (LIS to me) is one of those unwieldy sprawling airports where you have to deplane, get on a bus, and be driven to the terminal. I first encountered this in Mexico, and whoa buddy am I not a fan. Either way, I switched planes here on both my inbound and outbound flights.
My flight from Lisbon to Marrakech was on a smaller, older plane. There was still plenty of legroom for my 5’4.5 self and again no “fat girl squeeze”! These planes are for short haul flights, and they’re older so there wasn’t an entertainment system. That was fine for me since I had my own screens in tow. They did serve a snack on these shorter flights, but the first was tuna, and the second was some nasty sweet-ish tasting cheese, crackers, and apples. I’ll definitely do better with my personal snack rations next time.
Final Thoughts
I was pretty happy with my TAP Portugal experience. We didn’t experience any flight delays during my trip. I was about as comfortable as one can be outside of first class. The staff was kind yet professional, and the food was this side of decent. I mean, it was decent for something served while one speeds through the sky in a nicely appointed metal tube. Ultimately, I feel that I got my money’s worth and that TAP is a great airline. It’s cheapest for the carry-on contingent, but if you must check a bag it’s not too terrible if you know that going in.
Would I fly TAP Portugal again? Absolutely, but next time I’m bringing more snacks!
