TAP Air Portugal

...return flight I booked with TAP for a short break in Porto. I headed out from London Heathrow and returned to London Gatwick. Incidentally, I booked the trip this way so as to have direct flights in both directions although, as you will read, it did not quite turn out this way. This is all relevant background to the following which might alternatively have been called 'A tale of two flights'. The airline TAP (Transportes Aéreos Portugueses) was ...
...by friendly staff at the TAP desk that the flight was cancelled due to a Fire Service strike in Porto. The fact was later displayed on a screen. I was given the option of re-booking for the next day (hopeless to me as it was a weekend break) or flying to Lisbon and having what I was told would be a "two hour" road transfer. We were not allowed to actually check in until some 90 minutes before departure which was a bit of a pain as we stood around ...

andrewfleminguk 08.09.2007 · Read full review
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Review of TAP Air Portugal

~Introduction~ Transportes Aereos Portugueses or TAP Portugal was formed in 1945. The first planes were converted C-47's (or Dakota's) as used by Allied forces to drop troops on D-day and ferry in supplies. Most of the original TAP pilots were trained in England by BOAC, whilst others completed training with Iberia the Spanish national airline. The early routes were local, the first was Lisbon to Madrid, then the major Portuguese cities were added ...
...we have the modern TAP Portugal with destinations to the major Portuguese cities, Europe, Africa and South America. In 2002 TAP carried over 5.5 million passengers on it's network, (Source: www.worldaviation.com). For this you get jet engine planes, grubby leather seats, sulky attendants, tasteless food and incompetent customer service staff. If this is the future of air travel then I am willing to take my chances in the C-47, but was it really that ...

buzzard_cad 12.09.2005 · Read full review
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Review of TAP Air Portugal

...first Tuesday flight provided by Tap Air Portugal. My husband and I were very excited so we checked our bags in at the TAP Air Portugal desk which was so easy, I would say less than 5 minutes we were walking away to have a cup of coffee and wait to be called through to departure. The Customer Service representitive asked the usual questions did you pack your bags yourself?, checked our passports, stuck the stickers on the suitcase, checked the ...
...protectors on, with the logo TAP imbossed in the leather. I am looking at my husband and he is looking at me, were both thinking have we boarded the right plane? Last time we went on holiday we went to Greece - A complete disaster! anyway that is another story, but we flew on AIR 2000 which was a pack everyseat with every cheap tourist, screaming child, people looking for a quick taste of sun....you can guess the picture I am creating here!? can't ...

samfroggatt 28.05.2003 · Read full review
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Review of TAP Air Portugal

Unfortunately my experience with TAP are not very favourable. Taking a flight from Heathrow to Rio de Janeiro, we had a bad experience from before the check-in. Arriving at the standard 3 hours before the flight, we were astonished to have to wait an hour before the TAP check-in staff even started to get the desks ready for people to start checking in. By this point, there was already a crowd forming. It was certainly not a polite queue, but the ...
...very alarmed by this, as TAP had been advertising "new, modern fleet of planes, with comfort and style". *ahem* Sorry, but there was nothing comfortable or stylish about the flights we had. These monster televisions that were dangling above peoples heads looked dangerous. Everytime there was turbulence (which seemed to be about 9 hours of this 11 hour flight) the TV's wobbled and shook so much that one of them stopped working. And the other one ...

ozzape 18.10.2007 · Read full review
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Review of TAP Air Portugal

...Porto to go rowing. As TAP are the only airline on the London-Porto route apart from Ryanair, we have always flown with them. In 2007 we flew out on an Airbus A320 from Gatwick, and back on an A319 to Heathrow. This year, both flights were A319s, going from Gatwick. Last year, I noticed (as a bit of a plane nerd :-) ) that the cabin crew could not be bothered about the safety of their passengers. The safety videos stopped halfway through, there ...
...to set foot on a TAP plane again. However, I don't book the tickets for the flights to Porto, and as the only other airline on the London-Porto route is Ryanair (and airline I hate with a passion!), I reluctantly accepted my fate, and arrived at Gatwick for the lunchtime flight. When I arrived at the check in desk I was greeted by a cheerful lady, who was quick and efficient, and I had waved goodbye to my bags and received my boarding pass, and was ...

vc-10 21.05.2008 (21.04.2008) · Read full review
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Review of TAP Air Portugal

...I had never flewn with TAP (Air Portugal) before, and when i saw the plane in the terminal i was slightly worried as the planes are quite small and look a bit delicate! When checking in, the TAP staff were really friendly and helpful and full of reassurance. As i am a very nervous flyer, they even radioed the cabin crew on the plane to look out for me! The flight left the airport dead on time, and on the return flight we actually landed about 15 ...
...heathrow about 4 times whilst waiting for a landing slot!!!(this must be a miracle!) Once on board and waiting to take off, i was quite impressed with the interior of the plane. Although not incredibly spacious, the seats were comfortable, there was adequate leg-room, and the interior decor was light and airy. I was very impressed with the drop down electronic screens above the chairs that show safety information and light entertainment films (although ...

mbmb11 06.07.2001 · Read full review
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Review of TAP Air Portugal

...go wrong, the staff at TAP have no clue how to solve them. In my case it started with a mistake - mine - I booked myself on a flight twice instead of my husband and myself. To change this I first emailed the given address on the confirmation. This email was returned with the message that the inbox was full. I then was obliged to call (on my mobile) a premium rate number. I was anticipating having to pay an administration charge. Two flights originally ...
...have to go to a TAP desk (there is one in the NL at Schipol airport). This had to be paid at least 12 hours before the flight and with the same credit card. I informed her this was cancelled. She informed me I would need a letter confirming this. 4 premium calls later this is still not solved. The woman at the service desk at Amsterdam hung up on me and I'm worried about how to manage to pay them the extortionate amount on time. My bank inform me ...

glasvegas 10.01.2009 · Read full review
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Review of TAP Air Portugal

we have just returned from madeira on tap airlines,we had never flown with them before.i must say we were very impressed our flight was on time leaving gatwick, we booked in straight away and chose our seats as the flight was not full,the leg room on board was great we did not feel like we were cramped in.we had a free newspaper,all drinks on board were free as was the meal,which was very nice lasagne, fresh fruit cake tea and coffee...coming back was the same chose our seats at book in,food coming back was salad and fish very tasty...nothing to complain about... ...

majorca 22.01.2008
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Review of TAP Air Portugal

...the London side (LHR) the TAP staff are friendly and helpful, very helpful. During my trips I have to carry equipment 1mtr 60 in lenght. During my departure I had no problems and no charges. Come my departure from Funchal or Lisbon, you are ripped off left right and centre. These charges are not very small either. Luckily for me the club paid for the expenses but what a rip off!! Airlines should make it very clear, if there are charges them they ...

Demetrio 05.02.2001 · Read full review
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Review of TAP Air Portugal

Not child friendly! Be warned if you are travelling with small babies steer clear of this airline. This is the only airline I have used that does not preboard families travelling with small children, despite what they claim on their web site. I travelled with my wife and 3 month daughter to Porto last week. We were actually boarded last! The pram was taken away at the boarding ramp, but in Porto no one could tell me where to collect it. When we did ...
...it had been ripped apart. The return journey was even worse. To top it all they actually charge for infants, unlike Easyjet, BA, Ryanair -- or just about any other airline or travel operator. I was disgusted with our treatment and feared for my daughters safety. We had to ask twice for a seat belt for her. Both outbound and return flights were delayed, and this only added to the distress for our baby. Next time we fly with Easyjet who do pre-board ...

Jacabus1 13.07.2008 · Read full review
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Review of TAP Air Portugal

I flew with TAP airlines yesterday (03/10/08) on Flight TP348 from Madeira to Gatwick. I have two issues really, the first being the most important:- During the course of the flight it became readily apparent that a young portugese male had decided to ignore all flight crew instructions and smoked in one of the onboard toilets. Despite a female member of cabin crew obviously discussing it with him as he returned to his seat, aboslutely NO ACTION ...
...when coming in to land, as I watched a very elderly lady walk to the bathroom despite the seat belt signs being on, and no-one either assisted her or asked her to return to her seat. I do not feel that TAP is a safe airline for these reasons. ...

cbulled 04.10.2008 · Read full review
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Review of TAP Air Portugal