Flying To Portugal

[joyous]

Due to CO cancelling our flight to Lisbon, we have been placed on Air Portugal. Has anyone flown Air Portugal and what can we expect in coach and/or business??? joyous

[makai 7]

We flew TAP one time only.

It was for a transatlantic crossing departing from Lisbon (On SeaDream 1) in 2002.

 

low Points/high Points...

We flew American Eagle from Boston to Newark and they said it would be no problem to transfer our bags to TAP (since American was codeshare for the flight to Lisbon).

BIG MISTAKE!!!!

Our bags never made it to Lisbon.

Instead of spending two days sightseeing before our cruise, we traveled back and forth to the airport to file our missing baggage claims and had to go shopping for clothing for our 2 week trip. We had nothing but our carry on.

 

TAP was not very helpful. If it wasn't for the crew on SD1 we never would have located our bags.

We received one bag (intact) in Madeira 5 days later.

The other bag was sent back to Fort Lauderdale 2 weeks later (for our arrival there) and was missing every item of value. There was nothing left but men's underwear, socks, and plain white t-shirts. TAP had insisted that we give them the combination to the lock 'in case' customs had to open the bags. We assume that a TAP employee helped himself to the contents instead.

Filing a claim for stolen luggage was also a nightmare and took months to resolve- if it wasn't for travel insurance we would never have recouped our losses.

 

They also changed their departure from JFK to Newark with no real notification after we booked our tickets, causing us to rebook the Boston to New York flights.

 

On the positive side, the business class was reasonable. Food was good and seats were roomy, but they were not good sleeper seats, even for the overnight flight.

 

I think if you make sure you check your bags directly into TAP and use good locks (FAA compliant of course) you should have no issues.

[joyous]

Thanks for the reply. Guess we'll have to do our best to be sure our bags get on TAP. The ship sails at 5 pm and I doubt I'd find much to wear in one day! Wondered about the seats; their picture shows them reclining. We had Air France for a few days until Crystal changed the departure time and Air France doesn't get in early enough now. Cross your fingers for us. joyous

[mlbcruiser]

Stuff like this happens on ALL airlines. Ever seen the 20/20 or Dateline - one of those - about hidden cameras in airports in our own country where the luggage handlers were stealing stuff out of people's suitcases? I started to add a couple of horror stories personal friend had experienced w/lost luggage on flights, but I'm sure there are a kazillion people on these threads that could add to the list if they wanted. I agree w/the poster who said to get the FAA approved locks. Then do not put ANYTHING that is irreplaceable or costly into your checked bags.