For The Love Of Port

What’s going on with airfare to Portugal?

I’m planning a trip to Lisbon and Funchal in June. A week or so back TAP was showing $1700 for economy “Classic” and $3200 for first class from Boston. That economy price is much higher than the last few years and first class (not that I’d pony up for it) a good bit lower.

Tonight I checked again and economy was $1200 and first class $4300. What the heck is going on?

Up $100 for Classic and $2000 for Executive since last night.
I'm going to have to monitor this silliness every day ...

I saw reasonable fares a week or so ago. Apparently I need to watch this.

Some really good fares on different airlines from the west coast recently. Business round trip (4 legs) was around $3,200 which is really good for a long haul flight with 4 legs from the west coast.

There are many airlines flying to Portugal from Boston including budget carriers, I'd expect rates to be pretty cheap

Damn, round trip to Funchal from Boston on TAP has been sitting around $1500 for weeks and up to $1634 this morning. (Classic level fare - you get to choose your seat and bring 2 checked bags). The other major airlines are around the same rate. Some deals available on sketchier airlines or if you want to make connections. Azores Airlines had some interesting rates for instance, but their reviews are terrible.

TAP - Why don't you want me to visit Portugal this spring?

Round trip Boston to Lisbon in June is now $1800 (2 checked bags)
Round trip to Seville Spain, stopping in Lisbon with the same dates is $1100.

Mike K. wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 4:09 pm TAP - Why don't you want me to visit Portugal this spring?

Because everyone is doing it?

I've booked Delta, but I have a more complicated itinerary as I'm going into Lisbon and out of Zurich. There were some sketchy deals on the travel websites using a bunch of different airlines (like Frontier from Denver to get somewhere ... ) I decided paying a little more was worth the reduced risk.

You guys need to work on your credit card rewards game, gf and I just booked from RIC to OPO on UA/TAP for a total of $160 plus 120k points. Finding dates that would work wasn't too bad though I probably should have started looking earlier.

Nicholas S wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 1:05 pm You guys need to work on your credit card rewards game ...

Used those to go to Portugal in 2018, and Ireland last year. Sometimes the miles are the better deal, sometimes the $.

Portugal is certainly more expensive than usual this year. I am flying to Madeira twice this year. The first in March I take Norwegian Air from San Francisco to London, and the Easyjet to Lisbon and Funchal. Then going back to London and back home. $750.

The second in June is more expensive. I fly San Francisco to Lisbon on American and then from Lisbon to Funchal and back again. About $1400. Yeah... not cheap at all, but not the $2000+ that TAP wanted for the round trip.

David Spriggs wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 9:04 pm Portugal is certainly more expensive than usual this year. I am flying to Madeira twice this year. The first in March I take Norwegian Air from San Francisco to London, and the Easyjet to Lisbon and Funchal. Then going back to London and back home. $750.

The second in June is more expensive. I fly San Francisco to Lisbon on American and then from Lisbon to Funchal and back again. About $1400. Yeah... not cheap at all, but not the $2000+ that TAP wanted for the round trip.

Excellent pricing on that first trip!

For June, I found that TAP is $200 less expensive from Boston to Madeira if I book two distinct one way tickets rather than a round trip. Bizarre. $1400 total with 2 checked bags.

Azores / SATA would have been far cheaper - but they seem to have a questionable reputation if you and your bags absolutely must get there on a given date. I bet they are just fine most of the time, but I'm risk-averse, so I'll try them another time when just visiting the Azores.

Mike K. wrote: ↑Fri Feb 21, 2020 5:16 am so I'll try them another time when just visiting the Azores.

I really want to have a full experience tour on the Azores some day.