I have been flying both domestically and internationally for over 30 years with a variety of airlines including Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, KLM, SAS, Emirates, and many others. However, my recent experience with TAP was my first time flying with them, and I was utterly shocked by the lack of professionalism from start to finish.
The quality of service, food, and even the seats (even in Premium Economy) were all disappointing. The airline’s technology is outdated, and although TAP offers online check-in like other airlines, they do not accept digital boarding passes. All passengers were required to stand in line again to get printed boarding passes. When it came time to board, there was no announcement when boarding started, only a late notice just before the gate closed. Additionally, TAP didn’t have boarding pass scanners at the gate, and the staff was checking passes manually.
I also encountered issues with their system. My personal details were in the system when I left from EWR, but they were missing when I boarded in Lisbon, suggesting a disconnect between their systems in the U.S. and Portugal.

Overall, TAP’s performance was far below industry standards, presenting themselves as far from professional. I will never fly with them again, nor would I recommend anyone to take the risk. This is a airline that can not afford to give you full can of soda, and will give you on 4 ounce cup, as for 2 and you get 2 ounces in each.

Airlines from over 30 years ago provided better service and higher quality than what TAP offers today. The food was worse than something from McDonald's. Despite Premium Economy supposedly offering priority boarding and extra legroom as advertised, the staff at the airport had no idea about these benefits. The legroom in Premium Economy is no different than what you get in basic Economy. This feels like a clear case of misleading passengers, if not outright fraud.

To me, TAP stands for Totally Amateur People.

HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Our flight to Lisbon was canceled 1 hour before flying out and as we went up to speak to someone at the check-in gate, we politely greeted them and before we were even able to ask for reassurance as to what the next steps were, MARIA (white hair and glasses) rudely dismissed us stating she’s not with TAP and we have to speak to the ticket desk - mind you she was wearing a TAP uniform and name tag. She did not even allow us to ask a simple question and rather shooed us away.

RUDE AND DISMISSIVE. TAP review your employees especially while they wear your uniform, sitting behind your desk.

Worst flight experience of my life, I could write a book. From cancelled flights, miscommunication, pass the Buck, you name it. Redeeming factor was the price

Perfectly good planes and staff are pleasant. Only trouble is flights were all delayed, cancelled or changed. While these changes were all resolved it was very frustrating and annoying. I noticed several other TAP flights were delayed while spending hours in the airport waiting for my flights.

We flew TAP from Lisbon to Boston on Thanksgiving Day, 11/29/2024, flight TP 217. The check-in process in Lisbon went smoothly as did security and passport control. The flight departed on time and the plane (A321NEO LR) was clean. After almost an hour into the flight an announcement was made that we would be returning to Lisbon because bags were on board that didn’t belong on our flight. TAP is the national airline of Portugal, and the announcement stated the company instructed the captain to return the bags. When we got close to Lisbon and were descending to land the plane accelerated and began ascending. A little bit later another announcement was made that instead of landing in Lisbon we would fly instead to the Ponta Delgada Airport in the Azores and drop the bags there. As we approached Ponta Delgada an announcement was made that we would need to circle for a while to burn off fuel to lighten the plane before landing. I didn’t understand why we needed to lighten the plane here but had prepared to land earlier in Lisbon. After a hard landing we pulled near the terminal building and service trucks pulled up to the aircraft. We could hear sounds coming from the baggage compartment. Passengers were instructed not to stand up or use their cell phones. This all seemed unusual to us, but the crew seemed bored and unconcerned. After about fifteen minutes with the plane refueled and the bags removed, we took off. We arrived in Boston three hours late.
The flight crew was neither helpful nor friendly. Announcements were not intelligible due to broken a poor sound system and broken English. We were dumbfounded that an airline would inconvenience 200 passengers with a three-hour delay for lost bags. I will never fly TAP again.