Favorite airlines?

[Roy Hersh]

When flying to Portugal, of course there is their national airlines, TAP but there are a number of others that make the trip to Portugal. I know that British Airways flies there too and a handful of others from the USA.

But we'll have members here from a wide assortment of venues around the world and I am looking forward to hearing which airlines do the best job en route to Portugal.

[Ronald Wortel]

Not being very wealthy, and more willing to spend my money on port than on airfares, I choose Ryanair. They fly from Brussels to Valladolid (Spain) from where it is a 4 hour drive to Pinhao (not that bad given that from Porto it is a 2 hour drive).

[Jason Brandt Lewis]

The problem, of course, is that -- coming from the US -- the only direct flights are SFO-JFK-LIS on Delta/TAP, changing planes in New York. (TAP codeshares with Delta, and flies Lisboa to boston and Lisboa to JFK.)

Of course my miles are with United, so this is of little help to me, though I have flown this exact route. (I also hear Continental flies from San Francisco to Newark, then Newark to Lisbon.) So it's generally United/Lufthansa to Frankfurt and then back to Lisbon . . . PITA.

If I fly into Oporto -- something I've not done, BTW -- it would be United to Heathrow, then I suspect Ryan Air from Stansted to Oporto (less costly than TAP from Heathrow).

All this is speculation, of course -- my next trip will have to be into Lisbon, so . . . with two kids, I suspect it will be into Heathrow and then TAP from LHR-LIS.

Cheers,
Jason

[Jason Brandt Lewis]

I take it all back! TAP now codeshares with United! All is well . . . .

[David Spriggs]

Thanks for the tip Jason. I'm searching for flights right now and will check out Ryan Air.

-Dave-

[Roy Hersh]

David,

I am pretty sure that Ryan Air is like a low cost airlines similar to Southwest and if I am not mistaken, they are only flying routes in Europe. I could be wrong, so do follow up and let us know what you find.
Thanks!

[David Spriggs]

Yes, RyanAir is Europe only. There are no direct flights to Oporto from San Francisco, so I was going to have to make a connection somewhere. I finally did figure out (and purchase) my flight to Oporto. I am going United to Heathrow - and then taking TAP into Oporto. This is the easiest for me and saves a day of vacation . It also doesn't leave too early in the morning on the leg home.

If I was on a severe budget or had lots of time off, I would fly into London and then take the bus transfer to Stansted. Then fly RyanAir into Oporto. This is by far the cheapest. Flights into Oporto run les than 40 GPB each way. Mid week is only 29.99 GBP one way --- that's a deal!

-Dave-

[Roy Hersh]

David,

Thanks for the news on Ryan Air. Coming from Seattle to Oporto is not easy either, and I may also go through London. Nothing like an offline before and after the Portugal trip.

[D. Pirmann]

From the US, Continental Airlines flies nonstop to Lisbon from Newark as well.

[Steven Kooij]

I also flew RyanAir from Stansted to Porto last month: 80 Euros for a return ticket (I booked a bit late). It might not be the most fancy airline (more like a bus company), but I like the idea that I'm saving money to spend on Port!

[Mario Ferreira]

In the best of my knowledge, between Portugal and the US there are only two regular carriers, TAP [www.tap.pt] and Continental [www.continental.com], and both only do Newark-Lisbon. [One can also buy a ticket from Newark to Lisbon from American Airlines, but AA uses the TAP flight].

Between the USA and Portugal there's also Sun Trips and SATA.
> SUN TRIPS [www.suntrips.com]
Sun Trips does non-stop flights from Oakland, California, to Azores, Portugal. However I would say that SunTrips seems the worst option for a visit to Porto & the Douro Valley.
> SATA [www.sata.pt]
I was told during Summer season SATA does non-stop flights from Boston to Porto. And besides Boston, SATA also flies to Providence, London, Frankfurt, Montreal, Munich, and Toronto. Therefore, I suggest a visit to SATA's website for one may find a scheduled flight that meets his/her agenda.

Now, if you live outside Portugal and you are planing a visit to Porto, Portugal, I would like to make my suggestions depending on where you live:
a) If you are departing from Newark [USA], I would suggest Continental or TAP to Lisbon and then Porto. [Please note Continental doesn't do Lisbon-Porto].
b) If you are departing from any other city but Newark [USA], I would suggest any other major carrier and make a stop in either London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt or Madrid. In this case, avoiding Lisbon will save you one stop.