mtebor Posted July 23, 2017 #1 Share Posted July 23, 2017 Hi again. I booked my hotels for precruise in Munich and Zurich. I still have to book Amsterdam as we are thinking of adding on more day after our emerald sun cruise next year. I am not sure if it is really necessary as the cruise is in Amsterdam on Friday before we disembark on Saturday. I was fooling around looking at flights on that Sunday and found an airline that I never heard of before, TAP Portugal. They are offering a flight from Amsterdam to Toronto for $192. Is anyone familiar with them? Also please comment if the extra night in Amsterdam is necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbulz Posted July 23, 2017 #2 Share Posted July 23, 2017 Re: TAP Portugal, no frills, but I've heard decent reports. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TAP_Portugal When we were on a cruise starting in Amsterdam, we booked three extra nights on the front end in Amsterdam and were happy be did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheezedr Posted July 24, 2017 #3 Share Posted July 24, 2017 We stayed 2 full days precruise even though we had been to Amsterdam before. Saw lots of things we were interested in but could easily have spent more time, especially if we had been able to go out into the countryside. Do not know your interests but you will certainly find lots to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnKen3 Posted July 24, 2017 #4 Share Posted July 24, 2017 TAP is the national airline of Portugal. It is a "legal airline" not a new low cost airlines. However it is offering great fares across the Atlantic currently. Lisbon-Toronto flights are new and started last month (June 2017) https://apex.aero/2017/06/13/exclusive-photos-tap-portugal-inaugural-lisbon-toronto-flight The catch with TAP is that you have to change planes in Lisbon. This adds quite a bit more travel time since Lisbon is south Europe so you have to fly south and then head north again. Toronto is a 43.6 latitude, Amsterdam is on a 52.3 latitude and Lisbon is on 38.7 latitude. It is a member of Star Alliance so you can collect miles on Air Canada's Aeroplan programme or United Airlines Mileage Plus programme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtebor Posted July 24, 2017 Author #5 Share Posted July 24, 2017 Thanks everyone! I did investigate them a little bit more on youtube last night and found that they offer several levels of ticketing. The ticket that I am considering would get me in an exit row seat for under $400. Too bad they only offer flights to Munich on the weekends as I would definitely consider them. Hopefully, that will change soon. That would get me round trip out of Toronto for about $800 which is much cheaper than my own airport. I am still 11 months out so will wait just a little longer. FYI, my home airport in Buffalo has cost of 2K. Well worth the 1 1/2 driving. We probably will stay the extra night as I don't picture us going to Europe for a while. I will have to look into things to do in Amsterdam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare gnome12 Posted July 24, 2017 #6 Share Posted July 24, 2017 Are you sure the entire flight is on TAP? I flew TAP from Seville Spain to Lisbon, connecting to Air Canada Rouge (their leisure airline) to Toronto. Rouge was pretty awful even in premium economy. The flight on TAP was too short to comment on. There is a ton of stuff to see in Amsterdam that you won't touch on your includede tour. I did 3 extra nights on my first cruise and again on my barge and cycle and I filled it all with various museums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark_T Posted July 24, 2017 #7 Share Posted July 24, 2017 (edited) Are you sure the entire flight is on TAP? I flew TAP from Seville Spain to Lisbon, connecting to Air Canada Rouge (their leisure airline) to Toronto. Rouge was pretty awful even in premium economy. The flight on TAP was too short to comment on. As long as the segment from LIS to YYZ is non-stop with a 3 digit flight number then yes, it is TAP metal being used. If there is a stop between LIS and YYZ then it will be a codeshare with someone else. If it is a 4 digit flight number then it is also a codeshare. At the moment it looks like there is no TAP direct flight on Tuesday/Thursday in either direction, on those days the direct flight is Air Canada Rouge. The Air Canada Rouge direct flight operates on other days as well, so just avoid the 4 digit flight numbers. Edited July 24, 2017 by Mark_T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ural guy Posted July 24, 2017 #8 Share Posted July 24, 2017 That would get me round trip out of Toronto for about $800 which is much cheaper than my own airport. I am still 11 months out so will wait just a little longer. FYI, my home airport in Buffalo has cost of 2K. Well worth the 1 1/2 driving. We probably will stay the extra night as I don't picture us going to Europe for a while. I will have to look into things to do in Amsterdam. We are on the other side of the Lake from you, 1 hr north of Syracuse. It's 4.5 hrs to Toronto, and we'll still make that drive sometimes to get a direct flight. Airtransat runs a direct flight to AMsterdam for 6 or so months a year that is very cheap. No extra charge for just buying the return leg with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polabear Posted July 24, 2017 #9 Share Posted July 24, 2017 Thanks everyone! I did investigate them a little bit more on youtube last night and found that they offer several levels of ticketing. The ticket that I am considering would get me in an exit row seat for under $400. Too bad they only offer flights to Munich on the weekends as I would definitely consider them. Hopefully, that will change soon. That would get me round trip out of Toronto for about $800 which is much cheaper than my own airport. I am still 11 months out so will wait just a little longer. FYI, my home airport in Buffalo has cost of 2K. Well worth the 1 1/2 driving. We probably will stay the extra night as I don't picture us going to Europe for a while. I will have to look into things to do in Amsterdam. It's a good idea to wait to book. You'll definitely want to be booked at three months out, but at 11 months, too many things can change, like airline schedules, fuel costs, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtebor Posted July 24, 2017 Author #10 Share Posted July 24, 2017 It is LIS to YYZ. I am so used to booking everything as far in advance as possible that it is tough waiting. I think I was excited on how much cheaper it is from Toronto. I have a friend who took her 3 kids to Germany and paid about $1,200-1,400 per person Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbulz Posted July 24, 2017 #11 Share Posted July 24, 2017 It is LIS to YYZ. I am so used to booking everything as far in advance as possible that it is tough waiting. I think I was excited on how much cheaper it is from Toronto. I have a friend who took her 3 kids to Germany and paid about $1,200-1,400 per person I always book well in advance. I watch fares enough to know when I see a great price and when I do, I grab it. Sometimes it's in the first days after flights open up for booking. I've found there really aren't any rules anymore for when the "best" times are for booking. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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