TAP (Air Portugal)

[mauimary]

We will be flying on TAP Rome to Lisbon in mid May.  Reading today that Air Portugal is canceling 200 flights in May.  

 

Has  anyone had any flights canceled?  How is the airline when you try to get a flight rebooked. This will be our first experience with TAP Air Portugal. 

We are a bit nervous as KLM did this to us last summer at the last minute and we are still trying to recoup our compensation for having to buy a last min full price flight. 

[FlyerTalker]

Oooooh.....200 flights in May.

 

Well, since there are 31 days in May, that works out to....a bit less than 7 flights a day.

 

And to put it into perspective, TAP flies over 350 flights a day.  So those cancellations are less than 2% of their flight schedule.

 

Nothingburger.

 

 

[mauimary]

10 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

Oooooh.....200 flights in May.

 

Well, since there are 31 days in May, that works out to....a bit less than 7 flights a day.

 

And to put it into perspective, TAP flies over 350 flights a day.  So those cancellations are less than 2% of their flight schedule.

 

Nothingburger.

 

 

It could be if that happens to you and you have no status with them!  Yes but that’s what we thought last summer and it didn’t turn out to be exactly straightforward to get to our destination for our cruise. I would like to know how they are to deal with if/when that happens. KLM was no easy task and we are still out a lot of $$ 

[FlyerTalker]

TAP has four non-stops a day.  Plus you have a large number of possible connecting flights, both on TP and other carriers.

 

First off, I am going to assume that you aren't flying into LIS and boarding the ship that same day.   That's the first thing you should not be doing.  Next, you should look at the various other options to get from Rome to Lisbon.  Look at Air France, KLM, ITA, Vueling, Iberia, Air Europa, Swiss, and Lufthansa for alternatives and have those ready as backup plans.  

 

Finally, I wonder -- did you have insurance that covered/covers trip interruption?  And are you having trouble getting your compensation from your insurer?

 

As for how I deal with it -- first, I build in contingency buffers.  I don't arrive on the day of my sailing.  I don't book short connections and I do book routings that have alternatives available.  I have coverage for trip delay, interruption and cancellation.  And above all else, I have tools to do the research and thus know - in advance - what my alternatives are at every step of the way.  And know that I must be the proactive one in making for alternative arrangements -- not waiting for the cruiseline or the airline or someone else to make things happen.

 

I still say you are worrying about a miniscule possibility, which still has plenty of recovery options.  But, if you're a belt and suspenders kind of person, well....

 

 

[mauimary]

Thanks Flyer Talk.  In our situation we are coming off of a cruise and flying to Lisbon for a land trip on our own the day after our ship gets in so no races to the airport from the port.   We do have the trip insured.  Trying to make new reservations and trying to recoup the $$ is not always as straightforward as the airline makes it out to be. 
 

Last summers cancellation by KLM was insured.  We have lots of documentation on the cancellation.  Trust me we had to be the ones to make things happen as the airline was too overwhelmed!  AMS last summer and dealing with KLM was a whole different kind of animal. The lines at Schipol were 4+ hrs long and we had three days to get there.  Folks were missing flights all around us. We made it to BCN in plenty of time but not without a lot of stress and money the next day.  We are still dealing with the insurance. 

[Globaliser]

4 hours ago, mauimary said:

In our situation we are coming off of a cruise and flying to Lisbon for a land trip on our own the day after our ship gets in so no races to the airport from the port.   We do have the trip insured.  Trying to make new reservations and trying to recoup the $$ is not always as straightforward as the airline makes it out to be.

 

The airline is responsible for rebooking you if your flight is cancelled. A piece of European legislation called Regulation 261/2004 may have a part to play in this, but that is all that I am going to say about it because there are some people on this board who neither live nor work in Europe who seem to think that 261/2004 is only about compensation after the fact (which it isn't).

 

In any case, there's nothing that you can do about this unless and until the airline cancels your flight. As this is not a case of the airline cancelling 200 flights a day (or even 200 flights a week), it's difficult to see what backup plans you can make now unless you just want to shell out in advance for additional tickets knowing that there's one set that you will just throw away. The main thing you can do now is to work out what alternative flights there are, just in case your flight is cancelled - although the chances are that the airline will simply put you on another of its Rome to Lisbon flights that day.

[em-sk]

On 4/18/2023 at 6:46 PM, mauimary said:

Thanks Flyer Talk.  In our situation we are coming off of a cruise and flying to Lisbon for a land trip on our own the day after our ship gets in so no races to the airport from the port.   We do have the trip insured.  Trying to make new reservations and trying to recoup the $$ is not always as straightforward as the airline makes it out to be. 
 

Last summers cancellation by KLM was insured.  We have lots of documentation on the cancellation.  Trust me we had to be the ones to make things happen as the airline was too overwhelmed!  AMS last summer and dealing with KLM was a whole different kind of animal. The lines at Schipol were 4+ hrs long and we had three days to get there.  Folks were missing flights all around us. We made it to BCN in plenty of time but not without a lot of stress and money the next day.  We are still dealing with the insurance. 

 

With legacy airlines like TAP and KLM you don't want to go into it with the attitude that a refund is even an option your willing to consider.  

 

You want to go in with the attitude you paid to fly from Rome to Lisbon.  If TAP canceled the flight, that is TAPs problem to solve to your satisfaction.  They still need to get you from A to B even if that means they need to buy a ticket on another airline for you.   You may find it helpful to suggest alternative flights that you are willing to accept.

 

The TAP call center and people at the airport should be able to do rebooking like this at no cost.  Even your TA should be able to do it if you booked through a TA.

 

 

[mauimary]

‘em-sk… that’s our plan and what we always do. 

The compensation only came up because last summer we were forced to purchase a new set of tickets.  We followed KLM links and process to rebook our canceled flight.  They had rebooked us on a flight we could not even get to as we were not even in AMS and they moved us to a flight three hours earlier and the lines at Schipol were 4+ hrs long. I was online talking with an agent via messaging and the ticket would not process without us putting in a credit card and as a result we ended up with a second set of tickets we had to pay for and having to pay for a hotel room. KLM had a rebooking policy in place which was different from what it was in Nov when we were still dealing and they refused to honor it. Hence we turned it into our insurance.  Insurance is trying to get a reason for the cancellation and we cannot even get an answer back from KLM. All we have is the email notifications of the cancellation.  The whole thing is still up in the air. 

[em-sk]

13 hours ago, mauimary said:

‘em-sk… that’s our plan and what we always do. 

The compensation only came up because last summer we were forced to purchase a new set of tickets.  We followed KLM links and process to rebook our canceled flight.  They had rebooked us on a flight we could not even get to as we were not even in AMS and they moved us to a flight three hours earlier and the lines at Schipol were 4+ hrs long. I was online talking with an agent via messaging and the ticket would not process without us putting in a credit card and as a result we ended up with a second set of tickets we had to pay for and having to pay for a hotel room. KLM had a rebooking policy in place which was different from what it was in Nov when we were still dealing and they refused to honor it. Hence we turned it into our insurance.  Insurance is trying to get a reason for the cancellation and we cannot even get an answer back from KLM. All we have is the email notifications of the cancellation.  The whole thing is still up in the air. 

 

I don't know how well KLM IT systems are.  Some airlines are good at letting you rebook online or in their mobile app when that happens.  Other airlines you have to talk to a human and that is where the problem is.  They just don't have the staff levels they need to manage those situations well.