Star Alliance member TAP Air Portugal offers a great sale for flights to Ponta Delgada on the Azorean Islands. Flying from Lisbon or Porto, you can reach the archipelago for as cheap as €49. These fares include just a cabin bag. The cheapest tickets including a checked bag is available at TAP’s website for roughly €100.
Our calendar displays all available dates at the lowest fare for trips of up to 28 days. You can see what OTAs have to offer, as these offer the cheapest light fares, but charge outrageous baggage fees (up to €120 for a roundtrip). TAP sells roundtrips including checked bags for around €100 on their website.
The Azores are an autonomous region of Portugal and therefore part of the Schengen agreement. EU citizens won’t need a passport or visa to get there.
Most flights will be operated using TAP’s Airbus A320 or A320NEO planes. They feature a standard 3-3 seating, but an infamously narrow 71 cm seat pitch.
Search & Book
The fare rules for these flights aren’t very restrictive. All they give is a travel period from September 2022 through July 2023. The best way to find travel dates is using our calendar above or Google Flights (instructions). It is best to book on TAP’s website if you plan to travel with luggage. Otherwise, the cheapest tickets are sold by online travel agencies.
Why is booking with an airline better than with an online travel agency?
More often than not, online travel agencies offer lower fares than airlines do. We still recommend booking with the airlines directly. There are two main reasons for that:
Better Customer Service
In case any problems like delays, cancellations or missed connections arise, you can communicate directly with the airline. The airline has to take care of you because you have a contract with them.
If a travel agency issues your ticket, you may have to reach out to them first. You also depend on your OTA to forward information like flight changes instead of receiving them directly from the airline. In many cases, you may get a prime exhibition of responsibility shifting rather than problem-solving.
This especially applies to premium tickets. You don’t want to spend more than €1,000 to wind up with some budget OTA’s telephone hotline in case anything goes wrong.
Baggage and Other Fees
Economy fares not including hold luggage are industry standard by now. In most cases, travel agencies charge much higher baggage fees than the airlines themselves. If bags are not included in your fare, airlines are often the cheaper alternative.
This also applies to other things like food services, insurances or priority treatment. In almost all cases, you pay less for additional amenities when booking on the airlines’ website.
Mileage
The tickets are issued in booking class O. The non-stop round trip from Lisbon will get you:
- 250 Award Miles + 40 Points on Miles&More
- 180 Miles on Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 180 Award Miles on Emirates Skywards
- 180 Miles on Air Canada Aeroplan
- 180 Miles on Egyptair Plus
- 144 Miles on Hainan Fortune Wings Club
- 90 Miles on Azul TodoAzul
As you can see, the number of miles is laughable.
Hotels
Hotel prices in the Azores usually start at roughly €50 during the winter, depending on the hotel category. Whichever category and hotel you opt for, make sure to get the best price! Our recommendation is to search on booking.com, or even on our own Travel-Dealz hotel search:
Cover Picture: Photo by Sylvain Cleymans on Unsplash