Getting to Lisbon - how do I do it?
 

What's the fastest way to travel from the US to Lisbon and is Continental the only airline with direct US-Lisbon service? I think they were the last time I tried to research this a couple years ago. Since I'm a claustrophobic, miserable flyer, I would fly out of any East Coast city that would minimize the flight time. Or, would also break it up, even if it meant longer actual travel time -- i.e., do Boston to Shannon or Dublin, overnite it and then on to Lisbon. Any ideas welcome! (Trying to research this on a landline computer is nearly impossible, so I figured I'd go to 'the source' (Fodors) where answers are always fast and acccurate! Thanks!)

NYC/EWR to Dublin is 6:55 or 6:40 outbound and 7:25 return. NYC to Lisbon is 7:05 outbound and 8:00 return. So it's only a few minutes longer to fly to Lisbon than to Dublin.

It wouldn't make sense to fly to Dublin and then the Lisbon as you'll have much longer time in the plane. Don't forget you're sitting in the plane longer than flying time.

Use kayak.com to search flights. I don't believe there are direct flights from Boston to Lisbon. There are 3 airlines that fly out of Newark direct.

Thanks Adrienne. Only direct US-Lisbon flight IS Continental, apparently. But the one-way fare (we're aiming to pick up a cruise)is almost $1200. That's why we did the Dublin thing last time.

I have been doing some Kayak research and will just have to keep fiddling with that, I guess.

We haven't gone overseas in a while and I've been gob-smacked by the one-way quotes I'm getting. NY to London, for instance is in the $800 range. That's pretty outrageous, seems like.

US Airways has seasonal service from Philadelphia to Lisbon. I know because I am flying them next month.
I have flown TAP from EWR to Lisbon. Old plane. Uncomfortable, even more than coach usually is.
If you can stand to fly out of Philadelphia, which I personally hate, you can fly direct.
The nice thing is that the return trip leaves Lisbon at 10:30 am which is decent since Lisbon is so close to the airport.
Good Luck.

Are you looking at one-way flights because you are flying into one city and out of another? If so, use the multi-city option on Kayak to find your flights.

I see non-stop flights out of Newark on contenental, TAP and United. Non-stop out of Philadelphia on UA Airways.

When are you going? I bought a round trip ticket a few weeks ago for $600 from Newark to Lisbon. Don't use the return ticket.

Are you doing a repositioning cruise and will return on the ship? Is that why you need a one-way ticket? Why isn't the cruise ship providing air tickets?

I've just checked into the US Air possibility. It appears to be a code share with TAP that flies Philly to Newark and on to Lisbon.

Will go back to Kayak and try the round trip pricing.

Yes, we are cruising back. I'm doing this myself (not using cruise line or TA) because I'm such a lousy flyer and was hoping not to have to fly at night and not to have to be in the air longer than 5-6 hours. So I want control of what arrangements are made. Thanks all for the comebacks.

I don't know when you are going, but our flight doesn't go near Newark.
We fly Philadelphia to Lisbon direct. And Vice Versa.
US Airways does have a code share with TAP, but also operates a direct flight from PHL.
Of course, if it is outside the seasonal schedule, you will not see these flights. So maybe that is why it is not coming up.

Sher - Right you are, I bet. I wasn't thinking...and our travel is in mid-November. Have you been to Lisbon before? It's a lovely city.

I did finally get a solution - that works for us. Was able to use AA miles from ORD to London on a daytime flight (just majorly important for me). We'll spend the nite at an airport hotel and then do a (small $$) Heathrow-Lisbon flight the next day. Most would think it's a heckuva lot of 'travel' to get from one place to another...but so it goes.

tuckerdc. Yes, we have been to Lisbon before..twice.
I think the solution is good for you. I have never been on an over seas daylight flight. All of the flights from PIT schedule so that you depart at night. Unless of course, I would travel to NYC and go from there. But that is never economically good for us.

SATA flies from BOS to the Azores (there's a large Portuguese population in SE Massachusetts). I know nothing about SATA other than they exist, so I don't know what the flight quality would be.

From the Azores, you can then fly to LIS. It may not be the quickest way to get from the US, but it breaks the trip across the Atlantic into manageable chunks by stopping in Porta Delgada in the Azores.

The itinerary would be BOS-PDL-LIS on what appears to be the same plane and same flight number. Leave BOS at 10:30 PM, arrive LIS 11:50 AM (which is really just 6:50 AM BOS time). There is a 90-minute stop in PDL. Flight time is 4:45 BOS-PDL and 2:00 PDL-LIS.

The downside is that SATA only flies BOS-PDL/PDL-BOS on certain days of the week. On the random 2 dates in November I selected, you'd have a 46-hour layover in PDL on the way home! LOL. All in all the airfare was $700 including tax and BS fees.

Their website is as slow as molasses, but it's at www.sata.pt.