Is TAP as Screwed Up An Airline As It Seems
 

I have tried in vain to book a one-way flight from Porto to London Gatwick in October. After I put in CC# it comes up "Attention Please ... It was not possible to conclude Payment." I called the reservations number at TAP, and after about 15 attempts I finally got a person (instead of waiting forever) who I gave the info to. "It shows you don't have a booking#." Thanks for telling me something I already know.

This is the second tome I have attempted to book this flight. On the other one, I was given two days to think about it, I received an email saying I should "complete my reservation," yet when I attempted that seemingly simple task, it once again came up with the I don't have a booking number. If anyone knows a way to get through this crap, it would be appreciated. In hundreds of flights, I have never dealt with such an inept airline. Thanks.

Did you check with your credit card provider if there was an issue with taking payment from your card, could they have blocked the transaction? TAP wouldn't know that, calling reservations department they can only tell you if the booking went thru or not (sometimes they do go thru even if you get an error message.) If you don't check with the ccd card company, you will likely get continual failure in trying to purchase thru the website. Couldn't you have made the booking by phone since you called TAP reservations dept?
Another way to contact the airline is on social media, if you can send a private message to them, I find i get quick responses that way.

I don't think so. I had originally booked through TAP a flight from Porto to Lisbon to Heathrow (we have a late afternoon Air New Zealand flight to L.A.). Everything was confirmed (extra cost to book seats and allow for luggage). Said I would get confirmation email with airline tickets) For two days I kept calling about the email, and each time they said they were processing everything and it would be sent within half an hour ... a little weird for what I suppose is a major airline, Finally, the next day, they said just to come to Porto airport in the morning and pay and get tickets. Yeah, what could go wrong there? (: I cancelled that flight at no cost. I have never had a problem booking tickets in any European country ... until now. My neighbor has a home in Sintra. I might rely on her expertise to get what should be a simple transaction accomplished. I figured we ge tto Gatwick 5 hours b4 flight and just take bus to Heathrow (much easier than having to stop at Lisbon.

"Couldn't you have made the booking by phone since you called TAP reservations dept?"

Yes, at nearly double the cost. I might eventually have to do that.

"Could the problem be with your credit card? Does the issuer know you are trying to do a foreign teansaction?"

I called my cc company. They have no problem with me making that transaction. Maybe we'll just move to Portugal.

I'm having my neighbor who has a house in Sintra over for dinner Saturday. I'm going to politely ask her if she'll do our booking. It's time to delegate. (:

:)Hi maitaitom,
Yes, just delegate!
We just had 2 very pleasant flights on TAP (Madrid-Porto, Porto-Madrid). No complaints...we even got pastéis and were able to use the VIP lounge in Porto with our Priority Pass.*:)
I booked online without problems, but yes, needed to pay that annoying extra for seat assignment, checked bag. But I have a TAP account with a "My Client Area". Maybe if you register for their FF program you'd have a smoother experience? (or maybe you already have done that and it still wasn't helpful).

However, when friends tried to change their round trip Heathrow-Lisbon to Heathrow-Lisbon outbound then Porto-Lisbon-Heathrow return, it took them two hours by phone, and it was an extremely frustrating experience.

Good luck!

It can't be any worse than SATA Airlines. Must be something about airlines in Portugal! We loved Portugal, flying to and from not so much. When flying home from Porto (on SATA) we had a one hour layover in the Azores which turned into a 36 hour layover. They didn't decide we were staying over night until 2 in the morning where they then had to find hotel rooms for 200 people. The people right in front of us in line got a beautiful hotel room on the ocean and we got a dorm room. You had to look at the funny side or we would be crying. With all the time we waited in the airport we could have seen some of the island, if they only communicated (which they did not). Even in the morning we had to be at the airport by 9 and didn't leave until nearly 2:00. To top it off we got on the plane and took off with two large yellow signs near the exit door saying "Remove before take off." Not a comforting feeling to be reading those signs while in the air knowing that the plane had had mechanical issues. When we got home I wrote to the airline. It took 3 months to get a response which basically said "It's not our fault.". Haha. Whose fault was it?

You will LOVE Portugal. Just hope you get there!

I'm pretty sure I booked through Expedia for those flights. They had to deal with the airlines.

I don't think there is anything wrong with TAP as an airline, but this funny cartoon tells a lot about Portuguese(in the lower left corner) in general:

https://www.lambiek.net/artists/h/hughes-wilson_jn.htm

It sounds like they might have had an issue processing the payment, this would stop the etickets being issued and the confirmation email from being generated with the eticket numbers.
I've had similar issues booking (but not recently) Hawaiian Airlines with my UK credit card. Their website would not accept a non US credit card. In the end, the airline advised me to book via Travelocity which I did.
I had another payment blocked by my ccd company for another booking so I called them and asked if a transaction for airline ABC for amount XYZ was blocked on so and so date and they said yes, but they lifted the block once I called then I could book and pay.

Otherwise concede defeat and try to book through Expedia or another online travel agent or book another airline.

I wonder if their booking website works better on a tablet ap? Just a thought if you tried to to it through a desktop website. No experience with them, I used Ryanair from Toulouse to Lisbon. Interesting experience to say the least. My brother recommends Easy Jet if you are going discount.

Otherwise, maybe use Expedia as others suggested.

Credit cards shouldn't be a problem with a huge international airline, but maybe because it's a flight within Europe? I just know if I book a flight from the US to Paris on Air France, I don't have to notify anybody about anything, their website has special sections depending where you live. After all, the price is in USD.

I don't know why you like TAP so much, both British Airways and Easyjet fly that route nonstop. I'd also book Easyjet, I use them all the time and they are my preferred budgetg carrier within Europe. I've never had a single problem booking on their website (not that is a British company so I do notify my card on that one).

Of course, this doesn't help you, but I flew TAP to Italy in September (layover in Lisbon) and had no trouble booking it from the US. The luggage charge was huge (I think $80 each way), but it was still the cheapest flight I found.

We flew TAP from Lisbon to London, booked with United Mileage Plus miles. They gave us use of their lounge in Lisbon and it was very nice. Flight was great, too.

I wonder if you can go to United.com, and book through their Star Alliance to get TAP? I don't know.

I just tried it. You can book TAP through United.com. See if the prices are the same.

We also love EasyJet and use it frequently.

"I just tried it. You can book TAP through United.com. See if the prices are the same."

The London Lisbon RT was much more expensive on United site when I tried it.

We have a 4:05 p.m. flight from London to L.A. One TAP flight leaves Lisbon at 7:35 a.m. and arrives at 10:20. The next one leaves at 10 and arrives at 12:45. Do we have to go through Passport Control at Heathrow? If so, to be safe should we take earlier flight, or will the later flight work? Both flights use Terminal 2 at Heathrow.