Next May - Planning on an early morning 1 hour flight from Porto to Lisbon, to connect with a flight to NY. But we hear that TAP is less,than reliable. Rumor or fact? Rynair has very very few flights. Thanks for any input.

We flew on TAP this past September, and all flights were on time. We flew from Boston to Marseilles (changed planes in Lisbon), and then we flew from Seville back to Boston (again changing planes in Lisbon). So, all in all, 4 different flights, and we didn't have problems on any of them. No delays, etc. The planes looked very new, and they were very clean. Didn't like their lunch sandwiches, though.

We are flying TAP again this April. I don't think you need to worry.

Is taking a train feasible?

Personally, I prefer to spend the night before an international flight IN the city from which I am leaving, unless the connection is protected (same ticket) and sometimes even then. Leads to much less stress.

Always a danger with connecting flights on separate tickets.

Take a train from Porto Campanha to Lisbon Santa Apolonia the previous day, from €15 at www.cp.pt Portuguese Railways.

Just want to add that our September flights on TAP were all on one ticket. It didn't occur to me that NativeNewYorker's flights are on separate tickets.

The OP mentioned Ryanair as an alternative to TAP, and sems not to have booked the domestic flight as yet, which certainly suggests separate tickets.

TAP is reliable enough, but you could end up spending a long time clearing security in both Porto and Lisbon if you don't have Porutgal's version of TSA Priority Pass.