TAP Portugal Starts Flying From Los Angeles, Adds More U.S. Routes

Updated: December 3, 2024, 3:27pm CST

Edited by:

Jump to Section

TAP Adds 3 New U.S. Routes
TAP’s Interesting Network and Stopover Program
Final Thoughts

We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.

TAP Air Portugal is expanding in the U.S. with a spate of seasonal routes that will launch next year, including its first-ever flights from Los Angeles.

These 3 new seasonal routes to Portugal are Boston to Porto, Los Angeles to Lisbon, and San Francisco to Terceira in the Azores.

Let’s look at the details, including how much these flights will cost in dollars or miles.

TAP Adds 3 New U.S. Routes

According to a statement from TAP, it will operate the only nonstop flights on these routes using Airbus A330s and A321neo LRs, both of which have lie-flat business class.

SCROLL FOR MORE

Route	Start Date	Frequency	Aircraft
Boston (BOS) to Porto (OPO)	May 14, 2025	4x weekly	Airbus A321
Los Angeles (LAX) to Lisbon (LIS)	May 16, 2025	3x weekly	Airbus A330-900
San Francisco (SFO) to Terceira (TER)	June 3, 2025	1x weekly	Airbus A330-900

The Boston to Porto and Los Angeles to Lisbon routes will operate through October 25, while the San Francisco to Terceira route will end on August 26, 2025.

TAP Air Portugal Airbus A321LRneo business class seat and sparkling wine — Business class on a TAP Air Portugal Airbus A321LR. Image Credit: Daniel Ross

Los Angeles (LAX) to Lisbon (LIS) will become TAP’s eighth U.S. destination, in addition to Boston (BOS), Chicago-O’Hare (ORD), New York-Kennedy (JFK), Newark (EWR), Washington-Dulles (IAD), Miami (MIA), San Francisco (SFO).

When counting North America as a whole, TAP will have 11 destinations on the continent by next year, including Toronto and Montreal, Canada, and Cancun, Mexico.

TAP’s Interesting Network and Stopover Program

TAP has a remarkably large network in North and South America, Europe, and Africa, especially to destinations in former Portuguese colonies. Connecting on TAP via its hub in Lisbon (LIS) to Africa is appealing for passengers based in the U.S., which does not have many direct flights to African cities.

When flying with the Portuguese flag carrier, connecting passengers have an attractive option: TAP’s stopover program, which allows you to stay in Portugal for up to 10 days before heading to a second destination on TAP or when returning.

By adding a Portuguese stopover onto your itinerary, you’ll be eligible for a 25% discount on domestic flights within Portugal, including the Azores islands. (Accommodation is not included in the price of the stopover fare.)

The Azores in Portugal — When booking with TAP, you can take advantage of the airline’s stopover program and save 25% on tickets to the Azores islands. Image Credit: Maria e Fernando Cabral via Pixabay

Speaking of the Azores, they may be part of the motivation behind the apparently curious decision to add a long, nonstop flight from San Francisco to an archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic. Besides being a growing tourist destination, the Azores are also the origin of many members of the large Portuguese community in California, which counts 350,000 people.

If only 1% of those 350,000 wanted to fly from San Francisco to the Azores, or onwards in Portugal, during next summer’s vacation, TAP would have enough demand to fill all its planned nonstops to Terceira. And that’s without counting any other potential traffic for those flights.

Hot Tip:

TAP has its own loyalty program, called Miles&Go. However, a better play when booking these new flights with points and miles may be through Air Canada’s Aeroplan, which charges as little as 60,000 points each way in business class for the Boston to Porto flights next summer. You can transfer points to Aeroplan from American Express, Bilt, Capital One, and Chase.

Final Thoughts

TAP Portugal clearly wants to be a player in the U.S. market, and its latest announcement of new flights launching in 2025 from American cities is proof. With a far-ranging network that can take Americans to some destinations where not many other airlines fly, TAP — and its relatively low prices — should be on your radar.