TAP Air Portugal launches good Americas sale

TAP Air Portugal has launched a new sale. Whilst the example fares shown on the website are only for Economy, there are some good Business Class deals out there.

Importantly, all of these offers are available for UK departures from either:

• London Heathrow
• London Gatwick or
• Manchester

….. so you don’t need to start your trip outside the UK to get a good deal. Of course, if you are willing to head to Dublin, Amsterdam etc then you will save even more.

You need to book by 2nd October for travel by June 2023. There are blackout periods over Christmas and Easter and minimum stay periods apply. You can have a free stopover in Lisbon if you want – this can be selected during the booking process.

The best deals are:

• Sao Paulo
• Rio de Janeiro
• Boston
• Cancun

…. all of which can be found for around £1,300 return.

If you start outside the UK you may find similar deals to other major US cities and Canada.

The fares direct from Lisbon are pretty decent and cover more cities than the UK sale. If you want a deal to – say – Miami then getting a standalone flight to Lisbon to pick up your TAP flight would work. Remember, however, that unless you book the connection on TAP you won’t be able to check through luggage and will have little protection if your inbound flight is delayed.

What can you do with the miles you earn?

TAP is part of Star Alliance. You cannot credit your flights to British Airways Executive Club or Virgin Atlantic, neither of whom are in Star Alliance.  However, you can credit the miles to Lufthansa Miles & More or any other Star Alliance frequent flyer programme.

Our core article on ‘what is best Star Alliance frequent flyer scheme for you?’ is here.

How to pay

For UK departures, your best option to maximise your miles when paying is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold.  This offers double Membership Rewards points – 2 per £1 – when you when you book flight tickets directly with an airline.  Our review of Amex Gold is here.

For non-UK departures, you should use a card without any foreign exchange fees irrespective of its miles-earning potential.

Remember that you need to book by 2nd October. You can find details on the TAP website here.

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How to earn Star Alliance miles from UK credit cards (September 2024)

None of the Star Alliance airlines currently have a UK credit card.

There is, however, still a way to earn Star Alliance miles from a UK credit card. 

The route is via Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to over 40 airlines at the rate of 3:1.

The best way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 20,000 points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend. At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 airline miles per £1 spent on the card.

There is a preferential conversion rate to United Airlines – which is a Star Alliance member – of 2 : 1 if you convert 60,000 Bonvoy points at once.

The Star Alliance members which are Marriott Bonvoy transfer partners are: Aegean, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Avianca, Copa Airlines, Singapore Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines.

You can apply here.