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Home » TAP » TAP Air Portugal Cancels My Business Class Tickets…
TAP

TAP Air Portugal Cancels My Business Class Tickets…

Matthew Klint Posted onMarch 6, 2021November 14, 2023 34 Comments

a seat with a television on the back of the seat

After offering an amazing fare sale, TAP Air Portugal now declares it was a mistake and is canceling business class tickets booked earlier this week, some which cost less than $250 round-trip.

TAP Air Portugal Cancels Cheap Business Class Tickets

Fares from Chicago to many cities in Europe were as cheap as $245 round-trip on TAP Air Portugal. Fares ran roughly double that from other U.S. gateways and about $750 round-tip from San Francisco.


> Read More – Hot Deal: USA To Europe Business Class – $245 R/T


Yesterday afternoon, I received the following email from TAP:

TAP regrets to inform that, due to an error in the system on which your reservation was issued, the reservation had to be annulled.

TAP is already refunding you of the amount paid through the form of payment used. If the reservation was made through a travel agency, we kindly ask you to contact the agency to check the refund conditions.

We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to have you on board soon.

I’m going to look you in the eye and say that it was not clear that this was a mistake fare. Why? We’ve seen dirt cheap one-way business class fares from TAP Air Portugal for years. They’ve also had similar fare sales in the past that have been honored. Indeed, I’ve flown on one. Planes are not full these days. Transatlantic flights are empty. It is not likely this will change by summer.

TAP Air Portugal offered this deal on its J fares, a subset of business class. Many flights sold out of this inventory quickly, despite dozens of seats still available on this flight. It’s not like whole cabins were bought up with cheap fares.

My Own Tickets

I was successful in booking four tickets (queue up the lawsuit jokes, I know) for a family trip to Zurich this summer. The dates were perfect. While I will condemn TAP Air Portugal for the cancellation, I’m not sure I have the bandwidth to pursue this further right now.

But notice how TAP leaves it on you to get a refund if you booked via a travel agency? That is disgusting. I booked via Orbitz, my preferred OTA. Of course, my flights have been cancelled but no refunds are pending. If TAP drags it feet out on a refund, a chargeback will be the least of its worries.

We already made plans around these travel dates, including non-refundable Air BnB reservations. Technically, TAP is required to compensate us for this. I’ll reach out to the Air BnB host first. Again, my bandwidth to deal with hassle like this is just limited right now.

CONCLUSION

TAP Air Portugal lured us in with cheap business class tickets then cancelled them. While disappointing, it is a reminder that carriers still enjoy grossly one-sided power to cancel contracts.

Was your ticket cancelled? Have you received a refund yet?

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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34 Comments

  1. Andrew Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 10:47 am

    Yeah I had this issue though I’m very peeved too because I paid $1300pp for my RT flights and they cancelled mine as well. Even if you say that the $300 fares were plausible but borderline, the $1300 fare is more than some of their sales (which are often 999eur). Suffice it say that the whole shenanigans are frustrating.

  2. Dublin Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 11:37 am

    Hmmmm….Based on your past issues with some canceled tickets I’m surprised you did nonrefundable Airbnb. There had to be a little something in the back of your mind going “possible mistake fare?” But I get your reasoning totally. And it’s just not worth the fight anymore. Fought with virgin Atlantic for six months for a refund. Just had to cancel again and I’m sure here we go again with the fight. Getting old. And not to simply refund because you went through a travel agency is outrageous.

  3. derek Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 11:45 am

    Some day there will be an airline that will deny boarding due to a “mistake fare” instead of paying denied boarding compensation. They will do this by having a unique fare basis for every passenger. For example, J374857376233755 instead of J

  4. HChris Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 11:59 am

    I totally agree that they have too much power. On the other hand, I would’ve liked if you would’ve at least acknowledged that they didn’t drag their feet but cancelled these tickets fairly quickly. We have seen airlines much worse in the past (AF for example).

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 6, 2021 at 12:57 pm

      @HChris: yes, I give them credit for that. Far better than Air France.

  5. Russ Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 12:16 pm

    Do you think this was a ploy to inject lots of cash on the TAP balance sheet then slowly refund over time? My tickets booked directly through TAP are still not showing a pending return to my credit card. Given the number of cities, finite number of tickets, and range of prices, this really does not look like a mistake fare.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 6, 2021 at 12:57 pm

      @Russ, I do. There is something fishy going on.

  6. Clive Rayman Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 12:28 pm

    Mathew, have you never made a mistake. I am tired of reading about the constant criticizing of airlines…especially at this time where airlines are struggling to stay in business and so many employees have been laid off!

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 6, 2021 at 12:58 pm

      @Clive, Sorry, but I think Russ has the better theory.

  7. Abbot Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 1:22 pm

    Sounds like a short term loan to buy some time til biz picks up in summer…

  8. AG Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 1:36 pm

    I used Expedia and was able to get them to rebook me and reissue the ticket due to the airline’s “schedule changes.” Not sure if it’ll stick, but…maybe give that a try? I had to chat a couple times before I found an agent willing to do so.

  9. Alan Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 2:08 pm

    @Russ, @Matthew; nothing fishy here. The mistake was with the YQ surcharge, which is normally upwards of several hundred dollars. TAP seemed to have made an error when updating their YQs which “dropped” the YQ- meaning that where normally the price the customer pays consists of base fare + YQ + taxes, it was instead just base fare+ taxes. This is why there was a large range of cities and price points that were much lower than normal. It’s without a doubt a mistake- if you want, you can call it a mistake surcharge instead of a mistake fare since that is more accurate.

  10. Gene Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 2:18 pm

    @ Matthew — You really booked nonrefundable AirBNB???

  11. Kyle Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 2:30 pm

    What was the rush in booking the Airbnb? Took the chance on a non-refundable within a day or so of booking the flight? Who does that? (Not saying you shouldn’t be pissed about the flight cancellation, I’d be too)

  12. Peter Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 3:01 pm

    Not sure where the problem is with the accomodation being non-refundable… plenty of time to book new flights and even more time to pray the Swiss will let Americans in by July…

  13. G Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 4:00 pm

    TAP Is absolutely no go airline for me. Even if they give the tickets for free. What does it help when the ticket is cheao… but you never know if they will fly… i have already 3 times booked in past. And always was some problem… last time downgrade to eco without compensation……

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 6, 2021 at 4:47 pm

      TAP’s policies are really questionable. I think they handled this issue very poorly. That said, I think their in-flight experience, particularly on the A330neo in business class, is very good.

  14. Victor Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 4:44 pm

    TAP Portugal operations are a disaster. We had flights cancelled at the beginning of the pandemic that were never correctly refunded. It took months to get anyone on the phone, let alone get a resolution. In the end, the only way was to charge back the credit card almost 6 months after the cancellation. Even still, we never got our miles back from the original purchase. Unreal! No accountability, it seems.

  15. Dave Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 5:39 pm

    Lol. Booking nonrefundable AirBnB on a very cheap sale fare within hours of booking is not very smart and everyone knows not to do this. It is clearly a tactic aimed at getting costs refunded from the airline (as DOT rules stipulate). I have no issue with going this route but you do it and then say you don’t have bandwith. Slightly questionable.

  16. whocares Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 6:00 pm

    I’ll sympathize with you over the canceled biz ticket. But you want me to believe that you booked a NONREFUNDABLE AirBnB. Come on now…

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 6, 2021 at 6:24 pm

      It’s more complicated than that, but yes…it was booked.

  17. Doug Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 8:55 pm

    This amazing fair was talked about on many travel related blogs when it became available. Every.Single.One said wait a few days before making other arrangements since these might be error fares and be cancelled. Maybe instead of writing a blog you should read some in order to learn some common sense practices if you are going to play this game more effectively.

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      March 6, 2021 at 10:23 pm

      *fare

  18. Tino Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 9:14 pm

    Only a travel amateur would leave themselves exposed on a nonrefundable accommodation that far in advance. You should always hold something with hotel points, then convert as the date approaches.

  19. Mitch Cumstein Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 10:01 pm

    Agreed Tino. What is this, amateur hour at LALF?

  20. Matthew Klint Reply
    March 6, 2021 at 10:26 pm

    Ah folks, you really think this fare is going to stop me from going to Europe?

    This isn’t my first time at the rodeo…

  21. Aaron Reply
    March 7, 2021 at 12:17 am

    If you can’t provide a decent counterargument, so after someone’s spelling and/or grammar…

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 7, 2021 at 1:00 am

      What?

  22. Paolo Reply
    March 7, 2021 at 7:42 am

    Surely the test should have been: why were the J fares cheaper than Y for the same dates? That’s a pretty clear indication of a mistake…and the likelihood of them reneging on the deal.
    I don’t put much effort into seeking out those ‘mistakes’. The last one I did ( KLM Copenhagen- Taipei via AMS, return) was a PITA, both in respect of uncertainty about if it would be honoured, but also the abysmal quality of the 747 cabin in one direction. So bad I felt I’d paid a fair price even with the 80% discount.

  23. Russ Reply
    March 7, 2021 at 10:00 am

    @Alan: That is accurate. When I go back to book the same ticket today, the base fare is the same but a surcharge (YQ) of >$1200 is added. Thank you for pointing this out.

  24. Anna Reply
    March 7, 2021 at 4:30 pm

    There is a BIG problem with this airline. More than a year ago l booked RT tickets with them to Europe. The flight was cancelled due to the pandemic, but l never received the full flight credit for my ticket… When you call you are always promised someone will get back to you. 8 months later, no response. NEVER use this airline.

  25. O.K. Reply
    March 7, 2021 at 10:44 pm

    As a JD, why do you not take these airlines to small claims court? It might be a daunting prospect for the average customer, but it probably takes you less than half an hour to file the paperwork. I could do the work in about a day as someone with zero legal training, figuring things out from scratch. Took an international airline to court in Chicago over a mistake fare (asking to be made whole for the value of a regular fare, which was about $3,000 more expensive), and their legal counsel immediately called and settled with me for ~90% of what I filed for.

    I understand that there is a DOT precedent that says airlines can basically cancel obvious mistake fares within a reasonable amount of time as long as the customer is compensated for nonrefundable costs accrued. But you surely understand that a confirmed ticket constitutes an executed legal contract, and even if the airline made a sincere mistake in agreeing to that contract, that does not free them from the responsibility to honor said contract. I’ve tried to look up cases like this, and as far as I could tell, virtually everyone who actually filed a lawsuit on a canceled mistake fare won. Why are we not encouraging readers to hold airlines accountable? (Obviously if you have a long relationship with an airline with a valuable frequent flyer account that they could nullify as retaliation, that is a different story, but I presume very few of us do with TAP Portugal.)

  26. Eli Reply
    March 8, 2021 at 1:19 pm

    Do you think there is any luck that I get TAP to reschedule my flight?

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 8, 2021 at 2:19 pm

      Nope. I already asked (and frankly even pleaded with them). They won’t do it.

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