TAP Airlines

[snowbirds]

You can fly direct to Lisbon from Toronto with Sata (Portuguese Charter airline) for $799 Cdn. plus taxes at this time of year. They fly year round. We then rent a car from Lisbon and drive down to Carvoeiro. Also Sata allows each passenger to take 50 kgs of luggage (110 lbs), which is really good when you are on a long stay vacation. Direct flights to Faro from Toronto are available from Jan. 6 to about the middle of April for the same price. We use Eurosun and here is their website: www.eurson.com - it is quicker to fly direct from Toronto to Lisbon than it is from Toronto to Heathrow, less than seven hours direct. We rent our car from Green Trip Car Rental in Lisbon and their email address is: <info@greentripcar.com> They bring the car to the airport, or if you stay overnight in Lisbon will bring it to the hotel for you. Hope this helps.

Our flight originates in Canada and no airlines from here except charters fly into Gatwick and only on Saturday/Sundays. I have previously used the bus to transfer from Heathrow to Gatwick but only same day connecting flights to Faro are limited to Sundays otherwise I must spend a night in London.

Another problem is even if we find a cheap flight originating in the U.K., the cheapo airlines limit us to very little luggage and that can mean looking at us in the same clothes for two months. Might as well get a uniform.

There are many Canadians who love to winter in the Algarve but the expense and inconvenience to get there turns them off. We think Potugal (not the natives) prefer to stay a third world like country. There is so much to offer and share but no one cares. That's why we go somewhere else and spend our money especially with it now worth more than the U.S. currency. Next we may reach par with the euro. Still looking.

[Hoser]

Snowbirds, I tried your link to eurson and couldn't get anything. Do you have the phone number of the travel agent?

[Hoser]

Snowbirds, I got it. I tried www.eurosun.com and it connected. Thanks.

[forester]

Just for future reference, Hoser, how did you make out with Eurosun?

[Hoser]

Found out it was cheaper to go from Ottawa to Heathrow with Air Canada and then to Faro with TAP. THe cost is similar to the flight out of Toronto with SATA. The additional cost of going to Toronto was too much. The chance of missing connections due to fog or whatever else in Toronto also was a factor. It will be a longer day to do the Heathrow Lisbon flight but we are not in a rush to get there. Same for the trip back. We also can chose any dates to go or come back whereas SATA only flies on Saturday Sundays.

Quite a few of our friends living near Toronto have used SATA and are happy with them. The big plus is the amount of luggage they can take with them. We are restricted on the weight of the luggage on TAP but found out when we take our golf clubs, they do not weigh them, so we fill the golf bags up.

A few more weeks and we are off to Carvoeiro. Great to get away from all the snow this year.

[snowbirds]

Glad to hear you have worked out your flights and that you figured out I meant Eurosun.....finger problems! It is always a problem when charter flights leave from Toronto and you don't live close by. I still think it is well worth the effort to get to Portugal, which we much prefer to Florida regardless of exchange rate; this year we are flying BA via London to Lisbon since we have some points to use up. Like you it will be a long haul but since we will be in Carvoeiro for over three months it isn't a big deal. It will be a relief to leave this cold weather and snow!