TAP Miles&Go Program: Learn how to earn and redeem miles, elite standing and extra

In case you’re a U.S.-based traveler, Portugal’s flag provider, TAP Air Portugal, might not be in your radar. Nevertheless, its frequent flyer program, TAP Miles&Go, is a switch associate of a number of bank card rewards applications, so you possibly can simply earn and redeem miles. However, must you?

Hold studying to seek out out every little thing you could find out about TAP Air Portugal’s Miles&Go program and whether or not it ought to turn out to be a brand new loyalty program possibility in your factors and miles instrument equipment.

An summary of the TAP Miles&Go program

TAP Miles&Go is the loyalty program of TAP Air Portugal, based mostly at Portugal’s Lisbon Airport (LIS), with a secondary hub at Porto Airport (OPO). The airline makes use of an all-Airbus fleet to move passengers to greater than 80 locations throughout Europe, Africa, North America and South America.

The airline is a member of Star Alliance, so you possibly can earn and redeem TAP Miles&Go miles on the next airways:

• Aegean Airways
• Air Canada
• Air China
• Air India
• Air New Zealand
• All Nippon Airways
• Asiana Airways
• Austrian Airways
• Avianca
• Brussels Airways
• Copa Airways
• Croatia Airways
• Egyptair
• Ethiopian Airways
• EVA Airways
• LOT Polish Airways
• Lufthansa
• Scandinavian Airways
• Shenzhen Airways
• Singapore Airways
• South African Airways
• Swiss
• Thai Airways
• Turkish Airways
• United Airways

This system additionally companions with the next nonalliance airways:

• Azores Airways
• Azul Brazilian Airways
• Emirates
• Gol Airways

Observe that there could also be restrictions relating to the flights you possibly can earn or redeem miles with inside these partnerships. Assessment the airline’s associate web page on the Miles&Go web site earlier than you intend your travels so you realize what to anticipate.

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TAP Miles&Go elite standing tiers

All members becoming a member of this system begin as base-level Miles&Go members. This system then gives three elite standing ranges: Silver, Gold and Navigator.

Miles&Go Silver

Silver standing is achieved by incomes 30,000 standing miles or taking 25 flights on TAP yearly. Retaining the standing requires 20,000 standing miles or 15 flights yearly. Silver standing advantages embrace:

• 25% bonus miles on TAP flights
• Final-minute upgrades
• Assured financial system seat availability till 72 hours earlier than departure when flying Plus in R, D, B and Y lessons
• Devoted cellphone quantity
• Precedence standby on the airport
• Quick-track safety
• Premium boarding
• Precedence baggage dealing with
• 4 Star Alliance lounge passes for Europe and North Africa TAP-operated flights; limitless lounge entry on TAP-operated intercontinental flights

Miles&Go Gold

Gold standing is achieved by incomes 70,000 standing miles or taking 50 flights on TAP yearly. Retaining the standing requires 50,000 standing miles or 40 flights yearly. Advantages embrace every little thing for Silver standing, plus:

• Star Alliance Gold standing
• 50% bonus miles on TAP flights
• As much as 40% low cost on companion ticket redemption
• Present Gold standing to a good friend or member of the family
• Assured Govt (business-class) seat availability till 72 hours earlier than departure and financial system seat availability till 24 hours earlier than departure when flying Plus in R, D, B and Y lessons
• One further checked bag
• Lounge entry, plus one visitor when flying TAP or Star Alliance airways
• Entry to the Premium Buyer Heart
• Price-free award redemptions
• Miles don’t expire

Miles&Go Navigator

To realize top-tier Navigator standing, you have to earn 125,000 standing miles or take 70 flights on TAP yearly. To retain the standing, you have to earn 100,000 standing miles or take 70 flights yearly.

The perks embrace every little thing listed above, plus:

• Free seat task for as much as 4 journey companions on the identical reserving
• TAP Premium Lounge entry for one visitor, even when they aren’t flying with the cardholder
• As much as 10% of your standing miles will probably be transferred to the next 12 months’s standing necessities (while you earn over 100,000 standing miles in a 12 months)
• As much as 5 free sports activities tools checked baggage
• Free limitless Wi-Fi on Airbus A330-900 and A321-LR plane
• Two free business-class upgrades
• A “differentiated expertise” lounge inside a lounge on the TAP Premium Lounge Tejo in Lisbon

Learn how to qualify for Miles&Go elite standing

You’ll be able to qualify for Miles&Go elite standing by incomes standing miles every time you fly on TAP and flights which are a part of the Star Alliance, that are separate from redeemable miles (typically referred to as bonus miles in this system) and solely depend towards your elite standing in this system. You’ll be able to alternatively earn standing by taking a sure variety of flights on solely TAP Air Portugal annually.

Sadly, crediting flights on the nonalliance airline companions (Azul, Emirates, Gol and Azores Airways) will solely earn redeemable miles and won’t earn standing miles.

You can’t earn standing simply by means of bank card spending. You could fly with TAP and/or Star Alliance associate airways. Nevertheless, you possibly can earn 1 standing mile for each 5 miles you accumulate in eligible purchases (as much as 10,000 standing miles per annual qualification interval) should you maintain the TAP Miles&Go American Categorical® Credit score Card. The cardboard additionally comes with elitelike perks, resembling premium boarding, two passes per 12 months to the TAP Premium Lounge in Lisbon and two complimentary checked baggage per 12 months.

TAP Air Portugal additionally gives a singular paid membership possibility, separate from the elite standing tiers above, referred to as “Membership TAP.” If you wish to take pleasure in bonus miles and a few standing advantages with out having to fly sufficient to earn them the standard approach, you possibly can pay for considered one of 5 membership choices, beginning at $122 per 12 months for Membership Primary and as much as $1,299 per 12 months for Membership Platinum+. When you have a Platinum or Platinum+ membership, you’ll routinely take pleasure in complimentary Silver standing.

This system additionally often gives standing matches to elite members of choose airline loyalty applications.

The data for the TAP Miles&Go Amex has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.

Associated: Full information to airline standing matches and challenges

Incomes redeemable miles with TAP Miles&Go

You’ll be able to earn redeemable Miles&Go miles by flying TAP Air Portugal. The quantity of miles you earn will depend on the ticket sort bought:

• TAP Low cost (all flights): 20%
• TAP Primary (intercontinental flights): 50%
• TAP Traditional (Europe and North Africa): 70%
• TAP Traditional (intercontinental flights): 100%
• TAP Plus (Europe and North Africa): 100%
• TAP Plus (intercontinental flights): 150%
• TAP Govt (all flights): 150%
• TAP Prime Govt (all flights): 200%

You may as well earn redeemable miles by taking flights with any of TAP Air Portugal’s airline companions (Star Alliance and nonalliance companions). Every associate has a special incomes fee, so examine this system’s web site to make sure you know the way a lot you’ll earn earlier than crediting your subsequent flight.

The simplest option to earn numerous bonus miles within the Miles&Go program is with the best bank card. At present, the TAP Miles&Go American Categorical Credit score Card is providing 40,000 bonus miles after spending $2,500 within the first 90 days. This system can also be a switch associate of Capital One miles and Bilt Rewards at a 1:1 fee, in addition to Marriott Bonvoy at a 3:1 fee, with a bonus of 5,000 miles for each 60,000 Bonvoy factors transferred.

Listed below are a few of our favourite playing cards with welcome gives that you may switch to Miles&Go:

Except for airline companions and holding a rewards bank card, it’s also possible to earn Miles&Go miles by means of program companions, together with:

• Motels (Accor, IHG, Marriott, Melia and extra)
• Choose eating places in Portugal
• Rental automobiles (Avis, Europcar, Hertz, Sixt and CarTrawler)
• Choose style boutiques in Portugal
• Royal Caribbean cruises

You may as well buy miles from this system; nevertheless, it can value you roughly 3.7 cents per mile, which isn’t an excellent deal.

TAP Air Portugal costs 70 euros (about $75) per 2,000 bonus miles, which is the minimal buy quantity.

Associated: Finest frequent flyer applications for US vacationers

Redeeming miles with Miles&Go

TAP Air Portugal is a Star Alliance member, that means you should use your Miles&Go miles for flights on the Portuguese flag provider or any of its alliance associate airways. Due to this fact, you possibly can redeem your miles for flights on airways resembling United Airways, Lufthansa and ANA.

Miles&Go makes use of two commonplace zone-based award charts: one for flights straight with TAP Air Portugal and one other for associate award flights. Right here is the chart for flights operated by TAP.

Although, in principle, these are fixed-priced award charts, in actuality, flights operated by TAP Air Portugal show variable award pricing, so charges fluctuate.

For instance, a round-trip business-class redemption prices 245,000 Miles&Go miles, plus 85.56 euros (about $92) in taxes and costs.

With money charges for a similar flights retailing for just below $3,000 round-trip, you may acquire a price of roughly 1.28 cents per mile redeemed. That is an OK, although not excellent, option to redeem factors and miles, particularly when transferred from a bank card program like Capital One or Bilt.

Companion redemptions generally is a honest use of Miles&Go miles; nevertheless, try to be conscious of a few issues earlier than redeeming your miles with companions.

The primary is that almost all redemption charges lag behind another Star Alliance applications for a lot of awards, making it uncompetitive as the primary place to search for associate awards. The second is that TAP Air Portugal tacks on gasoline surcharges for redemptions on a number of associate airways.

Happily, different airline mileage applications are higher options for reserving a Star Alliance award.

Right here is TAP’s revealed award chart for Star Alliance carriers originating from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean (one-way in enterprise class).

There aren’t any actual slam-dunk candy spots, although flying from the West Coast to Europe for 100,000 miles every approach on Lufthansa, United and Swiss is a good deal.

It’s a related story by way of no excellent redemption choices in financial system. Redeeming 30,000 miles for a flight to Hawaii from the East Coast is an appropriate quantity, although bear in mind that Finnair Plus costs simply 11,000 Avios for a similar route.

An attention-grabbing option to redeem Miles&Go miles is the distinctive choice to convert them to standing miles at a 2:1 fee. Nevertheless, you possibly can solely convert a most of 20,000 bonus miles to earn 10,000 elite standing miles every annual accrual interval. Due to this fact, you possibly can solely redeem sufficient bonus miles to safe Silver standing in a 12 months.

Moreover, in case you are near incomes standing by means of flying and are quick just a few thousand standing miles to achieve the subsequent standing tier, this may very well be a wonderful option to lock in elite standing at little value.

You can additionally donate your Miles&Go miles to charity companions like Assistencia Medica Internacional, Helpo and Associacao Terra dos Sonhos.

Backside line

The TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go program is extra related to U.S. vacationers now that it’s a switch associate of Capital One miles, Bilt Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

TAP Air Portugal is a Star Alliance member, so the miles earned (or transferred into) this system may be redeemed for award flights on each TAP and Star Alliance companions.

Whilst you can count on OK worth when redeeming Miles&Go miles for flights operated by TAP, sadly, the redemption charges on associate airways will not be nice. As such, you must think about different Star Alliance applications, resembling Air Canada’s Aeroplan program, which persistently gives higher associate redemption charges.