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TAP Portugal Victoria Program Review

Andy Shuman

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June 25, 2020

TAP Portugal flies to 88 destinations in 38 countries, including New York and Miami in the United States. The airline has received several awards over the years for its excellent service, including the World’s Best Airline from Condé Nast Traveller magazine. Because it’s a Star Alliance member, its frequent flyer program, Victoria, can get you almost anywhere.

Victoria is a region-based program that offers both off-peak and high-season redemption levels. Flying during the off season and on TAP Portugal’s own flights will generally get you the most value for your miles.

TAP Portugal imposes fuel surcharges on its own flights and on some partner airlines. Award flights between the U.S. and Portugal, for example, include a $126 surcharge each way. The carrier also charges a 10 euro fee for booking online, 25 euros for booking by phone and 50 euros for changing an itinerary.

PROGRAM	ALLIANCE	CURRENCY
TAP VICTORIA	STAR ALLIANCE	MILES
POINTS TRANSFER PARTNERS
NONE
AIRLINE PARTNERS
Emirates ; Grupo SATA

Hub:

Lisbon Portela Airport

How Can You Use Victoria Miles?

The airline refers to its reduced-fare off-peak periods as the Saving Seasons. Although the exact schedule is a little more complex, most of the high season takes place in the summer and over the winter holidays.

For the next year, Saving Season award tickets are available from:

April 22 to June 30, 2015
September 15 to December 14, 2015
January 16 to February 3, 2016
February 15 to March 10, 2016

Off-peak flights between the U.S. and Europe are about 10,000 miles cheaper per roundtrip for both economy and business class. There are no seasonal differences for redemptions on Star Alliance and other partners.

Program Perks:

One-way redemptions available on many flights
Child tickets available for 2- to 11-year-olds at a 50 percent discount
Good business class redemptions between the U.S. and Europe, South America or Oceania
Excellent food in business class

Booking Quirks:

No stopovers allowed on award tickets
One-way and discounted child tickets are not allowed during Saving Seasons
Fuel surcharges added to most flights
Fees for booking awards
Expensive long-haul award tickets in economy on partner airlines
Business class only offers angled seats
Some planes don’t have personal entertainment systems

Best Value Awards:

You’ll get the best value for your Victoria miles by flying on TAP Portugal during the Saving Seasons. For example, you can get a domestic award flight in Portugal for only 7,500 miles roundtrip, or a flight between the U.S. and Portugal for 50,000 miles in economy and 90,000 miles in business.

Also during the off season, business class flights between the U.S. and South America on Star Alliance carriers are only 90,000 miles roundtrip, and between the U.S. and Oceania are only 130,000 miles. Both are excellent redemptions.

Victoria lumps Alaska, Hawaii and the continental U.S. into the same region. That can work in your favor when traveling to and from those states. For example, U.S.-based frequent flyer programs usually charge more for flights from Alaska or Hawaii to Europe than for flights between Europe and the lower 48. That’s not the case with TAP Portugal.

Worst Value Awards:

Unfortunately, most economy class awards on partner airlines are overpriced. At 70,000 miles, Victoria charges at least 10,000 miles more for flights from the U.S. to Europe than any of the major U.S.-based programs. Flights to Asia are even worse. Most airlines offer business class tickets for less than the 130,000 miles Victoria charges for economy.

The Good Stuff: Upgrades and Elite Status

You can upgrade cash tickets on TAP Portugal from economy to business with miles. A one-way upgrade between the U.S. and Portugal costs 20,000 miles. Not all fares qualify for upgrades, and you cannot upgrade award tickets.

TAP Victoria Elite Levels and Perks

TAP Victoria has a base membership called Miles, and two elite levels: Silver and Gold. They correspond to the Star Alliance’s Silver and Gold.

Each level includes the perks of the previous level:

Silver: Extra luggage allowance; 25 percent bonus miles on flights; access to TAP lounges; priority waiting list, check-in, baggage service, boarding and seat assignment; seat guarantee; access to dedicated TAP counters; airport Fast Track; seat protection in case of any irregularity; free in-flight newspapers and magazines; access to last-minute upgrades
Gold: Access to Star Alliance lounges for member and one companion; 50 percent bonus miles; Gold status for partner; companion award ticket at a 60 percent discount; free parking; priority check-in on Star Alliance flights; premium customer service center access; exemption from some service fees; emergency assistance for last-minute flights

Associated Credit Cards

There are no U.S.-based TAP Portugal co-branded credit cards.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

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Secrets of Achieving Star Alliance Status

Andy Shuman

0 Comments

June 25, 2020

Star Alliance is the biggest airline alliance in the world with 28 member airlines including Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Avianca Brazil, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Egyptair, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI and United. In the second quarter of 2017 Shanghai-based Juneyao Airlines is set to become the Alliance’s “connecting member.”

Benefits of Star Alliance Tier Status

Star Alliance has two status levels: Star Alliance Silver and Star Alliance Gold. Star Alliance Silver has only two benefits, neither of which is groundbreaking.

Priority Reservations Waitlist
Priority Airport Standby

Real benefits come from attaining the Gold status, because in addition to the above you will get the following:

Priority Airport Check-In
Priority Baggage Handling
Airport Lounge Access (to over 1,000 lounges for member and one guest flying on a Star Alliance carrier)
Priority Reservation
Waitlist Priority Boarding
Extra Baggage Allowance (extra 44 pounds or one additional piece of luggage)
Priority Security Clearance (Gold Track Security)

Earning Star Alliance Elite Status With United

Premier Silver status gets you Star Alliance Silver
Premier Gold, Platinum, and 1K get you Star Alliance Gold

Lingo:

PQM–Premier Qualifying Miles
PQS–Premier Qualifying Segments
PQD–Premier Qualifying Dollars

For Premier Silver, you need 25,000 PQMs or 30 PQSs and $3,000 MQDs (Medallion Qualification Dollars). To reach Premier Gold, you need 50,000 PQMs or 60 PQSs and $6,000 PQDs. For our purposes, you can stop right there, because reaching Gold will get you the top Star Alliance Gold level.

How to Get Rid of the PQD Requirements

Spending $6,000 a year on United flights can be a problem if your company’s policy is putting you on the cheapest flight. Cheapest flights mean cheaper fare classes, which means low earning rates. Fortunately for us, United does offer a way to get your PQD requirement waived if you put enough spending on its qualifying credit cards.

Whether you want to go down this route and put that much spending on your credit card depends on how much you value Star Alliance Gold status. If you do a lot of international travel, then getting the status might be very valuable for you. If you don’t travel much internationally, you might find that the perks and benefits of the Star Alliance Gold status are overrated. For example, you won’t get access to United Club lounges on purely domestic routes.

And, of course, no status in the world is worth getting into credit card debt, so if you can’t pay your balance off every month, you might want to rethink your strategy.

Four Credit Cards That Will Grant You a PQD Waiver With Qualifying Spend

There are four United MileagePlus Credit Cards that will offer you the PQD waiver for meeting spending requirements.

United MileagePlus Explorer Cards

Both United MileagePlus Explorer Cards have identical benefits. You get a sign-up bonus after spending $3,000 in three months (50,000 miles at the time of writing) and you earn two miles per dollar on United purchases and one mile on everything else. In addition, you get a 10,000-mile bonus after putting $25,000 on the card in a calendar year. That comes in handy, because $25,000 is what you are required to spend in order to be eligible for the PQD waiver. If you are going this route anyway, that’s a nice extra perk.

There are more benefits to the United MileagePlus Explorer Cards, like a free checked bag, priority boarding, and two United Club passes annually. In addition, you’ll sometimes see a better award availability when you log in to your MileagePlus account, and the $95 annual fee is waived for the first year.

United MileagePlus Club Cards

Both United MileagePlus Club Cards have identical features. You earn two miles per dollar on United purchases and 1.5 miles per dollar on everything else. With 1.5 miles per dollar on all purchases, this is a better-earning United card. You will also get two free checked bags and Premier Access benefits, which is a nice set of services that are only available to Mileage Plus Premier and Star Alliance Gold members.

Premier Access check-in: designated airport check-in lines
Premier Access security lane: exclusive security lanes
Premier Access priority boarding: among the first customers to board
Premier Access priority baggage handling: among the first bags to be delivered

You’ll get a waiver on “close-in award booking fees” when you book the ticket three weeks before the flight. That benefit alone can save you $75 per per occurrence.

But the main feature of this card is free United Club membership, which is why its annual fee is a whopping $450. You do, however, get a $100 sign-up bonus after your first purchase to bring it down to $350 in the first year.The United Club Membership is a very valuable benefit that normally costs $550, and it includes access to both United Clubs and Star Alliance clubs. (To access the latter, though, you must be traveling on a Star Alliance ticket).

mileageplus cards — United MileagePlus offers both personal and business cards

Your Spending Can Be Combined

You can combine spending across all eligible United cards and your authorized user spending counts toward the PQD waiver.

Is Chasing the Star Alliance Status Worth It?

To be clear, getting the Star Alliance Gold status is harder than reaching the more meaningful oneworld or SkyTeam tier levels. And it’s hard to recommend going through all these hassles unless you fly Star Alliance airlines a lot and almost exclusively.

For example, spending $50,000 on Delta credit cards can get you not only enough qualifying dollars (MQDs), but also enough qualifying miles (MQMs) to propel you to Gold status and corresponding SkyTeam Elite Plus status, even if you’ve never set a foot on a SkyTeam airline before. And there are plenty of American Express credit cards that can help you to achieve this goal.

Are There Alternatives?

If you fly United a lot, consider applying for the United MileagePlus Club Card instead. It will cost $350 for the first year after the sign-up bonus.

As a United MileagePlus Club Card member, you will already be entitled to Premier Access benefits. Granted these benefits are only available on United flights, not partners, but the lounge access that comes with the card is actually better than the one from the Star Alliance Gold level, since you can bring up to two people with you to any United Club lounge regardless which airline you fly.

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