TAP Air Portugal: The Complete Guide To Miles&Go Frequent Flyer Program

Contents

1 Miles&Go Elite Status
2 Earning Miles&Go Miles
3 Redeeming Miles&Go Miles
4 Miles&Go Miles Expiration
5 Miles&Go Tips & Tricks
6 Bottom Line

TAP Air Portugal is the flag carrier of Portugal and a member of Star Alliance. The Lisbon-based airline flies an average of 2,500 flights a week to 90 destinations in 34 countries around the world, including a few non-stop flights to the United States.

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Miles&Go is TAP’s frequent flyer program. Members from the U.S. can stock up on miles by transferring from partner loyalty programs, flying TAP and with any of its airline partners, and doing business with non-airline partners. Miles can be redeemed for award flights, upgrades, flight extras, gifting miles and donations. For all the best ways to earn and burn Miles&Go Miles keep reading.

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Miles&Go Quick Facts

Airline Alliance	Star Alliance
Hubs	Lisbon, Porto
U.S. Destinations	Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York City, Newark, San Francisco, Washington, D.C.
U.S. Credit Cards	None
Transfer Partners	Capital One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy
Redemption Options	Flights, upgrades, flight extras, gifting miles, donations

Miles&Go Elite Status

When you join Miles&Go, you automatically become a Member. Above that are two status tiers: Silver and Gold. To move up a tier, you need to fly a certain amount of Status Miles or a certain number of TAP flights within a calendar year.

Tier	MEMBER	SILVER	GOLD
Requirement	–	30,000 Status Miles or 25 TAP Flights	70,000 Status Miles or 50 TAP Flights
Convertible Bonus Miles (to reach the next status)	10,000 Bonus Miles = 5,000 Status Miles	20,000 Bonus Miles = 10,000 Status Miles	–

Due to the impact of COVID-19, you can get status for half the price for the year 2021. That means you need only 15,000 Status Miles or 12 TAP Flights to reach Silver, and 35,000 Status Miles or 25 TAP Flights for Gold.

Once you unlock a tier, you have that status until the end of the following calendar year, and you’ll enjoy the following benefits:

	SILVER	GOLD
Bonus miles	25%	50%
Priority check-in	Yes	Yes
Star Alliance priority check-in	–	Yes
Reserve seat	Yes	EconomyXtra
Extra baggage (TAP & Star Alliance)	–	+1
Fast track at security control	Yes	Yes
Lounge access	Yes	Yes
Download newspapers & magazines from the Digital Kiosk	3 publications	3 publications
Priority boarding	Yes	Yes
Companion ticket (up to a 40% discount)	–	Yes
Gift Gold status	–	Yes
Waived (select) service charges and fees for changes	–	Yes
Bonus miles do not expire	–	Yes
Exclusive TAP customer service phone number	Yes	Yes

Go to the Miles&Go status benefits page for more details.

Earning Miles&Go Miles

Compared to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Delta SkyMiles and other frequent flyer programs based in the United States, earning Miles&Go Miles is not an easy feat for Americans. Here are all the ways you can rack up on TAP miles:

Transfer Partners

The easiest way to earn Miles&Go Miles without flying is through transfer partners. Marriott Bonvoy members can convert their points at a three to one ratio, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Points they transfer.

Personal Cards	Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card
Business Cards	Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card

MARRIOTT BONVOY BRILLIANT™ AMERICAN EXPRESS® CARDMARRIOTT BONVOY BOUNDLESS® CREDIT CARDMARRIOTT BONVOY BOLD® CREDIT CARDMARRIOTT BONVOY BUSINESS™ AMERICAN EXPRESS® CARD

MARRIOTT BONVOY BRILLIANT™ AMERICAN EXPRESS® CARD

Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card has an offer for 75,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. We value these 75k points at around $675.

This card earns 6 points per $1 at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy^TM program and 3 points at U.S. restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines. You’ll receive 2 points per $1 spent on all other purchases.

You’ll get a Free Night Award (redemption level up to 50,000 points) every account anniversary year, and up to $300 in statement credits each year for eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy^TM program. Resort fees may apply. Other benefits include unlimited airport lounge visits with the Priority Pass Select membership and no foreign transaction fees.

This premium card comes with an Annual Fee of $450. See Rates & Fees, Terms Apply.

Card Review

MARRIOTT BONVOY BOUNDLESS® CREDIT CARD

The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card from Chase has an offer for 3 Free Nights after spending $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.

New to the card, you will earn 3x Bonvoy points on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores, gas stations, and dining. The card is also offering an Elite Night Credit towards Elite Status for every $5,000 spent.

The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card earns 17 points for every $1 spent at over 7,000+ participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels. You’ll receive 2 points per $1 spent on all other purchases.

You’ll get a Free Night Award (valued up to 35,000 points) every account anniversary year and automatic Silver Elite Status. Additionally, you’ll receive 15 Elite Night Credits each calendar year.

This card has no foreign transaction fees and the annual fee is $95.

Card Review

MARRIOTT BONVOY BOLD® CREDIT CARD

The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card has an offer for 60,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 within the first 3 months. We value these 60k points at around $540.

This card earns 14 points per $1 at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels. Other travel purchases (from airfare to taxis and trains) will earn 2 points per $1. All other purchases will earn 1 point per $1.

You’ll receive 15 Elite Night Credits each calendar year, qualifying you for Silver Elite status.

There are no foreign transaction fees and no annual fee.

Card Review

MARRIOTT BONVOY BUSINESS™ AMERICAN EXPRESS® CARD

Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

The Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card has a limited time offer for 75,000 bonus points when you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership. We value these 75k points to be worth around $675.

This card earns 6 points per $1 at participating hotels in the Marriott Bonvoy^TM program. It’s 4 points per $1 at U.S. restaurants and U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers, and on U.S. purchases for shipping. And 2 points per $1 on all other purchases.

Every year after your account anniversary you’ll get 1 free night award. You can earn an additional free night award after spending $60,000 in purchases in 1 calendar year.

There are no foreign transaction fees and the annual fee is $125. See Rates & Fees, Terms Apply.

Card Review

Capital One Rewards members can also convert their points to TAP miles. The transfer rate is 1:1. If you’re looking to give your Miles&Go balance a boost, the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card currently has a limited time welcome offer for bonus miles.

Flights

Earn Miles&Go Miles when you fly with TAP and the following airline partners:

Azul Airlines
Brussels Airlines
Capital Airlines
Copa Airlines
Croatia Airlines
EgyptAir
Emirates
Ethiopian Airlines
EVA Air
GOL

Accrual rate depends on flight distance, as well as fare class and elite status. You’ll also earn up to 500 miles when you fly with your pet.

Other Ways

Members can earn additional TAP miles the following ways:

Booking your hotel stay directly with Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas, AVANI Hotels & Resorts, IHG, AccorHotels, and more.
Booking accommodations via Booking.com.
Renting a car with Avis, Europcar, Hertz or Sixt.
Traveling with Royal Caribbean Cruise.
Shopping with Burberry, Desigual, Furla, Guess, Timberland, Tod’s, Tumi, Vans, and more.
Subscribing to The Economist magazine.

Miles&Go has other partners to earn with, but they’re not very relevant to United States residents.

Redeeming Miles&Go Miles

Most Miles&Go members redeem their miles for award flights with TAP and partner airlines. The program uses two zone-based award charts, one for TAP flights and the other for partner award flights. You can pay using MilesOnly or Miles&Cash.

You can also redeem your TAP miles for:

Upgrades on TAP and Star Alliance flights.
Extra flight services, including seat booking, extra luggage, lounge access, priority security, flying with a pet and more.
Gifting miles.
Charitable donations

There are other ways to spend Miles&Go miles, but they’re not very relevant to Americans.

Miles&Go Miles Expiration

TAP miles are valid for three years from the date the miles were earned. Some Bonus Miles (like compensation miles and promotions) may only be valid for a one-year period.

You can pay a fee to extend your miles’ expiration date for another three years.

Miles&Go Tips & Tricks

Promotions & offers. Do yourself a favor and bookmark the Miles&Go promotions page for opportunities to earn more miles or get discounts on TAP and partner services.

Club TAP Miles&Go. This is a 12-month paid subscription plan that gives members bonus miles, status, benefits and exclusive offers. Plans range from $122 to $887 per year.

Routing rules. No stopovers are permitted on TAP award flights, but you are allowed a maximum of two segments per one-way. For roundtrip travel with partner airlines, Miles&Go lets you have one stopover and up to three segments per direction. No stopovers are permitted on one-way partner awards.

Surcharge-free partners. Miles&Go does not impose fuel surcharges with the following carriers:

Air Canada
ANA
Azul Airlines
Copa Airlines

Emirates
Ethiopian Airlines
EVA Air

LOT Polish Airlines
Scandinavian Airlines
United Airlines

Round the world trip. These tickets are available in Executive (350,000 miles) and Economy class (250,000 miles) on scheduled Star Alliance flights.

Sweet spots. Below are best uses for your TAP miles:

ROUTE	AIRLINE	CLASS	MILES
U.S. to South America (one-way)	Azul	Business	50,000
U.S. to Europe (one-way)	United	Business	80,000
U.S. to Dubai (one-way)	Emirates	Business	115,000

All the above redemptions do not have fuel surcharges.

Bottom Line

With transfer partners Marriott Bonvoy and Capital One Rewards, TAP Air Portugal’s Miles&Go is somewhat relevant to U.S. travelers. If you do stockpile enough miles, you can take advantage of the program’s vast number of airline partners to take you almost anywhere around the world, including some solid deals to South America, Europe and the Middle East.

Travel often to South America? You might want to have a look at Avianca LifeMiles instead. The airline has hubs in Bogota, Lima and San Salvador, and you can transfer points from American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

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