Upgrade at the airport / counter upgrades
 

Looking to see if anyone has had experience and success stories of upgrading from economy to executive class via check in or at the gate with the fixed fares published on their website? I contacted their customer service, but didn't feel very confident with their responses. Any experience specific to YYZ-LIS return will be most relevant for me.

Main questions I wanted to have answered:

1) If there are executive seats still available (will be tracking via experflyer) at check in time, do all seats open up and available for upgrade purchase at the fixed price (ie: $489CAD)
2) Does the upgrade option show up through check in online (like Air Canada often does) right when check in opens up at 36hours.
3) If this option only works in person, can I show up at the airport 36hours in advance of my flight and request this upgrade or is the upgrade time actually only available on the day of departure when check in agents are at the counter (ie: 3hours and 30mins prior to flight - I got this time based on when hold baggage drop off counter opens up as per TAP website)
4) Do the same rules apply when departuring from Lisbon as above.

Thanks in advance!

I have done at check-in a few times, but never ex YYZ. As for your questions:
1) Yes, but availability as shown, eg, on KVS does not correspond to actual availability; in reality, only TAP will know.
2 and 3) Not online, only at the airport and only -3h (though the website now mentions -2h); the system doesn't allow agents to do it earlier, even if you arrive earlier at the airport;
4) It's applicable in all airports.

$224 upgrades?
 

Any recent experience with upgrading at airport? I'll be travelling from the US to Portugal monthly in the next year and am curious to know if these upgrades are still actually available. https://www.flytap.com/en-us/booking...de-at-airports

Even from the most expensive economy ticket it seems like a great deal.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...af4f6ee2e1.png

I fly out Sept 12. I can let you know. YYZ-PDL

I just flew EWR-OPO, and was able to upgrade at check-in from Economy Plus, the most expensive economy fare, for $224, which was about $120 less than paying for business class to start with. The plane was very full so it worked out well.

Hey Everyone,

So I fly out on Sunday. Should I check in online to see if there is upgrades or wait till I get to the airport? Im willing to pay $500-$600 for the upgrade YYZ-LIS.

Should I bother with the auction? It seems like a useless tool according to the reviews

There were no upgrades available online for our EWR-OPO flight. I believe it's only at the airport.

Upgrades were readily available at the checkin counter at EWR. It depends on what fare you purchased as to what the upgrade cost is. Our flight was very full, so it was worth it to us to upgrade even for the relatively short flight. You can call TAP to find out what the cost for an upgrade will be based on the fare you purchased. It was $224 USD for us from the most expensive economy ticket.

Can't help with any information on the auction.

YYZ - LIS

9 J seats for today flight.

Bidding starts at 420 USD.. I fine that a little steep for an empty flight lol. Do you think at Check in it will be cheaper?

The cost to upgrade at the airport depends on which economy fare your purchased. From their economy "Plus" fare, the upgrade cost is $224 usd for long-haul flights.

I believe it's ~$600 from the lowest "Discount" fare to upgrade.

For our flights, the total cost of the more expensive "Plus" fare and the $224 upgrade was lower than had we purchased the cheapest "Discount" fare.

Another news is that TAP no longer uses plusgrade. Apart from upgrading with miles, pax can upgrade at the airport or bid using seatboost.

Thanks for this update!

Flew from YYZ to LIS on Sept 5 and back yesterday, upgraded to Exec both ways with seat boost for $420 US. each way.
I was quoted $700 at check at YYZ and 500 Euros at Lis check in........ there only 4 seats taken on the way there and 8 coming back.

When buying an at-the-airport upgrade, does one get lounge access? Assuming a lounge is open of course.

Yes.

Plusgrade/seatboost/gate upgrade
 

Just a few points of reference regarding TAP upgrades.

For a recent flight LIS-MIA, I received an email with a chance to upgrade to business class for a minimum bid of €475. (Plusgrade) Passed.

Then tried the seatboost auction route 24hours before the flight, where the minimum bid was €400. Did not participate in the auction.

Upon arriving at the gate they were actively selling upgrades over the PA system, for €565. I asked if that price was regardless of the initial fare paid and they said yes, it was a flat fee. Passed.

I asked how full economy was and the gate agent said there were more than 90 empty seats, and the last time I looked at the seating chart 2 hours before departure the entire row in front of us was vacant, so we each ended up with a row of 4 seats to ourselves, as did many others on the flight.

I'd previously upgraded twice in the last few months on much more full flights from the US to portugal, from the most expensive economy fare, for $224.