When travelling on TAP connecting flights, it’s important to know how TAP boarding passes work — especially if part of your journey involves one of TAP’s codeshare partners.
How do you get your boarding passes? Can you receive them all at once? What if you have separate bookings?
Here’s what you need to know before you fly.
Check your compensation online.
TAP Boarding Passes for Connecting Flights
Understanding how TAP boarding passes for connecting flights work can help ensure a smoother journey, especially when travelling with TAP’s codeshare partners.
Connecting Flights Operated Entirely by TAP
If all segments of your connecting flight journey are operated by TAP Air Portugal, you’ll usually receive TAP boarding passes for all flights when you check in — either online, via the TAP app, or at the airport.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Online check-in is available 36 hours before departure (or 24 hours for flights to/from the U.S.).
- It’s a single check-in process. You can check in for your entire itinerary at once.
- You’ll usually receive boarding passes for all flights when you check in.
- Your checked baggage is tagged and checked through to your final destination, so you won’t need to collect it during the connection.
- If you check in online but are travelling with checked baggage, you’ll still need to drop off your bags at the airport. To save time, look for a dedicated baggage drop-off counter, if available.
Connecting Flights With TAP Codeshare Partners
If one or more of your connecting flights is operated by a TAP codeshare partner, the TAP boarding pass process can vary slightly.
- In some cases, you can check in online and receive all your boarding passes at once. However, this may not always be possible — it depends on the partner airline’s system. It’s best to try checking in online first, and if that’s not available, you can complete your check-in at the airport instead.
- When checking in at the airport, TAP will usually issue boarding passes for both your TAP-operated and partner-operated flights if all segments are on a single booking.
- If the partner airline’s system doesn’t allow TAP to issue your boarding pass, you’ll need to collect it at the transfer desk or departure gate of the operating airline.
- In most cases, your checked baggage will be transferred automatically to your final destination, provided your flights are on one booking.
Example: You might fly TAP from Lisbon to Frankfurt, then connect to a Lufthansa-operated flight to Berlin. You can typically check in for both flights with TAP, but if not, simply pick up your Lufthansa boarding pass from a transfer desk during your layover.
Separate Bookings (Self-Transfer Flights)
If your flights are on separate bookings, even if both are with TAP or its partners, the system treats them as independent trips. Such flights are called self-transfer flights.
In this case:
- You’ll likely need to check in separately for each flight.
- Baggage is not checked through, meaning you’ll have to collect and recheck it at the connecting airport.
- Allow extra time for transfers and security checks.
- You may need a visa for such a connection. Why? Because you’ll need to leave the transit area to collect and recheck your luggage, pass through passport control to enter the country where your connection takes place, and then check in again for your next flight as a new departure.
Self-transfer flights are separate flight bookings made independently by the traveler. Even if both flights are with the same airline, they are not connected under one ticket — meaning you’ll need to check in separately, get boarding passes separately, collect your baggage, and go through security again between flights.
Check your compensation online.
Why You Should Always Keep Your TAP Boarding Passes?
For Flight Compensation Claims
If your flight is delayed, cancelled, or you miss a connection, boarding passes help support your EU261 or other compensation claims. They show your booking details, flight numbers, and times — all required for processing compensation.
Delayed Baggage or Missing Connection Issues
If your checked baggage is delayed, lost, or you miss a connection, the airline may ask to see your boarding passes to track your travel route and verify your connection details.
Expense or Reimbursement Proof
For business travelers, boarding passes serve as valid proof of travel expenses for reimbursement or accounting purposes.
Featured photo by Thiếu Quân Võ Vũ from Pexels