Azores Airlines currently offers a really impressive sale for transatlantic flights connecting through the Azores Islands. You can score both one-ways and roundtrips at a discounted price. In most cases, adding a stop-over of several days on the Azores increases the price just a little. The lowest price is available for one-way rides from Boston to Porto.
While these quoted fares only include a cabin bag of 8kg, you can add a checked bag on Azores Airlines’website for just €25-€40 each way.
The following prices are possible when starting your journey in the United States:
- Boston to Porto at $121
- Boston to Madeira at $132
- Boston to Lisbon at $135
- Boston to Ponta Delgada at $153
- Boston to Terceira at $154
- New York to Lisbon at $132
- New York to Porto at $132
- New York to Madeira at $133
- New York to Ponta Delgada at $156
The following fares are available from the Portuguese mainland:
- Porto to New York at €153
- Porto to Boston at €153
- Lisbon to New York at €151
- Lisbon to Boston at €161
The fare rules also allow you to add a stopover on the Azores Islands with just a slight increase in price:
- Boston – Terceira – Porto at $132
- New York – Ponta Delgada – Lisbon at $139
- New York – Ponta Delgada – Madeira at $139
- Porto – Ponta Delgada – Boston at €159
- Lisbon – Ponta Delgada – New York at €167
- …and more
Round-trips cost exactly as much as combining two one-ways:
- Porto – New York at €251
- Lisbon – Boston at €295
- New York – Madeira at $299
- Boston – Porto at $310
- New York – Lisbon at $335
- …and more
We have covered the offer for flights between New York and Madeira in depth here.
Our availability calendar will forward you to Skyscanner with your selected flight dates.There, you check what Azores Airlines or OTAs have to offer, as they sell these tickets up to €30 cheaper. While you can score some flights in late December 2024, the availability is great for travel from January through March 2025.
Azores Airlines uses their A321neos on most of these flights. The airline advertises power outlets and a warm meal with complementary beverage service on their website.
Most Europeans need an electronic system for travel authorization (ESTA) to enter the USA for up to 90 days. This costs US$40 (~€34) and you should apply for it a couple of days before your trip, at the latest.
There are some cases where you cannot apply for an ESTA, e.g. if you’ve been to Cuba since 2021 or to Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, or North Korea since March 2011. In those cases, you’ll need to get a visa from a US embassy or consulate, which can take multiple weeks.
Search & Book
According to the fare rules, these tickets are on sale until October 2, 2024 for travel before March 29, 2025. On this day, your inbound must arrive back at your origin. There is no minimum stay required in either direction.
You can find suiting flight dates easily on Google Flights. While online travel agencies sell the cheapest tickets, booking directly with the airline comes with added benefits, like being able to add an Azores Islands stop-over without much hassle.
Why is booking with an airline better than with an online travel agency?
More often than not, online travel agencies offer lower fares than airlines do. We still recommend booking with the airlines directly. There are two main reasons for that:
Better Customer Service
In case any problems like delays, cancellations or missed connections arise, you can communicate directly with the airline. The airline has to take care of you because you have a contract with them.
If a travel agency issues your ticket, you may have to reach out to them first. You also depend on your OTA to forward information like flight changes instead of receiving them directly from the airline. In many cases, you may get a prime exhibition of responsibility shifting rather than problem-solving.
This especially applies to premium tickets. You don’t want to spend more than €1,000 to wind up with some budget OTA’s telephone hotline in case anything goes wrong.
Baggage and Other Fees
Economy fares not including hold luggage are industry standard by now. In most cases, travel agencies charge much higher baggage fees than the airlines themselves. If bags are not included in your fare, airlines are often the cheaper alternative.
This also applies to other things like food services, insurances or priority treatment. In almost all cases, you pay less for additional amenities when booking on the airlines’ website.
To find flights dates with a stopover, you can utilize Google’s multi-stop search. In case of round-trip flights, search for the cheapest round-trip fare, then switch to multi-stop and split up the leg on which you want to stay at the Azores. If you are looking for a one-way, use Google’s one-way search and pick one of the discounted dates. Then, switch to multi-city and see if you can alter the date of your flight from Portugal to the Azores without changing the price.
We recommend sticking to the dates on the segments between the Azores and American airports, since these flights are not operated daily and are usually more expensive when not discounted. Changing the dates of your connection to/from the Portuguese mainland is much easier, since these are operated several times per day.
Miles & Points
Azores Airlines issues tickets between the Azores and Portugal in booking class O, yielding no miles in the most common frequent flyer programs. Flights between America and the Azores are booking class L, resulting in minimal mileage on TAP’s Miles&Go program. You can earn the following for a New York to Lisbon roundtrip:
- 2,550 Award Miles on TAP Miles&Go
- Customize Calculation
Cover Picture: Photo by Sylvain Cleymans on Unsplash