Cheap flights: how to fly cheaply to Portugal?

Invariably, Portugal has been very popular with tourists for several years. We fly to Lisbon, the beautiful beaches of the Algarve or picturesque Porto. A full range of tours, both roundtrips and typical leisure, await you at travel agencies.

We present you with an overview of the possible options of how you can fly to several cities in Portugal, divided into low-cost airlines, charters and scheduled airlines.

More and more people are choosing to go on their own, buying airline tickets and booking a car locally and visiting the most interesting corners according to their own individual plan. But what’s the best way to fly to Portugal? Should we consider only the price or something else?

Here’s an overview of several possible options for air travel to Portugal for a week in September (because everywhere is crowded during the vacations ;)).

Cheap airlines to Portugal

Here two airlines immediately come to mind: WizzAir and RyanAir. And we will focus only on these lines, as they only operate direct flights between Poland and Portugal.

Admittedly, there is still, among others. EasyJet and Norwegian, but these only offer connecting flights. However, if we were to also consider connecting flights, then with low-cost airlines we would have dozens of combinations, which can sometimes be more complicated and risky (unless you are a seasoned traveler :)).

But to the point, first fire goes to Ryanair

With Ryanair we will fly to all the places we are interested in, i.e. Porto, Lisbon and Faro (which is a good starting point for exploring the Algarve).

Currently, for September (because that’s the month we’ve set ourselves to compare prices) from Warsaw (Modlin) we can buy tickets for PLN 308.24 to Porto, PLN 345.78 to Lisbon and PLN 557.02 to Faro. Of course, the prices quoted are for a two-way flight, without checked baggage, etc., for one person.

We will also fly to Lisbon from Wroclaw for PLN 574.36 and from Krakow for PLN 681.36. Krakow also offers connections to Porto for PLN 487.56, and Wroclaw still has a connection to Faro for PLN 523.36.

What is the situation at Wizz Air?

We will fly to Lisbon by Wizz Air from Warsaw (Chopin) for 658 PLN, from Katowice for 518 PLN and from Gdansk for 988 PLN. We can also fly to Porto from 3 airports in Poland, and the cost of a ticket to Porto from Warsaw (Chopin) is 548 PLN, from Wroclaw is 468 PLN and from Katowice is 438 PLN.

Wizz Air prices are also given in the cheapest option, for one person, two-way, but also without additional discount for WIZZ Discount Club members.

There is still Faro (or Algarve) left, there in the case of this airline we will get there only from Katowice, and prices for September start from PLN 488.

Remember that the prices quoted above do not usually include additional fees for baggage, priority boarding, seat selection, snacks, drinks, paper this…. and no, they probably have ;)

Traditional lines to Portugal

In traditional lines (also called regular, although I don’t know completely why ;)) such games of surcharges for basics should not take place. Well, that’s right, they shouldn’t! But the world is changing, everyone wants to travel for £1 to the other side of the globe and even with traditional carriers we can already find fares without baggage, meals, etc….

Nevertheless, usually by choosing these carriers we can count on better service in the ticket price. And we can only reach Portugal, without a connecting flight, via TAP Portugal and PLL Lot, the Portuguese and our home carrier, respectively.

Of course, here too, as with low-cost airlines, there are also many options for connecting flights with Lufthansa, KLM or even British Airways, but for ease of reference we will only compare direct flights.

Let’s see the prices in TAP

Currently, with TAP you can fly from Warsaw (Chopin) to Lisbon for PLN 868.93. The assumptions here are similar, September, one person, two-way ticket. In the cheapest fare (price above), checked baggage is not included in the cost of the ticket! But! But! Included in the price are meals, quite even tasty and substantial for a 4-hour flight (tested by us many times! :)) But is it worth the difference in price? That’s left for you to think about :)

What does PLL Lot look like here?

Unfortunately, our national carrier is not showing off. Currently, the cheapest tickets for September start at PLN 1,035.29, which is a definite top price. Nonetheless, the price includes checked baggage and meals (which just happen to be not among the best on the flight).

Charters to Portugal

It’s also worth considering charter flights, which may prove to be the cheapest option, especially if you’re interested in a last-minute trip. Recently, the charter market has grown tremendously and this also gives us the opportunity to explore additional destinations.

Importantly, usually for this type of connection in the ticket price we already have checked baggage (with different kg limit). However, there is, of course, no food and drinks included in the ticket price, and the possibility of free seat reservations is virtually non-existent.

Currently, with Rainbow travel agency we will fly to Faro from Warsaw for PLN 1,600, from Poznan for PLN 1,585 and from Katowice for PLN 1,549. Meanwhile, we will fly to Lisbon from Warsaw for PLN 1,400, Katowice for PLN 1,300 and from Gdansk for PLN 1,249. Remember that here we have checked baggage included in the price, but no meals.

Meanwhile, at Ithaca travel agency, tickets to Faro from Warsaw start at PLN 1,350, from Poznan and Katowice they are at the same price.

We could not find any tickets to Lisbon, Faro or Porto on the TUI website.

So why did we write at the beginning of this section that they may be the cheapest option? Because it’s worth hunting for cheaper last-minute tickets here. Watch how prices change closer to departure, see if the destination you are interested in is 100% sold out or not, and it will give you an idea of whether it makes sense to wait for last minute or not. Or maybe you will find that for a small surcharge you can buy the whole package, that is, including the hotel?

Portugal is also Madeira and the Azores….

Remember that Portugal is not only Lisbon, Algarve and Porto…. but also wonderful islands like Madeira and the Azores. That’s why we also recommend to you our two posts:

• How to fly to Madeira cheaply
• And some practical advice about the Azores.

Summary

Although Portugal may seem like a distant and expensive country, it’s still worth considering when planning a vacation getaway. Numerous airline connections give us quite a lot of opportunities. Both for small and large pockets ;)

Oh, and since two words about prices, we recommend you the following infographic about prices in Portugal from the page Prices in Portugal – how much does a vacation in Portugal cost:

Also, don’t forget our super-hyper plan for 10 days, what to see in Portugal! :)