A major bonus to visiting Portugal from the U.S. is that it is pretty easy to get there, especially from the East Coast.
1. Fly into Lisbon or Porto
You can fly into either Lisbon (LIS) or Porto (OPO), depending on your planned itinerary. Or fly into one city and out of the other for the best of both worlds! Porto has fewer direct flights from the U.S., but often has cheaper connecting fares.
2. Best U.S. Departing Cities for Cheap Flights to Portugal
- Newark (EWR) and Boston (BOS): Both are great jumping-off points thanks to TAP Air Portugal’s direct flights and competitive pricing.
- NYC (JFK), Miami (MIA), and Chicago (ORD) also offer frequent deals, especially with connections on airlines like Iberia, Lufthansa, or even budget-friendly PLAY via Iceland.
3. Using Credit Card Points and Airline Miles to Book Your Flight
- TAP Air Portugal (Star Alliance)
- Direct flights to Lisbon and Porto from BOS, EWR, JFK, ORD, YUL, YYZ, and IAD
- Great for booking with:
- United MileagePlus: Often 30k-45k miles one-way in economy; 66k in business (plus taxes/fees)
- Avianca LifeMiles: 35k economy or 63k business one-way
- Air Canada Aeroplan (my preferred method): around 60k business one-way
- Credit card points:
- Amex, Chase, Capital One transfer to Aeroplan
- Amex, Capital One, and Citi transfer to Avianca LifeMiles
- Chase transfers to United MileagePlus
- Note: while TAP does not have the most comfortable business class I’ve ever experienced, it’s fine for the point value and the wine was excellent.
- Make sure you book well in advance to find the best point deals
Vela Via Travel 