Portugal meets thread

[Rapunzellover]

Hey all. Booked with EBD for May 29th Portugal, since it's refundable deposit until PIF date. So excited, and hoping COVID-19 will be dealt with by then! Thought I'd start a meets thread. Anyone else booked?

 

[Woodview]

I take it that is May 29th 2021 NOT IN 17 days Time

IF it is in 17 days time How are you getting there & for How long a stay ?

 

[Rapunzellover]

I take it that is May 29th 2021 NOT IN 17 days Time

IF it is in 17 days time How are you getting there & for How long a stay ?

Yes, 2021. 2021 ABDs were opened today. Portugal is a new Itinerary.

 

[Woodview]

Enjoy May 2021

I did not wish to point out that Portugal is still " Locked Down " like most of us in Europe till

at least August .

 

[Rapunzellover]

Enjoy May 2021

I did not wish to point out that Portugal is still " Locked Down " like most of us in Europe till

at least August .

I'm likely not getting on a plane without a vaccine. This trip is refundable deposit until PIF, so...I'm fully prepared to cancel if it looks dangerous. Hoping I don't have to though.

 

[CaliKris]

We booked Portugal and Spain back to back for September 2021. We are very excited at the thought of hopefully traveling again!

 

[AddictedtoTravel]

We are booked on the first departure in March 2021. Crossing fingers

 

[Poohlie]

Reviving this thread! I just heard that ABD canceled early May departures due to low booking numbers. We are scheduled to go in August and are cautiously optimistic. Interested to see if/when the first one goes (I don't think there have been any yet). Anyone have any news or have one of the later trips in May booked? I know that Portugal has a Level 4 Travel Advisory due to COVID so I assume that will need to change first.

 

[Rapunzellover]

I'm curious about this too. I backed out of my May 28th reservation. I suspect it won't go.

 

[Poohlie]

Does anyone know if the first June trip went or if that was canceled too?

 

[sayhello]

Does anyone know if the first June trip went or if that was canceled too?

It went! And the person I know posting about it on fb says it was magnificent!

Sayhello

 

[Poohlie]

It went! And the person I know posting about it on fb says it was magnificent!

Sayhello

Fabulous - thank you! We just PIF for August so this is great to hear!

 

[Poohlie]

Fabulous - thank you! We just PIF for August so this is great to hear!

Just checking if anyone on this board has been on this trip…starting to pack & wondering what is the best outfit/footwear for kayaking on the Douro. The picture in handbook for that day shows flip flops & baseball caps (& a sweater - must have been taken in March!). Also not sure if we are given an opportunity to change after kayaking and before the cooking class.

 

[sayhello]

Just checking if anyone on this board has been on this trip…starting to pack & wondering what is the best outfit/footwear for kayaking on the Douro. The picture in handbook for that day shows flip flops & baseball caps (& a sweater - must have been taken in March!). Also not sure if we are given an opportunity to change after kayaking and before the cooking class.

Ooo! That's a really good question! Although I'll be there in May - but I'm going to assume the answer will be similar.

Sayhello

 

[Poohlie]

Ooo! That's a really good question! Although I'll be there in May - but I'm going to assume the answer will be similar.

Sayhello

Well I will let you know!

 

[sayhello]

Well I will let you know!

Thanks!!

Sayhello

 

[sayhello]

So for anyone who has been on this trip or is still planning, what airline are you looking at? I was tempted by Iberia, but their customer service gets really, really bad reviews. But I could convert my Ultimate Points to Avios points, and get a Premium Economy seat at a pretty low price.

Sayhello

 

[Poohlie]

So for anyone who has been on this trip or is still planning, what airline are you looking at? I was tempted by Iberia, but their customer service gets really, really bad reviews. But I could convert my Ultimate Points to Avios points, and get a Premium Economy seat at a pretty low price.

Sayhello

Our adventure just ended yesterday. I’ll try to post some more details later today (we are in London for a week now), but we flew United out of Newark. The nonstop into Porto is notoriously delayed (3 hours isn’t unusual according to the guides). We ended up flying out a day earlier and flew United/Swiss Air through Zurich and were on time. Zurich may be the nicest, most efficient airport I have ever been to. We were upgraded to business class an hour before our flight but the premium economy seats looked nice.

The trip really is fabulous!

 

[sayhello]

Our adventure just ended yesterday. I’ll try to post some more details later today (we are in London for a week now), but we flew United out of Newark. The nonstop into Porto is notoriously delayed (3 hours isn’t unusual according to the guides). We ended up flying out a day earlier and flew United/Swiss Air through Zurich and were on time. Zurich may be the nicest, most efficient airport I have ever been to. We were upgraded to business class an hour before our flight but the premium economy seats looked nice.

The trip really is fabulous!

Thanks so much for the info (including about the non-stop, because I *was* tempted by that!) I'll take a look at United. I don't fly them domestically, but I have heard their international flights are not bad. When you get a chance, if you could let me know what kind of plane you flew from Newark, that would also be helpful! (I don't think all Premium Economy is equal!)

Looking forward to more detail about the trip from you!

Thanks!
Sayhello

 

[Poohlie]

The flight we were on was UA 134 to Zurich departing Newark at 6:15 PM on a Thursday night. The seat configuration of our plane on SeatGuru was a Boeing 767-300ER (76L) Layout 2. The Zurich-Oporto leg (arrives 11.50 AM) is operated by Swiss Air.

My husband is a little obsessed with the United nonstop from Newark to Oporto (which we were originally booked on for Friday night) and has been tracking it. It was on time last night but was canceled Sunday night due to “technical problems” with the aircraft.

We are heading to see Coldplay at Wembley tonight but will try to post some more details about the trip tomorrow - let me know if you have any specific questions!