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I have a round-trip flight Budapest (HU) - Lisbon (PT) - Natal (BR) scheduled to June/July of this year with tap-portugal. I was informed by tap that my flight Budapest - Lisbon was cancelled. The options that were given to me were to either fly to Lisbon the day after, and therefore arrive one day later in my final destination; or travelling to Lisbon two days earlier, and still take the flight Lisbon - Natal on the originally scheduled date (therefore I would need to sleep 2 nights in Lisbon).

As I'm keen to arrive in my final destination at the planned date, I'd like to know if [according to laws (EU, Portugal or Brazil) or airline rules] I'm entitled to hotel reimbursement for the nights I would need to sleep at Lisbon. Asking the tap agent about the reimbursement possibility I was informed the following:

"[...] please be aware that you must arrange the hotel yourself and keep the receipts, so you may forward your request for analysis after arriving in Natal. Please let us know which option you prefer. Thank you."

I have a not so close friend in Lisbon who could possibly provide me accommodation, but I would rather not bother if I knew for sure I would be entitled to accommodation paid by tap. So it would be really great to know my rights beforehand.

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  • What date is that? TAP seem to have at least one daily flight from Budapest to Lisbon (though on many days it's a pretty late flight), so I don't quite understand how you would need to sleep 2 nights in Lisbon. Also, they should be able to reroute you via another airport (e.g. Frankfurt).
    – jcaron
    Feb 21, 2020 at 9:56
  • Indeed. They corrected that and offered me a flight one day earlier, therefore one night sleep there. To be honest I'd rather stay a day in Lisbon rather than spending the whole day travelling due to rerouting. Anyways thanks for the feedback :)
    – Denis Dantas
    Feb 21, 2020 at 12:57

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If the booked flight is still that far out, and they change their schedule, they are not obliged to pay you for a hotel, although they have to offer a cancel and reimbursement of the whole ticket (but it sounds like you don't want that).

Typically, the automated rebooking offer is very limited, and if you call them, they might be well able to work out something that fits you better. Talk with an agent, and specify what you are looking for, and probably there will be alternatives that work for you.

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  • Thanks! Well it turned out that I can fly to Lisbon one night earlier than my flight to Brazil. I just feel that it's quite unfair that airlines can simply change these things without any justification. What prevents them of selling a certain schedule that they know for sure they will modify?
    – Denis Dantas
    Feb 21, 2020 at 13:05
  • they are not eager to anger their customers, so you can be sure they try to avoid it. but yes, technically they could do so at a whim.
    – Aganju
    Feb 21, 2020 at 14:16

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