Our Verdict
Unless you are a frequent TAP Air Portugal flyer and could benefit from earning status through this card, there’s very little value in applying for the TAP Miles&Go American Express®*. There are a myriad of other travel cards out there with transferable points, many of which allow you to transfer miles into the TAP Miles&Go program in addition to offering premium benefits like unlimited lounge access or travel credits.
Pros
- Welcome bonus
- Access to TAP Premier Lounge in Lisbon
- Free checked bags
- Priority boarding for you and any companions on the same booking
- Earn status miles with spend
- No foreign transaction fees
Cons
- Access to TAP Premier Lounge in Lisbon is limited to only twice a year
- Free checked bag benefit is limited to only twice a year
- Ability to earn status miles is limited to 10,000 status miles per year, requiring a spend between $16,000 to $50,000 to achieve
- Annual fee is $79
Highlights
- Earn 60000 Bonus Miles spending $2500 within 90 days of account opening
- Earn 3 miles on TAP purchases, 2 miles on hotels, car rentals, and rideshare, and 1 point on all other purchases
- Complimentary baggage allowance two times per year
- TAP Premier Lounge in Lisbon
Introduction
The TAP Miles&Go American Express®* offers an interesting proposition for those avid TAP Air Portugal fliers. With twice a year free visits to the TAP Premier Lounge in Lisbon airport, this card will help you save at least $31 per visit to the lounge. The ability to check free bags on two round-trip itineraries a year will help you save a minimum of $145 per flight, per bag on flights from the U.S to Lisbon if your fare does not include a first checked bag free. That is more than enough to offset the cost of this card’s annual fee.
For flyers who are more free agents when it comes to choosing who they fly with, it becomes slightly harder to justify applying for this card, as there are many other card options that may offer better rewards along with increased flexibility to redeem them with multiple airlines instead.
Featured Partner Offers
Quick Facts
- Annual fee: $79
- Earn rate: Earn 3 miles per dollar spent on TAP, 2 miles at hotels, car rentals and rideshare and 1 point per dollar on other purchases.
- Welcome offer: Earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $2,500 in the 90 days of account opening.
- Earns status miles with TAP Air Portugal
- No foreign transaction fees
- Free checked bags twice a year
- Access to TAP Premier Lounge in Lisbon twice a year
TAP Miles&Go American Express Rewards
With the TAP Miles&Go American Express card you will be able to earn TAP Miles&Go miles on every purchase you use your card for. Miles you earn can be used to book award flights, confirm upgrades, pay for extras like seat selection or baggage fees, and even to book a flight for your pet companion.
Earning Rewards
The TAP Miles&Go American Express®* earns 3 miles per dollar spent on TAP, 2 miles at hotels, car rentals and rideshare and 1 point per dollar on other purchases.
The largest cache of Miles&Go miles you’ll receive is the welcome bonus. You will earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $2,500 in the 90 days of account opening. This welcome bonus alone could be sufficient for a round-trip ticket from the East Coast to Lisbon in economy on certain dates.
Redeeming Rewards
Rewards you earn through this credit card can be redeemed for a multitude of things, just like all rewards you earn by flying TAP Air Portugal. Spending your hard earned miles is relatively easy, and you can use them to book award flights by paying them in full with your miles or choose to pay with miles and cash, you can also use your miles to pay for flight extras like baggage fees, seat selections, access to lounges, fast track or even pet in cabin fees. Miles can also help you get an upgrade into a better cabin so you can enjoy the perks that come with it, such as more baggage allowance, a comfier seat and more delicious meals.
Rewards Potential
Forbes Advisor uses data from various government agencies to determine both baseline income and spending averages across various categories. The 70th percentile of wage earners bring in $116,000 annually and $36,177 in expenses that can be charged to credit cards. We base our sample household spending on these numbers.
Other TAP Miles&Go American Express Benefits
- Instant card delivery. You can start using your card instantly after being approved, as it is delivered electronically through the Cardless app and can be used via Apple Pay or Google Wallet.
- Safety and security of American Express. Cardless accounts are backed by American Express.
Fine Print
Interest Rates
- Regular APR: 21.24% – 28.24% variable APR
- Purchase intro APR: N/A
- Balance transfer intro APR: N/A
Fees
- Annual fee: $79
- Balance transfer fee: N/A
- Foreign purchase transaction fee: 0
How the TAP Miles&Go American Express Stacks Up
TAP Miles&Go American Express®* vs. Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard®*
The Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard®* might be a better option for those who would like to fly to Europe but aren’t necessarily set on flying TAP Air Portugal. While the annual fee is barely higher than the one for the TAP Miles&Go American Express®*, this card will grant you the same two complimentary vouchers to access any Lufthansa Business Class lounge worldwide.
Unlike the Miles&Go card, which is somewhat lacking in additional benefits, the Miles & More card also comes with a companion ticket offer, allowing you to buy one ticket and only pay the taxes and fee for the second companion ticket. This can effectively save you hundreds of dollars if you normally travel with a companion.
Plus, the current welcome offer is significantly higher at 50,000 award miles after spending $3,000 in purchases and paying the annual fee, both within the first 90 days.
TAP Miles&Go American Express®* vs. Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
For those who don’t like being married to any airline in particular and aren’t averse to paying a higher annual fee if they can get enough benefits, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (rates & fees) might be a viable option. With a $300 a year annual travel credit and an up to $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® membership credit, you’re essentially wiping out the $395 annual fee the first year if you use those benefits.
You will earn a generous 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening, plus 10,000 bonus miles on each anniversary year. Those miles can be redeemed in many different ways, but they are very valuable when transferred out to any of the many Capital One travel partners, including TAP Miles&Go program.
Additionally, this card will not just get you access to just one specific airline’s lounges, but instead you’ll enjoy the more than 1,300+ lounges available through Priority Pass Select, plus Capital One’s own lounges.
TAP Miles&Go American Express®* vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, with its $95 annual fee, packs more of a punch than the Miles&Go card. This card will not get you access to any airport lounges, but it does come with a $50 annual statement credit towards hotel stays booked through Chase Travel℠, as well as many other partner statement credits such as Lyft, Instacart and DoorDash, which may help lessen the sting of the annual fee.
As a welcome bonus you will earn 75,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. When you choose to redeem those points through the Chase Travel portal, those points become 25% more valuable, yielding several hundred dollars towards travel, but you are able to squeeze more juice out of them by transferring to any of Chase’s transfer partners. While you cannot transfer your Ultimate Rewards to TAP Air Portugal, you can transfer them to United MileagePlus, where you will be able to redeem them for flights on TAP as well as other Star Alliance partners.
Is the TAP Miles&Go American Express for You?
The TAP Miles&Go American Express card is a rather niche card that may come in really handy for those travelers who see themselves sitting aboard TAP Air Portugal’s flights often. However, for anyone who isn’t in an exclusive relationship with the airline—most people—you might want to “tap out” considering there seems to be limited value in adding this credit card into your wallet.
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Methodology
Forbes Advisor considers a variety of criteria when assigning credit cards a rating. Cards are graded based on numerous factors including:
- Annual fees
- Welcome bonus offers
- Ongoing earning rates
- Value of individual points or miles
- Included travel or merchant credits
- Additional cardholder benefits
Card features we expect cardholders to use the most often are weighted more heavily in our ratings. Altogether, the factors came together to provide a star rating for each individual card.
Read more: How Forbes Advisor Rates Credit Cards
*The information for the following card(s) has been collected independently by Forbes Advisor: TAP Miles&Go American Express®, Miles & More® World Elite Mastercard®. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
