A real example
A real claim: Funchal → Lisbon → Funchal, TAP, Madeira resident. Approved and paid. Each of the five figures above is copied from the airline invoice — the file AIE APXIE026_….pdf that TAP sends on request. Which line each one comes from — in step 4 of the guide.
- Outbound fare · 202.00 − 5.00 discount
- 197.00 €
- Return fare
- 90.00 €
- Passenger fee · YP
- 35.03 €
- Fuel surcharge · YQ
- 115.00 €
- Security fee · PT
- 7.12 €
- Custo
- 444.15 €
- Copagamento
- − 79.00 €
- Reembolso
- 365.15 €
Copagamento of €79 is the share the passenger pays themselves; it is deducted always, from every claim. For students it is €59.
Who is eligible
The portal decides this from data held by Autenticação.gov, the tax office and social security. You cannot influence it, but it helps to understand which category you have been placed in: it determines the size of your share. A quick check in three questions — on the first page.
- ResidenteRegistered in the autonomous region. The portal automatically checks that you have lived here for at least six months.
- Residente Equiparado na RA MadeiraMoved less than six months ago and works in the region in a public-sector role.
- Estudante na RA AçoresA student studying in the Azores.
- Estudante no Continente/EstrangeiroA student from the islands studying on the mainland or abroad.
A foreign national needs a valid título de residência — the portal reminds you of this in a separate pop-up at login. A spouse, children and dependants are added to the profile beforehand, and their flights then go into the same claim: Family.
What is refunded and what is not
The list from that ⓘ icon. Everything in the left column is copied from the invoice into the step-four fields; everything in the right column is not, even if it appears on the invoice.
Refunded
- Economy-class fare
- Airport fees
- Ticketing fee · XP or OB
- Fuel surcharge · YQ
- Passenger fee · YP
- Carbon fee · J9
- Security fee · PT
- Baggage included in the fare
- Seat selection, check-in and priority boarding — if included in the fare
Not refunded
- Travel insurance
- Excess baggage
- Bank charges
- Add-ons purchased after the ticket
- Any option not included in the base price
- Baggage, seat selection, check-in and priority — if bought separately
Two rules that are easy to miss
The ticketing fee is capped at €35 one way and €70 return. On the invoice it may be labelled XP, YR, OB or DV.
If you flew on miles or a gift voucher, enter only the euros that actually left your card.
The discount and the check
The fee fields on the portal carry no asterisk: they go through blank without an error, and on a normal ticket that is about €157 — over a third of the refund. So checking your own figures is the only safeguard.
The discount is deducted from the outbound fare
In our invoice, the fare calculation line gives an outbound fare of 202.00, and page one shows a DESCONTO of 5.00. What went into the portal was 197.00 — 202.00 minus the discount. Custo came out at 444.15, exactly matching the invoice's TOTAL, and the claim was approved.
The check is simple: add up both fares and all the fees. It should come to exactly the TOTAL on page one of the invoice. If it comes to more, the discount was not deducted.
The cap is gone
Until 6 June 2026 the refund was capped at €400 per trip. Lei n.º 23/2026 removed that cap, but the official service page still says €400 — and two of our own claims, above that figure, were paid in full, minus Copagamento. In detail, with a difference calculator — What changed in the law.