Review: TAP Air Portugal Business Class (A330-900neo)

After an enjoyable trip to Morocco and Portugal, we headed back home on TAP Air Portugal from Lisbon to San Francisco in business class. This was not my first time flying TAP as we had flown them a week or so prior on a short flight between Lisbon and Madeira. On that flight we were actually able to bid for an upgrade to business class and fly on the same Airbus A330neo plane that we would take for this present flight. However, it was my first time flying TAP Air Portugal on a long haul route, and having heard generally good things about the product I was looking forward to the flight.

Read on for my review of TAP Air Portugal, flight 237. 

Booking TAP Air Portugal Business Class

Business Class	Aircraft	Route	Flight Duration
TP 237	Airbus A330-900neo	Lisbon to San Francisco	12 Hours 40 Minutes

I booked this flight nearly a full year out, at a cost of 140,000 Aeroplan points plus $304.40 CAD in taxes and fees for the Business Class (Lowest) fare class. The taxes and fees weren’t a steal by any measure, but still a reasonable price to pay for transatlantic business class on a lie-flat product.  

Once booked through Aeroplan, managing the reservation shifted over to TAP’s own ecosystem within the TAP Portugal app and website. Seat selection was available right at booking, which I appreciated, and meal pre-selection is also accessible through the app or online ahead of departure. Both processes were fairly straightforward.

Ground Experience 

Lisbon Airport Fast Track 

As a business class passenger, Fast Track access was included with our ticket at no extra cost, which was a welcome perk for a long-haul departure. This allowed us to breeze through security extremely quickly. 

That said, it’s worth knowing that “fast track” at Lisbon Airport only covers security, before you get your hopes up too high. Once you’re through, you’re still on your own for passport control, which means rejoining the general queue depending on how busy the border booths are. 

For travellers connecting from a Schengen flight or starting their journey domestically, this is an easy detail to miss and the airport’s layout doesn’t do much to spell it out clearly. The signage and flow between the security checkpoint and passport control is genuinely confusing, especially if it’s your first time navigating Lisbon’s non-Schengen departure area, so budget a bit of extra time accordingly.

TAP Air Portugal Premium Lounge (Tejo) 

After passing through security via the Fast Track lane, we were in Terminal 1 and went straight to the TAP Air Portugal Premium Lounge (TEJO) as it was familiar to us from our domestic flight to Madeira. This lounge is located in the Schengen area of Terminal 1 right after security, up the escalators to the second floor. It is large with 320 seats and is open from 5:00 AM until midnight.

Unfortunately for us, we completely forgot we needed to still go through passport control to get to the Non-Schengen area of the airport, which also had an additional TAP Air lounge that would have been more appropriate.

As this is a common mistake travelers make, it would have been nice if the lounge had noticed our boarding pass was for an international flight and let us know we could go to the other TAP Air lounge on the Non-Schengen side. Of course it was ultimately our fault… We had even watched videos online before the trip where people warned about this quirk of the Lisbon airport, but completely overlooked it on the day of travel.  

This lounge was busy most of the time but had a nice variety of seating available. The food was self-serve and had some decent options to choose from. 

There was a real bar here with a menu which was a treat. I ordered a caipirinha here which was surprisingly one of the best I had in Portugal.

TAP Air Portugal Premium Lounge  (Atlantico)

The correct lounge for non-Schengen departures, including any transatlantic flight, is the Atlântico Lounge, also in Terminal 1 but on the other side of passport control. It’s a much smaller space at around 100 seats, with the same hours of 5:00 AM to midnight. I didn’t actually make it there on this trip due to the passport shenanigans described above, so I can’t give you a firsthand look at the food, drinks, or seating. However, I’ll be sure to check it out on my next Lisbon connection.

Boarding Process

Boarding began around 2:05 AM, and the process was, to put it charitably, a mess. There were no organised boarding zones or lanes, just a large crowd funnelled toward the gate all at once. For a long-haul business class fare, it was a surprisingly chaotic way to start the flight.

Even after we got through the gate entrance with our passports scanned, it took another 20 or so minutes to actually get to the plane with constant stopping from the log jams of people trying to board.

For what it’s worth, my domestic TAP Air Portugal boarding went much smoother than this even though it was the same plane, but it certainly wasn’t as full as this international flight.

Cabin Arrangement

TAP Air Portugal has configured their A330-900neo cabins in a 1-2-1 configuration with direct aisle access for every seat. The cabin runs nine rows deep for a total of 34 seats, arranged with single window seats on each side and a centre pair in the middle.

The centre pairs of odd rows (1,3,5,7,9), designated E and F seats, face each other across a shared console (honeymoon seats), making them the natural choice for couples or travel partners. Center pairs in even rows (2,4,6,8) are designated D and G, and face away from each other with the console in between, offering a bit more privacy. 

The window seats in the odd rows, designated as A and K, are oriented toward the window. So if you’re travelling solo and want a view or a bit more privacy, they are also a good option. The window seats in even rows (2,4,6,8), designated (C and H), are oriented towards the aisle with the console nearer to the window. 

As far as seat selection goes, the usual logic applies: rows closer to the galley and lavatory tend to come with more ambient noise and foot traffic. Row 1 sits right at the front bulkhead, which can mean slightly more interruption from crew movement, but it also means you’re first off the plane, which is definitely nice after a 12h 40m flight.

We were travelling as a couple and chose seats 1E and 1F, the honeymoon centre pair in the first row. The proximity to the galley was a minor consideration, but on a long-haul overnight flight, being first to disembark in San Francisco was a nice benefit. In actuality, we found the galley noise was fairly minimal and we had no regrets about the pick.

Seat

TAP Air Portugal on the A330-900neo features Recaro CL6710 seats throughout the cabin. These seats have a 20.5” width and 180° recline. We had chosen seats 1E/1F, the centre honeymoon pair in row one.

The aesthetic of the seats is understated with grey and taupe fabric upholstery, wood-effect side consoles, and a generally clean look. 

The entertainment screens are mounted on the seat shell in front of you, and present a 16-inch HD touchscreen display that is responsive and crisp. The screen is attached to an axle/viewing arm so can be pulled out for a straight on viewing angle. 

The screen has a handheld remote stowed in the side console, which is useful once the tray table is deployed and reaching forward to tap the screen becomes awkward. 

For the seat controls, a panel on the side console next to the armrest handles recline and flat-bed positioning. It’s intuitive enough and includes presets for upright, lounge, and flat.

The storage was acceptable, but maybe slightly below average. There was really just a small compartment with a sliding door along the side console, combined with a very small compartment located underneath the armrest with a folding door.

The seat is equipped with a universal 110V AC power socket, as well as a couple of USB-A sockets, but no modern USB-C or wireless charging. 

The tray table folds out from underneath the entertainment console, which keeps the surface in front of you clear. It takes a little bit of fiddling to get fully deployed, but it was a good size for dining and that’s all I can ask for.

Also of note, the seat had a privacy divider which extended only as far as the armrest. A good thing to have if you’re not beside a fellow traveler, but I’d still recommend a window seat in this cabin configuration if you’re flying solo.

Overall, this is a solid, if unspectacular business class seat. The direct aisle access, fully flat bed, and responsive entertainment screen cover the fundamentals well, and traveling as a couple in the honeymoon configuration made for a comfortable setup. Few quirks aside, for a transatlantic overnight flight the seat does what it is supposed to do. 

Bed

The seat converts to a fully flat 76” long bed, which on a 12-plus-hour overnight flight is the most attractive feature of TAP’s business class seat. For the most part, I was happy with the bed. It was wide enough that I was able to sleep on my back, side, and stomach at various points through the night, which puts it ahead of many products out there.

There were a couple of small issues I noticed. 

For one there is a seam where the footwell extension meets the seat cushion when laid flat. There’s a visible join that you can see in my photos, and you can feel a subtle ridge through the surface. The fixed headrest also creates an awkward feeling ridge underneath the pillow when you’re lying flat. Neither are enough to derail sleep, but on a flight this long you’re aware of it. 

My other gripe was the lack of any incline option. I like to prop up slightly, somewhere between upright and fully flat. TAP’s seat doesn’t offer that middle ground; it’s seat or bed, nothing in between.

Otherwise, the bedding was functional but unremarkable. The grey quilted blanket does the job, and the yellow geometric-patterned pillow is a decent size. But there’s no mattress pad or topper, which you do get on several other carriers. 

Another positive thing I flagged was that the centre pairs of seats share a low divider between them. If you’re travelling as a couple, it’s actually a cozy setup that makes those rows even more well-suited to pairs (and perhaps less suited to solo travelers). 

Amenity Kit

The amenity kits were provided in partnership with Benamor (Lisboa 1925) and came in a variety of colors including orange, blue and yellow.

The amenity kit was relatively minimal and included an eyemask, socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, hand cream, and ear plugs. 

Bathroom 

The bathroom was a standard size for business class. I found there was enough room to move around comfortably.

There wasn’t much in terms of additional amenities aside from some moist towelettes. 

Dining

Right away before takeoff, we were offered a welcome drink of orange juice or champagne and provided with a single menu to make our drink and food selections. We had already pre-selected our meals, and those were confirmed by the flight attendant. 

About 30 minutes after reaching altitude, hot towels were brought out to us and shortly thereafter our first meal was served. 

On all accounts, including the first and second meals, I found the food on TAP Air Portugal was rather mediocre. 

First Meal

To drink, I started with a local William Hinton madeiran rum and ginger ale, which was quite tasty. 

For my appetizer I had the crayfish pastry with coleslaw. It was quite good. However the main course of codfish with stew sauce and sweet potatoes were just okay. My partner had the tartufo pasta which she found rather unremarkable as well.

For dessert we had sorbet which was pretty good. 

Some chocolates were also brought out after dessert with a choice of salted, caramel, or milk.

Second Meal

The second meal was actually better than the first meal, but still nothing otherworldly by any means. We had chicken caesar salad, along with a pastel da nata pastry and some fruit.

The Pastel da Nata was probably the highlight of this one.

Entertainment

Entertainment Console

The inflight entertainment system (IFE) had a pretty broad selection of movies, tv shows, and other content including music, including some basic Portuguese language lessons which is thoughtful.

I didn’t use the provided over-ear headphones, but they appeared to be of high quality and had noise cancelling functionality.

Notably the entertainment system requested an optional five digit code to “personalize the inflight experience”. I am not entirely sure what entering this does, but I couldn’t find my code on my digital or app-based boarding pass and didn’t put in any more effort than that to figure it out. 

WiFi

WiFi was available on this flight and was straightforward to connect to. 

Unfortunately, it was not free even for passengers in business class.

While messaging was free, having WiFi for the entire flight would cost €29.99. Paying for WiFi in business class always irks me, and amounting to nearly $50 Canadian dollars, I didn’t bother with it for this flight and opted to do some work offline, play games, and watch a movie to pass the time.

Conclusion

TAP Air Portugal business class is a decent but unremarkable product. The seat and bed are comfortable enough for a transatlantic overnight flight, and the 1-2-1 cabin layout with universal aisle access is a plus. Where it falls short is in some of the details: mediocre food, paid WiFi in business class, and a chaotic boarding experience that you wouldn’t expect at this fare level. 

I have zero regrets with this redemption. It’s a reasonable use of Aeroplan points at the fixed partner award cost, where the price is just right. But it’s still unlikely to be the most memorable flight of anyone’s year.