Yes, there were ground delays, but how the TAP Air Portugal experience onboard the new A330-900neo? Not bad at all.
A single business class cabin includes 34 lie-flat seats in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration with direct aisle access from every seat. These Recaro CL6710 seats are also featured on EL-AL and are very comfortable…so comfortable I nearly fell asleep in the seated position. Plenty of room for your feet as well, at least in my “aisle” seat.
The highlight of the flight was the excellent service onboard. The flight attendants were tremendous: charming, friendly, and engaging. Perhaps it was not fair of me to assume otherwise, but my prior TAP flights did not feature such caring or attentive service so this was a refreshing surprise.
No, passengers were not addressed by name. But among other things, the flight attendants handled the delay so well. Many passengers were quite upset about the ground delay due to fog. Instead of hiding behind the curtains, the flight attendants were present, chatting with passengers and offering additional drinks. That always helps.
Internet onboard is pricey…I detest that many airlines still charge by data usage. 50EUR for 500MB goes far too quickly (and is highway robbery). The seatback IFE system, however, is very easy to use and included a wide selection of movies.
Food was a disappointment and it wasn’t so much the quality, quantity, or menu selection, but the temperature. The nuts were cold, bread cold, soup was cold, fish wasn’t quite warm enough, and the coffee and tea was cold. What gives? My flight from Frankfurt to Lisbon also featured cold coffee and a cold quiche.
The fish dish “codfish au gratin” was not what I was expecting, but still quite tasty. However, the best part of the meal was the delicious Quinta dos Acores ice cream. Delicious!
Prior to landing, a light deli plate was served with fruit.
CONCLUSION
I’ll have a lot more details in my full review, but walked away with two main impressions. First, TAP offers a superb business class product for the discounted price it charges. Second, service was really a strong point on this flight. I’m not sure what happened with the meal service to make everything cold, but it did not ruin the flight.
Matthew–I wonder if you said anything to the FA’s about the temperature, and how they responded? It seems as though items should be able to be reheated.
I did mention it and they apologized, but by this time I had just eaten it anyway and was ready for a nap. They certainly did not become defensive. On the contrary, they offered to heat it up. But I was just surprised that EVERYTHING was lukewarm.
I took the flight from EWR recently and I really thought the cabin and seats were great! My only gripe was that it seemed to take them forever to get the entrees out on such a short flight that clocks in at under 7 hours. It’s unacceptable that close to 2 hours into the flight the meal service is still going on.
Took two hours on my flight as well, which was another reason I just decided to let it go. But both TAP flights served cold everything. I almost wondered whether it was a cultural thing.
i will fly TAP Neo330-900 from IAD to LIS this April. i hope they are the same seat type
Matthew: I have the option of UA 767 high premium J or TAP A330-NEO in J coming soon. I know you are a UA fan, but asking which you’d prefer considering it’s an overnight flight to Europe?
From Newark?
ORD
I think the TAP seat is more comfortable, but I hate T5 at ORD and would likely choose UA considering the new Polaris seat and easy access to the Polaris Lounge. If Wi-Fi is important and you don’t like throwing money away, that’s another advantage UA has.
Agreed on T5 at ORD. Especially the AF/KLM lounge, for that matter any of them. Do you know if UA will let you in T1 Polaris lounge when flying TAP if crazy enough to go through security twice and take the tram from T1 to T5? Thanks for your insight!
If you can find a way in they will let you into the lounge. The airside shuttle may also be running from around B5 (IIRC). That said, are talking about a ZRH or LHR connection on UA? ZRH and even LHR are far more civil than LIS for transiting.
I flew the TAP A33o-NEO SFO-LIS-SFO in Business in August and September. The crew waited until almost an hour into the flight to start service, but once they got going, they were pleasant and the food was tasty (and hot). I’ll be flying them again in November and December. Given the price of the tickets, I think TAP represents excellent value.
One time this happened to me and i complained. The air hostesses said I was already so hot myself if she warmed up the food too there might be an explosion. She had a good point. I let it go.
You must not be hot.
I flew Chicago-Lisbon on TAP with a connection to Tel Aviv. The A330-neo plane, food and service were all excellent; and I’d fly TAP any time.
What in my mind lets TAP down, and lets them down very badly is the Lisbon Airport ground services. Lisbon airport is extremely crowded and you are almost guaranteed to be parked at a stand and have to take a bus to the terminal. The TAP business lounge is typically very crowded (this is not my first time through Lisbon), and the food choices are poor both in range and temperature – the supposedly hot soup was barely warm. Worse yet is gate check-in. We checked-in at gate 26, which is one of the gates to board buses to the plane. When I flew at end of August, the gate lobby was air conditioned, but when directed to take the bus, the area to congregate to board the bus was dim, had no air conditioning, and as passengers kept coming down the escalator, the area soon became very overcrowded. Twenty minutes after waiting for the bus, it came, we boarded, the doors closed when the bus reached capacity, and then the driver left the bus (who knows why and where he went) and we stood packed like sardines. I know that TAP is not responsible for ground passenger handling, but as the key airline using Lisbon airport this all reflects very badly on TAP.
Two quick notes on the food temperature: AFAIK, breakfast is indeed supposed to be cold; and nuts are generally served cold in continental Europe too. Other than that, they should have served warm(er) food indeed.
Intersting. So an egg quiche is served cold?
Yes, in Portugal we usually eat the quiche cold.
Just came off a 330NEO flight today and largely the same experience. Seats are extremely comfortable.
My only suggestion would be a thicker pillow as it would add to the quality of sleep
Their catering is their weakest point, I find. The quality of the main meal can be inconsistent (sometimes good, sometimes not), and the pre-arrival meal is a bit stingy and uninspired.
But overall, a solid business class service for the price you pay.
I find this true for pretty much every airline that flies to Europe! Sometimes on LH, UA, Swiss, AA, DL you will have a good meal and sometimes it will suck. Only two airlines that consistently have good food between the US and Europe are Austrian and Singapore on their JFK-FRA route. Worst food I had was surprisingly on Emirates on ATH-EWR. If at all possible I try to book Austrian!
Food on TAP is usually pretty poor. I always try to eat in advance if I’m with them at a main meal time. Service is also always slow. Even between LHR-LIS which is a 2.5 hour sector they will not begin service during the first hour.