Portuguese airline and Star Alliance member TAP is in the midst of refreshing its A330 longhaul fleet. The retrofit project means new seats in both business and economy class. The angled seats in business class are out and lie-flat beds are in.
TAP released a very cool time-lapse video that documents one A330 transformation–
TAP’s new Business Class will feature Thompson Vantage seats, similar to what we see on South African Airways.
> Read More: Pictures: Sexy New South African Airways A330-300 Business Class
I find these seats extremely comfortable and look forward to flying TAP again. While TAP’s color scheme is very plain, it should age well.
TAP is also installing Economy Plus on its retrofitted planes. This will not be a true premium economy product. Instead, it will be similar to United’s Economy Plus that simply offers more legroom (34″ vs. 31″). Economy Plus seats are free for TAP’s elite members and can be reserved for $65 on transatlantic trips. Reservations must be made at least 72 hours prior to travel.
How Do I Fly the New TAP Business Class?
Currently, the new TAP Business Class appears on flights between Lisbon and Boston/New York JFK. TAP also flies to Miami and Newark and I would expect Newark to be the next lie-flat destinations since it competes with United.
Paid fares can be very reasonable — always check before using your points. If you do plan on using miles, note that business class is 88K r/t with ANA, 55K one-way with Aeroplan, or 70K one-way with United. Fuel surcharges on Aeroplan or ANA run about $500 r/t between the USA and Lisbon, more if you are connecting to a point deeper into Europe. United does not pass on fuel surcharges.
CONCLUSION
TAP’s new business class is competitive and I look forward to flying it. To offer a consistent product, I hope that the retrofit program will progress quickly.
just to be slightly pedantic, the SAS one is VantageXL (same one for new Delta One), which has all aisle access. The Aer Lingus / jetBlue / TAP variant, however, doesn’t.
South African is already flying their newest product on the JNB-GRU route.
Thank you both! I’ve made a slight correction.
Just wondering if you had any updates on the business class seats on the Miami to Lisbon flights. We flew Lisbon to Miami on 6/9/18 and the seats were still the older angle flat and frankly were uncomfortable. My husband and I are on the short side and we kept sliding down the incline. Do you know when the Miami to Lisbon flights will be retrofitted to the flat beds. We are considering booking business for June 2019 flights but really only want to if they seats are improved to the flat bed. Thanks
Hi Connie
Flying tomorrow from LIS to MIA and we were just re-seated to the retrofitted 330-200 with 6 rows in business and all flat bed. for the return flight I currently cannot see the configuration anymore on the booking which is strange but could mean that the are in de midst of changing it to the retrofitted version as well.
Hi Peter, just planned to book for dec 2019 from Lis to mia. Can you confirm that you flew in a new version with all flat bed?
Thank you!
Jurgen
Jurgen, I can confirm the new A330neo will be on the route, so you will enjoy not just the current flat bed, but the next generation bed.