I continued my indirect trip home with a TAP Air Portugal flight from Washington to Lisbon on the A321LR in business class, a short but pleasant flight. I’ll offer first impressions of my flight here and a full review later on.
TAP Air Portugal A321LR Business Class – My First Impressions
Flying transatlantic business class on a narrow body jet is a dealbreaker for many travelers, but not for me. I generally prefer widebody jets (and some widebodies like the A350 or 787 more than others like the 767), but I don’t mind the A321 to cross the pond: give me a decent meal, cool cabin, and lie-flat bed and I’ll be happy.
I wanted to fly TAP because I haven’t flown it since my A330-900neo review several years ago and I do wonder how long TAP will remain in Star Alliance with Air France-KLM aggressively trying to purchase a stake in the company.
I was enjoying the Chase Sapphire Lounge in IAD and was among the last to board rather than the first, but took some pictures of the cabin after we landed in Lisbon. Like JetBlue, Aer Lingus, SAS, and other A321neo operators, the seat configuration is alternating 2-2, 1-1, and I did not end up with a throne seat, having booked the trip quite late.
Even so, I slept very well because the cabin was not warm and there were individual air vents.
It was a 10:35 p departure so I appreciated that dinner was served promptly after takeoff. The simple meal included soup (potato and watercress) plus an entree (I had pasta with marina sauce and short ribs), followed by tiramisu. There were no other appetizers or salad offered.
I intended to sleep through breakfast since the flight was only seven hours, but I was awakened by people eating around me and so I tried the breakfast, which was a deli plate with a side of sliced fruit and an espresso. I ended up eating a few bites, but was still stuffed from dinner, with my body used to intermittent fasting until noon.
The flight attendants were professional, lavatory clean, and IFE selection respectable. I’ll offer more details on the IFE, service, and amenities onboard in my full review, but the bottom line is the flight was pleasant and I would not hesitate to recommend TAP or fly again on this same aircraft.
As usual, and this is one downside to flying TAP via Lisbon, we landed a remote stand and had to be bussed in. Next, I’ll share about how EES immigration was at LIS.
Also took TAP’s a321LR, EWR-OPO, got one of the ‘throne’ seats. We should see more of this product everywhere. Much better to be able to fly nonstop to where you actually want to go, in premium (true, lie-flat), than to say, have to connect in LIS.
I know a certain Tim on these forums hates the idea of narrowbodies across the Atlantic, but I have also taken this flight and it was perfectly fine!