Review: TAP Air Portugal Business Class ORD to LIS

On our recent trip to Portugal, my daughter and I flew on TAP Air Portugal in business class from Chicago (ORD) to Lisbon (LIS). I booked our flights through Air Canada’s Aeroplan program for 60,000 miles each (see this post). I don’t have a lot of business class flights to compare this experience to, but my main points of comparison are the three flights I’ve flown on Air France in business class (see this post for my review of Air France business class).

Airport Experience at ORD

For this trip, we were traveling with just carry-ons. But, we got in the business class check-in line to have our passports validated. (Passengers who did not do this had to wait in a line at the boarding gate). Since we didn’t have any bags to check, our time with the agent was minimal.

Our business class tickets entitled us to enter the SAS lounge:

This lounge was small and very crowded. I took this photo when we first entered, but it continued to fill up.

We ended up sharing a table with some folks on their way to Egypt. I enjoyed the conversation.

The food and drinks were set up in the corner of the lounge. The selection was minimal, but it was all we needed for a light dinner/snack since we would be eating dinner later on our flight.

My daughter especially loved the cookies and cake that were available:

The main drawback to the SAS lounge is that it doesn’t have restrooms inside. Yes, you read that correctly. This lounge has no restrooms. You must exit the lounge and use the airport restrooms.

But even so, I was grateful to have the free food and seating in this lounge before our flight.

Soon, it was time to head to our gate and board the plane.

On-board Experience in Business Class

Our flight was on an Airbus A330-900neo aircraft. This map from aerolopa.com shows the layout of the business cabin:

The cabin has one bathroom in the front left and two bathrooms in the rear of the cabin. I didn’t take any bathroom photos, but the bathrooms were small and seemed like typical airplane bathrooms (nothing bigger or fancier).

We chose seats 3K and 5K since they are seats closer to the window with more privacy. Each seat is 22.3inches wide and reclines to a 76-inch fully flat bed.

We found a pillow, blanket, menu, water bottle and noise-cancelling headphones already at our seats.

The adjustable IFE screen and tray table:

Outlets and a small storage box to the left of the seat:

We were required to close this upper storage space during takeoff. Overall, storage at the seats was somewhat limited. But, I had plenty of room for stuff on the large table to the left of my seat.

My daughter and I both loved the secluded feel of each of our seats. When we were sitting down, we couldn’t see any other passengers. It was nice being away from the aisle. I highly recommend odd-numbered window seats in this aircraft.

Before takeoff, flight attendants passed out these amenity kits that included a sleep mask, toothbrush/toothpaste, earplugs, socks and hand lotion.

Surprisingly, we were not offered a pre-flight beverage. Food menu:

Due to turbulence after takeoff, meal service was delayed. Therefore, the appetizer of warm nuts and the starter course were served at the same time as the main course.

I enjoyed the halibut starter dish, but did not care for the beef main course. Dessert was great, though:

Cheese, ice cream, fruit and a cookie. Then, to top it all off, flight attendants passed out chocolate bars:

I watched Wonka (great movie!), and then I converted my seat into the lie-flat bed. Due to the wide arm rests, the bed felt like it was wider than the lie-flat bed on my Air France flights. I snoozed on and off for 2-3 hours and woke up when the cabin lights turned on for breakfast.

Breakfast was lite, but it was all we needed: Bread, cheese, turkey, fruit.

I spent the last segment of the flight reviewing some key Portuguese phrases on the IFE screen:

About 7 1/2 hours after takeoff, we landed in Lisbon.

Overall Thoughts

Our flight to Lisbon in TAP Air Portugal’s business class was great. In comparison to Air France business class, these seats were newer, and they felt wider and less clunky. I loved the privacy from my seat.

However, the service wasn’t quite as good as on Air France. On Air France, the flight attendants were always making the rounds to offer more drinks and food. That didn’t happen during this TAP Air Portugal flight (although it might have happened during the 2-3 hours I was snoozing).

But, the bottom line is that my daughter and I both felt rested and pampered after this flight in business class. As I was sitting on the flight, I thought to myself how lucky we were to be having that experience. I would gladly pay miles/points (but not cash $$$) to experience business class on TAP Air Portugal again.