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Tap Air Portugal Airlines Business Class - What You Need to Know Before Flying – Are you planning to travel to Portugal? Book your flight ticket in Tap air Portugal Business Class to enjoy the comfort and luxury of your air travel. TAP Air Portugal has emerged as a solid contender for full-service flights at discount-carrier prices.
Portugal’s national carrier has a modern and well-connected fleet departing from seven US cities including New York and San Francisco, with free stopovers in Lisbon or Porto included with flights through Europe, a robust in-flight entertainment system including wifi (for a fee), and on-board catering highlighting seasonal Portuguese flavors.
You can take assistance from Airlines Ticket Policy by calling the customer support at +1-888-474-0163.
TAP Air Portugal is a member of Star Alliance, the flag carrier for Portugal. Founded in 1945, mostly flying to Spain and domestic destinations, TAP later pioneered experimental long-distance flights to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Goa, India before branching out into more African, European, and North American destinations. As it approaches its 80th anniversary, they operate 75 planes to 90 destinations worldwide, mostly through their hub at Humberto Delgado Lisbon Airport. American travelers can fly from Boston, Chicago, Miami, Newark, New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C., to Lisbon and Porto, before connecting to destinations in continental Europe, the UK and Ireland, and Northern Africa.
Business class (called Executive class) passengers on TAP Air Portugal can look forward to lie-flat seats on transatlantic routes, a generous baggage allowance, and niceties such as noise-canceling headphones, lounge access in some airports, and multi-course meals. While the airline has won World Travel Awards for its service from Portugal to South America and Africa, it gets just a 3-star rating from Skytrax and frequent negative ratings from passengers. However, the fares for TAP Air Portugal’s business class are often the lowest for lie-flat seats to Europe, so it’s a trade off many don’t mind making.
You can take assistance from Airlines Ticket Policy by calling the customer support at +1-888-474-0163.
While TAP regularly offers deals for their Executive Class, it’s also complained about for its hard-to-use website, frequent delays, and slow-to-issue refunds. TAP Air Portugal is a two-class airline with some differences in fares: regular Executive class fares are not refundable or changeable without a fee (starting at €85 but more like $300 for transatlantic flights), while Top Executive includes free changes and refunds along with its core business class service; the highest fare class is generally around $200 more each way than Executive. (Economy fares are also mostly differentiated by their freedom to change and amount of baggage included, though a few Comfort rows offer a few inches of additional legroom.
TAP Air Portugal operates all Airbuses for long-haul flights from the US to Europe, generally A321-LR and A330-900 aircraft. Each plane has a mix of Executive (business class) and Economy (with slightly more spacious Comfort seats in the front of Economy). Business class seats are 22-27” wide (compared to 17” in economy), with up to an extra foot of legroom/pitch (42” or 44” vs. 31-34” in economy), and lie fully flat for transatlantic flights. Medium-haul business class seats (such as from Lisbon to Italy or the UK) will generally resemble those in economy, with the middle seat blocked off and a full meal service.
TAP Air Portugal only has a dedicated TAP Premium lounge at its hub in Lisbon, renovated in December 2022. Passengers departing from US airports in Chicago, Miami, Newark, and San Francisco may use codeshare air lounges such as United or SAS. Travelers leaving Boston, New York JFK, and Washington, DC will have to make do with the airport food court or pay for their own lounge service until TAP expands. (For some late-night departures including Newark, this may mean no lounge access as partners do not stay open late for TAP departures.)
There are two lounges at Lisbon airport, both in the Schengen zone: the TAP Premium Lounge (free for upper class Star Alliance passengers and those with airline status, economy passengers may buy access for €25) and the ANA Lounge, which is also free to Priority Pass cardholders (and access is also available for fee).
The TAP Premium Lounge has open seating, a full bar as well as self-service wine and beer, a hot and cold food buffet of Portuguese and international food (don’t miss the pasteis de nata). The lounge has a capacity for 320 people and was significantly less crowded during my midweek visit than ANA which had a line outside, though food offerings can be sparse during a meal changeover. The food and drinks are a nice port in the storm of a busy airport, but the offerings are nothing out of the ordinary compared to other airlines’ flagship lounges.
Note that Lisbon passengers should budget time for passport control and additional security after the lounge and before boarding. The passport control line has no fast-track for premium passengers and flights to the US may have additional security checks that delay boarding. Boarding may also take longer leaving Lisbon when the gate is remote and passengers must take a shuttle bus from the gate to the plane, another frequent complaint from travelers.
You can take assistance from Airlines Ticket Policy by calling the customer support at +1-888-474-0163.
At Lisbon Airport, TAP executive passengers check in at a separate entrance with dedicated desks, saving significant time compared to the long lines for TAP economy passengers. Fast Track security is a breeze too, whisking business class travelers ahead of long lines for other guests. (Fast Track can also be purchased for €9.) After check-in and security, all passengers should also expect to go through passport control (often a lengthy line) and additional security for US-bound flights.
For flights outside Lisbon, TAP Air Portugal has dedicated check-in desks for business class and boarding passes indicate fast security and lounge access where available (at London Heathrow Airport, this saved going through long lines at Terminal 2 and granted access to United’s Lounge among others).
While all TAP Air Portugal passengers except discount economy get one free checked bag up to 50 pounds (23 kg) included in their fare, executive class passengers may check two bags for free, up to 70 pounds (32 kg) each and carry on two cabin bags. As many of the executive class seats do not have floor space for bags, they may ask them to be stored in the overhead compartment during takeoff and landing. Bags are tagged with priority handling which theoretically makes them first off the plane on arrival.
You can take assistance from Airlines Ticket Policy by calling the customer support at +1-888-474-0163.
A330-900neo: The Rolls-Royce (actually, they built the engines for this aircraft) of TAP Air Portugal’s fleet has 34 business seats in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration, all facing the aisle. The individual “throne” seats alternate the side table to the left or right of the seat, making some seats more aligned with the window. TAP was the first airline to take delivery of this plane with Airbus’ Airspace cabin, designed to have more baggage capacity on board for more passengers. Business class seats lie flat to 77” long, with a width of 22” (up from 17” in economy) and a 42” pitch (from 31” or 34” in economy). All business class seats have a generous adjustable tray table (which folds out from under the TV screen rather than awkwardly from the arm rest) and surface space for drinks, as well as a few small storage compartments for personal objects, but not much space on the floor or in-seat for shoes or bags. There is a dedicated bathroom at the front of the plane.
A321-200LR: TAP Air Portugal’s other mainstay for long-haul flights to and from Lisbon, with 16 lie-flat seats in either “honeymoon” (two seats side-by-side) or “throne” (single seats separated by an aisle) configurations. Executive class seats are slightly larger than on the A330, making it preferable for overnight US-Europe flights. The A321 seats are fully flat at 80” long, with a width of 27.5” (almost 10” wider than economy seats), and a pitch of 44” (compared to 32-34” in economy and economy comfort). Throne seats have a large storage cubby and more surface space for drinks, while all seats in business class have the tray table unfolding from the center console and an outlet for USB or European plugs.
A320-200neo: Used for medium-haul flights such as London to Lisbon, the business class seats on this plane are similar to economy, just with the middle seat generally blocked off for seating. Executive class has slightly better legroom (up to 34” vs 28”), enhanced meal service, and a slightly reclining seat (most economy seats on these planes do not recline). None of the seats on these planes have in-flight entertainment, and only some have outlets or USB plugs. (On our LIS-LGW flight, they used an E190 plane typically reserved for short-haul flights, this was a 2-2 configuration with identical seats but enhanced service.)
You can take assistance from Airlines Ticket Policy by calling the customer support at +1-888-474-0163.
Business class passengers will find amenity kits waiting in their seats on TAP Air Portugal, with a tube of WK facial moisturizer, an eye mask, toothbrush and toothpaste, argyle socks in TAP colors, and a pen. Long-haul flights will have a duvet and large pillow, water bottles, and noise-canceling headphones to connect to in-flight entertainment.
The in-seat entertainment has a large 15” screen which can be angled away from your neighbor, with a decent selection of films, TV shows, travel programs, and even Portuguese lessons. WiFi is available for free messaging or paid browsing (starting around $10 for an hour of internet). The touchscreen can also be controlled with a pullout remote control, and flight attendants can sometimes be persnickety about stowing or unplugging headphones before landing.
Here lies one of TAP Air Portugal’s greatest issues: Service is perfunctory at best. Gate agents at all of the airports were brusque, boarding was often chaotic, and once on board, no welcome drinks were offered and service was impersonal and not on demand. One business class passenger actually begged for some sort of snack before our delayed takeoff, told to drink his bottle of water and wait until after takeoff, and was told there were no nuts, only to have some offered at the start of meal service an hour later.
While many other airlines offer a glass of sparkling wine or juice upon boarding even to premium economy passengers or at least just after takeoff, on TAP Air Portugal drink service was only offered alongside meals and with a warning that alcohol could be “limited” at their discretion.
You can take assistance from Airlines Ticket Policy by calling the customer support at +1-888-474-0163.
If you’ve seen an amazing deal for business class to Europe, chances are it’s going to be on TAP Air Portugal. While the in-flight service and worldwide lounge access might not compare to an Asian flagship carrier like ANA or even a legacy airline like Delta, if you are looking for a way across the pond with a true lie-flat seat and all the ways to skip the airport lines while paying closer to premium economy prices, you’d be wise to consider TAP Air Portugal.
If you think your travel plans may change in any way, you would also be wise to shell out a bit more for a Top Executive fare. While the flying experience is the same as a TAP Air Portugal Executive ticket, the ability to make flight changes or request a refund will save hundreds, and the difference in fare may be less than the $300 change/$250 cancellation fee.
You can take assistance from Airlines Ticket Policy by calling the customer support at +1-888-474-0163.