Flight Review: TAP Air Portugal Long Haul Business Class IAD-LIS

If you follow my travels, I am not one to typically fly business class. This means that when I do have the rare opportunity to fly up-front, I am like a kid in a candy shop. 

For this special ski trip with my mom, I worked hard and searched to find reasonable and affordable routings in order to fly business class to Switzerland. For our desired departure date, this meant connecting in Lisbon. 

As it was my first time crossing the Atlantic on a narrow-body plane, I was skeptical of the experience but ultimately really enjoyed this quick flight to Lisbon. This article will share my thoughts on flying TAP Air Portugal business class, or as they list it: executive class. 

This article is part of my Trip Report: Skiing in Switzerland including:

• Lounge Review: United Polaris Lounge IAD
• Flight Review: TAP Air Portugal Long Haul Business Class Flight IAD-LIS
• Flight Review: TAP Air Portugal Intra-Europe Business Class Flight LIS-ZRH
• Lounge Review: TAP Premium Lounge Lisbon
• Hotel Review: Moxy Bern Expo
• The Trains of Switzerland: My Thoughts
• Hotel Review: Hotel Schweizerhof of Zermatt
• Skiing Zermatt in March: My Thoughts
• Going to Italy for Lunch
• Hotel Review: Sheraton Zurich
• Lounge Review: Swiss International Lounge Zurich
• Flight Review: United Polaris Business Class ZRH-IAD
  

Ground Experience

We arrived at the airport around 8:00 pm, just over two hours before departure in order to allow time to check out the United Polaris lounge.

Luckily, we were able to get mobile boarding passes and were traveling with carry-ons, so we headed straight to security. At least we got to marvel at the amazing structure that is Washington Dulles. 

No need for Clear when there was no TSA precheck line. We went right to the front and were quickly through security. We took the tram to Terminal C in order to check out the Polaris lounge before back-tracking to Terminal A/B for our flight.

When it was time to board, they required that we go to the desk because we had mobile boarding passes. They quickly printed our boarding passes and insisted that we weigh our luggage. 

I forgot the threshold they mentioned, but our carry-ons were above the weight limit. The agent told us that we’d have to check our luggage when someone else whispered to him that we were in business class, and without hesitation, we were good to board the plane. An odd experience, but I was happy to not be separated from my luggage. 

The Seat

Due to TAP Air Portugal flying a narrow-body on a long haul flight, the seating is arranged in the same style as JetBlue. It alternates between 1-1 and 2-2 across with only one aisle. 

I was lucky enough to be able to reserve two throne seats when I booked the flight, which meant we had ample storage space and room to spread out once on board. 

Our lie-flat seats were accessorized with a pillow, comforter, and small amenity kit. I quickly got situated and comfy for the roughly 7-hour flight across the pond. Both sides of the seat had large surfaces, which was great for holding the blanket and pillow when I did not need them. Further, there was a storage cubby to the right of the seat and a light.

The seat had plenty of controls and reclined into a lie flat bed. Although the footwell was tight, I was very glad to be actually able to sleep, which I did for about 5-hours, a win in my book. 

The seat also had a large display, which was great for watching a movie while I ate dinner. My only complaint was that the small pathway to the seat was quite narrow and while not inhibiting, it did make it more difficult to get in and out of the seat. 

Food and Beverage

I will cut to the chase. The food was nothing revolutionary, but it also was not bad. I requested a gluten free meal which ended up being chicken with a side of more chicken, but it did not taste bad. However, I would have preferred something from the menu such as the steak. I also enjoyed the fruit.

I was not served dessert, but my mom said it was not good anyways. Before drifting to sleep I had some tea and a chocolate while I wrapped up my movie.

Unfortunately, I missed the breakfast meal since I slept until pretty much 7 or 8 minutes before landing. I am not bummed that I missed it (not a breakfast person anyways), but rather that I did not get to check it out. 

Service

Overall, the service was solid. Anytime I had a question, they were quick to help. Further, they were always ready to quickly grab any dirty or empty dishes after finishing, which was nice. Being in a small cabin, this definitely helped. 

That said, the service was not super personalized, but I have no complaints. My only weird encounter was immediately after the flight attendant presented me with my gluten free meal (and told me it was gluten free), she proceeded to come back with the bread basket and offer me the selection. I politely declined.

That said, I was asleep most of the flight, so I may have missed any other encounters. Overall, I thought the service was solid. 

How I Booked

Flying business class would not be attainable to me without points and miles, so that is exactly how I purchased this ticket. I made use of one of the best sweet spots in award travel, ANA round trip flight awards from the U.S. to Europe for 88,000 miles round trip.

The one downside of ANA’s program is that they pass on fuel surcharges, which meant that while trying to not break the bank, flying carriers such as Swiss or Lufthansa was not possible, as they add fuel surcharges that cost hundreds if not thousands of points. 

This left me with TAP Air Portugal, United Airlines and Air Canada as some of the viable options to book with ANA miles WITHOUT the fuel surcharges (none of these carriers pass on fuel charges).

I transferred 176,000 miles from American Express Membership Rewards to ANA Mileage Club in order to book two business class seats round trip from Washington D.C. (IAD) to Zurich (ZRH) with the outbound connecting through Lisbon on Air Portugal and the inbound direct with United. The taxes and fees came to $75.37 per person, not too shabby.

The Last Point

Being one of my first business class flights, other than flying Air France business last summer, I do not have too much to compare it to. That said, it was the perfect flight I needed. 

I got to spend the day at home before heading to the airport for dinner. After getting on board, it was not long before I slept through the night and arrived in Europe. 

I would not hesitate to fly TAP Air Portugal business class again, especially given their frequent sales for transatlantic flights. Whether heading to Portugal or beyond, it was a comfortable flight with decent food and I enjoyed my experience as did my mother!