In April 2023, I flew TAP Air Portugal in business class from Chicago O’Hare to Lisbon, Portugal (TAP is the only carrier who flies this route direct). While not the most luxurious business class product, it’s a solid product that guarantees direct aisle access and a solid chance of catching some sleep across the Atlantic. I was satisfied with my overall experience during this 7 hour 50 minute flight, especially for the price.
One thing that made this particular flight extra special is that it was on the very first A330neo ever flown, which took its inaugural flight back in 2018. How do I know? On the side of the plane, it said “A330neo First to Fly” and I then did a quick lookup of the tail number to confirm. (Ok I’ll stop geeking out but at least my fellow av geeks will appreciate it).
Let’s dive into the details, shall we?
HOW I BOOKED IT
Originally, we had booked economy seats for this flight. However, TAP Air Portugal offers upgrade auctions where you can bid to upgrade to business class. The minimum bid varies, but you have until 36 hours before the flight to submit a bid. If you are outbid, you’ll receive an email and can choose to submit a new bid.
To be honest, the price of our upgrade was larger than our entire round trip economy ticket, but 1) we scored a great deal on the original ticket price and 2) this was a birthday trip and well worth the splurge to get some quality sleep.
LOUNGE
TAP Air Portugal flies out of Terminal 5 at O’Hare. Unfortunately, O’Hare is a lounge desert, so the only lounge I had access to was the SAS Lounge. The one good thing about this lounge: it has snacks and self-serve alcohol. Beyond that, set your expectations low.
This lounge is way too small to accommodate all the Star Alliance passengers flying out of Terminal 5, especially the Friday night I was there. We were barely able to find seats and anyone walking by had to navigate all the suitcases taking up the floor. I’m surprised they even let us in with how packed it was.
On top of that, the lounge doesn’t have a bathroom, so you have to leave and reenter the lounge if you need to freshen up. I wouldn’t prioritize getting to the airport early to spend time here.
BOARDING
Our gate was very close to the SAS Lounge, so we didn’t have to go far. ORD Terminal 5 is very long, so I never take a short walk for granted.
Boarding started about an hour before departure and business class passengers boarded in the priority boarding lane. On the A330neo, everyone boards through the same door, but business class passengers do turn left once on the plane.
SEAT
I was traveling with my husband and we were assigned 9E&F in the last row of business class but the seats were angled towards each other, perfect for couples. The business class cabin is arranged in a 1-2-1 alternating herringbone pattern. All seats have direct aisle access. Window seats in odd numbered rows are closest to the window and the odd numbered center seats face inwards. There is no center divider between the center seats, so if you are traveling solo, opt for a window seat or an even row middle seat.
The seat didn’t feature much storage. The couple of small storage spaces weren’t large enough to hold anything larger than a cell phone.
In terms of technology, each seat did have 2 USB chargers and a universal outlet that was operable at cruising altitude. The buttons to adjust the seat position were modern and easy to control. There was also a remote that you could use to control your in flight entertainment screen. However, the screen was quite close to me (almost uncomfortably so), so I didn’t use the remote.
Unfortunately, the sound on my IFE didn’t work. I thought it was just the headphones, but the flight attendant brought me another pair that didn’t work either. A hard reset failed to solve the issue either, which was disappointing. Thankfully I always travel with my own headphones, so I listened to music on my phone instead.
The seat has a built in headrest that is fixed onto the seat. While seated upright I found this very comfortable, but I didn’t find it ideal for sleeping.
I am only 5’4”, so I have never had an issue with the length of a lie-flat seat, but my 6”1” husband reported no problems either. The footwell narrows, so you can’t really sleep in any position other than flat on your back. But this didn’t bother me as much as the cabin temperature – there were no individual air vents and they kept the cabin too warm for my liking.
AMENITIES
Upon finding my seat, I found a pillow, blanket, headphones, amenity kit, and not one, but two bottles of water. Planes are so dehydrating that this extra bottle went a long way in making me happy.
The amenity kit consisted of argyle socks in TAP colors, an unbranded eye mask, WK facial moisturizer, a branded pen, and a toothbrush/paste. There were 2 colors of amenity kits: gray and yellow. Between my husband and I, we ended up with one of each.
FOOD
Off the bat, there was no pre-departure beverage offered. Maybe it was the trade-off for getting 2 bottles of water? Not the end of the world, and just an example of business class not being a uniform experience across the board.
This flight didn’t take off until 9:50 PM, so I tried to maximize my time asleep by skipping dinner. I did get the nuts they served as an appetizer before I drifted off to sleep. Sadly, these nuts were not warm, but they were still tasty. A hot towel was offered with dinner, which I did get along with the nuts.
Here’s the menu of what was offered:
They did ask if I wanted them to wake me up for breakfast and I said yes. There was no hot towel this time, but that’s not what made breakfast underwhelming. The croissant was just a roll sort of shaped like a croissant, not flaky or delicious. I did like the fruit plate of watermelon, blueberries, and mango. There were also deli meats, cheeses, and a piece of zucchini and a pepper that I barely touched.
The white tablecloth and real plates and cutlery were what you can expect from business class on just about any airline. I did enjoy the black coffee they offered and ended up having 2 cups so that I could hit the ground running in Lisbon and get on the right time zone quickly (yes, I’ve heard that coffee on a plane is gross but it’s many months later and I’ve lived to tell the tale).
FINAL THOUGHTS
Sleep is a huge priority for me when I take red eye flights. With that in mind, I would be willing to pay for business class on TAP Air Portugal again, but I would prepare myself for a warm cabin, potential IFE problems, etc. TAP routinely offers round trip business class fares to/from the US for less than $1600, which makes this a great value for getting across the Atlantic while laying flat.
