TAP Air Portugal Business Class Review: Is It Worth It?

We flew TAP Air Portugal business class from Lisbon to Washington Dulles after winning a bid upgrade on the morning of our flight. The experience included a lie-flat seat, an excellent meal, and an impressive Portuguese wine list, but not everything lived up to business class expectations on this transatlantic route in TAP Air Portugal’s A321neo narrowbody plane. Here’s what impressed us most and what fell short.

The Food (5 Stars)

This is where TAP surprised us. Service started with a pre-departure drink and then warm nuts shortly after takeoff. Although that’s standard across airlines, the dinner service really shined compared to US airlines like United or American on their transatlantic routes.

The starter was smoked salmon with radish mayonnaise. For mains, Theo had the sirloin steak with potato au gratin and rosemary sauce. I had the cod au gratin with carrot and bechamel. I don’t usually order fish on a plane, but the salmon changed my thinking, and the cod was properly cooked. I took a risk, and it paid off.

Dessert came as a trio of ice cream, fruit soup, and cheese – and a lighter second service before landing was a nice touch.

The Wine and Service (5 Stars)

Portugal is known for and proud of their wine. TAP’s selection really embraced this part of Portuguese culture. Our flight attendant was from Lisbon and knew the list well, so he gave us some great recommendations and we even had a little tasting experience at 30,000 feet.

The crew was so kind and attentive and kept our wine glasses topped up without being asked. We were glad to have the lie-flat seats to take a comfy nap after all that.

The Amenity Kit (4 Stars)

As I get ready to dose off on a long flight, an eye mask is essential. Our provided amenity kit had everything we needed from the eye mask to socks, a dental kit, eye plugs, lip balm, and hand lotion. I still use mine as a cosmetics bag. Since 2023, TAP has provided a Portugal-themed kit in collaboration with Benameôr, a Lisbon-based cosmetics brand, which fits TAP’s style of immersing into the Portuguese experience.

The Seat (3 Stars)

Our flight operated on TAP’s A321neo LR, which is a narrowbody configured for transatlantic routes. If you’re expecting a widebody business class product with your own pod or aisle access for every seat, you will be disappointed. TAP does have a few of those in its fleet but not on our route.

These seats are closer to an oversized domestic first class or long-haul premium economy seat that also happens to lie flat. We’re not complaining, but it’s useful context before you book or bid.

Business class on this plane is a small, staggered cabin across with 16 seats:

• Couples Seats: Rows 1, 3, and 5 have two seats together on each side of the aisle, with no direct aisle access for the window seat.
• Throne Seats: Rows 2 and 4 have throne seats, with just one on each side. This is ideal if you’re traveling alone and also just much more private overall with no one next to you and a bit of a barrier between your seat and the aisle.
• Our Seats: We were in Row 1, seats A and C, which was a spacious pair of bulkhead seats with good legroom. However, since the seats are open to the aisle and there’s no privacy divider, I did feel all the traffic going by to the galley and the bathroom while I was trying to sleep. We were going to be on this plane anyway, so I’ll take it over economy any day, but if you’re booking business class for privacy, you’ll want the coveted throne seat.

How Much Did We Pay?

We did not pay full fare for this experience. Instead, we participated in the upgrade bidding process. After you book a TAP flight, you’ll get an email inviting you to submit an offer for a business class seat. What sets TAP’s program apart from most airline bid upgrades is real-time visibility into competing offers. You can see where other bids are clustered, adjust yours before the window closes, and make a strategic call instead of throwing a number into the abyss and hoping it works.

The bidding window closes a few hours before departure, and you find out the result the morning of your flight. I woke up at 3 AM before bidding closed, so I checked the status. We were still the lead bid, so I left it as-is and went back to sleep. Four bids were clustered around €700. I had set ours to €715. When I got up again a few hours later, our bid had been accepted, and we were excited for a business class journey home!

Is the TAP Air Portugal Business Class Upgrade Worth It?

We booked economy tickets on points, so we were only spending cash on the upgrade itself. The jump from economy to a transatlantic lie-flat seat, excellent food and wine, and top-notch service made the price easy to justify even if the seats weren’t private. We’d definitely do it again.

But determining whether the math works for you comes down to your base fare and budget. Add your bid to whatever you paid for economy and compare it against what TAP business class or business class on a competitor comes out to. Our combo of an economy ticket plus a winning bid made it totally worth it.

Important Note: You should read eligibility rules for bidding and your base fare. Many airlines are scaling back when you can upgrade and may limit fares booked on points, through travel portals, or with partner airlines.

When the Business Class Upgrade Might Not Be Worth It

• The cash fare for this route round trip is about $6k per person right now. We wouldn’t be able to pay that. But if you need to fly direct to Lisbon, and you or your business can shell out the cash, this is a great option.
• If you’re comparing this TAP Portugal narrowbody business class experience against a widebody product there are a few things to note:
  • The business class seat on a larger plane is likely going to exceed the experience on this TAP flight unless you have one of only 4 throne seats. However, the food and wine were 10 times better on TAP than we had on United in business class to Europe.
  • United has direct flights to Lisbon on a Boeing 777 with the Polaris Business Class experience. Right now those seats cost about $7.5k for a round trip. If you’re able to find a deal or a points angle, this is going to be the better option, but TAP is generally going to be more affordable and give you more control with the upgrade bidding process.
• Premium economy was not available on this TAP Portugal flight we took (what they market as premium economy is economy extra space with a blocked middle seat, which is not the same thing). United’s premium economy was ridiculously expensive.
• Our Smart Travel Alternative: If combining cost savings with a bit of comfort is your goal, we recommend flying premium economy from:
  • IAD to Copenhagen on SAS
  • EWR to Paris Orly on French Bee
  • JFK to London Gatwick on Norse

Then catch a European budget flight from there to your ultimate destination. We save thousands this way and add a layover adventure in one of these hubs.

👉  Cheaper Premium Economy Flights to Europe: 3 Ways to Save Big

Have you tried TAP business class or the bid upgrade program? Let us know in the comments.

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