#71 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
317 reviews
Hi,
Transferring from another flight I only did a quick 15 minutes stop at the TAP Premium Lounge to get a cold drink. The lounge was rather crowded and looks worn at many places although it is in a very modern design.
The bad thing at Lisbon Airport is that there is no more lounge after the passport controls in the International gates area for non-schengen flights. Because of this I headed to the gate quite early - on the way to my boarding gate I spotted some nice widebodies parked in front of the huge windows.
Another US border control was done in the front of the gate which took quite long - after that everybody was stuck in a very cramped gate without toilets etc. Luckily boarding started soon with a priority lane first - however onto a bus. So actually priority boarding is useless for this longhaul flight. The bus took us to a very remote position where we boarded this nice looking A330 neo via the center door in front of the wings.
Flight attendants welcomed me quite cold at the door and I turned left to head to my Business Class window seat. Actually the cabin felt very modern and the seat design in Business Class is very nice and private.
The seat offers helpful stowage areas and enough space to feel comfortable.
Preplaced on the seat were a big pillow, a very nice blanket, noice cancelling headsets and a nice amenity kit in Portuguese design with useful contents - even a TAP branded pen.
The table of this seat slides out from under the TV in front of you which is nice as you can still leave your seat during meal service with that mechanism.
Cabin crew came around and offered welcome drinks and packaged nuts from a tray. I decided for sparkling wine where all glasses however were only less than half full. Still nice to get some snacks in addition on the ground.
Menus were also preplaced at each seat and sounded quite promising.
Boarding was completed perfectly on time - but then the captain had bad news: We would have to wait here at the parking position for ca. 1 hour due to traffic limitations caused by the heavy rain this morning. While delays like this can happen I found it strange and not service oriented that the cabin crew did not pass around to offer any more drinks or even some water. However the crew took the opportunity to already collect main dish choices where I decided for the fish dish. Eventually an hour later we finally pushed back and made our way to the runway to depart in a westerly direction directly out on the Atlantic ocean to start the journey over to Florida - a flight that would take ca. 8 hours 50 minutes today.
Inflight service started quite late into the flight - ca. 45 minutes after take off with the distribution of hot towels.
About 15 minutes later the drinks trolley made its appearance, table clothes were laid out and apertif & canapes were served. I had a Gin & Tonic and some water.
*
Once rubbish was cleared the trolley appeared again and starter tray followed. Some soup was freshly served out of a thermal can. In addition warm bread was offered from a basket and more drink choices taken. Although a trolley service is not that classic & personal, at least I like for receiving all food items & drinks at the same time.
I could finish my starter very relaxed and ca. 20 minutes later the empty dishes were removed. This was followed soon again by the trolley from which the main dishes were served. Again at this moment bread & drink refills were offered again.
Once all rubbish was removed another trolley appeared offering dessert choices. I had the cheeses & some ice cream. In addition I opted for some port wine & tea.
Distribution of some chocolates from a nice box offering different tastes finished the main meal service. All in all the whole meal tasted really very fine and tasty with an intense flavour in each dish. The only disappointment was that the crew always acted very cold and rather unintrested in serving their passengers.
Mood lighting let the cabin to sleeping & film watching mode. The entertainment system is very modern, easy to use and offers a good choice of movies.
We had reached the other side of the Atlantic ocean when hot towels were distributed ca. 1 our 45 minutes before landing.
Soon a trolley rolled down the aisle again and table clothes were laid out again. Additionally the cold second meal including warm bread and more drinks was served directly from that trolley. This meal tasted ok but nothing spectacular. The Portuguese dessert however tasted great.
On final approach we banked in to Miami Aiport from the east, then taking a long curve before heading in easterly direction again landing safely at Miami Airport.
Taxi was quick and we soon docked at an airbridge of very old pier F where immigration took really long - ca. 1 hour.
Thanks for reading,
FlyAlex
I have a mixed feeling about this flight: The very modern aircraft, the great and private seat plus an very tasting meal service could have made this flight close to perfect. However this was downgraded by the very cold and uncharming cabin crew who were not really interested in providing a personal and friendly service.
3 Comments
It's the second time that I read a FR on TP A330NEO where the great seat and catering are spoiled by the crew.
I thought that TP had resolved this issue but it seems they're just like IB, long haul flights have the older crew who are not service oriented.
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