Routing
Enchainement de vols
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4TP237 - Business - Lisbon → San Francisco - Airbus A330-900neo
Transit in Lisbon
After arriving in LIS, passengers are funneled into the central area. The Schengen lounges are all located upstairs in the central area of the concourse.
They are accessed by the escalator. The line to enter the ANA Lounge was stretching past the top of the escalator, but the TP Lounge is off to the left.
TAP Premium Lounge (Schengen)
The lounge didn't have a wait to enter and I was quickly scanned in.
The lounge was busy, but did have sufficient free seating at this hour. I took a seat off to the side of the food area.
My offering for breakfast since the cold meal from MXP was less than stellar.
Having had issues with long lines at immigration last trip, I decided to head to the non-Schengen side early and see the TP Lounge on that side of the terminal. LIS always feels over-crowded.
TAP Premium Lounge (Non-Schengen)
It took a good 20 minutes to clear immigration and I reached the non-Schengen zone at 10:15 so had ~1h before boarding was due to start.
The lounge entrance is right after immigration. The lounge is very small and provides a pretty poor experience. With the volume of long-haul departures, this lounge is clearly insufficiently sized. I had to walk around for 10 minutes with my coffee until I was able to get a seat at a bar stool off to the side.
Boarding
Since the lounge was uncomfortable, I left early to peruse the terminal and check out our plane for today. We would get CS-TUC, named after the Portuguese artist Nuno Gonçalves. This is my second time on this frame, which has TP's standard C34 (1-2-1) and Y264 (2-4-2) configuration.
As a flight to the US, there were document checks to enter the quarantined gate area where we were crammed into a small space to wait for boarding to be called.
Business class was called on time and we were processed and led into the jet bridge to wait for the plane to be ready.
A DL A330-900neo next door.
After 10 minutes, we were released into the plane.
Entering our steed, we were welcomed on board by a friendly crew.
My seat today, 9A, which lacks a window, but offers the best privacy. It is a fairly standard Recaro CL6710 product.
Seat Features and Amenities
Pre-placed on the seat are packaged pillow and blanket.
The side table contains a storage area with a sliding door and the IFE remote. Head phones, amenity kit, and water bottle are pre-placed inside.
The head phones, which I will not use so cannot comment on quality.
The very basic amenity kit by the Portuguese brand Benamôr 1925 containing just a lotion, eye mask, socks, ear plugs, and dental kit.
Safety card and Wi-Fi instructions.
Seat controls and folding arm rest.
A small storage compartment along the side of the seat.
The audio jack, 2xUSB-A ports, and a 110V universal power outlet are on the front of the console. The placement is poor since you bump into the cables when exiting the seat.
The seat overall is okay, but I find the IFE screen way to close.
The foot cubbies are quite small, one of the reasons TP is not recommended for east-bound flights.
A small net storage compartment that can fit shoes or other small personal items.
Pre-Departure Service
The cabin as boarding wrapped up. No surprises, but it would be 100% full in J.
The crew come around with PDBs, I was offered port wine, sparking wine, or water. The nicely presented Churchill's Fine White Port.
The menu today features food from Chef Ana Moura. The menu is very light in terms of options, but the taste certainly makes up for the lack of options and I like how TP strives to serve everything Portuguese.
The drink offering of Portuguese wines only and a good selection of Portuguese spirits.
Taxi and Departure from Lisbon
The jet-bridge retracted quickly after boarding completed.
The tourism themed safety played as we prepared for push back.
Pushing back, we get a nice view our sister A330-900neo next door.
We head out on our taxi on this sunny day in Lisbon.
YU B772.
S4 A320 and A321.
We join the queue for take-off alongside a LH A320neo heading back to FRA.
We wait for a TP E190 to arrive.
We align onto Runway 02.
We take off at 12:45, ~25 minutes late and quickly disappear over the outer suburbs.
After a u-turn, we exit the Iberian Peninsula north of Lisbon.
First Meal Service
Service started quickly with the distribution of hot towels.
The tray table deploys from under the screen and rotates into place. It is very small compared to other carriers and is barely deep enough to hold a laptop making it impractical for business travelers.
Service starts with an aperitif service from carts. I took a gin and tonic accompanied by a small ramekin of mixed nuts and seeds.
My FA asked if I wanted him to prepare the drink or if I wanted to make it myself. I like how they use Sharish, a Portuguese gin.
Mixed nuts and seeds.
Trays were then delivered along with another round of drinks. Breads were offered from a basket.
The starter is Alentejo Gaspacho with Coriander, Hake in Corn Crust.
For main I chose the Roasted Octopus, Sprout Migas.
TP's catering is worthy of empty plates and I would have happily took another serving of octopus. It is not the most glamorous food, but it is an authentic representation of their country.
After trays were removed, the table was reset for dessert.
The dessert trilogy is served along with an offer of port wine or digestives.
From left to right, we have vanilla ice cream, fruit, and a small selection of Portuguese cheeses and crackers.
I asked the FA about the Portuguese liquors and he talked me through the different ones listed. I opted to try the Aguardente, which was quite good.
Chocolates were then offered from a box as the meal concluded.
Coffee or tea was proposed. I find TP's filter coffee to be very weak so when I hesitated in responding, the FA immediately asked if I prefered espresso instead, which was delivered a couple minutes later.
Mid-Flight
After the meal service, the cabin lights were dimmed.
After waking up before 3am (Portugal time), it was time for a nap. The CL6710 seats are not the most comfortable for sleep and the lack of a mattress pad does not improve the situation (though mattress pads are rare on European carriers).
The foot cubby is small, but the seat also does not form a flat service around your feet with this large step down from the seat bottom to the leg support.
Either way, I did manage 3h of sleep and awoke as we were reaching Canada.
The lavatory near 2L was clean, but lacked amenities other than some refreshing wipes.
TP's IFE system is okay with a decent mix of Western content and fairly easy navigation. They use FlightPath3D for moving map.
Wi-Fi is available for purchase, but pricing is quite high at EUR 30 for a full flight. They do offer free messaging service.
The Wi-Fi portal also has its own version of the moving map.
While up, I saw the crew passing through the cabin regularly and they would replace water bottles and offer drinks when needed.
Waiting for the second meal service to start, I did take a look at the kid's moving map which features animals and it appears we were strategically navigating our way around the moose and brown bears enroute.
Second Meal service
Lights started to cycle on about 1h 45m before arrival as we were crossing over Yosemite NP.
There is no choice for the pre-arrival meal nor are the contents listed on the menu. The linens are laid and you are offered your surprise meal along with drinks and breads. Unlike their European competitors, they only offer cold dishes, but the quantity/quality is still good.
It looks like I will get octopus for the second time this flight. Overall, another very good dish on TP.
Pastel de nata.
No hot towel is provided for this meal, only a packaged towel.
Little to complain about with regards to TP's food quality or taste.
An espresso to wrap up the meal as we prepare for our approach into SFO.
Aerial Tour of the Bay
The captain came onto announce our arrival into SFO as we started our turn into the Bay Area over Petaluma.
Making our way down Marin County.
San Rafael and the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
Flying past Sausalito and Tiburon with Angel Island on the right.
From the Ponte 25 de Abril to the Golden Gate Bridge.
San Francisco.
Foster City.
Aerial of SQL.
Bair Island.
Salt ponds ready for harvesting.
Meta HQ and Ravenswood.
Starting our u-turn over Sunnyvale and the Googleplex.
Aerial of PAO.
Meta HQ again.
Crossing Coyote Point.
Arrival into SFO
Clearing the sea wall.
We touch down on Runway 35R at 15:55, almost an hour early.
Welcome to the home of UA.
The LX B77W arriving from ZRH behind us.
We have the taxi to Concourse A and eventually take our slot next to a F9 A320neo sporting the Burrowing Owls tail livery.
Our early arrival was not meant to be. We must have had a trainee operating the jet bridge and took them about 15 minutes to correctly align.
Still not close…
Still not aligned…
They finally had a supervisor come over and we finally were connected at 2L. Doors open and the race begins.
The quiet halls of SFO immigration.
No wait at Global Entry and I am in the baggage claim in less than 3 minutes from exiting the plane.
That concludes this series, thanks for stopping by!
Flight Information
TAP Air Portugal, TP237
Equipment: Airbus A330-900neo [CS-TUC “Nuno Gonçalves”, delivered January 2019]
Departure: 12:20 (ATD: 12:45)
Arrival: 16:50 (ATA: 15:55)
Flight time: 11:09
