TAP’s New Unique Premium Economy Offers Great Value Way To Fly to Europe From June

Updated: April 1, 2026, 4:16pm CDT

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Table of Contents

What’s Included With TAP’s Economy Prime
Booking TAP’s New Premium Economy
Final Thoughts

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Portuguese flag carrier TAP is finally jumping on the premium economy bandwagon with the launch of Economy Prime in June.

Having initially ordered aircraft without dedicated premium economy cabins, the airline has come up with a creative alternative to offer its passengers a premium economy experience with the planes that it has.

Let’s take a look at the details.

What’s Included With TAP’s Economy Prime

TAP Air Portugal‘s Economy Prime will be offered on all long-haul flights operated by only its Airbus A321LR and Airbus A330 fleets. The new product bridges the gap between regular economy and business class.

In terms of the soft product (amenities and meal service), TAP’s Economy Prime comes with all the bells and whistles we’d expect from premium economy: 2 checked bags at 23 kilograms (50 pounds), priority check-in, security and boarding, an amenity kit, and elevated inflight food and beverages.

However, it’s the seating and cabin (hard product) where TAP is different from other airlines.

Rather than ordering new aircraft or retrofitting its current planes with a dedicated premium economy cabin, TAP will designate the first 3 rows of its economy cabins as the Economy Prime cabin. To differentiate the space from the rest of the economy cabin, TAP will block seats, meaning passengers won’t be seated directly next to someone.

On both the narrow-body Airbus A321LR and wide-body Airbus A330, there’ll be 4 seats in each row.

On the A321LR, the middle seat in the 3-by-3 rows will be unoccupied. This is similar to what most European airlines offer on their short-haul intra-European flights in business class.

TAP A321LR ecomomy prime premium cabin — TAP Airbus A321LR Economy Prime seat map. Image Credit: TAP

Thanks to the 2-4-2 configuration of the Airbus A330, the blocked seat means that passengers sitting in the window seat basically have a whole row to themselves.

Screenshot 2026 04 01 at 10.41.06 — TAP Airbus A330 Economy Prime seat map. Image Credit: TAP

While the seats might not be as wide or recline as much as regular premium economy, the extra space offered by the block seat feature makes TAP’s premium economy one of the best in terms of privacy and personal space.

Booking TAP’s New Premium Economy

A round-trip fare from the East Coast to Portugal in TAP’s new Economy Prime cabin would set you back around $1,400. That price point is perfectly positioned between economy and business class and is, on average, several hundred dollars cheaper than Delta and United.

TAP premium prime fares — One-way fares in TAP’s new Economy Prime. Imag Credit: TAP

TAP also offers a fully flexible option, which is almost an extra $200 each way.

TAP economy prime fares — Extras. Image Credit: TAP

It’s currently not possible to book TAP’s Economy Prime cabin using points.

Hot Tip:

Remember to add your United or Star Alliance member airline frequent flyer number to your TAP flights. Doing so means you’re eligible to earn points (on cash tickets) and get your associated perks and benefits when flying TAP.

Final Thoughts

By cutting a corner and not installing a dedicated premium economy cabin, TAP has created a unique alternative. The blocked seats will, in some cases, provide more space and privacy than what other airlines offer in their dedicated premium economy cabins. What remains to be seen is what the passenger experience will be like in this cabin.