Is TAP business class good?

TAP Air Portugal’s business class offered good value for a relatively low ticket price, compared to higher-cost nonstop flights. However, the meal service fell short of expectations.

Is there a dress code for TAP business class?

There is no dress code to sit in TAP Air Portugal’s business class.

What's included in TAP business class?

TAP business class includes expedited check-in, priority security, lounge access, a blocked middle seat on all mainline aircraft (but not regional), a meal onboard, and free checked luggage.

Do you get a meal on TAP in Portugal?

TAP Air Portugal provides a meal to all business class passengers, no matter the route.

TAP Air Portugal Intra-Europe Business Class Review: My Honest Take on the Experience

Updated: December 18, 2025, 4:54pm CST

Edited by:

Jump to Section

Table of Contents

My Regional Flight From Lisbon Used a Bus Gate
Food Was Repetitive and Cold
Regional Flights Have No Blocked Seats
TAP’s Fares Are Low Priced
Final Thoughts

We may be compensated when you click on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.

I recently flew TAP Air Portugal’s intra-Europe business class from London (LHR) to Lisbon (LIS), Portugal, and on to Marrakesh (RAK), Morocco, and back. TAP is a very popular option for travelers seeking to fly business class without breaking the bank, and it was one of the primary reasons I chose to fly the airline on my journey to Marrakesh.

I’m not sure I’d choose TAP again, but the overall experience was relatively pleasant and provided decent value for the money spent.

My Regional Flight From Lisbon Used a Bus Gate

On my particular routing, I was flying from London to Marrakesh via Lisbon. The Lisbon to Marrakesh segment was operated by a TAP Express Embraer 190, and it’s clear that this route sees less demand than many other European routes.

Unfortunately, it appears that regional flights in Lisbon are typically operated from remote bus gates. Had I known this, I would not have chosen to fly TAP Air Portugal and connect through Lisbon. Upon arrival from my London flight, I was pleased to find my gate to Marrakesh just across the hallway, and I waited there for boarding. I saw larger planes to either side of the gate. Although the jet bridges weren’t marked from what I could tell, I assumed the plane would be attached to one of these gates.

Unfortunately, as boarding commenced, we were sent downstairs to wait for a series of buses that weren’t actually there. We had to wait about 20 minutes for these buses to show up, causing a delay in the departure of our plane. Even with priority boarding that comes with business class, we were instructed to board the buses in any order, and the buses then departed for the approximately 10-minute drive to the remote stand.

TAP Bus Boarding — Lugging your bags up stairs to board the plane isn’t fun!

TAP Air Portugal, unlike some other airlines, does not offer a dedicated bus service for business class passengers. While priority boarding is, in theory, nice, you’ll end up getting on the plane depending on how the bus pulls up to the plane and how many other people are standing on the bus closest to the door. This can have real impacts on your ability to stow your luggage on board. I saw several business class passengers from the back of the bus who boarded the plane later who were unable to put their bags in the overhead bins because other passengers had taken them first.

In addition to the bus process, you’re required to walk up a set of stairs into the plane, a cumbersome process if you’re carrying bags or have mobility challenges. Had I known that TAP used this process for its regional flights, I would have booked a ticket on another airline that connected in another city with true gates, or paid more for a nonstop flight. This process really turned me off. While I can appreciate TAP needing to run regional flights, the bus boarding process was a major negative for me and a primary reason I’d consider a different carrier or routing next time.

Bottom Line:

TAP could significantly improve its boarding process by either parking regional flights at a main gate to avoid a bus or providing a dedicated bus for business class passengers to the plane. This would allow these passengers to board in comfort, rather than being crammed onto a bus with other passengers, and have priority boarding onto the plane to stow their luggage.

Food Was Repetitive and Cold

TAP’s inflight meal selection was repetitive, offered no choice, and was served cold. Admittedly, I’ve become accustomed to flying British Airways for my intra-European flights as an Executive Platinum with American Airlines and with loyalty to the Oneworld alliance. British Airways appears to offer not only a choice of entrées on all flights, but also hot food.

On TAP, no hot meals were served, even on the much longer segment from London to Lisbon, which I expected would offer some selection of hot meals. Sitting in the bulkhead row of the cabin, I did not see an oven onboard, only a chiller. It’s likely that TAP doesn’t have an oven onboard to heat meals, which seems somewhat surprising, especially since many U.S. carriers do.

Here’s what I was served on each flight segment:

London to Lisbon: A cold cheese and meat plate
Lisbon to Marrakesh: Cold octopus on top of polenta
Marrakesh to Lisbon: A cold fish and vegetables dish
Lisbon to London: The same cold octopus dish I had from Lisbon to Marrakesh

TAP Breakfast Gatwick to Lisbon — A cold breakfast meat and cheese plate was offered from London to Lisbon.

I was very disappointed that there was no choice of meals. Since there wasn’t a selection, I was served the same meal on 2 of the legs. TAP offers online preordering, but only for special meal categories (such as vegetarian) and not for regular meals. I’m not a picky eater, but I can easily see how someone might not enjoy the octopus dish and want something else, yet not have a choice.

TAP Lisbon to London Meal — An octopus and polenta dish was offered from Lisbon to London.

Although the meals were all cold, the service on each leg seemed significantly delayed, even in the absence of turbulence. As soon as we leveled off, the flight attendants would close the galley curtain, and it would be at least 20 to 30 minutes, sometimes longer, before any service began. I found this surprising, considering there was no choice in food and no hot meals to pull out of the oven. While I’m sure there was a necessary reason for the delay, it seems like the service flow could be optimized a bit more, especially in light of the catering limitations.

Despite the delays, one thing I did appreciate was the friendly and attentive service.

Regional Flights Have No Blocked Seats

On TAP’s regional flights (which for me were from Lisbon to Marrakesh and back), business class does not have a blocked middle seat since the cabin is configured in a 2-2 setup. Even in business class, all seats will be occupied, so unless the cabin is empty, you’ll have someone next to you, which is the same setup you’d find in the economy class section.

For those paying the premium to sit in business class, you’re getting no more space than you would in the back on these regional flights, and you will be forced to sit next to someone. For a little more room, I’d recommend sitting in the bulkhead, but the cabin will be cramped regardless. Fortunately, TAP places signs on the overhead bins in business class to indicate that they are for premium cabin passengers only, which helps reduce the number of economy passengers storing their bags there. However, I did see several passengers try to disregard these warnings.

One relatively minor annoyance is that, because there is no blocked seat, there’s no extra tray table to use for placing a beverage during meal service. When there’s a blocked seat on a larger plane, many flight attendants will extend the center tray table so you can spread out and place a beverage or snack there. However, on these smaller planes, it’s a bit cramped to have everything on one tray table.

The Airbus A320 that TAP used for the London to Lisbon and back routing had a 3-3 configuration with a blocked middle seat. Even though the blocked seat was not visually indicated as such, it was left unoccupied.

TAP Intra Europe Business Class — A blocked middle seat, similar to the A320 configuration, would have allowed me to stretch out more.

Some airlines, even on regional flights, block a single seat on either side to allow passengers to spread out more in business class. I’m not entirely sure why TAP has not adopted this philosophy.

Hot Tip:

TAP sometimes operates an internationally configured jet, such as the Airbus A321LRneo with lie-flat business class, on intra-Europe services.

TAP’s Fares Are Low Priced

TAP Air Portugal offers one of the most competitive business class fares in Europe. On my particular routing from London to Marrakesh, a nonstop flight on British Airways was well over $750 for a nonrefundable ticket, while TAP was offering $350 for a fully refundable connecting flight through Lisbon.

I paid about half the price for a fully refundable ticket, which was an absolute steal and something important to me, considering my plans might have changed. I purchased my ticket using my Platinum Card^® from American Express to earn 5 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on the purchase.

That said, even with a cheaper ticket, there are some downsides. The layover in Lisbon, while great on paper, really ate into my time during the day. I could have left later on a nonstop flight and avoided waking up early, which would also have avoided a bus gate transfer in Lisbon. While I’m not sure this is exactly worth paying double, a thought that crossed my mind during my flight was that I wish I had chosen the more expensive, nonstop option. That said, there was a ton of value in this reasonable ticket price. For those who want to experience business class without breaking the bank, TAP provides a decent option to do so.

TAP Business Class Check In — Even at a lower price, TAP’s business class still includes most of the basic amenities you’d expect, including priority check-in and complimentary checked luggage.

While TAP’s business class fares are some of the cheapest in Europe, you need to weigh the pros and cons of this:

If your connection uses a bus gate, it might not be worth the hassle.
If you connect through Lisbon, its location on the far west of Europe may add significantly more time to your journey.
You’ll need to decide if the amenities, such as free baggage and lounge access, are worth the premium.

In my view, connecting in Lisbon only makes sense for itineraries that stick along the western coast of Europe. My flight from the U.K. to Morocco more or less needed to pass by Portugal, so a stop there wasn’t terribly out of the way.

Final Thoughts

I found TAP to have a great business class offering, perfectly paired with a reasonable price for my flights. While I didn’t appreciate the bus gate, the cramped seating on the regional flights, or the repetitive food, there was an overall decent value for the experience. I’d certainly consider flying TAP again, provided the routing made sense. That said, I would go out of my way to avoid TAP’s regional flights to avoid several of the issues I experienced, and would likely only take mainline flights given the chance.