Hey!
Welcome back to another trip report, my third one so far. Last week, I flew from San Francisco to Brussels via Lisbon on TAP Air Portugal, for their second-ever service between the 2 cities, on the A330-941(neo!)
Flying CS-TUB (with the “First to Fly A330neo” sticker!) outbound and CS-TUC on the return, the flight was certainly memorable. We began our journey in the International Terminal on June 11 and arrived back at the terminal on June 16; a very short trip.
Ground Experience – 10/10
San Francisco is always an amazing airport to visit, especially when there isn’t too much of a rush at the security or check-in. This time, there were almost 75-100 people waiting in line for the Economy Class check-in, and although we flew Economy, we have status with United and are therefore allowed to go to the Premium check-in for Star Alliance Gold members.
Once through security, I eagerly rushed to the gate and saw that our aircraft hadn’t arrived yet. We then decided to visit the United Club and spent around 1 hour there before beginning our (short) walk to the gate. We departed gate 83, and I noticed that the airline keeps a separate line for passengers without carry-on bags so they can board first which I thought was a pretty smart idea.
A Copa 738 preparing for departure to Panama City–A route previously operated by the B39M
The Cabin & Seat – 10/10
As an extremely new plane, the seats were quite comfortable, we had lots of legroom (also because we were in Economy “Xtra”. The boarding was pretty smooth, and everyone was onboard within 20-ish minutes. In the end though, we departed around 1 hour 30 minutes late and ended up missing our connection to Brussels (more on that later!)
The configuration onboard was 2-4-2, and having pre-booked my seat, I sat in 20H (gladly.) We had a very responsive T.V., although there weren’t many options that appealed to me. There was free messaging onboard which is a plus, so I used that instead of buying any packages since they would set you back quite a bit of money for only 200 megabytes.
The Economy Class Cabin Onboard TAP Air Portugal’s A330neo; Credits
For the return flight, I sat in the Executive cabin which was amazing! Also since I got to compare the 2 products within days of flying them!
Food & Beverage Service – 7/10
The food onboard could definitely have been better, for both the classes (Executive and Economy!)
I took pictures of the Economy Class meal, but forgot for the Executive Class flight, although it was definitely better than the Economy meal.

The Economy Class meal–Chicken and noodles
Final Thoughts
Flying the A330neo was an amazing experience, and I’d do it again any day! I would give the flight 25/30, only because the food and beverage service was not the greatest. Both of the cabin crews onboard were amazing and responsive to anything and everything you would have wished to have!
Departure from San Francisco
Arrival in Lisboa
Departing Lisboa for Brussels on the A321neo (on a different flight than booked due to our missed connection!)
Back to Lisboa on the A320 in the Star Alliance livery
Arrival into San Francisco
My other trip reports:
A Scandinavian Airlines Trip Report; San Francisco to Copenhagen [SK936]
An Icelandair Trip Report; Amsterdam to Reykjavík to Copenhagen [FI501 & FI204]