I found a nonstop flight from SFO to Lisbon on Tap Air Portugal. The price difference between coach and business roundtrip was $9500. Even with a lie-flat seat and access to the Polaris Lounge at SFO, I couldn't justify paying the difference so, coach it was.
On Tap, you can bid for an upgrade to a business class seat so I put in a bid for $710. If there are seats available, you can pay $705 for an upgrade at check-in so I chose just a few dollars above. Two weeks prior to departure, I received a message that I had been outbid. There was still a chance my bid would be accepted but chances weren't great. The flight wasn't full and there were plenty of seats in Economy Xtra, at a cost of €65. I found 2 rows in the middle with 3 empty seats. Only 1 seat of the 4 was taken. I reserved the aisle seat at the far end, one in front of the other and took a chance that no one would sit next to us. It worked! There were 2 empty seats next to us in our respective rows so we had plenty of room.
The Economy Xtra seats were much nicer than I expected. It's equivalent to a Premium Economy seat on some airlines. There was plenty of leg room (34 inches vs 31 inches) and the seats reclined more (7 inches vs 5 inches). A foot rest would have elevated the experience.
Meal service was the same as in Economy. I got the beef and it was okay..
Our pre-arrival snack was a sandwich, which didn't even look appetizing. I didn't eat it. Not worth the calories.
On our return flight, I had already entered a bid for a business class seat and again I received a message that I had been overbid. This time, the flight was full and there weren't any great options in Economy Xtra. I took a chance that I would be assigned a decent seat.
We were assigned seats at check-in 24 hours prior to departure--my husband and I weren't sitting together. I had to wait until 1 hour prior to departure to try to change our seats, without having to pay a fee. Fortunately, we were re-assigned to 2 seats together in Economy Xtra!
The meal on the flight home was a beef stew and it wasn't worth the calories.
It was a nice flight and it was a bonus that it was non-stop. I think I'll fly Tap again. I'll just bring my own food!
Tap also allows a layover of a few days in Lisbon if connecting to other European cities.
2022 04 29
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