TAP Air Portugal
Business Class
TP74: LIS-GIG (Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro)
14 Nov 2019
Airbus A330-900neo
CS-TUD
Seat 5A
Departure: 11:30PM
Arrival: 6:45AM+1
I arrived at the airport with some time to kill, but there's not a whole lot to do at LIS. So I proceeded to the check-in counters and the agent started searching my passport for my Brazil visa. Even after telling him that US citizens don't need a visa for Brazil, he didn't seem convinced. Luckily, he didn't press the issue and let me go. Heading to the security checkpoint is confusing at LIS. The terminal building layout is terribly confusing and a bit cramped. Lots of support columns and low ceilings make it difficult to tell which way you're supposed to go.
Eventually, I found the priority security lanes and made it airside pretty quickly. I headed to the TAP lounge, but it was overcrowded and very basic. Instead I backtracked and went to the ANA lounge (not to be confused with the airline ANA). I entered using Priority Pass and it was a lot less crowded and nicer. After killing time in the lounge, I headed to the gate. It was a surprisingly long way to the gate. I found it very strange that arriving and departing pax can freely intermix at LIS.
I was able to use the e-gates for departure immigration, though they still stamped my passport anyhow. The boarding process was a bit delayed by the policy, but I never did find out what had happened.
Pre-Book Your Meal LIS-GIG
Not a single option looks appealing...
CS-TUD
As with the previous flight, this was operated by a brand new A330-900neo.
Seat 5A
Menu
J Cabin
Seat 5A
Seat 5A
Seat 5A
The service was good, but the meal was really terrible. The three choices were all equally unappealing to me. This was the first time where I couldn't find a single menu option that I wanted. So I went with the ravioli and it was bad. Perhaps not hugely surprising given that I generally don't like mushrooms or goat cheese....
Pasta Dish
The soup and fruit were fine, but the bread was stale. The main inedible. After a few bites, I put the tray aside and went to sleep. I slept for a solid 6 hours and awoke refreshed and hungry. Thankfully, breakfast was significantly more edible than dinner had been.
Sunrise
Breakfast
Ugh, cold cuts again
Approaching GIG
Approaching GIG
Approaching GIG
Approaching GIG
GIG Graveyard
Strange Airport Layout
Upon arrival, I hustled to immigration as quickly as I could. It was a very long walk and at times felt like I was in an area of the airport that was off limits. We even walked through lines of passengers boarding other flights on the way out. The immigration line was already long and just got longer when a couple other heavies landed after us. Aside from the regular line, there were also two priority lines. One was for crew and the other was unclear.
No idea what the access conditions were, but two very entitled women from my flight (also in J) eventually showed up and decided to use the priority lane. Because reasons, I guess. The same entitled pair also attempted to jump the entire J queue during boarding instead of just waiting along with everyone else. It appeared that the priority lane was available for use by anyone self-important (or wealthy) enough to use it? This isn't the first time I've encountered this kind of entitled attitude. I've often seen similar behavior from the South Americans who ski at Vail.
I'll admit that several Americans did likewise, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the Russians in line behind me. They had some choice remarks for the line jumpers.
I later learned that everyone over age 60 is given boarding priority in Brazil for some unfathomable reason.
As a result, the regular line was severely slow and it took well over 30 minutes to get admitted. Once landside, I hustled to the G3 counters to check-in for my onward flight to CGH at 8:15AM. Unfortunately, I missed the check-in deadline by only a few minutes. The G3 ticket was 95% refundable and I'd booked a second flight on LA (to GRU), so I headed to the LA counters to get my boarding pass instead.