In the end I flew from Canada to London instead of Rome (paid AC points instead of $$$) and then stopped in Lisbon on the way home from the Algarve conference instead of in Rome.

BA was cheaper than TP, but more importantly it had a better connection coming home. I flew LHR-FAO (Faro) on their partner GB Airways, they advertise 31" seat pitch but gave me an exit row. Their Business Class seating was 2-2 but was convertible to economy 3-3. The first ten rows have the middle seat split in half, and for Business Class there's a metal rod that comes down and they mount a pair of armrests onto it, to give the 2-2 seating.

What wasn't clear to me, was if the first ten rows have 34" pitch even as economy (surely they don't move the seats forward and back to switch between classes?). The three-hour flight was 3hr late departing due to a windscreen issue (supposed to leave 15h30, left at 18h30). The crew were all very nice both on the ground and in the air (GB is Gibraltar based), and they gave us a £5 refreshment voucher at about 17h00 when they thought we had to wait until 19h00.

I spent mine at Pret a Manger (sorry for not putting accents on). Bought a baguette sandwich and two bottles of Coca Cola Light for £4.95. I bought the extra pop because I wouldn't get change. Then I discovered their chocolate cake and paid for a piece anyway! I've been meaning to eat at Pret for a long time, I keep passing them in London but they're always crowded. It was really good!

I priced a one-way ticket Faro-Lisbon and it was quite cheap at C$140 (C$175 for J). But then I discovered the bus was only C$22 (2700$00) so I got a four-hour tour of the Portuguese countryside. It was very nice until we got on the motorway, at which point the driver went much too fast on a very windy day.

The flight back LIS-LHR was good, I was not required to prove my right to be in the airport so that may have changed. My bag was checked through to YOW (Ottawa) so I could stay airside in LHR. I did screw up the VAT refund, I bought a huge pile (£264 worth) of CDs by mail delivered to Portugal, but I was told I needed a special receipt from the vendor for claiming the VAT (£35 or so). Oh well, I still saved the 15% taxes at the Canadian border, plus shipping charges.

The BA flight (this time on BA themselves, 32" pitch advertised but they gave me an exit row) was very nice. They had the 2-3 J seating and yes the right side is wider than the left, by 3-4" total (~10cm). From the latches above the windows, it looked like J seating could go almost all the way back (in this case it was about six rows). And clearly for this plane they would replace the seats! (But how do they increase the pitch from 32" to 34"? Is the seats' position changeable?).

Thanks again for the advice, sorry I couldn't fly Qualiflyer this trip. I didn't even remember to ask if the Tivoli hotels in Portugal gave points in QF or any other plan, I guess it's too late now?

andrew