14. TAP Executive, Lisbon Portela - Paris Orly, Airbus A321NEO: Excellent in the air, pitiful on the ground!

What a rush: it’s after a reduced connection time that I headed for this last flight of my return itinerary to Paris.

As a reminder, here is the itinerary followed:

#	Type	Post
1	Diary	Conference in Paris and weekend in Madrid
2	Lounge	United Club, Boston Logan
3	Flight	United Domestic First, Boston Logan – Washington Dulles, Boeing 737 MAX 9
4	Flight	Scandinavian Airlines Business, Washington Dulles – Copenhagen Kastrup, Airbus A350-900
5	Lounge	Scandinavian Airlines Gold Lounge, Copenhagen Kastrup
6	Flight	Scandinavian Airlines SAS Plus, Copenhagen Kastrup – Paris Charles-de-Gaulle, Boeing 737-800
7	Hotel	Le Parchamp, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, Boulogne-Billancourt
8	Flight	TAP Executive, Paris Orly – Lisbon Portela, Airbus A321LR
9	Lounge	TAP Lounge, Lisbon Portela
10	Flight	TAP Executive, Lisbon Portela – Madrid Barajas, Embraer 190
11	Hotel	The Madrid EDITION
12	Lounge	Puerta del Sol Lounge, Madrid Barajas
13	Flight	TAP Executive, Madrid Barajas – Lisbon Portela, Airbus A320
14	Flight	TAP Executive, Lisbon Portela – Paris Orly, Airbus A321NEO
15	Hotel	Moxy Paris Val d’Europe
16	Flight	Scandinavian Airlines SAS Plus, Paris Charles-de-Gaulle – Oslo Gardermoen, Boeing 737-700
17	Hotel	Moxy Oslo X
18	Lounge	Scandinavian Airlines Gold Lounge, Oslo Gardermoen
19	Flight	Scandinavian Airlines SAS Plus, Oslo Gardermoen – Copenhagen Kastrup, Airbus A320NEO
20	Lounge	Eventyr Lounge, Copenhagen Kastrup
21	Flight	Scandinavian Airlines Business, Copenhagen Kastrup – Boston Logan, Airbus A321LR

Today’s itinerary

Connection process

I disembarked aboard a PAXBUS, which took around ten minutes to reach the terminal and its Schengen zone.

At the top of the escalator, I heard a ground agent shouting Paris and gate 22, telling me to run. I have to admit I don’t like running in airports, so I quietly headed for the gate.

I’m glad I didnot, as boarding is far from over…

Boarding

By the time I reached the gate, Premium boarding and Zone A was completed, and the latter was interrupted because the jetbridge was full.

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I was stopped twice to weigh and measure my baggage, but the sight of my Business boarding pass prevented the agent from continuing the conversation.

A few minutes later, I was allowed on board.

Cabin and welcome

When I entered the plane, all the Business passengers had already boarded, and I made my way to my seat, 1F.

My neighbor and his wife did move to row 2 once boarding was completed.

The welcome was very courteous, and I even got help to put my luggage in the appropriate racks.

During boarding, the captain told us that we had to wait 15 minutes before taking off due to bad weather over Spain and France.

Service and catering

Service began about 20 minutes after takeoff from Lisbon, with the distribution of menus. Nice touch.

For this flight, I had pre-ordered the spinach and cream pasta.

My order wasn’t explicitly confirmed, but it was indeed this dish that was served to me directly from the full tray.

The red wine I ordered was served elegantly on the tray.

Refills of warm bread and wine were offered continuously.

At the end of the meal, I ordered a Port wine, which was brought to me on a tray with a mix of nuts.

I worked for the rest of the flight as I finished sipping my Port.

Arrival and disembarkation

We arrived at the gate with only a slight delay, less than 10 minutes… A fine performance considering the Lisbon mess!

Bottom line

A pleasant flight with a great crew. TAP is a real emotional roller coaster: you go from a very pleasant experience to hell on earth in 2 minutes.