Review: TAAG Angola First Class 777 Lisbon To Luanda

Review: TAAG Angola First Class 777 Lisbon To Luanda

43


I met up with two friends in Lisbon, and after a good night of sleep we left for Lisbon Airport at around 7:45AM, for our 10AM flight to Luanda. We had a friendly Uber driver from Angola, who couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that we were flying to “his” country.


Lisbon Airport check-in area

TAAG departs from Terminal 1 in Lisbon, and initially it took us a minute to find their check-in desk, though once we did, my excitement level just went through the roof.


TAAG Angola check-in Lisbon Airport

Am I the only one who loves TAAG’s branding?


TAAG Angola check-in Lisbon Airport


TAAG Angola check-in Lisbon Airport

As we approached the check-in counter we were approached by a security officer.

“Where is your ticket?”
“It’s an electronic ticket.”
“Let me see it.”
“It’s electronic.”
“I need to see a copy of it.”

Okay, fine. We pulled up our e-tickets, and showed them to him. As I took the above picture of TAAG’s check-in counter, the same guy loudly exclaimed “no photo.” I would have probably just listened, but one of my friends is a bit more persistent than I am, and responded:

“Just of the sign, come on.”
“No, no photo.”
“Just of the sign? Why not?”
“For security.”
“What is the security risk with taking a picture of the sign?”
“You can’t take it.”
“Please? Can we take a selfie in front of it?”

At that point he motioned that we could take that photo, so I guess it worked.

The check-in process was efficient enough, though when the agent found out we were traveling to Sao Paulo via Luanda, she looked at us as if we were crazy (spoiler alert: the “looking at us like we’re crazy” thing would be a common theme for the next 24 hours).

Our carry-on bags were checked, and we were given awesome TAAG first class baggage tags. I really should laminate this, because it’s easily the nicest carry-on tag I’ve ever received (and now that I’ve told my mom that the airline has 13 “active” planes and four “written off” planes, I don’t think she’ll be letting me fly them again). 😉


TAAG Angola luggage tag

Security was quick, and Lisbon Airport even has an efficient fast track for premium passengers. Within a few minutes we found ourselves in the same departure hall that I was in a few weeks earlier, when flying TAP from Lisbon to Newark. TAAG uses the ANA Lounge at Lisbon Airport (which is a contract lounge that has nothing to do with the Japanese airline), though we decided to head straight to gate 46. That’s because the boarding pass indicated that boarding was starting at 8:55AM, a full 65 minutes before departure.


Lisbon Airport departure gate

The gate area was quiet, though I already saw the pilots in the cockpit, so the crew was already there. What a ridiculously gorgeous livery TAAG has!


TAAG 777 Lisbon Airport


TAAG 777 Lisbon Airport

I was expecting that in reality boarding would only start 30 minutes before departure and that they just posted a super early boarding time, as many airlines do. Nope. To my surprise, boarding started quite informally at 8:55AM. No announcement was made at first, but rather they just motioned that we could get on the plane.


TAAG Angola departure gate


TAAG 777 Lisbon Airport

TAAG Angola 651
Lisbon (LIS) – Luanda (LAD)
Sunday, March 11
Depart: 10:00AM
Arrive: 6:30PM
Duration: 7hr30min
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Seat: 1K (First Class)

We boarded through door L2, where we were acknowledged (greeted is too strong of a word) by the cabin supervisor and another flight attendant, and told to walk left. TAAG has two types of first class products on their 777s, so we didn’t know what to expect, since there’s almost nothing out there about their newest first class.

As I’m sure you can imagine, we were pleasantly surprised when we walked into the below cabin. There were a total of eight first class seats, spread across two rows in a 1-2-1 configuration. I loved the artwork on both the forward and rear bulkhead.


TAAG 777 first class cabin


TAAG 777 first class cabin

I had selected seat 1K, the window seat in the first row on the right side.


TAAG 777 first class seats

TAAG’s new first class seat is pretty generic, as it’s almost identical to the one you’ll find on Kuwait Airways. The seat doesn’t have a door, though is quite spacious.


TAAG first class seats 777

At the front of the seat was a large entertainment screen as well as an ottoman.


TAAG first class seat

To the left of the seat was an enclosed storage compartment.


TAAG first class seat storage compartment

To the right of the seat was the entertainment controller, as well as a smaller exposed storage compartment.


TAAG first class entertainment controller & storage

Underneath this area and to the side were the 110v outlet, USB outlets, and headphone jack. Unfortunately my 110v outlet wasn’t working.


TAAG first class seat power outlets

Next to that was a small monitor where you could control various seat functions.


TAAG Angola first class seat controls

There was a long side table that stretched the length of the suite, which is also where the huge tray table could be extended from.


TAAG first class seat


TAAG first class seat tray table

Then the ottoman cover could be lifted to expose a huge storage compartment.


TAAG first class seat ottoman

In addition to a reading light along the side of the seat, there were two more in the overhead console. Annoyingly there were no individual air nozzles, though.


TAAG first class overhead console

Also waiting at my seat on boarding were a pillow and blanket. I was hoping there would be better bedding after takeoff, since it’s shameful to have a first class suite but then offer economy quality bedding. Unfortunately there wasn’t any better bedding, though.


TAAG Angola first class pillow & blanket

Then there were headphones, which were basic as well.


TAAG Angola first class headphones

The cabin stayed mostly empty for a while, given that most people weren’t wanting to board over an hour before departure. This presented a good opportunity to check out TAAG’s business class. The new 777 has fully flat seats in business class, in a 2-3-2 configuration, similar to what you’ll find on Turkish. While not cutting edge, it’s not a bad product either.


TAAG Angola business class seats 777

There was a business class mini-cabin right behind first class with just one row of seats.


TAAG Angola business class seats 777

Here’s what the center seats in first class looked like.


TAAG 777 first class seats

Within a couple of minutes of settling in, the primary first class flight attendant approached us to offer drinks. I think she was friendly, well intentioned, and genuine. She certainly wasn’t smiling, or polished, or trained in how to provide service in international first class, but I feel like she had the right idea, and wanted us to have an enjoyable flight.

To start she offered us water or orange juice. I just ordered water, which was served in a TAAG branded glass.


TAAG first class pre-departure water

She then offered us amenity kits, which had Aigner products in them. The amenity kits were quite nice, and had a toothbrush and toothpaste, eyeshades, a comb, a razor, a shoehorn, socks, lip balm, body lotion, shaving cream, facial moisturizer, and more.


TAAG Angola first class amenity kit

At first I was concerned about taking pictures, given our experience at check-in. I was pleasantly surprised when the flight attendant noticed me taking pictures and asked if I wanted her to take one of me in the seat.

About 30 minutes after getting on the plane, four other first class passengers showed up. There was an Angolan woman with her daughter, an Angolan man, and a man who I suspect was traveling to Luanda for business.

Also around this time the station manager came onboard and talked to the crew. We saw them all looking at us, and eventually he said “I was just telling our crew that this isn’t the normal mix of passengers.” I guess that was his polite way of saying that we were sticking out like sore thumbs. He was a super nice guy who has been in the airline industry for decades, and who has been an airline station manager for a long time for various airlines. It was fascinating to hear his insights into the airline and country.

He was drinking an espresso as we talked to him (I think he walked onto the plane primarily for a drink), and then the crew also offered us more drinks. While I didn’t order anything, one friend ordered a tea, with Lipton being the only option.


TAAG Angola pre-departure tea

Another friend asked for a cappuccino. The flight attendant said that they didn’t have that, but rather only had coffee with milk, so he ordered that. It looked awfully similar to a cappuccino, at least.


TAAG Angola pre-departure coffee

I love the cups and saucers!

Before takeoff I checked out the lavatories. There were two located at the front of the cabin, and they were both pretty basic.


TAAG Angola first class lavatory


TAAG Angola first class lavatory amenities

The only noteworthy thing was that they had bars of soap that said “enjoy your life” on them. The only time I’ve otherwise seen bars of soap is in Emirates’ new first class (which is where the similarities between the two products end).


TAAG Angola first class lavatory amenities

At 10AM the captain (who seemed to be local) added his welcome aboard, and informed us of our flight time of seven hours, and our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. He informed us that we would be a little late on departure due to congestion. At 10:10AM the main cabin door closed, at which point the safety video was screened. At 10:15AM we began our pushback, and at 10:20AM began our taxi.


Pushing back Lisbon Airport

Our pilots taxied really fast, so even though it’s quite a distance, we were at runway 21C within minutes.


Taxiing Lisbon Airport


Taxiing Lisbon Airport

At 10:35AM we were cleared for takeoff. Admittedly it was a very windy day in Lisbon, but I’ve never had a takeoff roll quite like this. I felt like we were taking off on an aircraft carrier based on how powerful our takeoff roll was. I’ve never been pushed back in my seat quite in the same way.


Taking off Lisbon Airport

Not only was our takeoff roll powerful, but our climb out was steep, with a lot of side to side swaying (which is understandable due to the winds).


View after takeoff from Lisbon


View after takeoff from Lisbon

The seatbelt sign was turned off just five minutes after takeoff, and my first order of business was putting the seat into bed mode. It’s a nice first class seat with plenty of space, though the bedding doesn’t quite match the bed, eh? What’s even more annoying is that the seat had horrible padding, as it was extremely hard, so a mattress pad (or even a proper duvet) would have gone a long way.


TAAG Angola first class bed


TAAG Angola first class bed

I also checked out the entertainment selection. Rather annoyingly you can only browse the entertainment selection on the little handheld device, rather than on the screen itself. I’m not a fan of this, though TAAG is hardly the only airline with such a restriction.


TAAG first class entertainment selection

The movie selection was limited, with a total of just 21 movies to choose from.


TAAG first class entertainment selection


TAAG first class entertainment selection


TAAG first class entertainment selection

Perhaps the most surprising thing I discovered onboard is that they have Wi-Fi.


TAAG 777 Wi-Fi

It isn’t cheap and they charge based on data usage, as follows:

  • 10MB for 5USD
  • 20MB for 8USD
  • 50MB for 20USD
  • 100MB for 30USD


The Wi-Fi makes up for the lack of other entertainment as far as I’m concerned, given the shock factor you can get texting people live from a TAAG Angola flight.

After checking out my bed and entertainment, I walked to the back of business class to get a picture from there. The cabin looked pretty nice, and was about two thirds full. While I didn’t snap a picture, economy looked pleasant as well, and was only in a 3-3-3 configuration (as opposed to the new 3-4-3 industry standard).


TAAG 777 business class cabin

There was no service for the first 80 minutes of the flight. I know the cabin supervisor was just sitting in the galley on her phone during that time, though I’m not sure what the other flight attendant was doing. We didn’t really mind, since we were having a great time. I checked out the airshow, as we were already over Africa.


Airshow enroute to Luanda


Airshow enroute to Luanda

Finally 80 minutes after takeoff our tables were set. I’m not sure if their linens are shrinking, or…


TAAG first class lunch service — table setting

We were each presented with a warm towel. While the towel itself wasn’t very thick or high quality, I liked the presentation.


TAAG first class lunch service — warm towel

There were no menus on this flight, so each course was a surprise. To start we were offered canapés, consisting of three little crackers with ham, cheese, and shrimp. I ordered a glass of champagne to go along with it — TAAG serves Laurent-Perrier in first class, which isn’t great for first class, but is still better than I was expecting.


TAAG first class lunch service — appetizer

One of my friends ordered an Angolan beer.


TAAG first class lunch service — beer

About 30 minutes after the canapés, salt & pepper shakers, water, silverware, and a selection of bread were brought out.


TAAG first class lunch service — table setting


TAAG first class lunch service — bread

The appetizers were served from a trolley, with the choice between prawns, roast beef, and salad.


TAAG first class lunch cart

I ordered the prawns and salad.


TAAG first class lunch service — appetizer

While the prawns themselves seemed to be high quality, they clearly weren’t cooked correctly, because they were indescribably chewy. They were served mostly with corn, and I found the dish to be bland.


TAAG first class lunch service — appetizer

The side salad was decent, however.


TAAG first class lunch service — salad

One of my friends ordered the roast beef, which looked fairly good.


TAAG first class lunch service — appetizer

For the main courses we were offered the choice between cod, beef, and chicken. Two of us ordered the cod, though we were informed that they were out. We found that curious, since in the galley we had seen the meal order sheet, and it indicated that they had three of those loaded. Of the four other first class passengers, I saw that at least two weren’t eating the cod, so perhaps the cabin supervisor (or someone) “reserved” a dish for themselves?

Since neither of the options sounded appealing, we asked what they were serving in business class, thinking that maybe we could get a fish dish from there. The flight attendant’s response was simply “I don’t know.” Alrighty then.

I ordered the beef, which ended up being quite good. I think they could have gone a bit easier on the sauce, but otherwise it was a good steak.


TAAG first class lunch service — main course

The chicken, on the other hand, not so much…


TAAG first class lunch service — main course

Next up the dessert trolley was rolled down the aisle, with the choice between a cheese plate, fruit plate, and chocolate cake.


TAAG first class lunch service — dessert cart

We ordered one of each. All three were pretty unremarkable.


TAAG first class lunch service — dessert

To finish off the meal I ordered a coffee with milk.


TAAG first class lunch service — coffee

The meal service was done about three hours after takeoff. I’m not really sure what to say. Most of the food wasn’t totally awful, though both the food and service left a lot to be desired for international first class. Given that TAAG doesn’t have any competitors with first class on any of their routes (and since the people flying to/from Angola in first class are probably largely Angolans who fly their national airline for a variety of reasons), they can get away with it.

The younger flight attendant meant well, while the cabin supervisor was just sort of a grouch. I should note that at one point they asked us why we were taking so many pictures. It wasn’t in a rude way, but rather they were just curious, which was fair. We explained we have flown so many airlines but have always wanted to fly TAAG, and wanted to document the experience for our memories. They never mentioned anything again.

After the meal the cabin lights were dimmed, and we had about four hours remaining to Luanda.


TAAG 777 mood lighting

I decided to look through the inflight magazine, which had some interesting stuff in it. I especially enjoyed their fleet page, which shows that they have five 777-300ERs — two of them feature the new first class (with eight seats), and three feature their old first class (with 12 seats).


TAAG fleet

The magazine also advertised their flight to Havana. I think TAAG might just be the only airline to offer a three cabin first class product to Cuba?


TAAG inflight magazine

Then I checked out their duty free magazine, where I discovered that they had TAAG 777 model airplanes for sale. Naturally we had to buy those, though they only had two. TAAG doesn’t take credit cards for duty free, so we had to pay cash. The problem is that they had no change, which made things a bit complicated, though after a bit of negotiating we reached a deal.


TAAG duty free catalogue 

In the end we picked up these two beauties!


TAAG airplane models

I spent a couple of hours connected to Wi-Fi working, and soon enough we were just 1hr40min from our arrival, as we were flying over Sao Tome and Principe, which has always fascinated me. I haven’t spent that much time in Africa outside of North Africa, so it was really cool to just observe the airshow on this flight.


Airshow enroute to Luanda


Airshow enroute to Luanda


Airshow enroute to Luanda

75 minutes before landing a light snack was served. Once again, tables were set and we were offered warm towels .


TAAG first class snack service — table setting

This time we had the option between chicken and prosciutto. I selected the chicken.


TAAG first class snack service

The chicken was on skewers, and was sort of tough. Then there was also a pie, which wasn’t great either.


TAAG first class snack service

One of my friends had the prosciutto plate, which came with some veggies.


TAAG first class snack service

The dessert in the box was an orange chocolate.


TAAG first class snack service

After the main course we were each served a fruit plate, with orange, blueberries, strawberries, and kiwi.


TAAG first class snack service

40 minutes before landing the captain made an announcement informing us that we’d be starting our descent in about 10 minutes. 20 minutes before landing the seatbelt sign was turned on. I was excited to see Luanda from above, and the timing worked out great, as we were landing during a beautiful sunset.


View approaching Luanda


Airshow approaching Luanda


Airshow approaching Luanda

I haven’t heard many good things about Luanda, though at a minimum I have to say that it had beautiful geography, as it was right on the Atlantic.


View approaching Luanda


View approaching Luanda


View approaching Luanda


Final approach to Luanda


Final approach to Luanda


Final approach to Luanda

We touched down in Luanda at 6:25PM.


Final approach to Luanda


Touchdown Luanda

We rolled out to the end of the runway, then went around a short circular taxiway, and then back-taxied on the runway until we got to one of the main taxiways.


Taxiing Luanda Airport


Taxiing Luanda Airport

We arrived at our remote stand at 6:40PM. They only opened the second door, though they held all business class passengers until first class passengers were off, as we were put on a separate bus.

Then our Luanda transit adventure began.

TAAG Angola first class bottom line

First and foremost, this was such a fun flight. That’s partly because I was traveling with friends who were as enthused about TAAG as I am, and partly because I had no clue what to expect going in, which made it all the more fun. I didn’t even realize TAAG had planes with this kind of first class cabin and with Wi-Fi, so that was a treat.

Unfortunately (and not surprisingly), the soft product left a lot to be desired. While the younger flight attendant was generally friendly, the cabin supervisor wasn’t, and also seemed awfully lazy. The soft product offered by TAAG is bad as well, from the horrible bedding to the mediocre food with no menus.

On the plus side, I do have to give the crew credit for being good sports about our picture taking and enthusiasm, as it wasn’t received in quite the same way for the rest of our evening and morning.

Little did I know that this would by far be the high point of our TAAG experience, as the real adventure started on the ground in Luanda, and especially on our connecting flight to Sao Paulo.

Conversations (43)
The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.
Type your response here.

If you'd like to participate in the discussion, please adhere to our commenting guidelines. Anyone can comment, and your email address will not be published. Register to save your unique username and earn special OMAAT reputation perks!

  1. mike Guest

    what an ethnocentric report. ya the first is mediocre but you're on angola air, not singapore, not the corrupt me3, not tap which is even more mediocre than this. so dramatic.

  2. neaorin Guest

    Flying from/into Lisbon airport is frequently tricky because of the wind. I've had some of the scariest takeoffs and landings in my life at LIS.

    Great review.

  3. SGT Peri New Member

    One of my favorites reviews! Well done! I been wanting to go to Luanda.....

  4. Mr. Wise Guest

    Lilly Ming, your incessant sniping and irksome comments are proving to be an unwanted distraction. If you can't stomach reading this 'pathetic nancy girl' stuff, then do yourself a huge favor and stop reading this blog! Leave the rest of us poor folk to suffer through Lucky's privileged posts. Sheesh.

  5. Lilly Ming Guest

    “Within a couple of minutes of settling in, the primary first class flight attendant approached us to offer drinks. I think she was friendly, well intentioned, and genuine. She certainly wasn’t smiling, or polished, or trained in how to provide service in international first class, but I feel like she had the right idea, and wanted us to have an enjoyable flight.”

    Why am I increasingly getting irked when reading these nasty “I’m privileged first...

    “Within a couple of minutes of settling in, the primary first class flight attendant approached us to offer drinks. I think she was friendly, well intentioned, and genuine. She certainly wasn’t smiling, or polished, or trained in how to provide service in international first class, but I feel like she had the right idea, and wanted us to have an enjoyable flight.”

    Why am I increasingly getting irked when reading these nasty “I’m privileged first Class” postings? I’m no longer able to stomach reading this pathetic nancy girl stuff.

  6. Katy Guest

    I am absolutely positive I have read some of this before, and not just in the preview "swiping left". I remember 'no photos' and taking the selfie was okay, and I even remember the next installment when things went south and the (entitled) crew didn't provide much in the way of service, at all. Am I taking crazy pills?

  7. schar Guest

    I also had trouble with the pictures loading, no matter how many times i refreshed the page only half of the photos would load... :(

  8. Daniel from Finland Guest

    @Cornel

    I realise you are unhappy with the term Black Africa. Collins Dictionary (which spells it with a capital B) tells me it's used rarely, but they don't label it as offensive. However, maybe everything that contains the word 'black' is offensive in the English language today... Finnish is different that way, and we speak of 'musta Afrikka' without problems.

    However, Sub-Saharan Africa carries the same meaning, so if you find it more neutral, I'll...

    @Cornel

    I realise you are unhappy with the term Black Africa. Collins Dictionary (which spells it with a capital B) tells me it's used rarely, but they don't label it as offensive. However, maybe everything that contains the word 'black' is offensive in the English language today... Finnish is different that way, and we speak of 'musta Afrikka' without problems.

    However, Sub-Saharan Africa carries the same meaning, so if you find it more neutral, I'll be happy to use this term since I'd hate to be offensive, especially without even realising it myself.

    Finland, by the way, has no colonial history (apart from being colonized by Sweden in the 12th century), so many of the stigmas associated with colonialism go mostly unnoticed here, which might lead to misunderstandings in an international context.

  9. Pierre Diamond

    Is it me or does the first picture of the snack (2nd meal) look like a spread-out dead mouse? Are you SURE it was chicken? (Having been catered in Lisbon seems to back that).

    So exactly similar to the old African airlines, mostly dead by now, Cameroon Airlines, Air Gabon, Air Madagascar (actually still alive, barely though...) and the like. When you have reviewed one, you've reviewed them all.

  10. Peter Michaelson Guest

    cmas -

    The early security check of the reservation/ticket may be to prevent anyone other than passengers from entering the airport. I returned home recently from 4 weeks in India, where that is commonplace.

    I liked it because otherwise the check-in area can get awfully chaotic. The Mumbai check-in area was delightful.

  11. Cornel New Member

    Great and entertaining review Lucky. Always been fascinated by TAAG.

    What I was more perturbed by was the comments made by Daniel from Finland. And I was suprised that none of your readers called him out on it.

    “The catering, probably loaded in Lisbon, looks very African and very third world, which of course is appropriate.
    In black Africa, you can’t photograph anything suspicious.
    But on a plus side, it has...

    Great and entertaining review Lucky. Always been fascinated by TAAG.

    What I was more perturbed by was the comments made by Daniel from Finland. And I was suprised that none of your readers called him out on it.

    “The catering, probably loaded in Lisbon, looks very African and very third world, which of course is appropriate.
    In black Africa, you can’t photograph anything suspicious.
    But on a plus side, it has real buildings, even highrises, and streets with sidewalks. That’s not self-evident in the area. I’ve never been to Angola, but I have visited a handful of countries in black Africa. It’s a fascinatingly different world, one where nothing seems to work, everything is broken but still, somehow, people get by, and after the initial shock, somehow you learn to get by, too.”

    Not sure if this was just a language issue, but to read such comments that reak of white European privilege in 2018 is absolutely disgusting. He does come across as a seasoned traveller who has certainly been to “ black Africa “numerous times. One would think that travel to the region would at least give him a bit of insight
    Into the culture and challenges that ‘black Africa ‘ has to deal with today as a result of centuries of colonial oppression and exploitation.
    SMH. Blackfromblackafrica

  12. Myles Guest

    @andy

    ..and you are??..pls. stop being a hypocrit!.. I use these words which I mind to be appropriate..If you choose to talk down over this appalling First product, I would definitely not sugar coat it! I will certainly not waste my money and symphathy for such inferior product..it does not matter if its a third world airline or country. So before you judge me do look yourself in the mirror and see what kind of a person you are!..Do not crack the mirror though!

  13. JJJ Guest

    @john, ze pretty much summed up the Havana flight. A product of their history as communist allies.

  14. Mr.Aviator Guest

    I don't understand the obsession of adding 'first class' prefix to everything. In future maybe you can add you took a first class dump at the first class toilet bowl

  15. Guest

    Cuba used to have preferred status in Angola as they fought alongside the then-ruling MPLA against forces backed by South Africa and US during the Angolan Civil War. Cubans had sent thousands of doctors, teachers, and volunteers alongside 50,000 soldiers into Angola during that time. However nowadays Cuban influence in Angola has been declining, as Angolans discovered oil and start exporting to South Africa and other Western countries for cash.

    Also thanks for the report...

    Cuba used to have preferred status in Angola as they fought alongside the then-ruling MPLA against forces backed by South Africa and US during the Angolan Civil War. Cubans had sent thousands of doctors, teachers, and volunteers alongside 50,000 soldiers into Angola during that time. However nowadays Cuban influence in Angola has been declining, as Angolans discovered oil and start exporting to South Africa and other Western countries for cash.

    Also thanks for the report Lucky! Flying TAAG next month from MPM to LAD on a 777. Do not know if it'd be one of these 77Ws or actually a 772ER, although it seems like they don’t sell first on that route tho...

  16. Jay Gold

    LOVED the report and worth the wait . Can’t wait to read the rest of the journey. How will you top this trip Ben ?...

  17. Francesco de Eccher Guest

    Amazing review!

    I will go to Sao Tome this august and will fly with Taag first class from JNB.

  18. CS Guest

    Rich white American kids traveling for no reason first class for a lot of money in a dirt poor country's horrible airline. Couldn't be more cliché if you tried.

  19. Andy Guest

    @Myles, people like you really sicken me. You spoilt entitled individual. Honestly, who do you think you using such strong words and complete outrage over a First class product?. I can’t imagine you being satisfied with anything. Ever. What is wrong with people like you??

  20. The nice Paul Diamond

    @ Bitzer

    “Please remember that our part of the world has not been enslaved and abused for the last 600 years.”

    Indigenous people don’t count, then?

    I recommend a dose of Eduardo Galeano, as a gentle way of starting to address your history deficit.

  21. DT Member

    While reserving the seats selections for you, Tiffany should have pre- reserved the Cod..as one does

  22. Tomas Guest

    Loved this TAAG review!

    Lucky, you mentioned São Tomé and Príncipe.
    Check out the NYT 52 Places to Go in 2018.

    Highlighted as "Underrated gem gets new luxe lodging"
    "This former Portuguese colony is called Africa’s Galápagos by naturalists"

    I will definitely be staying at: http://www.sundyprincipe.com/

    Trying to to combine Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on the AF CDG-SSA flight
    which continues on to Douala, Cameroon ~ cool flights!

  23. CMAS Guest

    the situation with the security officer at LIS seems quite bizarre to me...to be frank, i think most of ppl don't travel with a printed copy of itinerary anymore...in any event, the check-in agent would be able to pull out your reservation. i dont see any point of checking your reservation before you even reach the check-on counter

  24. Bitzer Guest

    @Myles
    Please remember that our part of the world has not been enslaved and abused for the last 600 years. Also they just got out of a very messy civil conflict, which still does much damage to its population. Just managing to get permission to fly to Europe again is a great deal, the luxury details they'll figure out eventually.

  25. James K. Guest

    Cuba invaded Angola once. Fun fact.

  26. Chris Guest

    At the beginning, when you say "We had a friendly Uber driver for Angola, who couldn’t wrap his head..." do you mean "...a friendly Uber driver FROM Angola..."?

  27. KeepingItReal Guest

    It looks like that salad with corn was served without cilantro. Thank goodness. Because as everyone knows, cilantro is actually the devil's doo doo, and unfit for human (or anything's) consumption. It is an evil spice that causes flatulence and suicidal thoughts. Some people consume cilantro and resort to self-mutilation, while others who consume it drive at dangerous speeds on the interstate highways.

    And yet others have only a few microns of cilantro and...

    It looks like that salad with corn was served without cilantro. Thank goodness. Because as everyone knows, cilantro is actually the devil's doo doo, and unfit for human (or anything's) consumption. It is an evil spice that causes flatulence and suicidal thoughts. Some people consume cilantro and resort to self-mutilation, while others who consume it drive at dangerous speeds on the interstate highways.

    And yet others have only a few microns of cilantro and then have blood dribble out of their eye sockets; others get tapeworms. And yet others see their skin turn purple. Others rip out their own tongues after accidentally ingesting cilantro, to avoid the risk of ever tasting cilantro again.

    In conclusion, cilantro is evil and that is why all good people hate cilantro, and when you meet someone who says they love cilantro, they are really saying "I am the worst person in the world."

    Q.E.D.

  28. echino Diamond

    Re: I think TAAG might just be the only airline to offer a three cabin first class product to Cuba?

    Isn't Air China flying a three cabin plane PEK-YUL-HAV with first class?

  29. Izz Member

    Great report!

    Re: "I think TAAG might just be the only airline to offer a three cabin first class product to Cuba?" Air China flies a 3 cabin product from Montreal to Havana.

  30. Jack Guest

    Great report lucky couldn't wait to read it; even writing about it its clear you had a deep passion for trying out this product even more than any other product recently maybe other than qSuites.

  31. John Member

    Luanda to Havana. Such an interesting city pair. Just goes to show how little I know about O&D and bilaterals even after reading about it all the time.

  32. Myles Guest

    @ Lucky

    I waited long for this review. Such a great and well written report.
    Not a good start when a check in agent thinking you are crazy enough to fly TAAG, probaby he/she knows how bad the airline is and you are even flying First with them.
    I am just disappointed how bad and dreadful the soft products are. They have a nice suite and they can only offer the worst and...

    @ Lucky

    I waited long for this review. Such a great and well written report.
    Not a good start when a check in agent thinking you are crazy enough to fly TAAG, probaby he/she knows how bad the airline is and you are even flying First with them.
    I am just disappointed how bad and dreadful the soft products are. They have a nice suite and they can only offer the worst and cheapest pillow and blanket I have seen in a internat. First cabin. It hurts to see the photos. Forget the headphones also bad. Have you got at least a decent choice in the entertainment system?
    The food and the service are just vile! Pls. do not try to defend it..it is just plain bad..Running out of choices and probably losing them to the crew..just unbearable to hear. Did I understand it right, you are only allowed one of the dessert options? The crew with or without good intentions are just disappointing.
    I am speechless and shock that such an airline could dare to sell such a product as First class. And pls. to others here in OMAAT do not you dare try to defend this airline. There is just no excuse at all! This First product make BA First like the epitome of luxurious First class..
    Thanks Lucky for offering your time and money in showing us how good we have with our conventional airlines in our part of the world.

  33. Sean Guest

    “not sure if their linens are shrinking, or…” LOL

    It kind of seems like a proper F product to me.. if you ignore LX F from JNB. The F seats look awesome, except in bed mode, that really needs an update. I think adding a $10 pad or proper $15 down comforter would not be hard

    I am curious how these flights were paid for, I’m assuming cash.

  34. ryan Gold

    I love the notes for those "written off" planes:
    1 - Hit by a missile...naturally.
    2- Crashed after takeoff
    3- Crashed after landing

    so be it taking off, landing or just flying they manage to have planes get damaged beyond repair. Though I do have to say they should get some points for actually landing the plane that was hit by the missile.

  35. cs Guest

    ok, now I have photos.... the side salad was "decent"?! those tomatoes are barely pink and look like they've been frozen. Most of the food looks pretty bad, to be honest.

  36. Rob New Member

    I got a kick out of the plane models - I hope those are in your home office

  37. Daniel from Finland Guest

    What a review! And what an airline! I was delighted to actually see one of these 777s at Havana Airport back in February, waiting for my AA flight. A very old school livery and logo. Part of me wanted to jump aboard that flight to Luanda...

    The catering, probably loaded in Lisbon, looks very African and very third world, which of course is appropriate. No menus... lol And the description you give of the flight...

    What a review! And what an airline! I was delighted to actually see one of these 777s at Havana Airport back in February, waiting for my AA flight. A very old school livery and logo. Part of me wanted to jump aboard that flight to Luanda...

    The catering, probably loaded in Lisbon, looks very African and very third world, which of course is appropriate. No menus... lol And the description you give of the flight attendants is very accurate when I think back to many of my experiences with the service industry in Africa.

    Are bars of soap really such an oddity? Even Air Berlin had them, and I managed to snag a couple as a souvenir from my last AB flight some weeks before they stopped flying.

    In black Africa, you can't photograph anything suspicious. And anything can be regarded as suspicious. So taking photos of anything but yourself and your friends could prove difficult.

    I can only imagine what you guys went through transiting in Luanda. The most beautiful thing about that city must be its name... But on a plus side, it has real buildings, even highrises, and streets with sidewalks. That's not self-evident in the area. I've never been to Angola, but I have visited a handful of countries in black Africa. It's a fascinatingly different world, one where nothing seems to work, everything is broken but still, somehow, people get by, and after the initial shock, somehow you learn to get by, too.

  38. cs Guest

    I have no photos, just the descriptions.

    1. Tiffany OMAAT

      @ cs -- Mind trying to clear your browser cache? We were having some issues with our hosting company awhile back, but everything should be loading properly now.

  39. mark Guest

    Just love your reports and photos. The paltry blanket on the first class bed was so tiny - like a postage stamp on an envelope. LOL

  40. Mitch Cumstein Gold

    Great trip report, but haven't I read this before??

  41. Dave - Canada Member

    Bar soap was very common up to the mid-1980's. I have a bar of unopened Japan Air Lines and TWA soap.

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

mike Guest

what an ethnocentric report. ya the first is mediocre but you're on angola air, not singapore, not the corrupt me3, not tap which is even more mediocre than this. so dramatic.

0
neaorin Guest

Flying from/into Lisbon airport is frequently tricky because of the wind. I've had some of the scariest takeoffs and landings in my life at LIS. Great review.

0
SGT Peri New Member

One of my favorites reviews! Well done! I been wanting to go to Luanda.....

0
Meet Ben Schlappig, OMAAT Founder
5,163,247 Miles Traveled

32,614,600 Words Written

35,045 Posts Published

Keep Exploring OMAAT