Jermyn

All good things must come to an end and so we arrive at the final segment of this trip report.

The return flight from TPE to LHR is a one stop service, calling briefly at BKK. As EVA Air's flagship route I was interested to see how the short sector from TPE -BKK compared to the far longer BKK-LHR sector, as well as seeing how the service differed between day and night flights.

First though, we had to investigate EVA Air's showpiece lounges at Taipei Taoyuan airport.

All the lounges at TPE are located on a mezzanine level which overlooks the immigration desks and duty free shopping area.


The Infinity was very busy when we were there at around 9am. In fact it was quite difficult to find any empty seats at all. Like moths to a flame, we headed straight for the showpiece, the 'warp core' at the far end of the lounge. I'll give it this much, it sure as hell beats the sterile purgatories that Lufthansa passes off as lounges


The food and beverage selection was extremely varied, with all manner of hot and cold options available, even at this early hour.


After some ice cream and coffee we decided to wander across to the opposite side of the reception desk, to see if The Star would make for a less crowded experience.


The Star was a lot more tranquil and spacious than The Infinity and definitely seemed to have an older and more local crowd. To be honest, I think I preferred it, it had the same food and beverage offering with more personal space.

One small regret I had was that I got so full from eating everything else during our time in Taiwan that I didn't have a chance to eat a Taiwanese dumpling. Thankfully these were on the breakfast menu and they were amazing. After trying my first I just had to have one more, I'm always a sucker for food with a DIY element (I always used to love making crispy duck rolls and tacos as a kid), so I really enjoyed having the option to add extra coriander and sauce.


After our very satisfying 'pre-breakfast' we made our way to the gate, slightly early. Why slightly early?

Because there was a special plane we had to see.


We boarded around 30 minutes late and were greeted by a surprisingly friendly crew.

There was water and juice available as a PDB, we both just took water and busied ourselves reading through the menus.



I pre-ordered the dim sum breakfast and this was confirmed by one of the FAs before breakfast began. She was very chatty and friendly. "You ordered the dim sum? I'm surprised, usually only Taiwanese people order this. You like Chinese food?"
"Yes, although I'm already a bit full from all the Taiwanese dumplings in the lounge."
"Oh really, they're my favourite! I hope you enjoy the dim sum, I think you made an excellent choice! Can I get you more champagne?"
"Absolutely!"

After the mechanical and slightly abrasive service on the LHR-BKK flight I was really happy to experience this higher level of interaction. Of course none of this really matters in the grand scheme of things, but it is nice to see people going out of their way to engage with customers, rather than running through the motions. Were it not for the friendly crew on this segment I may have been tempted to relegate EVA Air to the sub strata inhabited by mainland Chinese airlines. As it turns out the crew on EVA Air are just like those on BA: if they can be bothered they're great, they can just be inconsistent sometimes.



This was my first experience of a one stop flight. I was surprised at how brisk and efficient the process was. Although the briskness was more a matter of circumstances than anything else, given our late departure from TPE.

We were instructed to remove all of our belongings from the aircraft and were given laminated transit cards. We then made our way to a security screening checkpoint where the transit cards were taken and our hand luggage scanned.

After the checkpoint we took an escalator upstairs to the departures level of Suvarnabuhmi airport.

Despite being a member of Star Alliance, EVA Air maintains its own lounge at BKK which is conveniently located about 5 minutes walk from the LHR flight. We would have been entitled to use either the SQ or TG lounges but I'm glad that EVA made the effort to keep hold of this lounge in order to ease the transit process for passengers on our flight.


Still, what true FTer just stays put when they can go on a lounge tour?
With about 20minutes to spare we headed for the most geographically proximate TG lounge. It also boasted tarmac views and had a darker, more traditionally Thai ambience to it.


The pros: better food, less people.
The cons: worse location, messing around to get wifi codes.

Overall, the TG lounge was good but a little old fashioned and quiet. Given the fact that wifi access required messing around with access codes as well, the value proposition just didn't stack up. In future I'd just stay in the BR lounge, especially given the limited time.


Unfortunately for EVA Air our final flight made it 4 for 4 in terms of delays. Although generally speaking I find that most flights nowadays both short and long-haul are at least somewhat delayed. This is a trend which has really been increasing of late. Come to think of it, given the complexity of some of my itineraries, I'm lucky that I've yet to misconnect. Although thanks to FT I have a good idea of what to do, should that day ever come.

You've already seen the seat, the PJs and the amenity kit so I'll concentrate on the differences between day and night flights between LHR and BKK.

Once service began, I asked for a glass of Grande Dame. This time the rice crackers were served in a bowl rather than a packet. Very premium


What followed was an epicurean mega-banquet, the likes of which I've seldom witnessed on a plane.


I managed to sleep for around 5 hours and woke up to see the beginning of a sunset which was prolonged by several hours as a result of the fact that we were headed West.


Despite waking up inordinately full, I also knew that it would be a few months until I had the chance to go all out and indulge in vintage champagne and food served to my bed. So I decided to plough ahead with the breakfast:


...I had my next full size meal some days later.

Conclusion

So what did I learn from all of this?

• When required to do so, I will develop the digestive habits of a serpent, consuming a weeks worth of food in a day in order to get the required pictures for a TR
• Taipei is more of a sleepy town than a thriving, energetic city
• Bali is awesome. Better than the hype. Definitely somewhere worth returning to
• EVA Air has the best food and beverage in business class of any airline I've ever flown. The service is varied but capable of being excellent. The seat is second only to SQ and the amenities are second to none in business class, as well as being an improvement on the first class offerings of a number of airlines.

If you've made it all the way to the end, thank you for reading! I'm still in catch up mode so fear not, the next TR will be here very soon