Buy EVA Miles for Upgrades?

Hi, Is it possible to buy additional miles for topping up upgrade rewards? If there is a limit, how does this work? Can this be done in advance on the phone? Many thanks for any info. ^

I have never done this, but according to their website (and membership guide) it is possible (http://www.evaair.com/html/b2c/engli..._Upgrade.htm):

Evergreen Club members who do not have enough credits to redeem for an upgrade in cabin service can purchase the required miles upon check-in at the airport for an en route upgrade. But members cannot reserve a free upgrade in advance. A member cannot purchase more than 5,000 miles at check-in to secure an en route upgrade, and the cost is US$40.00 for every 1,000 miles purchased.


Hopefully at check-in the staff will know what to do. I've found EVA staff are often unaware of what their own FF program allows you to do - (even at their own HQ) and I have to push a little...

It seems that most people use miles for upgrades rather than free tickets, so maybe this route is better trodden.


Just noticed you are based in London. Elite is often hard to get on BR67/8- so wouldn't rate your chances very high of getting an upgrade at check-in from Economy. Elite to PL should be easier (and perhaps better value). Based on the experience of another poster, I wouldn't pay the extra for an Elite seat in the hope of getting an upgrade to PL on check-in.

Thanks for the info. I couldn't log-in to my account yesterday, so the info you have given is just what I needed (is it me, or is their website cr*p??!) What I wanted to do is upgrade from Elite to Biz (PL) but am just over 5,000 short, so would need 6,000 miles to get to 30,000 for o/way upgrade from BKK-LHR (previously credited most flights to CO, so am light). Do not want to "chance it at the airport though! Back to the drawing board! Again, many thanks for the prompt reply.

Oh yeah its pretty crap, though I can usually get in. Doesn't work properly under Firefox. Also you can't access account stuff during the middle of the night Taiwan time.... evening UK time! Great...

I've always thought free tickets are better value than upgrades with EVA. (Especially as in the old days OP-UPs were pretty common anyway...)

135,000 gets you a completely free ticket to anywhere in Asia in C with a stopover. Can also do open-jaw etc. (Which can end up as "jaw-jaw" as you try to explain to EVA staff that it is really possible...!)

LHR-TPE (a couple of days stopover in Taiwan)
TPE-SGN (look around Saigon)
by land to Cambodia
PNH-TPE-CDG
(own arrangements back to the UK)

etc

Unfortunately the London flights arrive too late in Taiwan and depart too early to connect with anything much else.

How easy is it to find award seats in off-peak time on BR? Business seats, I mean.. within Asia.

I just booked a roundtrip SFO-BKK in ED/Elite, and figured that with three roundtrips I could earn a free business class ticket within Asia. However, I'm curious how available award seats are on BR.

Really it depends which routes... Elite is always hard to get - so for TPE/BKK you are better off avoiding BR67/68. PL also seems to fill up quickly on this sector. Sometimes looking ahead by as much as 9 months won't help getting a seat - and going on the waiting list is pretty pointless.

Otherwise the only asian route I've done it for is Hong Kong and Saigon. Usually seem to be plenty of flights provided you are looking at least a couple of weeks ahead. Particularly, Saigon seems to be easier these days.

You can check availability via EVA's website - I suggest you try a few dates for the destinations you have in mind. Just try making an award booking. You must actually select the flights from those offered... at that point it will say "confirmed" or prompt you asking if you want to go on the waiting list.

You DON'T need enough points to try the booking, and nothing will be deducted until you click to confirm the mileage deduction, pay the taxes etc.

Their website will also allow you to make a reservation and hold it to the date given.

There are embargo periods:
2007/06/25-2007/07/05 , 2007/08/25-2007/09/05 ,
2007/12/15-2008/01/10 , 2008/01/29-2008/02/15

You can still fly during this time by paying more miles.

I booked SFO-TPE-BKK-TPE-SFO, and the flights to/fro BKK are BR 67/68. The Elite cabin looks about half full so far. I was calculating that if I buy ED/Elite tickets from SFO-BKK three times this year, I would not only earn status but earn a free BR business class ticket within Asia. So I'm thinking I would do NRT-TPE-DPS to get the most distance on one award. However, it requires overnighting in TPE on both the outbound and return.

I'm looking to purchase EVA miles
text 415 6 6 2 3 3 8 o
If you have earned miles that you don't use, you can transfer it to me and I'll purchase it.
Looking to purchase multiple 35,000 miles

Have you checked out this page on the EVA site? About Purchase Miles - EVA Air | America

It should allow you to purchase miles online.

Wow, quoting a 2007 post Things have moved on a little during the last 11 years Thanks for the reply though