Originally Posted by
yvrcnx
We are planning to travel in Premium Economy to Asia next year from YVR.
I've only experienced China Airlines' premium economy earlier this year when they were offering the business class seats on their 747's to Taipei, which was a great value for the price we paid.
Now that they are operating the A350 with their proper premium economy seats, I have the choice of flying EVA Air Elite or China Airlines.
It seems like the China Airlines seats are roomier and offer more privacy compare to the EVA Air Elite seats and I am trying to compare the pros and cons of either one.
I am a Star Alliance gold and could use the lounges in all cities.
With China Airlines I would not be able to use any lounges since I am only a KLM Flying Blue Silver.
Airfares and times are similar on both though with China Airlines a couple of the regional segments would be in regular economy due to the aircraft being an A330.
From reviews it seems that EVA Air offers better service and also has 2 lavatories for Elite Class passengers only, not sure how China Airlines handles this.
It seems that both are quite reasonable and in the end price would probably be the main deciding factor but if anyone has more specific information, I'd be happy to hear it.
CI has a small PE cabin on the A350 with a 2-3-2 layout compared to BR's 2-4-2 777 layout. Therefore, the PE on the A350 may feel much bigger and roomier.
CI has "shell seats" meaning the person in front can't recline into you but your seat "reclines" by moving forward. EVA's seat is like Air NZ/Cathay Pacific's PE seat.
Foodwise, BR offers one extra side plate of a salad so not much difference there.
As for lounge access, it is completely up to you whether or not you would like to access the lounges. If so, BR would be your choice since you are *G. You would also get priority baggage handling etc. If you don' t really value those, I would just choose the cheaper ones. Both are very good.
CI has one lavatory in the front of the cabin on the left for its PE customers.