evergrn

Agree with you about BR lounge. I will say, though, that UA Club has the best espresso machine imho. (sorry I don't mean to go off-topic)

username

I think the biggest problem with the BR lounge compared with these "grand" lounges like CX in HKG is space, which is limited by the airport. Food is not bad and if there is more space to make grander presentation, then the food might taste better I think it is functional now and definitely better than many. I passed through the OZ in ICN once where I thought the space was grand but food offering was poor.

evergrn

Yeah, in fact I think this statement extends to the rest of ICN vs TPE conversation. Everything at ICN looks grand and nice, but I personally have a hard time finding tasty food (mind you, I don't eat Korean food) or any interesting merchandises. TPE is relatively small, but lots of tasty food (including BR and esp SQ lounges) and fun stores.

Mama

Exactly, but I don't understand why the immigration office does not staff their number of windows according to the amount of incoming flights. This situation not only happen to TPE but most other major airports around thr world. At BBK, there are a ton of flight arrivals around midnight everyday, and their immigration office doesn't seem to be interested in arranging more officers to work on this shift. At other time, you will see empty lines and the officers at the windiws have nothing to do but chatting or swiping their phones.

gengar

This will help for USA TTP members and hopefully with the immigration lines, starting Wednesday: https://www.ait.org.tw/taiwan-joins-global-entry/

Taiwan will presumably adopt its typical reciprocity with USA, so the quoted application fee should be for 5 years of enrollment.

Dave510

Any idea if it will extend to Canadians enrolled in the NEXUS program?

LAX/HKG

I agree there are fun stores and interesting areas for families at TPE.

The food, however, is anything but tasty. Drink selection is also sparse. Both the Star and Infinity look dark and gloomy. I am not a fan of the neon lights as well.

Yes, the UA clubs in North America are nothing special. However, the ones in HKG and NRT are very good, IMO certainly better than the BR lounge in TPE.

username

I think the UA F lounge in NRT might have food that is similar to BR TPE but the J lounge at NRT's offering is pretty bad.

evergrn

I agree with the comments about Star/Infinity lounge and the lighting. But the food selection is considerably better than United Club at HKG/NRT. Probably halfway between SilverKris and UC. UA Club in HKG is annoying in that you can't find a place to sit when you need it the most (mid-morning).

All in all, TPE is a great airport for transit... ie, good airside food/shopping facilities, decent lounges, compact. Not as good as HKG but I enjoy it much more than ICN. NRT is rather sparse airside. In some ways, TPE is better than HKG, because some of the gates at HKG can be so far from shops and food.

LAX/HKG

I agree TPE's compact size is great for transit, since you are never too far from anywhere. You are right that HKG can be far from shops if you are looking for a certain kind of shop.

However, IMO HKG aesthetically is miles ahead of TPE; I would put NRT and ICN ahead of TPE as well. It is just much more pleasant to walk around in HKG, ICN, NRT, HND than TPE. The tiny elevator leading up to the Plaza Premium lounge is just pitiful. TPE looks more like an airport in a developing country than one in a major metropolitan city.

I love the in-flight experience in BR. If TPE is half way decent I would fly most, if not all of my tran-pacific flights with them.

bocastephen

TPE is being almost completely redone with a new combined terminal set to open in a few years - the scale may not be on par with HKG or NRT, but the comfort and design is expected to be significantly improved and certainly on par with any new, modern airport experience.

username

There is no doubt that TPE is pretty bad on the hardware front as you describe. It is functional and half-way decent - at least by my standard However, why sacrifice 15 hours of flight experience on a carrier you don't like as much just to avoid 2 hours of less-than-ideal transit experience?

east_west

What I find interesting about this thread is the diversity of (strong) opinions. It seems people value different aspects more than others, and certainly most of the items we are discussing are subjective (food, aesthetics, shopping choices).

Personally, I can't stand HKGs sauna-like open-air lounges crammed into the top floor of the glass terminal. It has to be 85+ F in the lounges most of the year -- it is simply a poorly designed terminal. Most of NRT is aging (certainly much older than TPE T2), and I believe they still have those ancient Northwest-era gates. HND is essentially run as an over-crowded domestic airport, and the lounge quality reflects that -- the lounge is a lot like NH's lounges in secondary airports around Japan (not even at KIX level). TPE T2 is not perfect, but it gets the basics right, and all things considered I would prefer to transit there than anywhere else in Asia (ex-SIN, but SIN is usually many hours out of the way).

LAX/HKG

I like the NH and OZ in-flight experience just as much, so other secondary factors come in to play.

Don't get me wrong, I like BR the airline. I recommend it to my non-frequent flying friends all the time. I am just sharing my sentiment that TPE has the potential to be a great hub, if the hardware is properly upgraded.

It is great to hear that TPE will get a face lift soon. It's long overdue.

Taipei

Well not so soon, 3-4 or more years, Terminal 3 plans to open in 2020/2021 but we will see if it opens as scheduled? (rail line into the airport was years late, and ridership is poor).

About the lounges, they do need updating but seems for EVA air not much is planned (CI seems more active). Just my observation on flying more non star airlines, JAL lounges in NRT/HND are much nicer than NH and thus BR, and a good connection point on JAL. Also I fly more to Aus/NZ and Qantas lounges as well as Air NZ lounges are newer, have a lot of nice food choices (Qantas SIN/HKG ones are nice!), next week flying BR on TPE-AKL via BNE and now think BNE lounge (AirNZ, Qantas and SQ) are much better than TPE. Even UA, the new lounge for business class in Chicago is great, and at LAX (my home airport) UA has a new lounge which is new and nice (but not much in food). I also think BR TPE lounge staff could be nicer (KHH BR lounge staff are great but its smaller more intimate), but to be fair TPE lounge is bit understaffed.