obuengineer

I've decided not to do a full blown review because that's been done by others more proficient at that than I. Instead I will provide a few details that stuck out to me about the flight.

I thought the in flight service was really great. Better than South African airways business class and quite a bit better than UA business class (my only reference points). The flight attendants were very friendly and efficient without being over the top. They thank you whenever they do something for you. I was referred to by name more than once. They remembered details about my preferences like what kind of tea I wanted hours I after I order it the first time. And this was different fa's knowing these things without asking. When the call button was pushed, someone would be there in seconds to take care of my requests. My wife and I were both very impressed. When I told her we weren't flying EVA on the way home, she was very disappointed.

I found the food to be very good. I preorder a lobster entree, and it came out perfectly. I was feeling a little adventurous, so for the TPE-HKE segment I ordered the pork trotter with longevity noodles. Simply amazing. I would never expect pork to be that tender and delicious for a quick meal service on a 2 hour flight. Their cappuccino is pretty good too. The Dom was fine. It satisfied my curiosity for trying it and confirmed that I would never be willing to pay $200 for a bottle.

I found the seat to be very comfortable, but I've noticed more than once on different airlines that reclining the seat to fully flat results in discomfort for me in the lumbar area of my back. I toss and turn. If I raise the seat just a hair above flat it is more comfortable. I did manage to sleep 6 hours, have a snack and some tea, and go back to sleep for 3-4 more hours with the aid of melatonin, so take my seat complaints with a grain of salt. FYI melatonin is the international traveler's best friend. Don't leave home without it!

Be aware that the amenity kit does not come with ear plugs. I ended up sleeping wearing the provided noise canceling headphones. Not ideal.

As I mentioned before, if you're traveling with a companion, sit in the middle two seats. The seats are staggered in such a way that any other combination will result in uncomfortable leaning around by one of you. This cabin was designed with privacy in mind. The avod has a feature whereby you can place seat to seat calls by simply typing in the seat number you want to call and speaking into the remote like a phone handset. This would solve the isolation problems if the feature worked properly. My wife and I tried multiple times to call each other, but all we got was static.

I don't think I'll be able to share any pictures this week as we didn't bring a laptop with us.

Stratoliner777

Thank you for the review!! Lots of interesting observations. I find it hard to sleep even in full flat biz seats, but maybe EVA's latest will do the trick.

obuengineer

No bed is as good as your bed at home. But I'll admit that I'm feeling better than expected on my first day abroad, so the sleep must have been good enough.

On a random side note, the gate agents pronounce the name of the airline E-V-A and not like the woman's name Eva. You guys may already know that. I was surprised.

snic

The plane is typically angled upwards while flying, so if you put the seat at 180 degrees, your feet will be higher than your head. Maybe your back doesn't like that. I also find it better for sleeping to angle the back rest a little.

Haha, there was a whole thread on this a while back. EVA is somehow related to "Evergreen". Or is it "Evagreen"?

Anyway, thanks for your report! ^

JackTripper

Thank you for sharing your review. The FA service seems quite impressive. Why did you choose a different airline for your return trip?

I'm traveling with an infant so we asked for a bassinet. Hopefully the bassinet will be installed for our flight next month. Since the designated bassinet seat is an aisle, I wonder if the companion seat is better in the aisle behind or if I should change it to the adjacent middle seat.

Do they let you keep the headphones?

geclub1

Unfortunately no.

Globex

Thanks for the review, greatly appreciated. I've switched us to the middle seats for both EVA and AC's 787.

obuengineer

4 business class tickets are hard to come by, especially when you include regional airports like my home airport LIT. I took the flights I could get for my dates. My routing is LIT-CLT-YYZ-TPE-HKG with return HKG-PEK-ORD-LIT.

The headphones come with covers for the ear pieces with instructions to use them so they can be returned.

obuengineer

One more thing--don't forget the slippers. They give you slippers that you can keep, but somehow I was the only one that managed to make it off the plane with them. They are too big for the kids, but they would have made for great house shoes in the flat for my wife this week.

asiadxer

EVA Timetable is showing 77A configuration RL with bassinet in 8A & 8K for
LAX to TPE starting May 18, 2014.

LAX-TPE BR 1 Tue, Fri, Sun
TPE-LAX BR 2 Mon, Thu, Sat

So you would have bassinet available unless there is aircraft delivery delay, equipment change.

username

The correct way of saying EVA Air is E-V-A Air. They actually paid some British Corporate Identity company to figure all that out.

Over the years, even some of their own people are saying Eva Air.

JackTripper

EVA CS says we will have a RL bassinet but the EVA Timetable says we have a 77N next month that has no bassinet. Should we be worried? We would prefer not to hold our infant for the entire flight!

asiadxer

Traveling With an Infant or Small Child
EVA Air - Business Seat Question on 77W
EVA CS may not be aware of the position of the bassinet (8K) on 77N and the associated problem placing an infant at that location (proximity of microwave oven). Unfortunately, they use the microwave throughout the flight for snacks, crew meals etc. Otherwise you may be able to use the bassinet in mid flight (non meal time).

JackTripper

Thanks asiadxer. EVA CS tells me today that the 77N map on the website is outdated and RL does have a bassinet hookup in 8K. Has anyone been on a 77N recently with a bassinet?

In case there actually is no bassinet, what would you do in my situation to avoid having to hold your infant the entire flight? Do people let them sleep on the floor? Or would they allow a folding stroller to be used?

cornellfOo

Awesome info-thanks!. Lack of bassinet was one of the reasons I was looking into a different airline. Microwave is a bit of concern but much better than holding the baby for 10+ hrs.