EVA Air: pls post your award ticket/upgrade experience here
 

A similar thread is running in the BMI forum (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/bmi-d...es-2012-a.html) and I thought it would be useful here. EVA are increasingly offering fares which don't offer mileage and there have been more reports of people being waitlisted when requesting redemption.

Once upon a time, I found that I had no problems getting a free ticket, even as Silver. Availability seemed to mirror that of paid-for fares. Over recent years, as Gold I found it more difficult. Now as Diamond things are easier again but still on one occasion an upgrade didn't clear immediately.

EVA have recently shortened the life of mileage to 3 years. So I thought it would be useful to share information here so that other FT'ers could make an informed decision about whether to accumulate miles and/or build status.

So please post:
1) Route and date of travel
2) Date of request and how made (eg at an office/online)
3) Class of free ticket requested or original booking class (for upgrade)
4) Evergreen Club status (if any)
5) Outcome
6) Any other information - what you were told, whether paid for tickets were still available when you were declined etc.

Might I suggest that other EVA chat be kept elsewhere so that this is a useful tool for people that are looking for this kind of information?

Thanks.

Request
TPE - LHR 11JAN2012
03JAN in person at Vietnam/Hanoi office.
Request reservation Q Elite at same time as upgrade to Premium Laurel.
Diamond status.

Outcome
Both were waitlisted. Q Elite cleared within a few minutes. Upgrade cleared 2 hours later and they phoned me. Flight was full in all classes according to website, though later availability showed in PL.

Request
SGN - TPE 10JAN2012
04JAN in person at Vietnam/Hanoi office.
Request Q Elite upgrade to Premium Laurel.
Diamond status.

Outcome
Upgrade cleared about 1 hour later and they phoned me.

Note: I returned to have the ticket issued for both. Hanoi had already deducted mileage for the TPELHR upgrade. I thought it strange that they had done this despite the ticket not being issued or paid for. I wanted to use a Diamond voucher to upgrade. They insisted this was not possible without cancelling the ticket and probably losing it. I said that in that case they should have phoned me first to check how I wanted to upgrade first. Moreover in the past it has been no problem to hold an upgrade reservation a short while and didn't see why that had to immediately deduct the miles. I said that if they couldn't fix it, I'd ask Taiwan to sort it. I suggested that I pop out for a cup of tea to give them a chance to investigate. An hour later they had it fixed. Certainly London have credited back mileage and taken a voucher without cancelling.

The Hanoi office is friendly and very small. But they do struggle and have a tendency to give out bad information. Allow plenty of time when you deal with them. They will get there in there in the end and everyone is happy. Deal with SGN if you can. The woman who is usually on the Silver/Gold/Diamond/Business desk there is very experienced and knows the ropes.

Request
JFK-TPE 08MAR2012
05Mar Call my TA.
Request Q elite & upgrade to PL at same time.
Gold status.

Outcome
She offered to purchase L for $110 less and confirmed N available. Accepted. The ticked paid & issued next day on 3/6. Seat was assigned at smaller PL cabin aisle seat.

I used to buy Q ticket to get extra 10% mileage. My TA told me she would rather to pay less for L class. Took her word to book L and got N right away. I was wondering if there was any difference for waitlist priority if N can not clear at that time. I guess BR may process elite status 1st. Ticket fare class 2nd. Not sure...

I had experience that kept bothered by FA traffic if I seated at 2nd cabin. I then asked my TA to switch to front cabin on 3/6. She called and got me one window seat at front at same day.

There were around 5 empty PL seats available 60 hr out. I believe it should be more since BR always block row 6 and row 10.(12 seats) You never know exactly from the web map. On that 3/8 flight BR31, all PL front cabin was full. There were 2 or more pilot or BR senior staff at PL seats on board. March is usually slow season for NY-TPE route both for business & leisure travel though.

My past experience for upgrade request from Q class were always "waitlist" even I booked 1-2 months ago. Frankly, I always got those request clear 3-5 days before departure. I was lucky that I could confirm PL at the booking early this month because I booked ticket 3 days ago when BR began releasing those PL seats which they could not sell.

I think EVA will clear Gold member upgrade request by fare-class order, Y/M/Q/L. So Q-fare will clear before L-fare. One main difference is that L-class cannot be upgraded at check-in/gate, so if you are not cleared at -24hours, most likely you would not be upgraded.


EVA released the Diamond 'guaranteed seat' at -72hours, I have seen Z-class inventory increased from 1 to 7 during this period.

All the following are PE->PL as a Gold

SFO->TPE summer '10 upgraded shortly after online purchase
TPE>LAX 11/10 upgraded just after online purchase
LAX->TPE 3/11 waitlisted, cleared when I called back in for another reason.
no failures

I would note that the waitlisted ticket was cleared when I called. Implies one should call in every so often.

Will try for a at least one more soon and report back.

May I ask how to see the Z inventory if you don't mind...

Couple months ago, I tried to book Z class for 2 weeks out flight and found it not available. My TA told me to wait and made J reservation for me (not ticketed yet) and put me waitlist for Z at same time. Then after 3-4 days, TA called me back & told me Z was cleared and asked me to ticket. Looked like even TA had no clue when Z will be available... I guess my TA could had kept calling & push EVA to finally release Z for me. This was my way to save hundred bucks if I had some flexibility. :)

jimbo99 mentioned this a few years back, www.flightstats.com
You have to register, its free. Use flight availability feature, enter your origin and destination cities, date and time frame. Hover on the number of seats available for a particular class ie. Business, it will show you the number of seats available by fare-class, C/J/Z sometime N=0 if N-class has been reserved.

It may not be 100% accurate, but so far it has given me true indication of seat availability.

Excellent info. This is what I am looking for. Thanks for sharing. ^

Unfortunately in recent times I've often found I can't see any BR flights so have given up on it.

I generally use EVA's site - searching for singles and/or award flights and seeing what comes up. All rather annoying, though at least EVA's site is faster than it used to be.

Nov 15, '12 LAX->TPE BR001 upgrade with miles PE->PL, Gold Card

This was an open return, when I called in to set the date was able to upgrade at the same time.

[I elscted not to try for an upgrade on the TPE->LAX flight as it was high season (extra miles) and I can hanlde the eastbound flight much easier anyway]

Gold Card
BR15 on 3/25 LAX-TPE
V --> N
Result: Unsuccessful (already knew it was small chance knowing i am on a discount fare).

On the other hand they op-up a TPE-HKG flight right after, from econ to PE but it was on old old equipment, nevertheless, good gesture.

Evergreen Deluxe or Elite is sold as Economy on this sector, so you were not OP-UPed.

Request
28MAR LHRTPE V Elite ticket and upgrade to Premium Laurel
08APR TPELHR V Elite ticket and upgrade to Premium Laurel

Requested on FRI 23MAR 2012 (late) (via London travel agent)

Diamond status.


Outcome
Flight full both ways in Elite, but C Business available both ways at time of request. Diamond guarantee released V Elite availability in seconds whilst at travel agent. Phone call by agent to EVA/London failed to release upgrade. Then:

SAT 24MAR - outbound upgrade for 28MAR cleared
MON 26MAR - inbound upgrade for 08APR cleared

Notes
They were still selling both ways in C when I requested the ticket. C availability dried up on both flights within a day or so. At outbound check-in I was told PL was full, but there were two empty seats on LHR-BKK. (More on BKK-TPE.) I was the only Diamond in PL on LHR-BKK. Possibly one other on BKK-TPE. Annoyed I couldn't get a D/G LHRBKK and had to accept 6C. BKKTPE got 6D and 6G was empty. Mr 6A was gold and pre-booked his seat. So rule about keeping 6 for diamonds at least until check-in, is soft.

Used voucher outbound, airmiles inbound. I don't think this makes any difference.

Recent HKG-TPE sector, no mileage accumulation economy class. During check in, they offered upgrade to P.E. "because economy was very full" and I said OK, expecting the old 747 combi with 10-15yr old seats.

At the boarding gate, my boarding pass was rejected by the machine, and they said I've been upgraded to PL. As I stepped into the aircraft, it was the B777's used for transpacific... I was pretty happy with the upgrade but the flight was almost too short to enjoy PL.

On another note, during the ~20 transpacific crossings I made in the last 2-3 yrs, was op-up'ed once from PE (either v or q, i forgot) to PL.

Btw, had a flight tpe-lax on V for 4/18... Reservation called me last week saying award upgrade to PL was available but unfortunately I had to change the flight :(

Have booked economy ticket in Eva air LHR - BKK on August 1st. Does anyone know the cost to upgrade to next cabon class at airport?

Probably best to start a new thread because I'm guessing you mean a paid-for upgrade rather than using miles.

But in general they will charge the difference in ticket price - ie it will be expensive. If they are OP-UPing, they might do a deal. But usually it's Elite that is hardest-to-get on LHR-BKK.

Thanks Jimbo! would agree better to start a new threat but am a newbie and dont know how to do this!!!:(

I thought it would be one set price one at the airport not the diffrence in costing? As how BA do it!

1) Route and date of travel: 15-Mar-2012 -24-Apr-2012
YYZ-TPE-HKG-TPE-YYZ

2) Date of request and how made (eg at an office/online) approx. Dec. 2011 request for award and then booked in Feb. 2012 via online website*

3) Class of free ticket requested or original booking class (for upgrade)
Premium Laurel

4) Evergreen Club status (if any) Gold

5) Outcome Success*

6) Any other information - what you were told, whether paid for tickets were still available when you were declined etc.

Was attempting to book TPE-BKG but no availability, despite there being plenty of seats available for sale. Ended up taking the route to HKG. I had to do this as I would have lost 100,000 points on Dec. 31, 2011. EVA has expiry dates on its points, even though one is an active PAX. (I take at least 2 roundtrip transpacific flights with BR every year)

Could not book an upgrade from EVA Deluxe as there was no availability roundtrip on any route. The value isn't worth it anyway if one compares the points for an upgrade per sector flown vs a roundtrip ticket.

As a tip to anyone considering an EVA redemprion, I suggest you consider the low load routes such as YYZ and SEA. I connected to YYZ and it was still worth it for me.

With the implementation of the new Royal Laurel service I have a feeling the redemption point requirements are going to get boosted within a year.

First redemption for me and a heck of alot smoother than the misery of my former American Airlines or the impossibility of getting a seat on Delta. Not as easy as Aeroplan though.

1) TPE - BKK July 6, 2012
2) Requested 5/9/12. Unable online (error message), but accomplished on the phone with Los Angeles office.
3) Mileage upgrade from Elite To Business
4) Evergreen Club status - Green
5) Success. Was even given several choices of seat location
6) EVA Rep was helpful and spoke good english

1) Route and date of travel:
April 21, 2012 BR75 Taipei-Amsterdam via Bangkok
April 28, 2012 BR76 Amsterdam-Taipei via Bangkok

2) Date of request and how made:
a.) For my partner: on December 29, 2011 at EVA website.
b.) For myself: on February 15, 2012 at EVA website.

3) Class of free ticket requested or original booking class (for upgrade):

a.) For my partner: Free Premium Laurel (D) class
b.) For myself: purchased Elite (Q) class for upgrade to Premium Laurel (N) class

4) Evergreen Club status:
GREEN for both my partner and I.

5) Outcome
a.) For my partner: D class cleared and ticketed by the time of booking. (Mileage was expiring on December 31, 2011)
b.) For myself: Q class ticketed and requested for an upgrade online but waitlisted.
i.) AMS-TPE route N class was cleared on March 15, 2012
ii) TPE-AMS route N class was cleared on April 6, 2012

6) Any other information:
I called the reservation office in Taipei right after I purchased my Q class ticket online and told them I was travelling with a companion in D class. They made a remark on my reservation and was told it will put me in a higher priority status on the waiting list. I was planning to call the reservation office everyday one month before the departuring date to ask them to "push" the seats, but got a surprising phone call from them 45 days in advance and told my return route (AMS-TPE) for D was cleared! I started calling them everyday afterwords and got my TPE-AMS route seat cleared two weeks in advance!!

I thought it would be a very empty flights since I got my seats cleared so well in advance. However, and surprisingly, ALL 24 Premium Laurel class seats on BR75 (both TPE-BKK and BKK-AMS) were seated. And 14 out of 24 PL seats on BR76 (AMS-BKK) were seated and all 24 PL seats on (BKK-TPE) were seated.

Welcome to visit my travel photo albums http://www.aeroFormosa.com

1) Route and date of travel:
June 18, 2011 BR67 Taipei-Bangkok
June 20, 2011 BR68 Bangkok-Taipei

2) Date of request and how made:
on June 6, 2011 at EVA website.

3) Class of free ticket requested or original booking class (for upgrade):
purchased Elite (M) class for upgrade to Premium Laurel (N) class

4) Evergreen Club status: SILVER

5) Outcome:

Taipei-Bangkok route for N was cleared on June 17 (one day in advance)
Bangkok-Taipei route for N was cleared on June 19 (one day in advance)

6) Any other information:

I planned for a quick getaway to Bangkok after my family member transferred some 30,000 EVA miles which was to be expired by the end of the month. Since I didn't want to waste any mileage and in the sametime, travelling in business class, I purchased an Elite (M) class ticket for upgrade. Even though PL(J) class ticket was only a few thousands NT dollars (US$120) more than Elite (M).
I called the reservation office in Taipei almost everyday for pushing the seats and got no luck until the very last day before departure to have my outbound cleared. And for my inbound, it was cleared after I had a gout attack in Bangkok and my partner called the reservation and begged for help. The nice lady on the phone was then transfered the call to her supervisor who cleared the seat for me just minutes before they got off for work.

I thought that the flights would be very full, but there were 10 empty PL seats for Taipei-Bangkok bound and at least 5 empty PL seats in the front section for Bangkok-Taipei bound.


My travel photo albums: http://www.aeroFormosa.com

1) Route and date of travel:
April 22, 2011 BR10 Taipei-Vancouver
April 30, 2011 BR09 Vancouver-Taipei

2) Date of request and how made:
a) For my partner: early November 2010 on EVA website.
b) For myself: early November 2010 on EVA website.
Tickets were then issued on December 27, 2010 at Taipei Ticketing Office to avoid the mileage hike for PL class and to use the American Express EVA AIR Platinum Charge Card Companion 50% off Certificate.

3) Class of free ticket requested or original booking class (for upgrade):
a) For my partner: Premium Laurel (D) class free ticket.
b) For myself: Premium Laurel (D) class free ticket.

4) Evergreen Club status:
a) my partner: GREEN
b) myself: SLIVER

5) Outcome:
a) For my partner: PL(D) class seats were cleared by the time of booking.
b) For myself: PL(D) class seats were waitlisted and were cleared less than a week before travel.

6) Any other information:

I was quite frustrated when my seats were not able to be cleared a week before travel as I couldn't and shouldn't pre-paid for my hotel rooms before I had a confirmed ticket.

There were 6 empty PL seats out of 36 on the Taipei-Vancouver bound and 10 empty PL seats out of 36 on the Vancouver-Taipei bound.

Total mileages used: 202,500 for 2 PL class seats :)


My travel photo albums: http://www.aeroFormosa.com

1) Route and date of travel:
February 11, 2011 BR2198 Taipei-Tokyo
February 14, 2011 BR2197 Tokyo-Taipei

2) Date of request and how made:
a) For my partner: On November 14, 2010 at EVA website.
b) For myself: On November 14, 2010 at EVA website.

3) Class of free ticket requested or original booking class (for upgrade):
a) For my partner: Premium Laurel (D) class free ticket.
b) For myself: Premium Laurel (D) class free ticket.

4) Evergreen Club status:
a) my partner: GREEN
b) myself: SLIVER

5) Outcome:
a) For my partner: PL(D) class seats were cleared by the time of booking.
b) For myself: PL(D) class seats were waitlisted and were cleared 7 days before travel.

6) Any other information:
It was about half full in PL class on the outbound Taipei-Tokyo flight and only 5 passengers in PL class on the inbound Tokyo-Taipei flight!

There were at least 5 Chief Pursers on duty on the inbound flight on February 14, as many young inflight attendants were on leave to celebrate Valentine's Day with their loved ones :)

My travel photo albums: http://www.aeroFormosa.com

I'm flying out this weekend, so I just put the request in for PL and will report back with status.

1) Route and date of travel:
SEA-TPE 26May
2) Date of request and how made:
22May via agent/consolidator
3) Class of free ticket requested or original booking class (for upgrade):
L Elite Class to Premium Laurel
4) Evergreen Club status:
DIAMOND
5) Outcome:
Requested 1045AM PST 22May, confirmed 640PM PST 22May
6) Any other information:
At the time of the request, I was put on a priority waitlist. I waited until the business day started in TPE and called the Diamond line. She immediately cleared the long haul (and got me in my favorite seat on the 744), and sent another message about my connecting flight. I'll post that result when it's known.

1) Route and date of travel:
TPE-BKK 27May
2) Date of request and how made:
22May via agent/consolidator
3) Class of free ticket requested or original booking class (for upgrade):
L Elite Class to Premium Laurel
4) Evergreen Club status:
DIAMOND
5) Outcome:
Requested 1045AM PST 22May, confirmed 406PM PST 25May
6) Any other information:
At the time of the request, I was put on a priority waitlist. I called on both 23May and on 24May with no luck. When I called on the 24th, the BR agent was quite good and checked the loads for me and said that the flight was really overbooked, but he would send another request for me. I thought at that point that I would have to try at the airport.

At lunchtime on the 25th, I called my consolidator to ask if she heard anything, but she wasn't available, so I left her a message. She called me back after 4PM with the good news. And I got my preferred PL seat for that leg too! :D

1) Route and date of travel:
BKK-TPE 09Jun
TPE-SEA 09Jun
2) Date of request and how made:
06Jun via agent/consolidator
3) Class of free ticket requested or original booking class (for upgrade):
L Elite Class to Premium Laurel
4) Evergreen Club status:
DIAMOND
5) Outcome:
Requested 1220AM ICT 06Jun, confirmed 215PM ICT 07Jun
6) Any other information:
At the time of the request (as seemingly usual), I was put on a priority waitlist. I called EVA's BKK office in the afternoon of 06Jun and was told I was still on the waitlist. My consolidator tried overnight (my time) and I had an e-mail from her when I woke up saying that she hadn't had any luck yet. In the morning I called the Diamond line in TPE and the agent couldn't confirm either leg at that point, but he would "work on it." I called the BKK office back at 215PM and got the confirmation for both flights.

I knew that the BKK-TPE leg would get confirmed, I saw plenty of seats open on the seat map, but I also saw that Elite was oversold TPE-SEA, the seat map wouldn't even display on EF. So I think that the Diamond desk did the smart thing and "allowed" me to use my coupon instead of giving me an op-up. I'm happier since I get to choose my meal; the regular options TPE-SEA for supper weren't my favorites.

United Airlines redemption limited to one flight each way.
 

1) Route and date of travel:
SEA-ORD-YYZ DEC26
YYZ-ORD-SEA DEC31
2) Date of request and how made:
06Jun via BNE agent
3) Class of free ticket requested or original booking class (for upgrade):
Business Class on United
4) Evergreen Club status:
Regular
5) Outcome:
Request denied because routing exceeded 2 segments
6) Any other information:
It would seem that EVA Air only allows direct 1 segment redemption each way on United Airlines. Very disappointing indeed.

Royal Laurel Upgrade
 

1) Route and date of travel:
LAX-TPE BR1 September
2) Date of request and how made:
07Jun via Jakarta ticketing office
3) Class of original booking class (for upgrade):
Q Elite Class to N Royal Laurel via mileage deduct
4) Evergreen Club status:
DIAMOND
5) Outcome:
Requested 07June, confirmed 16July
6) Additional info:
Ticketed 07 June 2012

double post, please delete

WOW! i am actually surprised they let you upgrade to RL!!

is RL on every LAX->TPE flight in september?

My suspicious nature says that if BR gave him the upgrade today, they are already planning on an aircraft swap. ;) But it would be nice to know that it is possible to have RL upgrades in advance.

Only BR1 on Sat and Mon, took almost 6 weeks to confirm.


You may be right, time table now showing my BR1 on the same row as BR1 (PL) not the same row as the other BR1 (RL). Seatmap showing about 10 assigned RL seats.

Royal Laurel Upgrade
 

1) Route and date of travel:
TPE-LAX BR12 December 1st week
2) Date of request and how made:
07Jun via Jakarta ticketing office
3) Class of original booking class (for upgrade):
Q Elite Class to N Royal Laurel via mileage deduct
4) Evergreen Club status:
DIAMOND
5) Outcome:
Requested 07June, confirmed 30July
6) Additional info:
has not been ticketed

Royal Laurel Upgrade
1) Route and date of travel:
TPE-LAX BR12, in early September
2) Date of request and how made:
August 20, via US reservation line (800-695-1188)
3) Class of original booking class (for upgrade):
Q Elite Class (ED, still prefer to call it that way) to N Royal Laurel w/ mileage deduction
4) Evergreen Club status:
GOLD
5) Outcome:
Requested on Aug. 20, confirmed on Aug. 21
6) Additional info:
With a confirmed ED seat for BR16 originally, saw availability for RL on BR12, called and was placed on waitlist for N class, got cleared within 24 hours, now hoping "last minute equipment change", will not occur!

Some updates......

Just flew back to LAX from TPE. Happened to run into a buddy of mine at the Diamond lounge (a Diamond member, but non-FTer). I must say the shower area is definitely a big improvement. We had the first row all by ourselves. Following things are what we found/ felt about the RL cabin:

1. The seats indeed go all the way flat. But we both found that there's not enough leg room to turn when sleep, as the legs/ knees may bump into the "divider" when seat is in the "sleep" mode. In fact, my friend even joked and said he now has "cluster-phobia" because of that.

2. It may seem like passengers do get more personal storage spaces, but seat 1D and 1G don't get any designated overhead bin space at all.

3. According to the check in agent, Row 11 (which I reserved on-line originally), may NOT recline down to the "full flat" position.

4. Toothbrush is no longer to be found from the over night kit. Rather, they are being placed inside a small basket in the lavatory, just like what ANA does.

yes i also bumped my feet and legs when in flat mode. i actually found that a slightly inclined bed was more comfortable than true flat

1) Route and date of travel:
LAX- TPE Sep 12
2) Date of request and how made (eg at an office/online):
Called diamond card service phone line
3) Class of free ticket requested or original booking class (for upgrade)
Class L
4) Evergreen Club status (if any)
Diamond
5) Outcome
granted immediatedly over the phone
6) Any other information - what you were told, whether paid for tickets were still available when you were declined etc.

i called it in from information i gathered on my last tpe-lax flight that the seats would be the new Royal Laurel class. my confirmation email even said Royal Laurel class. Upon getting to the gate, a familiar gate agent informs me these seats were the old Premium Laurel seats. asked to be downgraded all the reserved seats in Economy Delux, but the only remaining seats are middle. so stuck between a seat you dont want in PL or a middle seat in ED. what do you do? stay in PL and hope that when i get back to Taiwan the club will take care of me.

make a phone call into the club explain the situation and i am told they will investigate. 2 days later they call back saying they have pulled up the original conversation and i did no ask about the seats so they will not return my miles. at this point im like ...! i then tell them about the confirmation email and send it to the agent. a few days later i basically get no answer so call in and see what the deal is. am basically told there is nothing they can do. i fly about 1 round trip to either us or europe every month sometimes 2 times a month. personally im pretty fed up with EVA'S policies and lack of appreciation to their most loyal and frequent fliers. its just sad. over 30,000 in tickets annually and basically very little appreciation.

Its amazing why people stick with this airline when there are so many other options with FFP that do actually take care of you