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.

hayzel7773

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.

yvrcnx

Thank you Hayzel, that's very helpful. Currently EVA Air is about $ 150 cheaper but these two airlines seem to be taking turns in undercutting each other.
I'll probably end up choosing EVA Air since it is Premium Economy on all flights and CI only on the Transpacific.
Thank you again, really appreciate your input.

SilverChris

Depending on the fare I think CI may put you in J for the regional sector.

yvrcnx

It used to be that the lowest fare would put you into J on the regional sector when the flight was operated by a 747 or A330 but now they only do it if you purchase the next highest fare and the fare difference is usually about $ 400 - $ 500.

CI is doing something strange with their PE fares. For example if I book YVR - TPE - SIN in the lowest fare class, about CAN$ 1,500, I get PE for the YVR - TPE sector and Y for the TPE - SIN sector which for the dates I am planning to travel are all operated by an A350.
When I choose the next higher fare which is an additonal $ 450 I get YVR-TPE in PE and TPE - SIN in J.
There seems to be no option to be put on all flights into PE.

coolfish1103

Likely PE is not offered on SIN cause only the morning flight is on 359 and the afternoon flight is a 333 tag to SUB w/no PE.

yvrcnx

For the dates I am flying on (March 14 outbound/April 4 inbound), the A350 shows in their system for all sectors but I did find out that even though the regional flight is in "Restricted Economy", when I get to the seat selection, it does give you seats to choose from in the PE section of the plane.

It is quite likely that they are doing this because they might be switching aircraft on these route and with the exception of DPS, it seems all South East Asian cities are set up like this as most don't get the A350 or B777 with the PE cabin.

unagi1

I have flown both Eva Air PE and China Airlines PE in the last year, and found the Eva Air seats to be much more comfortable. The 2-3-2 config on the CI A350 was nice, but the seat was very hard imho, and I don't like the ergonomics of the sliding shell seat. The CI food was better. I am also *G and the lounge access was also a plus point for me. I am planning to go to SFO-SGN and SFO-BKK in 2018, and will use Eva Air for both trips. Eva has PE on the intra-Asia legs to both destinations from TPE. CI now only puts you in Y on the lowest PE fare, as someone said. When I flew them last year SFO-SGN, the TPE-SGN leg was in J. They stopped that right afterwards I believe.

myperks

Just be careful on the new EVA PE fare structure in class P. Not exactly 100% mileage earning in some programs, if not all.

Davvidd

Can anyone tell me about Eva Premium and Qatar Economy comparison? Also is it better to buy the premium ticket as close to the date as possible?