Cathay Dragon 666

Dear EVA experts:

I've come to realized most of the time I can flying Eva C class. I was putting them into United but then after some calculation I think I can make Eva DM if I put the miles in Eva program. For those that have both Eva and United programs, would you recommend I go for Eva DM or stick with United? Our East Asian head office has moved from Shanghai to Taiwan and I see myself traveling to Taiwan at least 12 times a year in the near future (cross-pacific). Thoughts please?

Thanks in advance, good journey all.

DeltaOneFlyer

Do you care about using the miles you accumulate? I heard it's very hard to redeem Eva air miles, takes a lot of steps and manual processing. If you also fly domestic USA, the benefits of United Mileageplus probably outweigh Eva's program.

Cathay Dragon 666

That's all I wanted to hear. Yes I heard about the nightmares of trying to redeem miles from particular airlines, and thanks for letting me know it's hard to do so with Eva. Ok, case closed, United it is.

BuBu4

If you can get Diamond, EVA treats their Diamond really well. So if your flying EVA 12 times a year, id say, its worth it. EVA J has been pretty difficult to get though but i thought their redemption is better than many. from LAX--TPE route, its like 50k(Y), 55k(PE), 75k(J) on one way. Whats cool about EVA miles is that the airline will let you waitlist flights that are full and release close in. i dont think united would allow that.

Of course, if you fly more domestic, then united miles earning is probably better. I do believe their mile redemption is much for for say a TPE--SFO route (110k?) or something like that. *A gold on EVA isnt seen highly regarded but if you make a request, they will try to fill that request if its within reason.

As for call centers, i never called united so i can speak for that but EVA call center is a disaster haha. Need to call overseas offices and at the right times too.

Cathay Dragon 666

I have tried to call EVA New York, LAX, SFO and all got hung up (not even an option to wait). Then I called Taipei office and after getting hung up initially on a few tries, finally got a call in at 5:10 p.m. (right before closing). So yeah, I don't really have much faith in EVA Call Centers. But 75K for C class with Eva? Wow, that's cheap nowadays.

I just found out United million miles has to be on United meal, so I'm reconsidering myself to put miles in EVA program again.

abovethepacific

I'm EVA Gold and rarely had to wait more than 5 mins for them to pick up when calling the Taipei office. Will probably be even better for Diamond. Something to consider if you're willing to call the Taipei office during their hours.

Cathay Dragon 666

Good to know thanks. So I take it there's a special phone number to call EVA when you have status (like Cathay Pacific DM has a special number?)

DeltaOneFlyer

I don't think they have a special phone number that you call in, but they do ask for your infinity mileage number when you call if you have one. I believe that is how they route the priority for higher status members.

DeltaOneFlyer

Yes, BR miles has good redemption rates, but I would counter that they have partners that also have cheap redemption rate on their mileage program on EVA metal.

I signed up for aeroplan couple of years ago and since have been able to book at least 3 J transpacific seats on BR with aeroplan, which I believe for economy starts at 40+K and for business at around 70+K (west coast is lower, east coast a tad higher). On top of that, Aeroplan allows for stopovers for only 5k miles additional and I have been able to take advantage of that too. Next trip on BR is America -> TPE -> Southeast Asia with a 2 week stop in TPE to see family, all for 92K miles, all in business. Aeroplan also frequently have bonus miles purchase which can bring the cost down to 1.2 ~1.4 cpm. Using that value means that my 15hr + 5hr flight in J, plus a stop along the way, cost about ~$1200 one way, which is good.

Now obviously there are many caveats with the above, like booking way in advance (9-12 mos) and limited availability (usually only 1 J seat per flight for Aeroplan, a few more for Y) and no premium economy redemption on EVA for partner programs. But depending on the person's need, it might work (it works quite well for me as I have family in Taiwan and in Southeast Asia)

In regards to call centers, I think the verdict is more straightforward and unanimous lol, you stand a better chance at winning lottery than getting through to their office anywhere in North America. They used to at least be able to place you on hold for hours on end before getting through, but even that is wishful thinking nowadays...

hlee628

Just to chime in here, as a longtime Diamond member, BR does treat it's top tiers pretty well. If you are concerned about the phone wait times, there is a special phone line for Diamond members that is almost always immediately answered. However, if you are flying business class on revenue J tickets all the time, I think there's not a whole lot of incremental value to be had there.

I work for an org that has an economy only travel policy, so where the Diamond status comes in handy for me is priority waitlisting of upgrading, which would be irrelevant in your case if you're already in the forward cabin.

DeltaOneFlyer brings up a good point also. Perhaps neither BR nor UA should be your program of choice. Choosing where to credit your miles for max redemption value doesn't have to go hand in hand with having status in a particular program.

Cathay Dragon 666

thank you, very valuable suggestions by all of you. Yes, I am at the age it's hard for me trying to figure things out like I used to, and like you said since I'm flying C all the time status doesn't really give me much anymore. But I do want to use top lounges. Most airlines C lounge is becoming more and more brutal stuff with people that gets access by cheap status or credit card offering, which I don't blame the people, but because of this the airlines are dumbing down their C lounge offering. And since most routes don't have F cabin anymore that I can no longer buy my way into F lounges with a F ticket and can't get into F lounges without status.

hlee628

In that case one thing you will find valuable as a BR Diamond is access to "The Garden" lounge in TPE, which is exclusively for Diamond members. I wouldn't say its competitive with top class F lounges like CX have in HKG, but it is less of a zoo than the standard J lounges, and has a small a la carte menu with good Taiwanese food.

allianceflyer9506

If you max out Eva Air Infinity MileageLands with Star Alliance Gold you get to access United Clubs on a Domestic flight Since the max tier of Infinity Mileagelands is seen as Star Alliance gold by the UA lounge agents. In North America that's seen as AC Aeroplan Star Alliance Gold used to access United Clubs on a domestic flight. Therefore Eva Air FFQ might be a good choice if traveling internationally then combined with UA domestic runs. On the other hand, if UA Mileage Plus Star Alliance Gold was obtained you get to access EWR Terminal A Maple Leaf lounge LAX Star Alliance lounge IAD LH and TK lounges

Davvidd

EVA treats their Gold fairly well too. I only have G and not Diamond but they treat me fairly well. I fly about 4 to 5 times on their long haul at least on PE or Business. I have no problems using their miles (points) to upgrade on their tickets. Yes, I do ask them if it is available and they always tell me on the phone what dates are available to upgrade from PE to Business. So far on this I never had a problem. I used to have major issues to get thru to them until they gave a number to call which lets me leave a call back number but I have to enter my frequent flyer number for this. I think it is available only for D and G members with D having a different number.