the Largest Airline you have never heard of??
Written: Jul 31 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Affordable, Premium economy for the price of economy
Cons: Limited destinations
The Bottom Line: Getting premium economy for the price of economy is a major benefit, and service was great too.
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| helencbradshaw's Full Review: EVA Air |
I was more than a little sceptical when my travel agent of choice, Trailfinders, found me seats on Eva Air, for my recent trip to Thailand. I did a little research, and in general, I couldn’t find any bad word against the airline. Even consumer reviews, limited as they were, all rated the airline as four stars out of five. I was attracted to flying with them as for approximately the same price as BA economy, I could fly Eva Air Premium Economy, and that extra pitch makes all the difference when flying long haul..so I took the plunge and figured I could cope with inferior service and inferior food as long as I had leg room…and if technically they were inferior and it crashed…well I wouldn’t be any the wiser. My sister was a source of further encouragement when she said, “I have looked at them more than once, so you take the plunge and let me know how they are!” Charming - a travelling guinea pig for my sister with wanderlust. Anyhow…
About Eva Air
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Chances are, like me three months ago, you are scratching your head and wondering “But who are Eva Air?” Well in fact they can probably claim to be one of those large companies you have never heard of, as they are an absolutely huge airline, with a strong cargo market as well as passenger transport. Based in Taiwan, (I’ve heard all the Taiwanese airline jokes already, thank you), they launched almost 14 years ago and now have 1.2billion capital….so pretty big then.
They now have at least 19 jumbos, together with approximately 30 other smaller aircraft, including Boeing, Airbus and McDonnell Douglas aircraft, covering 40 routes over four continents.
Checking In
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My GLW- LHR connecting flight was via British Midland, who were able to check my bag the whole way to my destination, involving three airlines, but I myself had to check in at each airport. Thankfully, I had more than adequate timings between flights (too long actually, as the journey to Koh Samui took me 24 hours in total). I checked in via the Air Canada desk at terminal three. On my arrival at Flight Connections, Air Canada had a sign stating their desk was shut and I needed to go to T3 itself. Not a major problem as I had the time, although normally I like to be in full possession of all the boarding cards as soon as possible. In any event, check in was swift as there were zero queues, and I still had nearly four hours to wait, thanks to the less frequent connecting flights from Glasgow on a Saturday afternoon.
Boarding
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More pre-boarding initally..the plane itself was late in boarding due to late arrival of the inbound flight. However when all the planes that are due to depart after mine announced their boarding gates, I was starting to worry a little. What if I am stuck in LHR for 15 hrs….as no announcements are ever made, and there isn’t an information desk to ask, I resorted to using an internet telephone to check the website for arrivals…no sooner had I logged on, than the gate was announced and we could finally board…
…alas, the doors were closed and cross checked..the plane announcements were a little difficult to understand but I was sure I heard the pilot say “Cabin Crew, doors for arrival…!” Arrival? Sure enough we had a technical problem which resulted in plenty of stressed ground staff before we finally got on our way, some one hour later, at about 11pm, any later and I am sure I would have been sleeping in an Heathrow Hotel somewhere!
In Flight Service
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In general, I don’t think this could be faulted. The cabin crew, while generally subservient in approach, could not do enough and certainly worked much harder than the BA staff on the dozen or so business class journeys I have made across the same route. My outbound flight was overnight, while the return was during the daytime. On the day flight, the cabin crew brought trays of fresh non alcoholic drinks every hour or so, implicitly promoting the importance of regular non alcoholic fluids. Alcohol was available throughout during meals and on request, although I stuck to the H2O. There were eight video channels, plus radio channels with a reasonable mix of entertainment. Blankets and freshen up packs were also provided.
Dare I say it - even the food wasn’t too bad. I ordered “special” vegetarian meals and this meant I was served ahead of the cabin. One thing I did note on this airline is that they are not inclined to let you sleep – by the time the outbound delayed aircraft had got off the ground and served the first round of drinks, I was asleep – but they woke me anyway with my dinner – this happened on the return too, with one of my meals!
Comfort
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In premium economy (known as Evergreen class), there was nothing wrong with the leg room, compared with regular long haul carriers. My major gripe with the seat was that there are no side head rests, so I simply could not get comfortable. For me, having the side headrest would have made all the difference, in what is, after all, an uncomfortable journey no matter what! The outbound journey from LHR to BKK is approx 11.5 hours, while the return is an hour longer..
The seat pitch in Premium Economy is 38” which is a lot better than a 30-32” pitch which you would get in economy cabins, particularly at the price, which was comparable to the best BA deal I could get. If you really want to splash out, then the business and first cabins have pitches of around 62” and 71” respectively. The premium economy seats have separate TV’s with eight TV channels, plus audio channels to choose from.
My ticket in Premium economy cost £666 plus airport taxes of £83. This included the shuttle from GLW – LHR and the Bangkok Airways flight from BKK – Koh Samui.
So in summing up, all in all I think that Eva Air offer excellent value for money (especially if you book though a decent agent such as Trailfinders) and if you have booked, you have nothing to fear – you are guaranteed at least as comfortable a journey as with one of the more well known carriers!
There is a frequent flyer club for those who anticipate making regular journeys.
Overall, four stars and recommended. Just a shame those headrests are not more comfortable.
www.evaair.com
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
helencbradshaw
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Location: East Midlands
Reviews written: 51
Trusted by: 5 members
About Me:
Married, 39, no kids, living in East Midlands, Resort Revenue Manager in the hospitality industry.
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