Ethan Steinberg has been a frequent flier for as long as he can remember. He went from studying abroad in Paris to moving to Shanghai after graduating college, where he covered all things travel in the Asia-Pacific region for TPG.
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Business Class From Houston To Taipei - Eva Air Reviews Business Class title=Flight Review: EVA Air 777 Business Class From Houston To Taipei style=width:100%;text-align:center; onerror=this.onerror=null;this.src='https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSmWbhZUuo454z4dlYADo7M6Y1vB4hCnvHDbHsm3HR9yE2jnZ3UpfZdHYvTt3D6iIQVotnxu54PvtA&usqp=CAU&ec=48665698'; />
During the COVID-19 crisis, our team has temporarily ceased taking review trips. However, we have resumed the publication of new flight, hotel and lounge reviews, from trips taken before the lockdown. To help keep you entertained — and maybe inspire you — we are also republishing a selection of our most popular reviews from 2019 and 2020, including the one below, which was originally published in August 2019. We hope this will help you choose once we’re all ready to start booking trips again.
Flight Information Royal Laurel Class
Note that EVA Air's U.S. flight schedule is currently reduced. According to Airlineroute, the flight from Houston to Taipei reviewed here is operating only once a week. So are EVA Air's services to Taipei from
[tpg_rating tpg-rating-score=82 ground-experience=3 cabin-seat=21 amens-ife=10 food-bev=24 service=24 pros=First-class quality catering (including an extensive menu for preordering meals and vintage Champagne), high-end amenities and top notch service. cons=A disappointing ground experience for the late-night departure and an embarrassingly small IFE selection. /]
I get asked regularly what my all-time favorite airline is. There's simply no competing with the likes of first class aboard an Emirates A380 or Singapore Suites, but I then tell people why I consider EVA Air (pronounced ee-vee-ay, not eev-uh) to be the most underrated airline out there.
Airline Review: Eva Airways
I had the chance to fly EVA Air's business class almost exactly a year ago when I was moving from Chicago to Shanghai, and I was blown away by the quality of the food and service. EVA's hard product is great, though by no means unique or revolutionary, but every element of the soft product felt like it belonged in first class, not in business.
I was excited when the opportunity arose for me to give EVA's business class a more in-depth review on my way back to Shanghai after a trip home to see my family. Unfortunately not every part of the experience was outstanding, thanks to the mediocre (at best) ground experience in Houston.
Though the final score of this flight was weighted down by the poor ground experience, that has more to do with this specific route than the airline, which provided a great onboard experience. Still, I can now say definitively that EVA is my preferred airline for crossing the Pacific.
Review: Eva Air Business Class B777 300/er Taipei To San Francisco
Since it is a member of Star Alliance, you have plenty of options for booking business class awards on EVA Air. We opted to transfer 75, 000 Amex Membership Rewards points to Aeroplan (in addition to around $110 in taxes), but you can also book through Avianca LifeMiles, United MileagePlus and Singapore KrisFlyer.
EVA flies to a number of US destinations, including Chicago (ORD), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX), New York-JFK, San Francisco (SFO) and Seattle (SEA). All US flights are operated by the carrier's Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, but the Seattle route is served with the smaller Boeing 787-9 because of the capacity reduction due to the pandemic.
[flight_stats ticket-class=first review-stat-section=Ground Experience tpg-rating=4 tpg-rating-max=10 tail=B-16729 age=3.5 late=49 avg=0 avg-2=34 departure=1 departure-2=25 duration=15 duration-2=25 live-tv=0 tailcam=0 headphones=0 comp-alcohol=0 extra-pillows=0 turndown-service=0 /]
Here Is An Honest Review Of My Business Class Flight On Eva Air ✈️
I arrived in Houston around 9pm on a United flight from Washington National, grabbed my bags and headed over to Terminal D, where most foreign airlines operate from. I was a little nervous that I would arrive before check-in opened for our 1:25am departure, but EVA opens check-in four hours before departure, so the counter was fully staffed when I got there.
I was impressed to see that the check-in counter was staffed by EVA employees (as opposed to contract workers, like you often see at outstations), as you usually get a slightly higher level of service when you're interacting directly with the airline's own employees.
There wasn't much of a line, but the people ahead of me took a good 15 minutes to check in, to the point that the economy and premium economy lines were moving faster than the dedicated business-class and Star Alliance Gold line. Once I reached the podium, I was helped quickly and issued boarding passes for both my flights, as well as an invitation to the Executive Club.
Eva Air Business Class Vs. China Airlines Business Class [2023]
Security was a breeze this late at night, especially since EVA Air joined the TSA PreCheck program earlier this year. After clearing security, I walked past a sign for the Amex Centurion Lounge which closed at 9pm, well before the late-night departures. United also operates a Polaris Lounge in Houston, but that's located in Terminal E and closed at 10pm, also well before my very late departure.
As far as I could tell, there were only two other flights departing out of Terminal D that night, a Qatar Airways flight to Doha (DOH) and an Air China flight to Beijing (PEK), which meant that the concourse alternated between empty and deserted gates and complete chaos as the other jumbo jets began to board.
Priority Pass members can normally access the Air France - KLM lounge in Terminal D, but it closes at 5pm. For the late-night flights, premium passengers were invited to the Executive Club.
The Seat Is Just Elegant And Modern Looking'
This lounge was subpar, even compared to the lounges at Shanghai Pudong Airport that I'm so used to complaining about. There were no windows or outside light, and the bright fluorescent lighting was too much, given how late at night it was.
There was a small conference room on one side of the lounge, as well as a small TV room that looked like the living room in someone's house.
There was a bar at the back of the lounge, which is also where all the nonalcoholic drinks like water or soda were stocked.
Eva Air A321 Regional Business Class Seoul To Taipei
While this was probably the least exciting lounge I've visited before a long-haul flight, I chalk that up entirely to the late-night departure. If our flight had left just a few hours earlier (or if I'd opted to fly out of O'Hare or JFK instead), it would have been an entirely different story, and one more reflective of the high-quality experience on board.
After about three hours in the lounge, I'd had enough, so I wandered up and down the terminal and stretched my legs before boarding began at 12:45am.
EVA doesn't offer first class, and the 38 business-class seats were split into two cabins. I preferred the smaller, 16-seat minicabin behind Door L2, as it was much quieter during the flight. The only downside was that all economy passengers walked through this cabin during boarding, but once the door was closed things settled down very quickly.
Eva Air Business Class Flight Deals
I was in Seat 9A, the left-side window seat in the second row of the minicabin. EVA uses standard reverse-herringbone seats in business class, similar to what you'd find on Cathay Pacific or China Eastern.
The cabin finishes were relatively neutral, but I liked the picture on the bulkhead, which added a splash of color to the cabin.
Directly to the left of the seat was the inflight-entertainment remote, as well as the headphone jack, USB, power outlet and reading light.
Trip Report: Eva Air Royal Laurel (business Class) 777 300er
While the center seats were better if you were traveling with someone, they didn't feature any additional privacy divider, just the small partition shown below. This offered some privacy, but not a ton if you were spending 15 hours next to a total stranger.
One reason I liked this configuration so much was because the footwells were relatively spacious, so you didn't have to cram yourself in when it was time to go to sleep.
After dinner, the flight attendant offered to make my bed up for me. Since the entire middle section of the cabin was empty, I asked her to make Seat 9D into a bed for me so I could use 9A to lounge.
Review: Eva Air Boeing 777 Business Class From Bangkok To London
While turndown service in first class is an impressive ordeal (I've even had flight attendants try to tuck me into bed before!), this simply consisted of the flight attendant putting the fitted sheet over the seat. She didn't even recline it into bed mode, so I had to do that and grab the blanket to put on top.
EVA uses a starry-night ceiling feature, which I find much more relaxing than simply sending the cabin into pitch-black darkness after the last tray is cleared.
With only five passengers in the rear cabin, I was able to open my window and watch the sunrise as we made our way to Taiwan. I loved the wings on the 777, and how tiny they looked next to the massive GE90 engines.
Review: Eva Air Airbus A321 Business Class (hong Kong Taipei)
There were a total of four bathrooms available for business-class passengers, two in the galley between the business-class cabins and two more at the front by the cockpit. The bathrooms in the middle galley were significantly larger, though all featured a number of toiletries and extra amenities and
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