Over the last couple of years, I’ve yapped on and on ad nauseum about how much I like Citi ThankYou Rewards, in no small part because it’s the only major bank currency that transfers 1:1 to EVA Air…and I love EVA Air. The airline has a good business class product, great availability for its own MileageLands customers, tasty food, and competitive pricing on non-stops to Taiwan. A few weeks ago, I travelled from Seattle to Taipei and was just as impressed as ever.
EVA Air 787-10 Business Class Bottom Line Review
EVA Air’s 787-10 business class is a great way to fly to Asia. Catering is tasty, the beverage selection superb, the seat is spacious and comfortable – even for a 6’3″ behemoth like me. Service is on point and warm. Outside of the mediocre in-seat storage and relative paucity of entertainment choices, it’s tough to find downsides here. Thumbs Up.
- How we found it: We were able to find the availability by searching EVA’s website for the dates/times that we needed, but that process is probably one of the biggest reasons that relatively few points and miles folks utilize it. In order to search for more than one seat, you have to create a separate account for each passenger and then add them (along with their passwords) in order to complete a search. It can be unintuitive to figure out whether or not there’s availability…but there often is. Note that partner sites rarely show even close to the amount of available seats that EVA offers its own customers.
- How we booked it: My wife and I each transferred 75,000 Citi ThankYou points to EVA after finding availability on the exact dates we wanted. We booked two tickets from Seattle to Taipei for 75,000 miles + $120 per ticket. Because both my wife and I have the Citi ThankYou Rewards+ card, we received a 10% rebate off of the transfers, for a total “out of pocket” cost of 67,500 Citi points each. That 10% rebate only applies to a maximum of 100,000 transferred points per year, which is why we each transferred separately.
- Cash Price: ~$3,500 per person.
- Route: Seattle (SEA) – Taipei (TPE)
- Ground Service:
- Check-in: Nothing special, as most of the ground staff contract with several different international carriers.
- Departure Lounges: Like most international airlines in Seattle, EVA partners with one of the smallish lounges in the South Concourse, in this case, The Club at SEA. Unfortunately, both the StarLux and EVA flights to Taipei left within 30 minutes of each other, so the lounge was packed when we got there. It’s a fairly average US domestic lounge.
- Business Class Seat:
- Comfort: The Eva Air 787-10 has 34 Royal Laurel (business class) seats that are arranged 1-2-1 over one cabin. Instead of the reverse herringbone configuration that’s more common in business class these days, these point more or less straight forward. As a result, the seat has a generous ~23″ of width and is 76″ long when in lie-flat mode. Because I’m 6’3″, the footwells in many 1-2-1 business products can feel pretty cramped, but the space here was great and my legs didn’t feel scrunched at all in lie-flat mode. If traveling solo, seats in rows 2,5,7, and 9 have the side table on the aisle and feel the most private.
- Storage Space: This is the seat’s biggest shortcoming, in my opinion. On the plus side, each seat has a sizeable partition/side table that’s a terrific place for drinks, phones, books, etc. However, outside of that, there’s one partitioned cubby to the side and another very small compartment where the headphones hang. That’s pretty much it. While the permanent table beside the seat gives some additional space to set things on, backpacks either have to be on the floor next to the seat or in the overhead compartment.
- In-flight Entertainment (IFE): The 787-10 has a terrific 18″ In-Flight Entertainment screen with excellent resolution. Noise-cancelling headphones are provided, and seemed more or less equivalent to the industrial Bose headphones on many carriers. The selection of movies and shows could be bigger. Although it will be fine for most people on one or two flights, it’s noticeably slimmer than many carriers’ catalogs.
- Food and Beverage: Excellent. There are Western and Chinese options for dinner and breakfast. Dinner service was broken into two sections: “Royal Laurel” dining, which is served in multiple courses and “Star Special,” which comes more or less at the same time and is a nice option for those wanting to go to bed as quickly as possible. I opted for the Royal Laurel beef filet, while my wife had the Star Special Taiwanese Braised Pork Noodles. Both were delicious, as was the fruit plate and pistachio mousse for dessert. The wine and drinks options are well-chosen, and I love that they serve the surprisingly good Taiwanese single malt whiskey, KAVALAN, as well as one of the better tea selections that I’ve encountered. EVA is known for providing very good champagne in business class, and we had the 2015 Vintage Veuve Cliquot, La Grande Dame, on our flight (which retails for ~$150-$175 in the US).
- Service: EVA’s service is reliably stellar. Our departure was at 1:00am local, so almost everyone on the plane wanted to quickly eat and then get to bed…and the staff knew it. Dinner service was efficient without losing any sense of warmth or care. Beds are made up quickly, staff is quiet but attentive during the night and in general manage a nice balance of being proactive but not overbearing.
- Cabin Ambiance/Temperature Control: My wife and I both thought it was great. Although the seat “pods” don’t have doors, their orientation combined with the various privacy shields make them feel quite secluded…you’re never really looking into someone else’s space. The cabin was kept a touch on the warm side for my taste, but nowhere close to the sauna that most Asian carriers seem to favor. The “night sky” display on the ceiling when the lights are off is fun. There is a fairly large light on the middle bulkhead that stays lit during the evening and would make me want to avoid those seats.
- Internet: EVA has a variety of internet packages, with a complimentary 30 minutes for all business class passengers. Prices are quite high given that many carriers now include it. Plans start at $4.95 for 30 MB and go all the way up to $39.95 for unlimited data. If the speeds I found when using my 30 free minutes are any indication, it’s not worth the price. However, starting July 1st, MileageLands members in business and premium economy will begin receiving free Wifi with unlimited browsing.
- Amenity Kit: Includes a Giorgio Armani amenity kit with slippers and a variety of Jurlique toiletries, facemask and earplugs. EVA provides Jason Wu pajamas in long-haul business, one of the few carriers that still does.
- Would I choose to fly it again? Absolutely…and I’ll seek it out. Both the hard and soft product are great, availability from the West Coast is some of the best around and “saver” pricing is very competitive, especially with the Citi Rewards+ rebate.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Great value points option from the US
- Usually has very good availability, especially for those of us on the West Coast
- Spacious seat that’s 76″ long in lie-flat mode
- Excellent catering
- Seat is very comfortable for sleeping in lie-flat mode
- Service is efficient and warm
- Well-managed cabin temperature
Cons
- Mediocre in-seat storage
- Wifi is expensive and on the slow side
- Inflight entertainment selection is more sparse than many other Asian carriers
- Booking direct is unwieldy and unintuitive
Image Gallery
EVA 787-10 Business Class Middle Seat
EVA 787-10 Business Class Inflight Entertainment System
EVA 787-10 Business Class Food and Beverage Menu
EVA 787-10 Business Class Food
EVA 787-10 Business Class Amenity Kit
EVA 787-10 Wifi Pricing
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How was the lounge on the other side of the pond (return)?
Thanks for the heads-up! I found the WiFi slow too, so I skipped paying for more. Glad to hear free unlimited browsing is coming for MileageLands members—long overdue!
Interesting update—thanks for sharing! I had a similar experience with EVA’s WiFi during a recent flight and found the speeds pretty underwhelming, even during the complimentary 30 minutes in business class. The pricing feels steep, especially when airlines like Emirates and Qatar are offering free WiFi for loyalty members or even all passengers. That said, it’s great to hear EVA is stepping up starting July 1st with free unlimited browsing for MileageLands members in business and premium economy. Definitely a step in the right direction!
Thanks for the review! I was looking at this recently and getting confused about booking for 2 passengers. When you and your wife each transferred 75k Citi points, did you then also book the 2 separate tickets in your 2 separate Eva accounts?
Good question. I found two seats available by searching together, then each of us transferred to our own accounts in order to maximize the 10%, because that maxes out at 100K.
Thanks! I get the sense that it also minimizes the headaches associated with having to call customer service and fax things in triplicate on dot matrix paper in order to book 2 tickets from 1 account.
On two long haul flights this year I found the service efficient but not particularly friendly. Part of the problem was that on the two fights all of the attendants, except one, wore their masks whenever they were interacting with passengers (meal service, etc.). We’re the smiling? Who knows. It felt pretty impersonal.
Perfect timing for this write up. I’m flying that exact route in 2 weeks. I’ve been looking forward to flying Eva for a while.
Nice, enjoy!
EVA’s US service center is difficult to reach. I tried to call the CA (I think LA) center for weeks in 2024 but always got recording and they never call back. A friend shared similar experience as well. I ended up calling the Taiwan center while in Taiwan. That was a good experience.
Their core product and service is fine but need to actually staff ppl to pick up the phone for US-based customers.
For those traveling EVA, how are the PJ sizes measured ? I saw on the picture a XL PJ. Does this compare to an US XL ? Sizes in Asia do usually run smaller. I am looking for advice for my upcoming EVA flight and usually have S or M in the US.
Based on this review I am already looking very much forward to my flight.
I think it runs smaller (asian sizes), I flew this same route in March and the smallest size the flight attendants were passing out was M. One of the flight attendants says she usually grabs Large for herself. I grabbed a M and I’m usually a US S.
They run true to USA size. Wearing my XL now, I am male, 74 inches, 100-105kg.
Tim, I recently booked a return flight from Bangkok home to SEA on EVA next year and am looking forward to the flight (I’ve been itching to try EVA for ages). Did you hit the lounge at all in TPE? If so, any impressions you can share?
Was just there lounge was crowded nothing special. Better food options than AA club. I like the Delta sky club better at LAX and Delta one lounges are way better than the EVA lounge.
We didn’t check it out, unfortunately. We were ready to get into Taipei.:)
Actually, I meant for the way back TPE-SEA (I was assuming you would do the return TPE-SEA on EVA, though maybe not). Not looking for an “arrivals” lounge, but wondering about my time in transit passing through TPE.
Sorry, what I meant is that we only flew one-way, from SEA-TPE. Then we moved on to Okinawa and then Tokyo. So, we never had a chance to try out the lounge.
While there are fewer movies, I found them more entertaining than the many movies on Delta going the other direction.
Great review and just like the experience that I had.
I had to go to Asia and had no Thank You miles… but I had C1 miles and bit the bullet and transfered 200k miles for 150k EVA mileageland miles. Obviously if you have the Thank You points transfer those but for exact date flight to Asia 200k for 2 people is still a good deal!
Tim, did you fly the 787-9 or -10? The article mentions both.
Hi Tim: Have you flown Starlux yet and able to compare (we were blown away by Starlux)? The good news on EVA is the availability–even if Starlux is better, EVA seems like a very easy get.
I’ve flown both just last month , EVA lax-tpe and Starlux on the return. Starlux pj’s are better quality, service was more attentive on Starlux. The lounge was way better at Starlux with tastier food the EVA lounge in TPE was crowded. I’d stick with Starlux their planes are newer unlike the 777 I flew to TPE. It squeaked very loudly every time I went from bed mode to sitting mode. When in bed mode the seat back would go past 180 degrees so I would have to adjust it. Starlux let 4 J seats go empty vs dropping their redemption rate below the usual 175k go figure. I was lucky and booked a couple days before my EVA flight when I saw a 75k seat pop up. Was a pain to connect from China to TPE since I had to recheck bags but my layover was 12 hours so no big deal. Overall I’d probably do it again.
I’ve only flown Starlux short-haul between TPE and Okinawa. I’ve heard great things about it, though. Greg flew it last year and loved it (see his review here). Friends that I have who have flown both found the EVA 787 and Starlux A350 experiences comparable.
As you mention, availability is key. I wouldn’t hesitate to fly either one if it worked for my dates, and I wouldn’t pay a premium for one over the other.