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THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
EVA Air's premium economy seat is "meh" on their 777s, though the soft product is industry-leading. They're introducing a new premium economy class product on their 787s, which will be a force to be reckoned with for Europe-Asia travel |
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In August 2024, I flew EVA Air’s 777 premium economy from Bangkok to London Heathrow. While EVA Air is a Taiwanese airline, they operate a selection of longhaul routes from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (namely to London, Amsterdam, and Vienna). This is because the airline doesn’t have overflight rights over mainland China for a long time, and even though the airline can now operate over some Chinese airspace, they had racked up so much connecting traffic and popularity that these routes from Bangkok performed better than those from the airline’s own hub, Taipei.
Not only does EVA Air present an economical option between Bangkok and London, but the airline itself is also well-renowned as a top Asian carrier. So how was it? I found EVA Air’s premium economy experience to be great, with a very good soft product, including amenities and catering. However, the seat itself felt dated, and less comfortable and well-equipped than many of its competitors.
Here’s my full review of the experience, bearing in mind that EVA Air is introducing a new premium economy class on their 787s, which are much nicer.
Booking EVA Air’s 777 Premium Economy
I booked a one-way ticket from Bangkok to London Heathrow on EVA Air’s website. The ticket cost 31,615 THB (£715.27/HK$7,608). There was an additional seat selection fee on top of the air ticket, which set me back a further 2,370 THB (£53.62/HK$570). A seat selection fee is never fun, though this is in line with the seat selection fee I’ve experienced on other airlines (such as KLM), and it is free if you select a seat during online check-in. I found EVA Air’s website to be easy enough to use, and their app was usable as well (though neither had industry-leading UI).
The itinerary I booked was as follows:
16/08 BR67 Bangkok – London Heathrow dep. 12:50 arr. 19:25 [Premium Economy]
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Ground Experience at BKK
I was able to check in for my EVA Air flight to London Heathrow, without the need to drop by the check-in desk for any visa checks. Since I was only bringing a carry-on, I went straight past the transit area after arriving from my Greater Bay Airlines flight, before heading to the Oman Air lounge (the lounge has since left Priority Pass, so I won’t be reviewing it). EVA Air doesn’t offer their own lounge access for premium economy passengers, and you also can’t buy access to their lounge in Bangkok.
I headed to the gate at around 12 PM ahead of our 12:50 PM flight, and a posted 12:20 PM boarding time. At this time, people were already getting boarded into the “holding” area at Suvarnabhumi Airport. There wasn’t a priority queue for premium economy passengers, though once my boarding pass was checked, I headed down to the gate area to wait for my flight.
Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport Gate Area for EVA Air
I was able to see our 7-year-old 777 parked at the gate, which had just flown over from Taipei. For what it’s worth, passengers from Taipei do need to disembark the aircraft, go through transit security at Bangkok, before being able to board the plane again.
EVA Air 777 at Bangkok Airport
Boarding began at around 12:15 PM, starting with infirm and business class passengers. Here’s a major gripe – EVA Air doesn’t priority-board premium economy passengers. Premium economy class boards with group 4, after the economy class cabin boards. I guess the logic is that the plane is boarded back-to-front (though business class does get priority boarding). As far as I can research, EVA Air started boarding premium economy passengers last as a COVID-19 measure, and this was never redacted. This is a shame, given that virtually every other airline gives premium economy passengers priority boarding.
For some reason Zone 5 was boarded after Zone 1 on this flight, so I decided to try my luck. Surprisingly, I was let on board. I afterwards learned that Zone 4 was indeed called as one of the last to board, as I had the cabin nearly to myself for quite a while. So while I got lucky, don’t expect priority boarding on your EVA Air premium economy flight.
EVA Air Flight BR67
Friday, August 16, 2024
Origin: Bangkok (BKK) Gate: D7 Dep: 12:50 (12:50)
Destination: London Heathrow (LHR) Gate: B43 Arr: 19:25 (19:25)
Duration: 12 h 35 min (12 h 35 min)
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER Reg: B-16735
Seat: 26A (Premium Economy Class)
Walking Past EVA Air’s 777 Business Class
I boarded through the second set of doors. At this time the rear business class cabin was still empty, so I got to take a look. While reverse herringbone seats are great and I would’ve loved to sit here, there’s no denying that the seats and cabin design were beginning to show their age.
EVA Air 777 Business Class
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Cabin and Seat
I then made it into the premium economy cabin, situated right behind the rear business class cabin bulkhead, where I would be sitting. EVA Air’s 777s feature 56 premium economy seats, arranged across seven rows in a 2-4-2 configuration.
While I remember being quite confused by the orange hints when the reupholstered cabin first came out in 2017, I actually quite liked them. The EVA Air colours look slightly drab, though I do appreciate that there’s some pop of colour.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Class Cabin
As is my preference, I was very keen to select the window seat in the last row of the cabin. I find it extremely relaxing that I can keep my seat reclined throughout the flight, without worrying about anyone being behind me. The seat selection fee cost 2,370 THB (£53.62/HK$570), which is on the steep side, though I was willing to part ways with it for such a long daytime flight.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Seats 26A and 26C
Not everyone will prefer the last row in the cabin, though do note particularly that rows 22 and 24 are both missing a window.
The seat featured a decent, but not particularly generous amount of recline. I will say that the adjustable headrest felt extra sturdy, with large and comfortable side wings.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Recline and Headrest
Seat pitch is 38″, and I felt like legroom was adequate. EVA Air’s 787s apparently feature 42″ of legroom though, which is industry leading.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Legroom
Being a non-bulkhead row seat, my seat featured a bicycle-style footrest. This isn’t industry-leading by any means and feels a bit dated – many airlines now feature fold-up legrests at all seats.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Footrest
If you’re seated in the first row, you will get a fold-up legrest. This is nice, though do note that if reserving these seats in advance, they do come at an extra charge.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Seats 20A and 20C
The tray table was bi-fold, large, and decently sturdy (though not supported at the other end). It featured faux-wood finishes.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Tray Table
There’s also a cocktail table shared between seats.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Cocktail Table
In terms of charging options, each seat features a USB-A power port, as well as a 110V power port.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Power Ports
In front of each seat was a 11″ monitor. These monitors didn’t feel particularly HD or touchscreen-responsive, and also had a bit of glare.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Inflight Entertainment Screen
The one thing the seat completely lacked was in-seat storage – there wasn’t any nook or cranny to store a phone, glasses, or any small items, apart from the seat pocket in front or underneath the seat in front of you.
Overall, I’d say that EVA Air’s premium economy seat feels a bit outdated. It’s still quite comfortable to lounge in, though it lacks the tech and ergonomic design that you’ll find in many newer premium economy products (especially compared to Cathay Pacific and Qantas‘ premium economy products). From what I can see from photos, EVA Air’s 787 premium economy looks much more in line with their top competition, and I can’t wait to try that product out someday.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Amenities
Waiting at my seat was a plush pillow, as well as a very comfortable blanket. Many airlines offer quite scratchy or thin blankets in premium economy, so it was so nice to have a proper blanket.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Pillow and Blanket
I was perhaps most impressed to see that there were slippers. EVA Air offers slippers in all cabins – even in economy! The economy class slippers are quite a bit flimsier, though these premium economy slippers were sturdy, and I wouldn’t have batted an eye if I saw them at a hotel. What a great touch, and it was nice to be able to go to the bathroom without having to put my shoes on.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Slippers
There was also a pair of headphones, which were okay.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Headphones
After we settled in, we were given Furla amenity kits. I liked the pouch, and it featured PAYOT lip balm and hand cream, socks, a dental kit, a comb, and earplugs.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Amenity Kit
Unlike the seat on this EVA Air 777, I found the amenities overall to be industry-leading. The pillow and blanket were great, it was awesome to have slippers, and the amenity kit was nice as well.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Lavatory
EVA Air features four lavatories at the back of the premium economy cabin. I can’t imagine that these lavatories aren’t intended to be shared with economy, though the curtain was pulled behind these lavatories separating the economy cabin inflight. If so, this would makes for an insane 14:1 lavatory ratio in premium economy, leaving all 238 economy passengers with four lavatories dispersed throughout the cabin.
There was never a wait for the bathroom, and I found it to be well-stocked, with PAYOT toiletries.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Lavatory
Mid-flight, these lavatories were stocked with dental kits and eyeshades, making me think that these were shared with economy as well (as premium economy passengers got a dental kit in their amenity kit).
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Toiletries for Use
EVA Air 777 Economy Class
Speaking of economy class, I had a peek at the economy class cabin, since I was seated right in front. EVA Air moved to a 3-4-3 configuration onboard their 777s in 2017. These economy class seats looked relatively tight, and I was glad I wasn’t booked in one of these seats. The front row sets had special “reserved” cushions, presumably stopping people from swapping seats to the exit row after the cabin door closed.
EVA Air 777 Economy Class
Pre-Departure Service and Takeoff from Suvarnabhumi Airport
Boarding was completed at around 12:45 PM, and premium economy was completely full. The captain came onto the PA to welcome us. He announced our flight time of 11h 57m, and said that it was 17°C by Heathrow with some light rain. He mentioned that we’d hit some bumps around India three hours into the flight, and that the cabin would be sprayed prior to departure.
EVA Air’s iconic safety video then played, featuring the corny phrase “your wisdom will ensure the success of this mission”.
A cabin crew member then welcomed us onboard, saying that the second meal would be served 2h 20m before landing. She also mentioned that we had 6 crew members from Thailand onboard this flight (I didn’t catch how many there were originating from elsewhere).
One new thing for me on EVA Air was that we were asked not to use our adjustable headrests for takeoff and landing. I kind of get it – adjustable headrests can be a hazard if takeoff or landing is especially rough, though I’ve never seen that enforced before on another airline.
Pushback from Suvarnabhumi Airport
We were passed out menus and amenity kits (pictured above), though there wasn’t a pre-departure beverage service on this flight. I’ll detail the menu later on in the flight.
EVA Air Premium Economy Menu
We had quite a long taxi to runway 20L, which took around 20 minutes. We ended up taking off after a Cathay Pacific A330.
Taxiing at Suvarnabhumi Airport
We took off at 1:15 PM local time, heading due south before doing a 180° turn right and heading back over Bangkok.
Taking off from Suvarnabhumi Airport
EVA Air Premium Economy Meal Service
10 minutes after takeoff, we were presented with a packaged hot towel.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Packaged Hot Towel
This commenced the meal service. The menu read as follows:
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Menu
The drinks menu could be found on the inflight entertainment screen, and read as follows:
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Drinks Menu
This is definitely an extensive selection of food and beverages (especially the latter) for a premium economy product, and I appreciated the variety of choice. I particularly appreciated the addition of cocktails and plum liqueur, genmaicha matcha green tea, and two Taiwanese beers.
A pre-meal service beverage was served at 1:45 PM, 30 minutes after takeoff. We could choose between apple juice, sparkling water, red wine, white wine, and cava. I had some apple juice, which was served with some delicious Taiwanese mixed nuts and rice crackers.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Beverage Service
At 1:55 PM we hit a patch of turbulence, and the beverage and meal service was briefly suspended. This continued soon after, though.
EVA Air gives premium economy passengers the option to pre-order their meal. The only advantage of pre-ordering online is that you’re guaranteed your meal choice – you’re not given access to a selection any larger than that of which you would get onboard.
I had the Japanese dory fish served with mushroom sauce and steamed rice, which was absolutely sublime – the fish was perfectly cooked, the sauce was flavourful, and the rice and vegetables were cooked great as well. It was served alongside a refreshing smoked duck breast with orange sauce, as well as a (less impressive and slightly confusing) smoked salmon rose with a caper. This was also served with some fruit. What a brilliant dish for a premium economy class product.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Meal Service
After I had finished my meal and tray tables were cleared (25 minutes after the mains were served), the crew came around with vanilla ice cream.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Ice Cream
The meal service was wrapped up around 1h 15m after takeoff, which I’d consider to be extremely efficient. I’m not really in a rush on a daytime flight, though for a premium economy class meal service, I really didn’t mind being able to get out of my seat earlier, or getting some work done using a clear tray table.
Around 30 minutes after ice cream was served, the cabin lights were dimmed, to allow passengers the ability to sleep. A few people left their window shades open (I left mine just open enough that I could get some work done with natural light, without flooding the cabin – my seatmate kindly didn’t mind).
>>>EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Mood Lighting
EVA Air 777 Inflight Entertain
ment</h2>
EVA Air’s 777s feature inflight entertainment, though I could tell the selection was limi
ted. There wasn’t a huge selection of movies or TV shows on offer.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Inflight Entertainment
There was a cool function where you could choose a movie or TV show based on your mood, though.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Inflight Entertainment
There are many things that are impressive about EVA Air’s soft product, though I wouldn’t call the inflight entertainment system amongst it – if you’re likely to get bored, budget to purchase inflight WiFi, or bring a book.
EVA Air 777 WiFi
EVA Air’s 777s feature WiFi, though pricing is on the steep end. On my flight from Bangkok to London, WiFi was priced as follows:
- All passengers receive 30 minutes of complimentary WiFi
- 30 MB of WiFi costs US$4.95 (HK$40/£3.65)
- 100 MB of WiFi costs US$14.95 (HK$117/£11.02)
- 300 MB of WiFi costs US$29.95 (HK$235/£22.09)
- Unlimited WiFi costs US$39.95 (HK$313/£29.46)
They do offer full-fare premium economy passengers 50 MB of free WiFi, though that’s a menially tiny amount given how much more full-fare tickets cost. Be sure to select the option to create an account if you do sign up for WiFi, as that’ll let you switch between devices.
I can’t help but feel like none of these are good deals, especially for the three data-capped options. I was working on this flight, so purchased the unlimited WiFi. To EVA Air’s credit, WiFi measured 7.89 Mbps up and 3.34 Mbps down, among the fastest connection I’ve experienced in the air, and there were no “blackout” spots (even over India).
EVA Air Premium Economy Service
I found all cabin crew on EVA Air’s 777 to be friendly, efficient, and eager to please. Meal services were done very efficiently, and tray tables were cleared very shortly after passengers were done with their meals. This is impressive, considering the same cabin crew were also working economy class.
Cabin crew also came through every 20-30 minutes to offer snacks from the snack basket to passengers who were awake. Moreover, any requests for on-demand food and drinks came quickly as well. Overall, I felt very well taken care of in EVA Air premium economy, thanks to the great crew on the flight.
EVA Air Premium Economy Snacks between Meals
One of the things I appreciate most about EVA Air’s soft product is that you can get hot snacks on-demand between meals. The selection isn’t massive – on this flight, the only hot snack on offer was a ratatouille calzone with parmesan cheese. The snack did feel very “midnight snack” vibes (and didn’t feel as high-touch as e.g. what Qantas would offer on-demand on a longhaul flight), though it was tasty.
I know that Cathay Pacific used to have a similar offering on their premium economy flights pre-COVID (which was strikingly similar to what’s offered here), though unfortunately they don’t offer them anymore.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Snack
In addition to the calzone, there’s also a walk-up snack basket at the back of the economy class cabin (that all passengers have access to). Every once in a while, the cabin crew would go round the premium economy class cabin offering these snacks.
The packaged snacks on offer were Taiwanese snacks, and they were all delicious. This included the mixed nuts and rice crackers served with the pre-meal service beverage, CTC House cheddar flavoured crackers (which are a major throwback for me), and salt crackers.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Packaged Snacks
Drinks are also available on-demand during the flight. I only realised midway that CHOYA plum wine was available, so I asked for some. I was asked if I wanted it served on the rocks, to which I said yes.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Plum Wine
I’d say that between the good beverage selection, the local snacks, and the calzone, EVA Air offers one of the more extensive on-demand food and beverage services out there for a premium economy class product.
EVA Air Premium Economy Pre-Landing Meal Service
I spent this flight alternating between working and taking naps, given that I’d woken up at 4 AM for my preceding Greater Bay Airlines flight. Before I knew it, it was time for the pre-landing meal service, which indeed was served around 2h 20m before landing.
This began with the cabin once again featuring mood lighting, as passengers were woken up for the meal service.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Cabin
I was once again able to pre-select my meal online, and there was one option that especially appealed to me – the stir-fried seafood udon with vegetables (as opposed to a cheese omelette, which didn’t seem very fitting ahead of our 7:25 PM arrival). The udon was flavourful, and came with nicely cooked shrimp, squid, and lots of vegetables. I take it that this was meant to be an Asian breakfast dish of shorts, though it worked well as a pre-landing dinner dish.
The meal was served with beef pastrami and smoked chicken with cheese, as well as fruit and orange yoghurt.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Pre-Landing Meal Service
After seeing my seatmate get one, I decided I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have a Gold Medal Taiwan beer. I would’ve wished the beer was colder, though it was otherwise a nice lager.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Beer
I was offered another drink after this, and decided to have a genmaicha green tea.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Genmaicha Green Tea
Both meals in EVA Air premium economy impressed this time round, and I particularly enjoyed the extensive beverage selection.
Landing into Heathrow Airport
At around 6:35 PM, the captain came onto the PA to announce our imminent landing into Heathrow Airport. At this point, a video on African swine fever (ASF) was played, asking us to report to immigration if we felt any symptoms.
ASF Pre-Landing Video
After this, the crew came around passing out kumquat soft candies.
EVA Air 777 Premium Economy Pre-Landing Sweets
We were landing into Heathrow on a sunny day. Heathrow has one of my favourite approaches in the world when sitting on the right side, though I’ve seen it a few times in recent years, and didn’t mind being on the left side for a change. From the left you could see the City of London in the distance, though indeed the right side had a bit better of a view as we began our final descent into runway 27L.
Landing into Heathrow Airport
We landed at Heathrow Airport at 7:15 PM, before making our 10-minute taxi to Terminal 2. We passed a China Southern A350, as well as the exact Emirates A380 that’d taken me from Dubai to Singapore parked at Terminal 3, as well as a Qantas A380 (not the same one I’d taken that year, though similar).
Taxiing at Heathrow Airport
We made it to Terminal 2, parking at gate B42 at around 7:25 PM, just around our scheduled arrival time. We parked next to a Singapore Airlines A380 (hi!).
Singapore Airlines A380 at Heathrow Airport
At this point I knew the immigration line was just about to get long, so I legged it to immigration, only stopping briefly to take as good a picture as I could of the EVA Air 777 that had taken me over from Bangkok.
EVA Air 777 at Heathrow Airport
The line at immigration wasn’t horrendous when I got there, though it did get significantly longer later in the evening.
Conclusion: EVA Air 777 Premium Economy
I really enjoyed my flight on EVA Air’s 777. Particularly, I thought that the soft product was spectacular. The food was really good, there was a substantial selection of beverages, and the amenities were brilliant as well. I’d call EVA Air’s soft product slightly behind Qantas‘ (except for the fact that EVA Air has WiFi, which I consider to be a major competitive advantage), slightly better than Cathay Pacific’s due to the mid-flight dining options, and slightly better than KLM’s, the best European premium economy product we’ve tried so far.
However, it’s hard to overlook the dated seat that’s devoid of storage. I know that EVA’s 787s will feature a product that could potentially bring the overall airline product to be one of the best in the market. However, I’d say that for now EVA Air’s 777 premium economy is definitely worth it if the price is right – I’d definitely fly it if you can make a cheap fare out of Bangkok work well for you, though otherwise it’s not worth going out of your way to fly it over a good European carrier.
Have you flown EVA Air’s 777 premium economy before? How was your flight?
