EVA Air Review: We’ll fly with them again!

We’re not often impressed by airline customer service in economy class. But paying the equivalent of only $900 USD for return EVA Air flights from Canada on a couple of trips to Asia turned out to be a bargain – and a pleasant flying experience to boot.

Writing this Eva Air review therefore wasn’t as difficult as we thought it might be.

Our flights on EVA Air from Canada

On our first trip, we flew from Vancouver via Taipei, Taiwan, to Bali (where we fell in love with the beautiful culture).

Our second EVA Air trip was from Vancouver to Bangkok, also via Taipei. (From Bangkok, we flew on to Yangon, Myanmar.)

Curious about Myanmar? Read about these 21 quirky and useful things to know about Yangon

EVA Air review: Check-in

It started with the ginger tea…

Both times, while waiting at the gate in Vancouver, EVA Air had a table (decorated with a large vase of fresh lilies) with complimentary help-yourself hot ginger tea and coffee. That’s the first time we’ve ever seen this service offered.

Other airlines, take note!

Hey, we got slippers!

Okay, so we didn’t get the really nice EVA Air amenity kits you get in business class.

But as we settled into our seats, we discovered green disposable slippers (really nice touch!), down cushions with washable cotton (not synthetic disposable) covers, and thick blankets that didn’t create annoying static.

The sleep masks you get in Economy aren’t very good though, so you should bring your own. (We like the Eagle Creek Sandman brand – soft, really good coverage and they black out all light.)

Check out the carry-on essentials you need for a better flight! Click here

EVA Air legroom and loo service

EVA Air currently typically uses Boeing 777-300ERs on the Vancouver to Taipei flights.

On both our trips, the plane to and from Taipei was one of those roomy old-fashioned jumbo jets (Boeing 747s).

EVA Air seat pitch:

The seat pitch on the new replacement Boeing 777-300ERs is the same though. (Seat pitch is the term used to measure the distance from the back of your seat to the back of the seat in font, i.e., a technical airline term for how much legroom you get.)

You get 33 inches of legroom.

This is two inches greater than the usual 31-inch seat pitch for economy seats that many other airlines have. (We didn’t feel the seats in front slamming down on our knees.)

We also liked that the seat configuration was 3-3-3.

(Some of EVA Air’s 777 planes have extra economy seats, however, and they’re configured 3-4-3, with four, not three, seats in the middle row. See here. That means a tighter fit. Too bad…)

We hear that at least one North American carrier has reconfigured their 777s on their Asia routes to squeeze in over 100 additional seats in economy, so economy passengers are stuffed in like sardines. And on Rouge (Air Canada’s new leisure brand), the seat pitch is only 30 inches for European flights that we checked. No thank you…

Nice loos!

Another plus on our flights was that the toilets were kitted out with hand lotion as well as foaming soap.

The larger loos in the economy cabin got us smiling with cute vases of flowers and baby change areas too.

As well, we noticed that the flight attendants freshened the toilets constantly and kept them spotlessly clean (again in contrast to flight attendants on U.S. and Canadian carriers, who won’t deal with any lavatory freshening).

Best economy seats on EVA Air

For the best seats, check SeatGuru.

EVA Air food review

Meals on our flights were nutritionally balanced and fairly healthy (as airplane meals go).

For dinner – a choice of fish and noodles or teriyaki chicken and rice, with an accompanying salad, hot bun and plate of fresh fruit slices (plus the requisite dessert cake).

For breakfast – perhaps a cheese omelette with sausage and potatoes or pork congee, plus no-fat yogurt, a bowl of cubed melons and hot croissant.

EVA Air inflight entertainment

Economy seats on EVA Air’s new Boeing 777-300ERs have touch-screen TV displays 11.1 inches in size.

(On our flights, each economy seat had a personal TV screen in front, but they were smaller than we’ve seen on other planes.)

The movie selection was, however, good and included all the latest Hollywood blockbusters.

Price? Can you use points?

EVA Air is a Taiwanese international airline.

For our flight to Bali (with a connection in Taipei), we had a choice of China Airlines (cheaper again), Cathay Pacific (more expensive) and EVA Air.

On EVA Air, we could have flown for about $100 USD less than what we actually paid. But we chose to pay more to earn more Aeroplan points on Air Canada, which is a Star Alliance partner of EVA Air’s (hoping to earn enough Aeroplan points to earn back our Silver Prestige status on Air Canada – any perk is a blessing when flying these days.)

So, yes, you can use Star Alliance partner points to book EVA Air flights.

EVA Air ranking and safety record

Other travelers like EVA air too.

It’s one of the top 10 airlines in the world (2018 TripAdvisor Traveler’s Choice Awards).

EVA Air is also one of top 20 safest airlines to fly in the world, according to AirlineRatings.

China Airlines vs EVA Air?

Both airlines are based out of Taipei in Taiwan.

But China Airlines has a 4-star airline rating, according to Skytrax, whereas EVA Air has a 5-star airline rating for its onboard product and service (e.g., cabin and seat cleanliness, entertainment and attention to cabin safety).

We had a choice, and we picked EVA Airlines.

Historical secret

Now that EVA Air no longer flies the Boeing 747s, we can give away this secret…

The Boeing 747s had two decks. And the airline had put an economy cabin in the upper deck. Economy seats in the lower deck were configured 3-4-3. But economy seats in the upper deck were set up as 3-3, and we preferred the cozier feeling of this smaller cabin.

Also, there was a ledge or side-bin beside the window seat in the upper deck, so you had at least six inches of space between the seat and the wall. That made the window seats feel roomier and less claustrophobic than usual. (And if your traveling companion was seated in a window seat in the row in front of you, then you could even stretch out your leg there on the ledge.)

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We paid full fares for our economy tickets both times we flew round-trip with EVA Air and didn’t receive any special discounts. Nor has the airline paid us to write this EVA Airlines review or influenced us in any way here. This post consists simply of our own independent, unbiased thoughts and views.

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Have you flown EVA Air? What was your experience? Do you prefer flying on Asian airlines rather than North American carriers?

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