GTHQ Jaunt Journal – Flight: EVA Air 777-300ER – Business
Route: London (LHR) – Bangkok (BKK) – Taipei (TPE) 14H50M
I was looking forward to flying EVA but hoping not to get stuck in the Hello Kitty plane (sorry Ben!) for 17 hours including the layover in Bangkok. We booked into EVA’s business class known as Royal Laurel.
The Experience
After a quick boarding process, the crew that worked our flights seated us and provided pre-departure drinks. They were courteous and efficient and also provided us our Rimowa amenity kits and sleepwear. The crew was efficient and friendly but the service was not as personal as I expected and what I’ve heard they’re known for.
The Interior
EVA maintained this plane and the equipment pretty well. The seats were spacious and in a 1-2-1 configuration. However, one feature that takes away from the overall feel of the seats are the cubby holes for the feet which are narrow and psychologically make the seats feel more cramped. After dinner was done and I was ready for a quick nap, the flight attendant came over and prepared my bed. The seat bedding was somewhat comfortable but a bit hard overall.
The IFE screen directly in front of the seat pop out and have a good distance to size proportion. The movie selection was fine with about 100 movies and TV channels if memory serves me right.
The remote control and power ports are next to the head portion of the seat. There is also a spacious cubby area next to controls which contains a bottle of Fiji water. There is a second cubby hole by the foot area.
The bathroom was slightly bigger than the average and contained Harnn branded amenities. In business class, there was more than enough storage area with the size of the overhead storage bins which ran along both sides and over the middle section of the plane.
The Food and Beverages
On the London to Bangkok flight, we started out with the hors d’oeuvres which were salmon mille feuille with guacamole in lemon wedges. Delicious! The main was a choice between either roasted chicken breast, lamb navarin or stir fried seafood with coconut milk. I picked the roasted chicken breast which was quite tender. Later on as a snack they had beef stew with tomato soup noodle.
The second leg of the flight was Bangkok to Taipei and was only a bit over 3 hours. The hors d’oeuvres were a ripe mango avocado seafood salad with cocktail sauce. This was followed by a choice of either prawn cooked in Dijon sauce, deep fried chicken or beef shoulder massaman. For those of us who like some spice, spicy chili sauce is available upon request.
On both flights, dessert was ice cream, cheese and fruits. There was a wide selection of liquors and wines including some nice dessert Rieslings.
The food was good but not exceptional. However, it was cooked thoroughly, well presented and set out professionally.
The overall experience was average and I would not go out of my way to fly this route again.
The Good: Professional service; Rimowa amenity kits Normal cost: $2975 Our cost: $31 + 65K United miles
The Bad: Food was adequate
The Ugly: None
