China Airlines v Eva Air from UK

[Guest]

I normally travel with EVA on my jaunts to LOS.  On the word of my travel agent I decided on my last trip to give China Airlines the benefit of my custom travelling from Manchester with KLM UK and then on from Amsterdam to Bangkok with China Airlines.  The big attraction was the cost of a business class upgrade which brought the total cost of the ticket to circa £770 including taxes.

 

The big difference between the flights was, for me, the timings - China Airlines is a daytime flight out and a night time return, Eva is the opposite.  This was not a big issue at the time of booking but became a pain on my last day in LOS when I was effectively just hanging around before catching a cab to the airport (although #77 in SabaiDee did try to take my mind off things for a couple of hours).  I much prefer the early start to catch the EVA flight and I find Bangkok Airport depressing on the way home; even more so at midnight.

 

As for the flights themselves - China Airlines business class ranks up there with any of the European airlines but probably not in the same class as Cathay or Singapore Airlines.  One welcome sight was that the cabin crew seemed to be predominantly Thai rather than Taiwanese, something that does wonders for your blood circulation rather than wearing silly DVT socks.  The upper deck of the 747-400 is in a 2-2 configuration which makes for a spacious feel to the cabin.  You are able to book your seats 90 days in advance with CI and row 10 gives you somewhere near 100 inches of seat pitch without the obstruction of emergency exit slide compartments.  Most of the 747 fleet are fitted with the latest style ergonomic seats (2 aircraft have still to be refitted) and the movie/games selection is comparable, if not better, than most carriers.

 

All in all, China Airlines is a good option in business class if you are flying from one of the regional airports - particularly if the EVA return timings into LHR don't allow for a same-day connection.  I had already booked my next flights on EVA Evergreen Deluxe and will probably continue to do so in order to retain the benefits of their frequent flyer programme but if all the seats were taken by FLB Boardies I would have no hesitation reverting to China Airlines.  One issue that has previously been highlighted is to try and give yourself as much time as possible in Amsterdam to make your connection - I don't think this can be over emphasised as Schipol is a pretty confusing airport if you have not been through it before.

[eltib 54]

China Airlines = Poor Safety record.

 

http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi_bin/airline...=China+Airlines

 

EVA, so far no accidents. I'm taking EVAs red eye flight next time so I get into LOS at 11:00am, and not the wee hours.

[Guest]

Eltib,

 

People who flew with QF and SQ used to quote the same statistic.  I remember when Qantas was stuck on the golf course at Don Muang - argued for ages whether it would be considered a natural hazard or not.

 

Regards,

 

Tom

[Steptoe 429]

Thai Airways doesn't seem to get mentioned much, but after many trips with China & Eva, I've tried them twice and am quite impressed.

The timings suit me very well, and at 34", the seat pitch in economy is among the best.

Price used to be an issue but this year I paid £500 for a month with fixed dates and £537 for a 3 month open return ( Beach Road ticket office is very handy for any queries or alterations )

 

As Tom says, it's nice to travel with Thai cabin crew, and I'm always hopeful of an upgrade...

[The_Fat_Controller 25]

Having travelled through Amsterdam Schipol for the first time in October, I would have to disagree that it is confusing.

However, allow yourself plenty of time to walk between gates (which are well signed), the times to be allowed are either on your ticket wallet, or just look at the signs on the wall.

I flew with KLM from Glasgow, and would do so again if the price was right.

As for the different airline safety issues, the Asian carriers in general seem to have more Cockpit Resource Management "issues" than Western airlines...it is all to do with seniority and "loss of face", and if something is going wrong nobody challenges the decision.

Thai have not had a very good time domestically this year, two runway over-runs in the rain, and one wing-tip scrape in mist, on an approach that was questionably legal.

As for the Qantas incident in the rain at Bangkok, the issues there have been addressed.....basically their braking/reverse thrust policy was not that recommended by Boeing and differed from other airlines, they learnt their lesson, admitted it in the report, and have put it right.

[Guest]

TFC,

 

The problem I came across in Schipol was that KLM ground handling agents in Manchester couldn't check you through on CI and give you the boarding card for the onward connection.  The first transfer desk at Schipol, at the end of Pier D, operates a "take-a-ticket" queing system.  The desk had only one staff member who was taking around 15 minutes to process one passenger and since I was 28th in the queue it was obvious that things weren't going according to plan.  I set off for one of the other transfer desks and managed to transfer there.  If I had waited in the queue at Pier D I would have certainly missed the connection.  I agree the walk through at Schipol is well signed and no problem if you know which gate you are heading for - that isn't the case if you haven't got a boarding card for the onward connection which is the case with CI.

 

Regards,

 

Tom

[besty 0]

hey there!

 

just my two penneth, I had very mixed experiences with CI dynasty class from ams - bkk. Firstly on both outbound and inbound flights from Newcastle there was no problem with checking yourself and baggage through to the final destination, so that was a blessing! The lounge at Schipol was superb as was the cabin crew service on both CI flights, it was very refreshing to see the champagne was Laurent Perrier rather than the usual Moet. Coming back from BKK we had one of the newer (refitted) 747`s and I totally agree with Cheshire Tom that the entertainment systems were excellent..now the bad bit.... on the outbound leg we had one of the unrefitted 747`s which was lousy.. the entertainment was exactly the same as economy. ie two shared tv`s for the entire cabin...three movies and thats yer lot.. so basically the inbound was great and exceptional value .. we paid 804 pounds for all flights and taxes...but the outbound was economy with big seats and slightly better food/drink....overall however I will definately fly this airline again especially if they refit those remaining 747`s toute suite!!!

 

oh also if I`ve worked it out right with the CI frequent flyer programme you get a bus class upgrade every 4 and a half return flights which is pretty good..(I think).

[yselmike 378]

the problem with schipol is that china and eva leave

from the very end of pier d.so give your self time

i've used china eva and klm the only 3 that fly direct

from amsterdam.every time i fly econamy.the best

service is china by a long way.klm and eva both want

you to sit down shut up and DO NOT bother the

cabin personell.eva is the worst they really let you

know you are a cheap charlie.by flying in those cheap

seats.on china you can get a drink almost any time

klm is better than eva but not by much.