Review of EVA Air flight Jakarta Taipei in Economy

Airline EVA Air
Flight BR238
Class Economy
Seat --
Aircraft Airbus A330-300
Flight time 05:25
Take-off 09 Dec 16, 14:20
Arrival at 09 Dec 16, 20:45
BR   #5 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 140 reviews
lew777
By 4146
Published on 4th January 2017
Greetings!

December is the most wonderful month due to christmas holiday, that's why I decided to have a US trip in the month of December.

Many Indonesians using EVA Air to connect Indonesia to North America due to perfect timing of transit and the spacious legroom (in cattle class) compare to other airlines. At first, I'm quite reluctant to use EVA, but since EVA has just awarded 5-star airline by Skytrax, I was thinking why not trying this "flying into the future" airline.

Here's my report for CGK-TPE:

CHECK IN
As usual, CGK airport is quite packed, even though the holiday season had not started. I always did the check-in before going to airport for better seat and avoiding long lines at the airport. Luckily there were no line in EVA air check in counter so I can be served right away. Even though I got my seat through mobile check-in, I asked the agent whether he could put an empty seat next to me as I needed to work using my laptop during the 4:50 hours flight to TPE. He managed to block the seat for me. Well done EVA.

My cabin bag was tagged "hand-luggage" and my luggage was tagged through to JFK.

BOARDING
Boarding was divided by zone and it was well organised. All pax onboard, doors were closed & safety video was played. After that crew started checking the pax' seat belt while also checking the overhead compartment whether it was closed properly or not. So while their head was looking at the seat, both of their hands are up to the overhead compartment. Quite unusual, too bad I didn't take any picture. I was just thinking maybe it's their airline policy that the cabin baggage (so-called-cargo) located inside the compartment must be properly and safely stowed remembering their parent company is in cargo-shipping company.

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safety video

AIRBORNE
Once the seat belt sign was turned off, the crew put on the famous pink/light blue apron and started distributing the menu for the meal and immigration card for Taiwan afterwards.

inflight menu - for CGK-TPE & TPE-CGK - food & drinks
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generous seat pitch + nice blanket. Blanket was available upon request.
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Seat pocket
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30 minutes airborne, the crew started the drink service + snack (mixed peanut+rice crackers).
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1 hour airborne, the meal service was started. (CGK catering)
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the food taste decent but the not-in-the-photo-warm-with-crunchy-edge bread tastes so good.

I am quite surprised after the crew had finished the meal service, while the pax were still eating or had just finished, they were walking around offering hot tea, coffee, red wine or white wine. Ah maybe this is one of the 5-star service check-list.

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cabin condition

LAVATORY
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Nice touch of using the (fake) plants, at least EVA has tried their best to make the small cramped toilet more beautiful. No amenity provided (tooth brush, etc) in the lavatory.

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is this morning glory or pansy flower? any idea why EVA use this flower? as I understand that ROC's national flower is plum.

TPE
The flight was landed onetime. I had a 11-hr layover, my flight to JFK will depart the next morning. STPC and transfer has been arranged beforehand, only needed to report to transfer desk. EVA's Jakarta office had highlighted me to apply for e-visa as the STPC was located outside of the airport which required to clear immigration. Airport to Hotel transport was arranged by a mini van, there were 3 others pax which were bound to JFK and YVR that were booked STPC in the same hotel with me and the next morning they booked a taxi for 2 of us which was heading to JFK.

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Verdict

EVA Air

6.9/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew6.5
Entertainment/wifi7.0
Meal/catering7.0

Jakarta - CGK

7.6/10
Efficiency8.0
Access7.5
Services8.5
Cleanliness6.5

Taipei - TPE

7.5/10
Efficiency7.5
Access7.5
Services7.5
Cleanliness7.5

Conclusion

EVA used old airplane for CGK-TPE route, can be seen from the type of AVOD used, as I don't really use AVOD for this flight I have no problem.
Generous seat pitch (33") is a plus for mid to long haul flight. Cabin crew's service is good, but the way they interact with pax are still lack of sincerity and not as polished as other 5 star airlines.
All in all, EVA's hard products are incredible but the soft product related to crew need to be improved.

Information on the route Jakarta (CGK) Taipei (TPE)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 4 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne Jakarta (CGK) → Taipei (TPE).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est EVA Air avec 8.2/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 5 heures et 25 minutes.

  More information

2 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 380708 by
    Eric V P 123 Comments
    Thank you for the report!

    It's surprising to hear the zone-based boarding worked in Jakarta - I don't usually associate boarding in Indonesia as organized, let alone on larger planes.

    It seems to me that their economy class is rather acceptable with sone nice frills such as printed menu and imitation plants, although they may be not among the better ones. Out of curiosity - how full was the flight? I seem to be able to get empty middle seat on Garuda only by being put near the back, so I can say your check-in agent's gesture seem to be quite nice.

    Once again, thank you!
    • Comment 380709 by
      lew777 AUTHOR 7 Comments
      Hi Eric,

      Thank you for reading.

      Indeed the boarding zone done quite well to my opinion, compare to LCC or any of GA flight (mostly domestic) in CGK.

      I can see that EVA has tried their best for the recognition. The flight is 80% full, with some empty middle seat at the back. But the agent got me the front part middle seat though.

      rgds.

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