EVA Business Class Review LHR-BKK November 2022(& May 2023)

[davidge]

As it was my first trip since before Covid I though I’d post a short review of how things went just in case anyone is interested.

I flew in Eva Business Class direct from Heathrow T2 to Bangkok. 

I arrived at Heathrow 3 and a half hours before my flight. The drop off area was very busy, taxi had to wait for a space to become available to pull in. I went into the Terminal near Zone A which is where Eva, Thai and some other airlines have desks. I went to the back of zone A which is where Biz check in always used to be but that was all Singapore now (all classes). A member of staff told me Eva Biz was now using desks A1 and A2 which are on the left hand side of the front of Zone A, which used to be where Economy passengers for all the airlines checked in and dropped bags off.

There were a few people in front of me and it took about 20 minutes to reach the desk. Check in very quick and easy, I was allowed 2x32kg for check in bags and 2x7kg for hand luggage. She did actually weigh my one hand luggage but didn’t say anything when it was over 7kg. She asked how long I was staying and I said I had a visa. She didn’t want to see it just asked if I had it on me - I must have an honest face 😊 She said that the usual Air Canada lounge was closing early so I’d have to use the Lufthansa one. I asked about Singapore and she told me they were refusing to accept Eva passengers as they were too busy.

I then made my way to Fasttrack security, which was slightly complicated by the fact that they had put barriers in various places so there was no direct route. No passport check, I assume it’s automatic as I’d done online check in and filled passenger information, and it took about 15 or 20 minutes to get through security.

There are 4 lounges used by Star Alliance members in T2. Air Canada, Singapore and United are near the B gates in the annex used by Eva, Thai etc and Lufthansa is just after security near the A gates. United always opened in mornings only so I’ve used it when on the earlier Thai flight, but I could choose either Air Canada or Singapore in the past. All 3 lounges were very good. This is the first time I’d used Lufthansa. It’s primarily meant to serve short haul flights and it wasn’t huge. Very busy when I arrived but I managed to find a table, though it hadn’t been cleared after previous occupants. Limited choice of food compared to the other lounges. Tiny selection of sandwiches and a couple of hot choices all pretty heavy and stodgy. It’s definitely a big step down from the other lounges.

I started the 2 mile trek to the gate about 50 minutes before boarding. Boarding itself was pretty chaotic. Very poorly managed. They emphasised to everyone as they were boarding that masks were mandatory.

I had my preferred seat on the left hand side towards the front of the cabin. I like the seats and layout with Eva. Plenty of room, even for a big bugger like me, good storage at the seat and an overhead bin for almost every seat.

Contrary to some reports I’ve seen the cabin crew were dressed normally but worse face masks. The usual welcome drink as soon as we’d boarded and then they came round to ask about food orders. No menus were given to passengers, I guess this is a Covid measure, the staff just showed a menu to each person. I’d ordered my meals online ahead of the flight as that gives more options for the main meal. I couldn’t look at a full drinks list but there were 2 reds and 2 whites in the wine section.

We pushed back from the gate 20 minutes after departure time and had a very long taxi. We took off 40 minutes late.

Everyone dutifully wore their masks as far as I could see, except when eating and drinking (obviously). People did go to the toilet after meals with no masks and the cabin crew didn’t say anything so there wasn’t any heavy handed enforcement at all. I found it less of a problem than I’d expected to wear the mask through the flight.

We were served the main meal as soon as we reached cruising altitude and the second about 90 minutes before arriving in Bangkok. The food and service was excellent and there was an ok entertainment choice. I got more rest/sleep than I usually do on a flight and it was one of the best flights I’ve had.

(I won’t post food pics etc here but might do a post later for the few that might be interested)

We landed 30 minutes late at 4.15pm and were at the gate within 5 minutes. 5 minutes later we were off the plane. As usual, I’d booked a golf cart with fast track, a porter and a taxi with the same company. There was a bloke holding up my name as I got off the plane and the golf cart arrived a couple of minutes later. They took me straight to an empty immigration desk in the Priority area and I was soon stamped in. I didn’t see the first immigration area but the second one looked pretty quiet. He then took me to baggage claim and the porter was there. The baggage claim area was very busy. As soon as one flight’s bags had all come out another flight immediately followed. They both stayed with me and my bags arrived about 10 minutes later. They phoned the driver to meet us outside door 5 and the car was there about 5 minutes later. We were driving away from the airport by 4.55pm.

[kansuwan]

Q: Which company did you use for Fast Track?

[davidge]

2 minutes ago, kansuwan said:

Q: Which company did you use for Fast Track?

https://www.limousine.in.th/
 

[fatboy21]

I have flown Eva many times in the past and their service has always been good. I think I would have been disappointed at having to use the Lufthansa lounge which is not of the same standard imho as the other Star Alliance lounges in T2. As you rightly point out, it is also one hell of a trek to the satellite gates in T2 if coming from the Lufthansa lounge.

In the next few months, the smaller touches such as printed menus and no face masks will hopefully return to Eva flights.

[davidge]

As threatened😊here’s the food.

As I said, no menus available on board so here’s the menus I could choose from for the main courses from 3 weeks before the flight:

I’m not entirely sure what all the items were in the other courses but decided to be adventurous and tried most of it.

First meal:

Appetizer:

Starter:

Bread:

They also came around twice offering other breads - 2 different types of roll and garlic bread.

I chose Lobster & Cod for the main course:

Genuinely the first time I’ve eaten lobster and, given the fuss people make, I can’t believe it’s meant to be like this. It was tough and chewy. The cod was excellent.

Dessert:

No dessert trolley (I guess because of Covid) so a combined plate of desserts.

I also had a very good St. Emilion with the meal.

 

Second meal:

Starter:

They brought around a choice of breads and mini croissants.

Main:

There was also a fruit plate for dessert but I’d eaten more than enough by then.

[bangna]

I flew with Austrian in April, also using the Lufthansa lounge.  I was also not impressed,  limited food options, wine and sparkling wine but no spirits available.  They did have self service draught beers though. 

[mercmanrob]

Good review, thanks for the effort. Bummer about the T2 lounge, the Lufthansa one is rather shit tbh, takes the edge off the experience a bit.

[Fire Bar Matt]

11 hours ago, davidge said:

Genuinely the first time I’ve eaten lobster and, given the fuss people make, I can’t believe it’s meant to be like this. It was tough and chewy.

Thanks for the review and the pics. Lobster in no way should be tough and chewy. I’ve been tempted to order it for a flight in the past but figure they’ll just ruin it, which apparently seems correct. 

[Luv2Phuket]

Thanks for the review and the photos - I think @FROST MEDIC999 may get a little excited about the cheese on that dessert tray!  555

Have a GREAT trip! I'm VERY disappointed that I won't be there to grab a meal or some drinks.

I was supposed to experience that quality EVA service on my flight home at the end of the month. 

[davidge]

14 hours ago, kansuwan said:

Q: Which company did you use for Fast Track?

Just to add, total cost for all services was 4446 baht. 3247 baht had to be paid on booking and the balance of 1199 baht given to the driver. If you book a return taxi at the same time there’s a discount (10% I think) but I didn’t bother this time. February is too far away to worry about things like that!

[ctp2018]

15 hours ago, davidge said:

https://www.limousine.in.th/
 

I am assuming that if you fly business class on EVA you are automatically authorized to use the express immigration lane at BKK Airport?

Otherwise, if you want the cart then you have to pay extra I guess.

[Thomaz73]

19 minutes ago, ctp2018 said:

assuming that if you fly business class on EVA you are automatically authorized to use the express immigration lane at BKK Airport?

Had the same thought. But it seems his chosen package involved taxi as well. 

[davidge]

31 minutes ago, ctp2018 said:

I am assuming that if you fly business class on EVA you are automatically authorized to use the express immigration lane at BKK Airport?

Otherwise, if you want the cart then you have to pay extra I guess.

Yes, but I want to book the cart so have to include the fasttrack even though I’m in Biz. Due to a fairly serious back condition I can’t be absolutely sure if I’m going to be able to walk very far after a flight so take the easy option if it’s available. I dread flying back into LHR.

[typhoon42]

17 hours ago, davidge said:

https://www.limousine.in.th/
 

If flying business class I was under the impression that your boarding pass could be used for FastTrack.

Has the policy changed?

Edit:  Opps, didn’t read the rest of the thread prior to posting.

Edited November 16, 2022 by typhoon42

[bangna]

4 hours ago, davidge said:

I dread flying back into LHR.

I dread it every trip    

[ctp2018]

14 hours ago, typhoon42 said:

If flying business class I was under the impression that your boarding pass could be used for FastTrack.

Has the policy changed?

Edit:  Opps, didn’t read the rest of the thread prior to posting.

I was considering booking the fast track and cart as I’m getting up there in age a little. But apparently they have the moving type escalator that should allow me to have a fairly easy go of it.

[SlowlyMan]

38 minutes ago, ctp2018 said:

I was considering booking the fast track and cart as I’m getting up there in age a little. But apparently they have the moving type escalator that should allow me to have a fairly easy go of it.

The moving sidewalk covers some of the trek.  It's still a good bit of walking though. Depends of course on your arrival gate.

[Luv2Phuket]

2 minutes ago, SlowlyMan said:

The moving sidewalk covers some of the trek.  It's still a good bit of walking though. Depends of course on your arrival gate.

Not to mention the people who like to stand and block the moving sidewalk (instead of walking on it).

A pet peeve of mine....in all airports!  555

[sinc]

On 15/11/2022 at 11:00, davidge said:

As it was my first trip since before Covid I though I’d post a short review of how things went just in case anyone is interested.

I flew in Eva Business Class direct from Heathrow T2 to Bangkok. 

I arrived at Heathrow 3 and a half hours before my flight. The drop off area was very busy, taxi had to wait for a space to become available to pull in. I went into the Terminal near Zone A which is where Eva, Thai and some other airlines have desks. I went to the back of zone A which is where Biz check in always used to be but that was all Singapore now (all classes). A member of staff told me Eva Biz was now using desks A1 and A2 which are on the left hand side of the front of Zone A, which used to be where Economy passengers for all the airlines checked in and dropped bags off.

There were a few people in front of me and it took about 20 minutes to reach the desk. Check in very quick and easy, I was allowed 2x32kg for check in bags and 2x7kg for hand luggage. She did actually weigh my one hand luggage but didn’t say anything when it was over 7kg. She asked how long I was staying and I said I had a visa. She didn’t want to see it just asked if I had it on me - I must have an honest face 😊 She said that the usual Air Canada lounge was closing early so I’d have to use the Lufthansa one. I asked about Singapore and she told me they were refusing to accept Eva passengers as they were too busy.

I then made my way to Fasttrack security, which was slightly complicated by the fact that they had put barriers in various places so there was no direct route. No passport check, I assume it’s automatic as I’d done online check in and filled passenger information, and it took about 15 or 20 minutes to get through security.

There are 4 lounges used by Star Alliance members in T2. Air Canada, Singapore and United are near the B gates in the annex used by Eva, Thai etc and Lufthansa is just after security near the A gates. United always opened in mornings only so I’ve used it when on the earlier Thai flight, but I could choose either Air Canada or Singapore in the past. All 3 lounges were very good. This is the first time I’d used Lufthansa. It’s primarily meant to serve short haul flights and it wasn’t huge. Very busy when I arrived but I managed to find a table, though it hadn’t been cleared after previous occupants. Limited choice of food compared to the other lounges. Tiny selection of sandwiches and a couple of hot choices all pretty heavy and stodgy. It’s definitely a big step down from the other lounges.

I started the 2 mile trek to the gate about 50 minutes before boarding. Boarding itself was pretty chaotic. Very poorly managed. They emphasised to everyone as they were boarding that masks were mandatory.

I had my preferred seat on the left hand side towards the front of the cabin. I like the seats and layout with Eva. Plenty of room, even for a big bugger like me, good storage at the seat and an overhead bin for almost every seat.

Contrary to some reports I’ve seen the cabin crew were dressed normally but worse face masks. The usual welcome drink as soon as we’d boarded and then they came round to ask about food orders. No menus were given to passengers, I guess this is a Covid measure, the staff just showed a menu to each person. I’d ordered my meals online ahead of the flight as that gives more options for the main meal. I couldn’t look at a full drinks list but there were 2 reds and 2 whites in the wine section.

We pushed back from the gate 20 minutes after departure time and had a very long taxi. We took off 40 minutes late.

Everyone dutifully wore their masks as far as I could see, except when eating and drinking (obviously). People did go to the toilet after meals with no masks and the cabin crew didn’t say anything so there wasn’t any heavy handed enforcement at all. I found it less of a problem than I’d expected to wear the mask through the flight.

We were served the main meal as soon as we reached cruising altitude and the second about 90 minutes before arriving in Bangkok. The food and service was excellent and there was an ok entertainment choice. I got more rest/sleep than I usually do on a flight and it was one of the best flights I’ve had.

(I won’t post food pics etc here but might do a post later for the few that might be interested)

We landed 30 minutes late at 4.15pm and were at the gate within 5 minutes. 5 minutes later we were off the plane. As usual, I’d booked a golf cart with fast track, a porter and a taxi with the same company. There was a bloke holding up my name as I got off the plane and the golf cart arrived a couple of minutes later. They took me straight to an empty immigration desk in the Priority area and I was soon stamped in. I didn’t see the first immigration area but the second one looked pretty quiet. He then took me to baggage claim and the porter was there. The baggage claim area was very busy. As soon as one flight’s bags had all come out another flight immediately followed. They both stayed with me and my bags arrived about 10 minutes later. They phoned the driver to meet us outside door 5 and the car was there about 5 minutes later. We were driving away from the airport by 4.55pm.

It's my dream to fly business class on a long haul flight

[Trevor]

Thanks for the review @davidge

I took the same flight a few days before you from the sounds of it.

I echo pretty much everything you have said, but hopefully you won’t mind me adding the following….

Bag drop now opens at 5-20 whereas in the past I’ve dropped my bag earlier and gone through to the lounge. I arrived early so there was quite a bit of hanging about before I could go through.
The lounge situation isn’t great now. I’ve always used the United Lounge right up until boarding time. It now closes at 6pm. The Air Canada Lounge now closes at 8pm and as you say the Singapore lounge is only admitting their own passengers. So really now once you trek to the boarding gates you’re out of luck.

The Lufthansa lounge isn’t great but seems to be the best bet at the moment.

I did notice on board the full food and drinks menu is now accessible via the IFE. Maybe explains the lack of printed menu?

I hope my comments are helpful, and once again thanks for the review.

 

[purescience]

I was looking forward to spending some time in the Air Canada lounge for my upcoming January flight. I wonder if the 8pm closing is a permanent thing or they are planning to return to the old schedule. At some point.

Also a little dissapointed I might have to wear a mask on board. I remember reading a post on another topic (I think it might have been the "flight prices getting crazy" thread) and someone was saying that they only had to wear masks for boarding. Maybe compliance is less as you move further down the plane?

I hope we can keep this thread going so that people can share their own experiences going forward. I will certainly try to do so for my own trip.

[Trevor]

^^^^^^^^^^^^
I seem to recall boarding is scheduled for 8-40pm.
In the past they’ve put out a call in the Canada lounge when it starts, but this time round it closed promptly at 8pm and they were clearing the food a while before then. So it’s possible to use it and wander to the Gate early……at 8pm I tried to get into the Singapore lounge using my Star Alliance Gold Card but wasn’t allowed.

As for masks I wore mine for boarding and when I moved around the cabin. I was in one of the window pods so frankly there seemed little point when seated. I’d say most people did the same as me. I guess each flight is different and as very few people were wearing them on mine I went with the herd. If everyone had kept theirs on I’d have done likewise.

 

 

[SlowlyMan]

16 hours ago, sinc said:

It's my dream to fly business class on a long haul flight

Be careful what you ask for. Once you've flown at the pointy end, you won't want to go back to cattle class.

[sinc]

Just now, SlowlyMan said:

Be careful what you ask for. Once you've flown at the pointy end, you won't want to go back to cattle class.

Ha ha

Probably indeed

 

Can hardly afford economy at the moment 

[simon46]

1 hour ago, SlowlyMan said:

Be careful what you ask for. Once you've flown at the pointy end, you won't want to go back to cattle class.

I should have worked harder and smarter but now it is too late, I was sitting behind the OP, but way back in cattle.

Arrived at Eva check in 4 hours early having printed boarding pass, “bag drop” was already open with serious queue, automatic baggage labelling did not work so baggage drop was really just check in.  OP had a different desk with carpet and prettier girls.  After about 30 min, my turn, bag dropped, new boarding pass, no visa and return in March never mentioned, has only once been bought up in dozens of entry flights.

Straight to departure, security working well guess 20 minutes, new fancy shoe scanning thing, one foot at a time.  Then Terminal 2, exchange offering 35 baht/£, did not partake, no free food, drink for me, boarding on time and pretty well organised for cattle, much prodding of those jumping the groups, walked past business to encourage me to try harder in the next life, into my seat.

Unless you are right at the back, it is not the seating but those around you who can make life hell, this time lucky.

Left on time, very Chinese stewardesses- you eat rice or fish, not much in the way of smiles or interaction with the cattle but the flight was rammed.  Small Thai flag badges but totally Chinese.

Food strange but edible, temperature in plane OK, entertainment OK and no horrid under seat boxes.  Had to hunt for a 3rd Singha,.  OP’s highly recognisable food much better but less exciting.

One of my better flights, I do feel one will kill me one day, Eva again coming good £700 return once I scored premium economy for that but money was different then.

Stormed the walkways (ignoring you are coming etc), kept right for the oldies and APEC people, pressed the fingerprints, 45 days banged, even a smile and in immediately. 2 minutes.

Then wait and wait for bag, guess 40min +, did buy DTAC sim in reclaim 999 baht for 30 days internet.  Then through the green and not to happy Nam taxi girl this time but down to the bus.

Got to bus desk 1715, would have been 1645 without the baggage hold up, next bus 19.30, bought ticket.  Walked over to where the 1730 bus was loading, passengers are no longer Russians and frugal Europeans but 80% Indian, not the handholding beach road pests but really younger, better dressed and darker versions of me.  As they travel in groups, I by myself a word with the stewardess and driver and a couple of reds saw me on board.  Only problem was the Indians had no idea which stop to get off and the Thai Moto guys at Klang were like sharks.

Couple of Indian girls were staying at 7 seas so I could help them, “get off at bus station and baht bus or bolt or walk 3km”. Then 10 baht and HOME by 1930.

Yes I should have been more successful and I thank OP and those in the front for making my trip possible.