One of the better ways to get to Asia on UA points

As a former United Global Services member, I racked up a bunch of United miles. Since I’m not flying them a ton anymore (only Gold now), I’ve been relying on my Sapphire Preferred card to build up Ultimate Rewards points, which can be transferred to United at a 1:1. One great thing about Star Alliance is the inclusion of EVA, which almost always has last-minute business class award inventory through United. Which brings me to this flight, a 777-300ER from New York (JFK) to Taipei (TPE) on flight BR31.

How Was The Flight?

At the airport:

Terminal 1 at JFK makes me glad I don’t live in New York anymore. Check-in was fine with a separate lane for Royal Laurel and nobody in line. The agent gave me my boarding passes and lounge passes for both JFK and TPE. The security line, on the other hand, was a hot mess of confusion. The “elite” line is basically just a different way of getting into the economy line, as all lanes are funneled into the same slow checkpoints with no apparent regard for order. Don’t arrive here in the evening expecting to breeze through – it took me 20 minutes.

The wonderfully efficient security entrance at JFK T1.

The Lounge:

Onward to the lounge…which was a major disappointment – see my review of the lounge here.

Boarding:

It seemed slightly disorganized, but I left the lounge early to get there, so I was one of the first few people on board, boarding through the Royal Laurel lane. Worthy of note is that the rear business cabin (where I was seated) will see all of the passengers walking back to economy during boarding, which can be bothersome as you’re getting settled if you’re used to “turning left” when you board a long-haul aircraft. The seats are fairly private, though, so I didn’t notice an issue with the boarding process.

The Cabin:

Looking back in Royal Laurel to Elite (premium economy).

While it’s nice that the rear business class cabin is smaller, I found that there was a tad more engine noise than I’d like. The forward business cabin does have less engine noise, but it is noticeably larger, so you definitely feel more like you’re in business class than something a step above.

Rows 9-11 in the rear business cabin, as a bit more private feel to it.

The Seat(s):

Check out the EVA 777-300ER 77N seat map. Seatlink picks? Rows 9 and 10 are what to get in this business class cabin, or rows 2-6. The forward compartments of row 8 seats also double as storage for the crew, and while they’re good about not using the space while everyone’s asleep, it could still be a nuisance. Row 11 is probably fine, but you will be right next to a thin bulkhead separating business from economy. Everything in the front cabin looks ok except for 7 D and G — these are almost adjacent to the lavs on either side, and most of the action for the crew happens in that middle galley.

Seat 9K, plus EVA blanket and pillow.

Looking towards the window from the aisle.

A bit narrow like all reverse herringbone, but no complaints

The seat, fully reclined in bed mode.

Storage space (lower one is good for shoes).

A view from the aisle of the two windows each Royal Laurel seat gets.

Working:

I didn’t work on this flight 🙂 But, the table seemed a bit high for my tastes (at 5’9″).

Lounging:

Lounged for several hours and was comfortable the entire time. These seats go right from upright down to sleep, so you can really be in any position you desire. Reclining and putting your feet on the forward bench is quite comfortable.

Sleeping:

I managed to get a solid 7 hours of sleep on this flight. Wide enough to roll over without needing to shift every 15 degrees of roll (I’m a side sleeper). I was comfortable on both sides and on my back). If you’re a side sleeper I recommend a window seat on the side of the cabin the same as the side you usually sleep on (or the opposite of the middle seats) since the foot area will more naturally follow the bend in your knees while sleeping (if any). The pillow and blanket were nice. I usually find I need more than one pillow but was fine with just the one in EVA Royal Laurel.

The seat controls are nicely placed out of the way like in most planes that have a reverse herringbone config, but were sometimes a bit awkward to use while lounging.

The Meals:

For business class airplane food, this was good. Maybe a B+. Nothing mind-blowing, but I was satisfied and wasn’t left wishing I had purchased an overpriced meal in the terminal. A nice design feature of these seats is that the tray table can be pushed out of the way if you need to run to the lav between glasses of Dom.

Smoked salmon appetizer.

Main course of poached halibut

Dessert

Starting off brekky with some fresh fruit

Omelette, beans, potatoes, sausage — pretty standard Western option

The menu

The Wine:

Dom Perignon 2004 is your Champagne which is nice. I generally skip white wine, so I had the Chateau Montviel and the San Vicente Rioja — both adequate wines by all accounts, and nice to have a selection of three reds to choose from.

The wine list. Yay!

IFE and Video Screen:

Well-positioned 15” screens that you can kinda still watch when they’re stowed for takeoff and landing. They pop out in flight, but aren’t adjustable up or down, so when in sleep mode it’s hard to see the screen. Content was pretty good with a mix of new releases and classics, though the English language selections weren’t as extensive as they could’ve been, but understandably so! Still, kept me adequately entertained when I wasn’t asleep during my 15.5 hour flight.

Not amazingly high resolution, but it does the trick! Can still view it somewhat when it’s stowed.

Noise-cancelling headphones

Per usual these days (it seems), Royal Laurel passengers are provided with EVA noise-cancelling headphones. Not brand name like the Bose action on Singapore and other airlines, but they did the job well.

Amenity Kit:

Another Rimowa amenity kit, this one in a nice dark green, so it’s a keeper. The contents of the amenity kit were adequate; lip balm, hand lotion, socks, eyeshade, comb, toothbrush/paste. Earplugs were MIA, though, so if you use them to sleep make sure you bring your own.

Nice green Rimowa amenity kit. I actually sometimes save these…

The Service:

Service was attentive and responsive, but definitely what I would call business class service. We did get hot towels at least 6 times through the flight, so that was nice. Any time I made a special request — like another glass of Dom — the FAs were quick to help me out.

The Bottom Line:

This is really a great business class product. I actually think it’s somewhere between business and first, closer to first than business, for your standard non-suites airline. Being in products like this make me never want to redeem FlyingBlue points to be in old AF J or KL J, both of which will feel like a bit of a downgrade until their planes are all retrofitted.

What else?

Did I miss anything? What’s your experience been on EVA Royal Laurel? Let us know in your comment below!

The verdict

Reviewed by

Seatlink

Date

2015-02-25

Airline/cabin

EVA 777-300 Business Class

Rating

4