Review: EVA Air Boeing 777 Business Class Royal Laurel (SFO=TPE)
SFO=TPE
BR 7/8
Depart: 13:00/10:15
Arrive: 17:00/07:00
Duration: 13 hr/11hr 45min
For my first-ever visit to Taiwan, I flew on EVA Air which I heard has excellent meal service. Though to be quite honest, I wasn’t particularly excited about the hard product of the Royal Laurel in the Boeing 777 as it’s a bit outdated compared to the nicer and newer Royal Laurel in Boeing 787-10.
Because I flew the same cabin round-trip, I’ll write about my experiences in each legs into this one post. The main differences between both were the meal selections and amenity kits.
EVA Air Boeing 777 Royal Laurel- Booking
I booked a round-trip ticket with ANA Miles earned by transferring 95,000 American Express Membership Rewards points along with ~$265 in taxes and fees, including fuel surcharges. Unfortunately due to a recent ANA devaluation, the same route would now cost 130,000 ANA Miles round-trip.
EVA Air Boeing 777 Royal Laurel- Boarding
Coming from SFO, I was granted access to the British Airways Lounge in International Terminal A that directly connects to the boarding gate of my flight
It was quite bizarre that I boarded through the emergency exit of the lounge.
TPE also had its own bizarre experience with boarding pass check process happening in a Sanrio-themed waiting room by the gate, with staffs standing behind a small cart counter.
Though the EVA Air The Star Lounge was a little bit nicer than the British Airways Lounge in SFO.
EVA Air Boeing 777 Royal Laurel- Seat
The Royal Laurel in the Boeing 777 is set in 1-2-1 reverse herringbone arrangement. Compared to its younger sibling, Boeing 787-10, the seats are more old-fashioned, which are then intensified with the dark green and grey color tones.
The entertainment screen is set diagonally, but comes with a button that plops it facing directly in front of you.
It won’t have the prettiest picture, but it was serviceable. The footwell below was fine as well, but the diagonal setup might cause a little discomfort for taller people, perhaps.
The main panel of the seat groups together reading lights, remote, power outlets, and headset sockets.
Below the panel is the seat control buttons that you can hold to customize the config to your liking.
The side table provides ample space to store your belongings. There are extra cabinets by and below the table.
The tray table is attached to the side table that you can pull for meal service or electronic use.
The arm rest can be controlled with the metal button.
EVA Air Boeing 777 Royal Laurel- Meal Service
Meal service aboard EVA Air is unique compared to most premium cabins where you can pre-order curated main courses from as early as 21 days before your flight until 24 hours before your flight. You can choose one main course only, and change your option as much as you wish within the time frame.
The meal selections will vary by flights. Be sure to lock in your desired option as soon as possible as they’d be limited in quantity.
Meal service progress at the following order: appetizer/starter, soup, bread service, salad, main course, and desserts. Light meals will then be served halfway during the flight.
SFO-TPE
For SFO-TPE, I chose lobster as my main course from the online pre-order menu.
Light meals will be served some time after the main meal service. I chose instant noodles for both of the flight segments. They really do hit different when you’re flying!
TPE-SFO
For TPE-SFO, I chose braised duck with rice as the main course from the pre-order selections online. Breakfast was also served here.
EVA Air Boeing 777 Royal Laurel- Amenity Kit
Amenity kits given to Business Class passengers are made by Giorgio Armani. From SFO departure, I was given a black soft-shell amenity kit bag while TPE departure was hard-shell colored in tan.
The amenities inside include dental kit, lip balm, eye mask, ear plugs, comb, and coin pouch (black amenity kit)/wallet (tan amenity kit). The coin pouch was surely handy during my time in Japan.
On top of that, a stylish hooded pajama by Jason Wu set is given.
Male passengers are given the grey color while female passengers get baby blue. The material is very breathable, and was comfortable to wear during the flight.
EVA Air Boeing 777 Royal Laurel- Entertainment
Entertainment selections include movies, TV shows, music, and games. Most likely, you’d be watching movies or shows here.
Movie themes span from Hollywood to Asian and European cinemas.
These Thunder headsets were beefy an comfortable to wear for prolonged periods of time.
I was delighted that Detective Conan is included. I saw it as an option in both EVA and Starlux, in fact. Popular in Taiwan, maybe?
Wi-Fi is present in-flight, but will cost $40 for the whole duration of the flight, so it’s on the expensive end, and is probably hard to swallow if you only plan to use Wi-Fi sparsely. All all passengers can get a free 30 minutes trial to test out the Wi-Fi though. From my experience, the Wi-Fi worked nicely for most of the flight. But of course, that could change any time while in the sky.
EVA Air Boeing 777 Royal Laurel- Lavatory
Business class lavatory include dental kits including toothbrush and mouthwash.
And there’s toiletries from Acqua Colonia.
Conclusion
EVA Air’s strongest point was its meal service. In the Royal Laurel of the Boeing 777, the seats and entertainment screen are a bit outdated so I wasn’t particularly excited about those. Wi-Fi price on this airline is also way steep compared to others.
However, EVA Air is the easier airline to book on points going from/to Taiwan due to its Star Alliance affiliation so I wouldn’t mind flying it again. Since I like the Royal Laurel in Boeing 787-10 better, I might one day opt for positioning flight to SEA instead since it’s one of the few routes from the US that use that model.