Be Aware Of Eva Air

[paulnuek]

My kids are flying out to Bangkok from Manchester UK on the 19th July for two weeks here in Thailand. They are flying Emirates through Dubai and the price is 1073 pounds including taxes. last year it was 800 pounds. This is the cheapest flight that i can get in this period and my agent states that all the other European airlines and far in excess of the figure.

Not just EVA.

Cheers, Rick

I flew with EVA once and found them to be OK.

But what about China Airlines?????

Have you tried them?

I have used them on the last 15 or so trips (except Emirates at Xmas and would not use them again).

I fly from Newcastle to Amsterdam and the direct to bangkok.

Cost is £555 for an adult fare.

Quite a bit less than EVA.

Only difference I found is no tv in the seat in front of you, but I usually have a few cold ones and sleep most of the way anyway.

[dereklev]

I emailed my travel agent and got the following reply.....

Elite class if your departure dates after 11 Jul until 20 August.

Fare 840 tax approximately 200 totals is 1042.80 validity 6 months and with mileage accrual.

The one you have seen 991! Please check detail of the condition

May be no mileage accrual or validity for 1 month only

Is it possible for you to depart after 21 Aug? It will be 690 not including tax.

It seems that most of the increase in price is seasonal as the ticket I have just purchased is £640 excluding tax.

[londonthai]

Me and my wife are thinking of booking 2 return flights to Thailand in November.

We was told the price, flying with eva, would be £475 direct from heathrow, good price I think.

Back in june last year, i got a return flight with thai airways for £383 from heathrow.

what agency are you flying in november - I did find £497 with quatar (so no direct - I don't like it)

what agency got you those cheapy with thai a year ago?

[Lucifer]

I got back from the USA with EVA last week. I like them and always end up flying with them but they don't have the best catering. On the trip back they didn't serve any food or drink for 12 hours! OK if I asked for something it was given but no trolley for 12 hours! Also I like to be served free booze a lot and anything except a pewney glass of wine at meals is absent. I much prefer something like Emirates or Thai, even though these are more expensive than EVA. Also the extra u have to pay for the Elite class is just not worth it as all u get is a bigger seat, nothing more.

The clues are there. You pay for your ''free'' booze.

Better still, buy your own at duty free and you'll still save a bundle.

[torrenova]

I checked Etihad online and before taxes, their cheapest is 28k versus 19k last year. A whopping 50% increase. After taxes the increase is nt quite so horrific.

BA and the other direct mob are all about 42-44k. Singapore is 42k all in and looks a steal to me at the moment (especially as I have to go to Singapore anyway! ) If you want to come back in July on Etihad be prepared for a 52k+ fare before taxes !!!!

Oil is not the only thing which affects the price of airlines you know. Buying the bloody things is one cost as is maintenance, staff, landing fees an a whole rake of other stuff. As a lot of that "other stuff" is priced in USD, they are actually benefiting.

The issue is really the cost of them hedging their future oil costs and including those hedging costs in today's prices. OIl is up 50% or so year on year but I bet the hedging costs have risen more. I remember Branson once coming out on the side of not hedging and saving millions. Now with oil on a runaway uphill slope, how can you not hedge, at any price ?

[honoluludave]

Eva Air had stop flying into Hawaii about 2 years ago. So the only option is China Air or Jal. Flew China air in Febuary and the fuel surcharge was about $250 at the time making it one of the most expensive ticket I had purchase to date. Not going to be looking forward to the ticket I must purchase in August

[asciotti]

Eva Airlinlso went down on their luggage weight it use to be 70 lbs from u.s.a and now its 50 lbs. Thai Airways have not gone down on their luggage weight its still 70 lbs. No recession yet in America as long as the economy is .6 % in the plus and not a minus its not in recession. the fuel cost is a fake recession there are a lot of things that go into it. i like to fly Thai airways because its nonstop from Los Angeles to Bangkok even though I have to pay dearly for the ticket for me its worth it.

I also like EVA Airlines.

[dsfbrit]

I alway travel EVA Air as their Elite class seats (nothing really Elite - just bigger economy seats) are fantastic value compared to the other 'main' carriers I have tried ie: Thai, BA and Qantas.

On top of that price I suppose you still have to add the Surcharges/Taxes of about 11000 Baht.

Even then I suspect within the next period BA and the others will increase prices as well.

To be fair to all the airlines though - at 120 dollars a barrel compared to around 60 dollars a barrel a year ago - its hardly surprising is it.

In fact here is the Eva Air price if booked Today for a flight booked on the internet travelling BKK-LHR in November this year:

Economy:

Adult: 1 THB 31,500 * 1

Taxes: THB 11,460 * 1

Total Fares THB 42,960

This price is already 43000 Baht in total - so I guess the new price will be around 53000 Baht

Edited May 2, 2008 by dsfbrit

[groper]

When prices go up and incomes down, as is happening in so many countries that Thailand has been getting holidaymakers from, holidays are the first thing that can be sacrificed in order to re-balance a household budget.

In what countries are incomes going down?

He was probably thinking about 'expendable' income going down, wasn't he?

[thaibkk]

Oops,

Emirates Full-Year Profit Jumps 61% to $1.4 Billion (Update2)

By Will McSheehy and Arif Sharif

April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Emirates, the biggest Arab airline, said full-year profit surged 61 percent to a record as it flew more passengers and cargo, added new routes to cities including Houston and Toronto and had one-time gains.

Net income in the 12 months ended March 31 jumped to 5 billion dirhams ($1.4 billion) from 3.1 billion dirhams a year earlier, the company said in a statement today. Revenue grew 32 percent to 39.5 billion dirhams.

i can believe they make a big profit

in those arab countries they pay 2-3 baht per liter of gas ...

in thailand we pay 15x more

in europe we pay 30 times more !

what is fair ?

and still, there prices are as good as the same as other companies

[markokang]

Petrol prices are killing the volunteer EMS service in Thailand (which responds to over 95% of all accidents here!

Volunteers like me who pay for their own petrol are staying home more because they can't afford to fill up their vehiclesas much! I kid you not! There is definately a reduced service right now. I also will start working part time at night teaching English to make more money so I can put petrol in my vehicle and go home to NZ at Xmas BUT.... the time I am out teaching will be the time I am not working Sukumvit/Param 4 (Sometimes, nowadays I am the only one on standby!) Therefore I can see there will be long delays in response time now and getting worse in the future as vehicles will have to come from further away to respond to accidents. Dangerous situation.

[Ricardo]

We need a budget airline to open up this route and smash the monoply of the more or less state run airlines - this has happened to Hong Kong

oasis, a budget airline flying London Hong Kong, went bust almost a month ago.

the other long haul airline to be flying London - Kuala Lumphur never materialised, after being announced in january 2007. Branson's Virgin was involved in creation of this company, so a serious partner - but probably the other party withdraw

That's Air Asia Express, who so-far only have one plane, which they use on KL-GoldCoast, see other threads for reports.

It is expected that their 2nd route, when they have more planes, may well be the the UK, possibly Gatwick or Stansted.

One potential problem, with this interesting project, is whether your connecting-from-Thailand Air Asia flight is guaranteed to make the connection, and what happens if you miss your onward long-haul flight. Since Air Asia is currently point-to-point only, with missed-connections being the passenger's problem & not the airline's, this is a fairly critical feature. Can you imagine missing the connection, having to find a hotel etc for the night, and also buy new tickets if-available, when you're travelling with family ? !

Hopefully some sort of limited-guarantee, to get you on the next available flight, might be offered. Currently - who knows ? ! Caveat Emptor.

[andyc2006]

I'm sick of people saying the baht has gained value against other currencies.. it's rubbish.

The USD is in freefall, stop measuring the baht against it.

It has gained against other currencies - THIS IS A FACT!

Over what time period are you measuring? An hour, a specific day last month, the early 1990s?

There are a number of "dollar indexes" out there, most of them use a weighted average of the USA's biggest trading partners to create an index of the dollar against other currencies.

For now I'll throw you one -- http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=DX-Y.NYB -- but you should google it, and check the history.

If you bother to check, you'll find that:

1) The US dollar has had a bad decade.

2) The US dollar has had an awful -- disastrous -- year.

3) Your statement was dead wrong, unless you're referring to some now-meaningless period in time, and in the future, you should investigate these things before you mislead thousands of people on the Internet.

[jonniebkk]

Sounds like you rate an airline by the amount of booze they give you. I won't say free booze because the airlines that offer ''free'' booze are really charging you an outrageous amount in increased ticket price.

Actually, I think almost everybody pays for Elite Class, precisely because it gets you a bigger seat and the opportunity to sleep comfortably. We don't care whether there is a trolley trundling up and down the aisle with liquor every five minutes.

My sentiments exactly. I don't consider an airplane a flying restaurant but a flying bus. I use it to get somewhere, not to have a fine meal. I would rather fly EVA and save US$ 1000 on my flight ( I like to bag most of my own food anyway...even in business) and spend $ 50-75 on a great meal at my destination than waste money on an expensive air ticket to eat their reconstituted reheated slop!

As to the EVA price rises...I think they are completely justified, and I have posted several times commenting on how cheap the EVA fares are compared to other airlines. There fares to the USA West Coast have been the same for a year and the price of fuel had doubled.

Thanks for the heads-up, however. I recently purchased a business fare to SFO for next week for B 75k net. I guess I should go ahead and book/buy another ticket for my next trip in a years time now. Tickets can be purchased up to a year in advance correct?

[skooldaze]

I'm sick of people saying the baht has gained value against other currencies.. it's rubbish.

The USD is in freefall, stop measuring the baht against it.

Right you are sir. Against the Euro it has weakened.

[steve187]

BA have announced rises to fuel duty : quote from sky news:-

British Airways' latest round of fuel surcharges has come into force, meaning higher fares for passengers travelling both across Britain and abroad.

Fuel bill '$2bn a year'The company has blamed the rising cost of fuel, itself caused by the recent big jumps in oil prices.

The surcharge for short-haul trips has increased by £3 to £13 per flight (£26 return).

Meanwhile, the levy for long-haul flights of less than nine hours will go up by £10 from £53 to £63 per flight (£126 return).

And the figure for long-haul flights of more than nine hours will increase by £15 from £64 to £79 per flight (£158 return).

Re prices I booked beginning of march for direct heathrow to bangkok with thai air £650.00. I have just checked for same flight thai :- £691.00, eva :- £824.00, BA :- £924 and quantas £914. the chepest in direct flight was gulf air £543

[joker]

most of the time EVA had their lowest fare to London (33k) not available, so it was more a promotional stunt than reality.

the last time I have bought a fare for 39k with british airways, it was cheaper than EVA and gave me 12kg more hold luggage (so saved me a lot of money on an extra weight).

fuel costs aside, they might be hiking their fare because of the olimpics. I would expect same with the chinese airlines now.

still I will fly with EVA if they were cheaper than the other airlines, no complain about their service, but not as good as thai airways (in my humble opinion)

Also with British Airways you're flying direct. I don't see the point in flying the wrong direction for 3 hours, getting off the plane waiting in that crappy Taipei airport with nothing to do for another 2 hours, then flying on another plane back (partially) the way you just came for 2 more plus the usual 12. A much longer trip for not much savings. Same can be said for Singapore Airlines to Europe (though they are a superior airline I agree).

The airport in Singapore is certainly worth it, plenty to see and do!

[thaiclan]

Just flew back from LHR to SIN on Singapore Airlines new Airbus 380. It was without doubt the best flying experience Ive ever had on this long haul leg. The service was great with fresh fruit, crisps, choccie bars and drinks constantly being brought around (all free). The food was amazing too for an airline, breakfast included a poached egg?? how?? Delicious anyway. It took 12 hours and 15mins and was so quiet. The entertainment system is fantastic with about 40 movies to choose from, a dozen or so documentaries, plus sitcoms, concerts and dozens of albums and games. Ample leg room (and in business the seat reclines flat). Its a bit more expensive than the cheapy carriers (economy is about 45k) but well worth the little extra if you can stretch to it.

[farangconnection]

I have nothing but praise for EVA...................wonderful to fly with, and I've always found the food fantastic ( ok I do use business a lot)

[farangconnection]

Just flew back from LHR to SIN on Singapore Airlines new Airbus 380. It was without doubt the best flying experience Ive ever had on this long haul leg. The service was great with fresh fruit, crisps, choccie bars and drinks constantly being brought around (all free). The food was amazing too for an airline, breakfast included a poached egg?? how?? Delicious anyway. It took 12 hours and 15mins and was so quiet. The entertainment system is fantastic with about 40 movies to choose from, a dozen or so documentaries, plus sitcoms, concerts and dozens of albums and games. Ample leg room (and in business the seat reclines flat). Its a bit more expensive than the cheapy carriers (economy is about 45k) but well worth the little extra if you can stretch to it.

And what's more just spent 10 bloody minutes tgrying to get that ant off my screen

[parmi]

Massive increase in Air fares from May 9

We have just received our new price sheets effective 09 May from Eva Air, and they are applying what can only be described as irresponsible increases to all their air fares from next Friday.

Example of round trip fares:

Low season London economy was around THB 33,000 and will go to THB 42,500

Low season Amsterdam was around THB 28,000 and will go to THB 34,500

Low season USA was around THB 30,000 and will go to THB 37,000

To add insult to injury they have also introduced a weekend surcharge on the USA! Needless to say the Elite Class fares also go up.

We have no idea how they can justify this, considering that the Baht has strengthened against all currencies the Taiwanese must be doing very nicely thank you from sales In Thailand but there is nothing anyone can do about it except fly on other airlines!

Anyone who is holding a booking that has not yet been ticketed needs to complete the transaction by the

end of 8th May, and Thaivisa Travel can of course still make bookings at the old fare for another week.

http://travel.thaivisa.com

I have no idea why these airlines seem to think they can up the costs with no explanation, they are basically (bending us over) i just retuned to thailand from london and BA, BMI AND a few other airlines based at HEATHROW have also put their prices up to new highs,

HEY... someone has to pay for the new airports and aircraft these airlines are buying, and i guess if it makes it safer to fly then we have to pay,

I ONLY use ROYAL JORDANIAN where it is possible, they are one of the cheapest companies around for long haul travel,in jan 2007 i bought a tkt from london to thailand and paid $1172,00 for a 1 yr tkt, i have just bought this yrs ronud trip from RJ from london to bangkok for $1270, only $100 higher. not bad,so call them and pay less,

and NO, i dont have anything to gain by talking about RJ,

[sabaijai]

Seems reasonable to me, given circumstances today. Still cheaper than THAI. I still prefer THAI to the USA east or west coast because they offer nonstop service. But I'd take EVA if I needed to save 10,000 baht or more.

[chrislarsson]

When prices go up and incomes down, as is happening in so many countries that Thailand has been getting holidaymakers from, holidays are the first thing that can be sacrificed in order to re-balance a household budget.

In what countries are incomes going down?

Only can speak for the US, but for the first time in my life, incomes dropped in the USA (slightly) in the 10 year period from 1997 to 2007.

That's not accounting for inflation -- if inflation were factored in, the 10-year drop would have been huge.

Real growth is always accounting for inflation. If the disposable income is going down in a country...it means that the country is in a recession, i.e. the real growth is negative.

Regarding your statement about the 10-year drop, this must be accounting for inflation. Otherwise the measurement wouldn't make sense. Besides, the economy in the US has grown steadily in the last 10 years, except for a couple of months in 2001. This means that even a slight drop in disposable incomes is impossible. However, there may be slight drop in the median disposable income. This because most of the growth has ended up in the hands of the already wealthy.

As far as I know only the US may be in a recession. No significant countries in Europe or Asia are in recession at the moment. Hence, average disposable incomes can not be going down in many countries. The median disposable income may.

[onethailand]

British Airways' latest round of fuel surcharges has come into force, meaning higher fares for passengers travelling both across Britain and abroad.

As I was saying... I think the OP may want to reconsider his words.

[londonthai]

BA have announced rises to fuel duty

And the figure for long-haul flights of more than nine hours will increase by £15 from £64 to £79 per flight (£158 return).

it's already effecive - to thailand it's actually £16 more each leg than their yestarday prices.

[t.s]

Why would I fly Eva Air

when i have so many better options like Ethihad, Emirates , Quatar Airways and Malaysian Airlines.

Compared to Eva all above airlines have better food , inflight service, attitude , Fluent English speaking inflight staff and

great facilities while in transit at their base airports. They actually pamper you.

have you flown eva?

[sammo]

Nobody know? In Thailand, Kerosen for plane is made with rice, farmers use petrol to do the rice. Petrol more expensive = rice more expensive = kerosen more expensive = etc... Lol...

Utter Rubbish.....or a poor attempt at a joke! ......Kerosene (otherwise known as Jet A1 when used to power aircraft) is derived from crude oil after refining and a fairly intense distillation process.

[londonthai]

Nobody know? In Thailand, Kerosen for plane is made with rice, farmers use petrol to do the rice. Petrol more expensive = rice more expensive = kerosen more expensive = etc... Lol...

Utter Rubbish.....or a poor attempt at a joke! ......Kerosene (otherwise known as Jet A1 when used to power aircraft) is derived from crude oil after refining and a fairly intense distillation process.

it was a joke

[hansnl]

Sounds like you rate an airline by the amount of booze they give you. I won't say free booze because the airlines that offer ''free'' booze are really charging you an outrageous amount in increased ticket price.

Actually, I think almost everybody pays for Elite Class, precisely because it gets you a bigger seat and the opportunity to sleep comfortably. We don't care whether there is a trolley trundling up and down the aisle with liquor every five minutes.

My sentiments exactly. I don't consider an airplane a flying restaurant but a flying bus. I use it to get somewhere, not to have a fine meal. I would rather fly EVA and save US$ 1000 on my flight ( I like to bag most of my own food anyway...even in business) and spend $ 50-75 on a great meal at my destination than waste money on an expensive air ticket to eat their reconstituted reheated slop!

As to the EVA price rises...I think they are completely justified, and I have posted several times commenting on how cheap the EVA fares are compared to other airlines. There fares to the USA West Coast have been the same for a year and the price of fuel had doubled.

Thanks for the heads-up, however. I recently purchased a business fare to SFO for next week for B 75k net. I guess I should go ahead and book/buy another ticket for my next trip in a years time now. Tickets can be purchased up to a year in advance correct?

Good show, I agree.

Depart next week from BKK to AMS price including everything 32840 Baht, booked in February

Today booked for BKK-AMS 30/09/2008 15/10/2008 price including everything 33830 Baht.

Only difference in price were taxes & all, not the ticket, samesame

Both tickets through the net.

Refund 2000 baht, change outward 2000 baht, change return leg free, per ticket

Best deals were by Mahan Air, stopover in Tehran, very good!

Price including everything for return ticket DUS-BKK via IKA € 425

Mahan forced to stop by Europe, designated unsafe!

Really?

Or maybe guarding the non-pricefighting companies?

Or maybe politics?

Fact, one day after Mahan stopped flying, LTU flying direct from DUS to BKK vv upped the price with nearly € per leg!

Hmmmmmm

Fact, in a 747, fully booked, including freight, the income per leg AMS-BKK will be about € 200,000

Fuel, Taxes, Airport & handling fees & all, wages for the pilots and cabin staff, depreciation and maintenance of the aircraft and so on, and so on, and so on..........

How much?

Have no idea.

But I guess the net income for the company will not be that much!

However, the time of cheap travel will soon be over.

Why, because of the "trading in fried air" of stockholders, option trading on oil, reaction to rumours and gossip, and so on.

The world is going mad again, like in 1929.

We never learn.

So sad!

[Canadian-Jesse]

Nobody know? In Thailand, Kerosen for plane is made with rice, farmers use petrol to do the rice. Petrol more expensive = rice more expensive = kerosen more expensive = etc... Lol...

You're a tool and also wrong.