This is Peter, Chief Travel Officer of BolehMiles, back with Part 2 of my journey around the globe in business class. If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, be sure to check it out first (here) before diving into this one!

The second part of this trip report highlights my flights with EVA Air and Thai Airways. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the read!

Trip Overview

Route summary : Kuala Lumpur (KUL) – Singapore (SIN) – New York (JFK) – Toronto (YYZ) – Montreal (YUL) – San Francisco (SFO) – Taipei (TPE) – Fukuoka (FUK) – Tokyo (NRT) – Bangkok (BKK) – Singapore (SIN)

Duration: ~6 weeks

Miles Spent: 255,000 Miles

Cash Outlay (Air Ticket)*: RM3546

*This includes ticket cost, airport taxes and other fees.

Seg.	Route	Carrier	Class	Miles	Cash Outlay
1	KUL – SIN – JFK	Singapore Airlines	Business	111,500 KrisFlyer Miles	RM346
2	EWR – YYZ	Porter Airlines	Economy	Revenue Ticket	RM870
3	YUL – SFO	Air Canada	Business	29,000 EvaAir Miles	RM440
4	SFO – TPE – FUK	EvaAir	Business	75,000 EvaAir Miles	RM940
5	NRT – BKK – SIN	Thai Airways	Business	40,000 EvaAir Miles	RM950
				255,500 Miles	RM3,546

Good Bye San Francisco, Hello Fukuoka (Segment 4) – EVA Air Business

If you’ve been following the BolehMiles Telegram for a while, you’ll know I’ve made no secret that EVA Air has been my go-to airline for the past few years. You might think it’s the flight attendants speaking in their charming Taiwanese Mandarin accent that stole my heart—but believe me, it’s really just the product quality and the unbeatable miles value.

Most of EVA’s flights from America to Asia cost just 75,000 miles for its Royal Laurel (J) cabin, which is an incredible deal. That’s exactly what I paid for my flight from San Francisco to Fukuoka. A revenue ticket for the same flight would cost around ~RM16,000. Even valuing it at half that price at RM8,000, the value per mile works out to 10 CPM on EVA Air Miles— an absolutely valuable Seafood Miles.

The first leg of my flight from San Francisco to Taipei was on EVA’s Boeing 777-300ER. Many of EVA’s long haul flights operates on this Boeing 777-300ER, with 33 planes in EVA’s fleet currently in service.

EvaAir In-flight Experience – Of Simplicity and Sincerity

The first thing you’ll notice about EVA Air is that the cabin crew’s English isn’t perfect, but hey, they try their best. And their Taiwanese mandarin accent just adds to the whole experience. It’s like having your sweet Hua Xiao (华校) friend around — always kind, always eager to help whenever they can.

The Boeing 777-300ER cabin features a 1-2-1 reverse Herringbone configuration (view seat map here), with seats thoughtfully designed so passengers face away from each other, creating a cozy cocoon of privacy. Who needs doors when you already have that?

The cabin may look a bit dated and not as luxurious, but the seats are very comfortable with just the right amount of firmness. You’re offered an Giorgio Armani amenity kit (夜包) by default— none of that SQ “on request” nonsense where you have to awkwardly and paiseh-ly ask for one.

For flights to Taipei (like this one), the amenity kit comes with a soft black vintage bag. For flights departing from Taipei, you get the will black pebble-grain hard case. You also get a coin purse and a keychain. The skincare products inside is from Jurlique, an Australian brand.

A set of Jason Wu Pajamas is also provided as standard—something you won’t even get in SQ’s Business Class. You can choose your preferred size and you take them home if you wish. Just keep in mind that the material isn’t very durable and tends to sag after just a few washes.

Another feature of the cabin is the ceiling “Starry Lights”, which does add to the overall vibe. If you’ve got kids, they’ll love it. Note that Starry Lights aren’t unique to EVA, you can find them in Emirates cabins too.

Similar to Singapore Airlines’ “Book the Cook,” EVA Air offers its own “Meal Order” system with an extensive selection of dishes and special dietry meals. I find the food consistently delicious, so much so that I’d even say it beats SQ’s when it comes to taste. You can explore EVA Air’s Food & Beverage options here.

I pre-ordered the lamb dish for this flight. Check this out.

One Night In Taipei

Many of EVA’s transit flights require an overnight stay in Taoyuan. My flight, for instance, landed at around 5 PM in Taoyuan, with the next leg to Fukuoka departing at 8 AM the following morning. If you’re new to Taoyuan Airport or traveling with family, I’d recommend just spending the night at the Hyatt Regency Taoyuan. It offers excellent connectivity to the airport with its own hotel shuttle and a train station (Airport Hotel Station) located right at its entrance.

For transits at Taoyuan, I usually drop my luggage at the airport hotel and take the train straight to Taipei 101 or Ximending for dinner, maybe even grab a drink before heading back to the hotel. However, I’d only recommend this option if you’re familiar with Taoyuan Airport and Taipei city, as time is of the essence during short transits like this.

This time, with less time to spare, I chose a quick trip to Gloria Outlets, conveniently located just a few stops away by train (from Airport Hotel station to Taoyuan HSR station).

EVA Royal Laurel – Taipei to Fukuoka

The second leg of my flight from Taipei to Fukuoka was on EVA’s Boeing 787-10, featuring what is arguably the most desirable and modern cabin in EVA’s fleet with 1-2-1 staggered vantage XL configuration (view seat map here).

I opted for seat 5A, which isn’t exactly ideal since the console area is next to the window instead of the aisle—something you should usually avoid if traveling solo. If you are travelling on this cabin, recommend the “window” seats instead. But, of course, I chose it because it’s a better angle for capturing pictures for this blog. Ah, the OCD things I do for this blog!

Mid-flight, a cabin crew member approached my seat holding a large white card, catching me completely off guard as I was chewing down my food. For a moment, it felt like I was about to kena saman by traffic police!

It turned out to be a thoughtful thank-you note for frequent flyers on EVA— a gesture that other miles chasers have mentioned receiving as well.

Here’s how the conversation unfolded:

What I did In Japan

The reason I chose Fukuoka is simply to go somewhere different in Japan. Fukuoka, the birthplace of Hakata Ramen, is a totally an underrated gem. It offers all the usual conveniences of major Japanese cities—shopping, dining, and parks—but without the overwhelming crowds you’d find in Tokyo or Osaka. I spent a few days in Fukuoka before heading to Tokyo to visit a friend via ground transportation.

Final Leg (Segment 5) – Back home with Thai Airways Business (Royal Silk)

Narita (NRT) – Bangkok (BKK)

For my trip to Singapore, since this trip was put together quite last minute, the only option to fly business class was with Thai Airways, with a stop in Bangkok. I don’t have any Royal Orchid Plus miles, and there wasn’t any seat availability via Singapore Airlines or Aeroplan partner redemptions. But I managed to find a redemption seat through EVA Air’s Infinity MileageLands, which costs 40,000 EVA Air miles.

Well, 40,000 EVA Air miles isn’t ideal, especially when I could have flown EVA’s own metal for just 25,000 miles (if there was availability). But that would have meant yet another overnight transit in Taoyuan. And Thai Airways business isn’t exactly a product I aspire to fly, unless I’m desperate. But that’s exactly what I did. Gulp.

“Sometimes the best redemption is simply the one that makes the trip work” — a quote from a down-to-earth BolehMiles reader.

My flight was on Thai Airways’ Boeing 777-300ER, featuring a 1-2-1 staggered configuration in its Royal Silk cabin (view seat map here). While the plane has been in service for about a decade, it definitely looks older than it should.

It’s like that friend of mine with a head full of white hair even though he’s still young.

The seats were fine to sit on, but as I settled in and glanced around, I couldn’t shake the urge to avoid touching anything. Just take a look at this:

For food, Thai Airways offers a pre-select meal system for flights departing from Bangkok. Unfortunately, this option wasn’t available for my flight departing from Narita. There were also no physical menus onboard; instead, the crew came around to inform me verbally of the day’s meal options.

“Sir, sawadeeka, today we have Thai or Japanese food ka… but we’ve run out of Japanese. Can you take Thai ka?”

While the seat was a bit of a letdown, I have to must say the food was absolutely delicious! Comfort food at its best. It truly served as a saving grace for Thai Airways (for me).

Bangkok (BKK) – Singapore (SIN)

The final leg of my trip was on a Thai Airways’ Boeing 787-8, featuring a 2-2-2 configuration in its Business Class cabin. The cabin looked noticeably better compared to my previous flight.

I was seated at 11K, which offers a decent amount of width in the footrest—though this only applies to the bulkhead seats. The rest of the seats have painfully narrow footrests that you should avoid if possible. That said, given it’s a short-haul flight, this shouldn’t be a major issue.

For the food on this flight leg, I opted for a special dietary meal (gluten free meal). It was quite tasty overall, though the chicken breast was a bit on the dry side.

Overall, while I wouldn’t mind flying Thai Airways again, it wouldn’t rank high on my preference list. My expectations for a flight are not that high: lie-flat seats with ample space, decent food, and being treated with dignity. I don’t prioritize fancy bells and whistles (which is why I usually skip First Class—to avoid lifestyle inflation).

However, even with these modest expectations, Thai Airways hovers on the edge of acceptability due to seat maintenance issues. That said, at least the food was great!

End of Trip Report

That wraps up our trip report! This trip was an enjoyable experience, with EVA Air once again delivering its great comfort and excellent service Thai Airways had its highlights too (haha), making the journey a memorable one overall.

Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts—be sure to join the BolehMiles Telegram channel and share your feedback. Here’s to more exciting adventures ahead!

Until next time.