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Why My Loyalty to EVA Air Had to End

A year ago I'd have sworn by EVA air.

Tickets were reasonably priced, customer service solid, and the flights were (and still are) always on time. They were also fairly lenient on the measly 20kg baggage allowance (customers flying EVA from the US get 25KG).

Thai airways gives you 30kg!

Sadly though, in recent times, Eva has fallen from grace.

eva air review

 

On my most recent trip home I didn't mind paying that bit extra to fly with my usual carrier, largely because I'd clocked up plenty of air miles and was looking forward to eventually splashing them on Business class or a free ticket.

But the nightmare began when I tried to change my flight day (from BKK) due to an emergency.

I gave more than a week's notice but was still told it would cost me 2,000 Baht (would have been £75 or more in the UK depending on the class of ticket).

Okay, rules are rules. No worries.

So I asked if I could use my air miles to offset the cost of changing flights. All I got was, “Sorry sir, it's company policy”.

So I paid.

On the return flight I requested an upgrade using my air miles – because the day before I'd had minor surgery and needed more reclining space for comfort. I should mention that I also tried to change this flight date a week earlier because I suddenly found out I needed the operation. That was denied.

On this occasion I was told I'd need a doctor's letter and have to swallow a £100- 200 fee too.

Sod it, I thought, I'll have to use the air miles and pay for the upgrade.

However, I was told that my ticket was the wrong class to upgrade with air miles and that I should have read the terms and conditions.

“So what can I use the air miles for”, I asked. “If you buy a more expensive ticket, you can use the air miles, sir.”

“What, more expensive than the near on £80o I've paid already, which FYI is more expensive than Thai airways and pretty much every other operator”?

No answer.

Worse still, when I got on the flight there were plenty of seats. More fool them, I thought, they should have just let me spend my miles.

But then it all made sense. A fair portion of my miles were about to expire. So it would be me who lost out, again!

Needless to say I was not happy.

Don't get me wrong, I understand a policy is a policy, and in a way I guess I was asking a favour both times. But what gets to me is that there seems to be no value in being a loyal customer with Eva. They can see how much I fly with  them, yet at no time during any of the conversations did anyone go the extra mile to help me.

And it didn't stop there either.

I was 2kg over with my luggage and the lady at check-in would not budge. I whipped out my frequent flyer card, and protested that the flight was not full, and mentioned that the allowance was in fact stingy compared with other airlines.

Nope. Pay or lose the weight.

I am a fool really because I committed the cardinal consumer sin of showing loyalty in return for an incentive.

I never received that incentive. The miles expired.

Unless EVA contact me with a very good reason to return, I shan't be flying with them again. This saddens me in a way because I have enjoyed my flights over the years, but for all those flights they blocked me from using my miles when I needed them most.

The good thing about this experience is that my eyes have been opened to new possibilities of getting a better service elsewhere at a lower cost.

For example, I saw the following flights on Skyscanner:

  • Thai Airways are doing direct flight promotions from as little at £600.
  • Etihad do a 1-stop over (15hr flight) for £554 with more leg room in economy than Eva's premium class.
  • Austrian Airlines do a one stop flight that lands for an hour in Vienna, with a gourmet meal for under £700.
  • I saw a KLM flight for a mere £490!
  • British Airways fly return to BKK for £700

Even though this review is largely about my negative experience, EVA is a good airline with whom I had 4.5 great years.

However, my advice is not to be swayed into loyalty by air miles, at least not without finding out exactly how they can be used and when. Even then, policies can change.

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  1. J T says

    EVA has in this year introduced new “sub class” to it’s economy and premium economy ticket. The cheapest ticket doesn’t allow you to choose your seat without incurring a fee and doesn’t allow you to upgrade using miles.

    This is actually a common practice in many Western airlines but it’s just annoying that EVA is catching up.

    I fly business class to Asia few times a year and I have to say all airlines treat customers the same. Cathay is probably the best airlines in recognizing loyalty but their service and product have gone downhill. A lot of airlines also started “Revenue Base” mileage system i.e. if you are always buying cheaper ticket you get much less mileages nowadays.

    I would say if you regularly fly between Bangkok and London then forget about the mileages. BA miles are handy for short haul flight but their products and services have a lot of room for improvement. EVA has better plane and overall service but their economy has gone from 3-3-3 to 3-4-3 configuration. Thai Airways, maybe not the best in my opinion, does offer better space and catering in Economy. Hence I would say if you travel business or premium economy go with EVA, and for economy go with Thai.

    Reply

    • James E says

      This is true but EVA are turning it into a game. For example, I just received a “promotion” from them that by registering and flying within certain dates I’ll get a mileage bonus. This boosts the mileage well over the 100% allotment my bottom-of-the-line Premium Economy ticket gets me. While their upgrade with mileage rules truly suck they do allow miles to be used as money when buying a ticket. My last ticket purchase ended up costing me about US$100 more than a regular economy ticket. The other thing that opens a lot of doors is flying with them a couple of times a year. This will get you “Silver Status” on the mileage program and eliminates the seat selection extra fee and gives you complimentary lounge access.

      Reply

  2. Scott Seager says

    On my current trip from London to Bangkok I paid £114 for extra legroom. Then of course I got a message saying the flight is cancelled due to strike action.

    The travel agent was great putting me on a Thai Airways flight but do you think I can get anyone in the phone at EVA about a refund for the extra legroom charge? No chance even email is ignored. We’ve been using EVA for 13 years.

    Reply

    • James E says

      They’ve been publishing notices every day or two about the delays in contacting them. They’re just unable to get to all the calls (their phone service/support was never the best to begin with). Your best bet might be to try a service center elsewhere on the planet where you can dial in as they open or, if you’re still in BKK, go to the office on Sukhumwit. It’s just east of the Phrom Phong BTS stop.

      Reply

  3. AC says

    I made a reward reservation at the end of April. I received a conformation number right away. However, they have put me on waiting list.

    As of today, I am still on the waiting list. I called their customer service center, but didn’t get an answer on when they can provide a ticket. I was told if the ticket is available, I will received an email from them. If not, they will not contact me. Wow!

    While I am on the waiting list, my earned milages continue expire. I was told the milages will continue to expire until a ticket has been issues. I wonder if EVA Air does this purposely so they don’t have to fulfill the free reward tickets.

    Reply

      • James E says

        I, once again, must come down on EVA’s side – with a caveat. First, the caveat. EVA does play it fast and loose with miles. They employ a First-In/Last-Out model that, as AC states, allows your older miles to continue to expire unless you can burn every last one of them. This is nearly impossible to do so you end up “spending” more miles than you were actually charged. This is also not much different that the way western airlines handled miles back in the good-old days. But, on EVA’s side, they allow you to use your miles as money when you buy a ticket rather than just going through as an award ticket. And they do so at a very favorable rate. I recently booked my next flight and used 62K miles to save about US$400 on my ticket. Many of my miles would have expired next year and I probably never would have accumulated enough to get to a full award ticket so this is a pretty good deal.

        Reply

  4. James E says

    EVA has just started offering a new feature whereby you can use miles to pay for part of a ticket. For example, the Premium Economy flights from the US are going for about US$1,400. I can pay for (with my measly pittance of a mileage balance) US$384 of that using 57K miles. An exchange rate of 148.4 miles/US$. While this is not as good an exchange rate as the full ticket (79 miles/US$) reward, it’s still a good way to use up miles before they expire or if you don’t think you’ll make it to the full reward ticket.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      About time. Is that a return price? Though I fell out of love with EVA they are more comfy than BA. But now we are 3 it’s not cost effective. I heard this week that Thai Airways are lowering their baggage allowance to 20kg on economy flights.

      Reply

      • James E says

        Yes, return (or as we say in The Empire “round trip”…) EVA has (concurrently) started with “Fare Families”. It’s basically the same as it used to be as the booking codes are the same but they’re trying some new things like charging to select a seat and instituting a no-show charge in the basic families. So far EVA has not changed the baggage allowance. EVA still has the best prices for us from Seattle but Cathay Pacific has just added direct service through Hong Kong for about $70 more.

        Reply

        • TheThailandLife says

          Thanks for the info. I might look into EVA as a possibility again particularly because of the change in baggage allowance for Thai Airways. What’s interesting is that many Thais fly Thai because of the baggage allowance; they can travel back to the UK or wherever with 25KG of Mama noodles. So I wonder how this change will affect loyalty.

          Reply

          • James E says

            I know. When we go to Thailand we pack one bag inside another. Coming back the spare bag is filled with Mit Chaow Rai peanuts, Real Potato Stick, Spicy Pork Shrimp Crisps, endless dried fruit, and Sang Som.

            Reply

  8. DecisionPoint says

    Fortuitous I ran across your blog post as I’ve just been mulling which airline to begin a new frequent flier odyssey with – EVA or Cathay Pacific. Star Alliance or OneWorld.

    I’m still holding my Qatar Airways Silver status even though I’ve quit working in the Sand Box, and live in Thailand now. That status expires next month, used up most of the miles already, so I was thinking just let it go and start fresh with an Asian/SE Asian airline as all of my flying will be East from here.

    I was just dusting off my old EVA FFP card and about to book a Elite class to LAX with them because it’s $400 USD less than Cathay Pacific Premium Eco. So I was about to pull the trigger and go all in with EVA for the next X number of years.

    But the EVA FFP does seem “odd”, and less beneficial at the lower tiers than my Qatar Silver/One World status. Thanks for taking the time to post your story, it did help clear the fog a bit for me.

    Reply

      • DecisionPoint says

        Yes, $400 less with EVA was tempting but after scouting around, including your blog post here, I think it would have been a short-term gain only. Mrs. just obtained her shiny new 10-year US visa, so we’re set to start long-haul flying more often again ex-BKK, hence my taking the long view wrt potential low to mid-level FFP benefits.

        Obtaining Silver with EVA looks like more effort than my present Qatar Airways FFP, and within EVA’s Star Alliance group, does not afford the key benefit I find useful. That, and the apparent stingy foot dragging trying to use EVA miles for EVA upgrades and flights – perhaps that’s why their programme doesn’t make the news in the mainstream FFP scene.

        And so I’ve decided to fly with Cathay Pacific again going forward. They and Qatar Air are in the “OneWorld” group. I’ll keep crediting the Cathay miles to Qatar which will retain our Silver status, which equates to “Ruby” status in the OneWorld group. The key benefit at that low level is ability to use Business class check-in desk even if flying Economy, on any OneWorld airline. If we do find ourselves in that position, it’s nice to bypass the scrum of an Economy check-in queue.

        That’s the strategy anyway, we’ll see how it goes on first contact with the enemy. 555! Cheers.

        Reply

        • James E says

          Another option is to fly EVA (saving $400/trip) and applying the miles to United and piling those on top of your United MileagePlus Visa card and then when you want to use them CALL United and have them book you on EVA using United miles.

          This is a game with so many options and so many ways to play.

          Reply

  9. Artc says

    im a diamond card with eva for over 12 years. i have never been offered a free upgrade. i have never been given a bump because i fly so much and they want to make me feel “special”

    eva is the worst in keeping frequent flyers. everything i get with EVA i earn. upgrades?? spend miles or the 4 upgrade certificates that i receive as a diamond card for every 140000 miles i fly.

    we are full in your class today, but not over, you will have to suffer instead of us showing some love with a bump a loyal long haul customer.

    Reply

  10. Andy says

    I recently had the same issue. They wanted to charge a penalty for changing return flight from 26th to 27th for return flight. When I departed on my outgoing flight I wanted to use miles to upgrade to business class and was told that business class was full. When I boarded I went to business class and found that they still had empty seats. For return flight I was told I could not upgrade and that flight was full. Mind you if I do not use miles some of the miles would expire. A date change from Thursday to Friday would make it a weekday to weekend charge which would result in a penalty fee. If you look up the definition of weekday and weekend no where does it say that Friday is a weekend! Someone should take them to court and sue them. I did the numbers and it is just not worth it to pay more to show loyalty to them. Cheap ticket can cost around $800 with no miles round trip from LAX to HK with stopover in Taipei but to get full miles you need to buy a M class ticket which costs $1375. One has to pay about $575 more to get the full miles or class to be eligible for an upgrade as the regular ticket can use miles for upgrade to business class which is Fuc*ed up! If you got full miles it would cost you an extra $575 and two round trips to Asia does not get you a free round trip to Asia so it is stupid to pay more as you need at least 6 tickets go get the free roundtrip ticket but after 6 flights you would have paid an extra $3K at minimum and for $3K you can buy 3 roundtrip tickets minimum to Asia. Is it worth it?? No!

    Reply

  11. David Mann says

    I had a very similar experience with EVA. I recently needed to return to the UK due to a job offer date being brought forward. I’m a Gold Card member with EVA and fly 3 or 4 times a year to and from the UK to Thailand. I thought that I would need to pay about 2,000 Baht to change the date (which I didn’t mind). However, when I called EVA they said it would be 11,500 Baht (about £260) for a date change one way!! I asked if the flight was full and was told no, there were plenty of seats. However the seats assigned with my ticket class were all taken. I therefore need to pay £260 which was the difference between the class of ticket available and the class I booked. This wasn’t an upgrade of any kind. It was the same cabin class just a different date. £260 one way! The whole ticket in Elite class had only cost my £750 return and they wanted nearly 35% of the entire ticket price just to change the date of travel on a flight that wasn’t even full. Despite flying so frequently I see little point in their loyalty programme. I’m a Gold card member but don’t seem to be able to use the miles anymore to reduce the ticket price and it now seems that I will be downgraded to Silver class in March 2018 even though I have used them constantly for around 6 years flying 3 or 4 times a year. A total joke how airlines (and EVA are not alone) over complicate seat prices with multiple classes and multiple prices for the same exact seat. They get away with murder and EVA are playing the game very well. Time for a change of loyalty me thinks, but who to? Only Thai, EVA and BA fly direct from LHR. BA? Tough said! Thai are getting better but still have too many old aircraft. So its either EVA or a stop over with Emirates or Etihad.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      That mirrors part of my story quite closely. They are very clever at avoiding ever having to give you your miles, at least for anything useful. I flew Thai Airways last time and was very impressed. I had switched to BA but I found the Thai Airways price irresistible on the last trip. I’d read bad things but the plane was newer than the BA plane, which seemed so dated compared with TA. There was more legroom and the in-flight entertainment system was far more modern. I even used the WIFI!

      Reply

    • James says

      Whine, whine, whine… 🙂

      Traveling as much as we do (we being you and me) we should ALL know 1) That it’s a game and 2) how the game is played. But, to review: We – the hardy traveler – are the ball, our empty wallets, the goal. How badly we get kicked is up to us as is how many points ($, £, €, ฿, or whatever) we lose by.

      I fly out of Seattle in the US, admittedly a much less cosmopolitan and heavily traveled place than LHR so I have fewer options than you might. From SEA to BKK it is – at best – about 19 hours of travel. At worst it can be nearly two days. There are no non-stop flights to BKK and just a few one-stop. In the past I have flown on Delta and United with unsatisfactory results. They (as operators) have completely given up the BKK run from Seattle and codeshare with Korean, Asiana, JAL, and ANA. For me EVA is the 1) only 1-stop option that flies their own planes, the ticket costs less than a new submarine, and who will get me in to BKK in less than 20 hours.

      I typically fly EVA Elite for about the same price (or less) than Economy on most other airlines. (As I write, EVA Elite is quoted at US$1,260 and 19hrs 20 mins, 1 stop. American Airlines Economy is US$1510 and 27+hrs, 2 stops.) EVA has never treated me badly although you do have to figure out when to buy your tickets (as others have noted prices are all over the place and the rules are burned into the system so you will pay to make later changes). They also trickle out the choice seats so once you have your tickets you have to keep watching to see if you can get a better place to sit.

      Now I was lucky enough to fly Singapore a few years ago and admittedly that was a much finer experience than EVA. I’ve also heard good things about Emirates. But either of those add at least 1 stop and at least 5 hours to the trip. None of which is really an improvement in the overall travel experience.

      So, I’m sticking with EVA until something better comes along.

      Reply

      • TheThailandLife says

        Ha! 🙂 I admit, you got it much worse.

        I wrote this a long time ago when I was pissed about not being valued as a loyal customer. I did enjoy my flights with them though and I have nothing bad to say about the onboard service. I just felt that they gave me the runaround over the air miles and seeing David’s comment confirms that the loyalty scheme is a bit scammy.

        Thinking back, I did even try to fly with them again a couple of years ago, but they were charging almost double for my daughter (1 at the time) compared with BA and Thai. I just checked prices again and it seems they don’t like young children on board as it still works out far more expensive.

        Reply

  13. Martyn says

    TheThailandLife:
    Hi Martyn,

    I have heard great things about Etihad from others, too. Do they not do a direct flight? I will be checking Skyskanner for their prices. Thanks!

    There are no direct flights from the UK. I travel via Abu Dhabi and get the chance to use the excellent guest lounge they have there.

    Reply

  14. Steve says

    Hi TTL,

    I’ve used skyscanner as a price comparison in the past but found it doesn’t always bring up the cheapest flights. Another good one I sometimes use is momondo.com just to compare prices, but overall the majority of my bookings have been made through Netflights. More recently I’ve found booking direct with the airline has often been just as competitive for our specific flights.

    As we live in the North East of England we are very limited as to who we can fly with and no direct flights for us. Our choice is down to Emirates via Dubai (A380 excellent) or KLM/China Airlines via Schipol (older 747 not so good). I actually much prefer the connecting flights as the Dubai option splits it in two and gives us a chance to stretch our legs and we only lose a couple of hours against a direct flight.

    Steve

    Reply

  15. Martyn says

    I fly with Etihad and have been doing so for a number of years. Their air miles program is a good one and has no blackout period for booking free flights (you still pay UK air tax). My next trip to Thailand at Christmas was booked with air miles and it gives me one helluva saving. That will be my fourth freebie with Etihad and all have been over the Xmas period.

    Etihad are an excellent flight company but they also charge a rebooking fee, but all-in-all I rate their service as first class albeit in an economy seat. On Christmas flights you also have a very good chance of a free upgrade (normally on one leg of the flight) because the business seats aren’t usually all sold and there’s a waiting list for the economy ones. They give the upgrades to their air miles members. Flight service is excellent and their guest lounges very good too.

    Reply

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