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First of all my appologies as I know how much everyone likes to look at pictures, especially inflight. I have quite a few from the different places I have been to but already forgot how to download them on this site.
My flights were as follows: EVA Air: YVR-TPE, TPE-MNL; SQ/MI: MNL-SIN-CNX-SIN-MNL, EVA Air: MNL-TPE-HKG-TPE-YVR
All flights were in Business Class.
Let me start with EVA Air longhaul. The YVR-TPE route is operated with their refurbished 747-400 with the angled flat Premium Laurel seats.
My first impression upon entering the aircraft was that of calm, it was really pleasant and quite spacious. The layout is 2-2-2 on the front lower deck.
Once settled into the seat, which by the way are very comfortable, I started checking out the entertainment system etc. It isn't SQ's wisemen but some very good choices of both movies and CD's.
For all BR flights I had pre-selected my meals beforehand online and received my selected meal on each of my flights without fail.
This flight left at 2.00am, dinner service was quick but not rushed, polite and friendly, which I appreciated as it gave me more time to sleep.
In the fully flat angled position the seats are not the best as they seemed to have a steeper angle then the SQ Spacebed's on which I usually have no problem sliding, however in this seats I did struggle to stay where I was and not end up on the floor. Due to the late departure time, I did manage to get a good sleep dispite the angle.
We had the new Premium Laurel seats on all BR flights except TPE-HKG, where we had the old Super Business Class seats on the upper deck, which were more then adequate for this 1hour flight but I would be very unhappy being in those seats on an overnight.
I was quite impressed by the EVA Air's service - on all flights. It was not quite as refined as SQ but very friendly and attentive at all times - very consistent. I really have no complaint whatsoever. Before departure someone always came to my seat, adressed me by name and confirmed that I had ordered a meal online and if I did want to change it to one of the meals they had on-board that I could do so.
The lounge used in TPE isn't the best but o.k., in MNL it's shared with a few other airlines with great views over the runway, not that there is anything exciting going on in MNL.
In HKG the lounge is shared with VS which was a real treat, compared to all the other lounges we had experienced.
We flew from MNL-SIN on SQ. I must say that I was a little bit dissappointed. Service on this sector and also on return was very slow and lacked the usual friendliness I had told my little brother who was travelling with me so much about. The whole experience wasn't what I have come to expect from SQ but that is probably where the problem lies - expectations.
I asked my brother at the end of the trip which airline he liked the most - he rarely flies and knows very little about the image SQ or other airlines have - his answer was a clear EVA Air.
Once we arrived in SIN we got picked up by the Mandarin Oriental hotel car where we were staying for 3 days. That was a truly divine experience from the moment we arrived we were taken straight to our room, we actually got upgraded (don't know why) to a suite with access to the club lounge (I did book a club access rate), which was really beautiful.
Our flight to Chiang Mai was on a Silk Air A319. Service as always was very good on this flight. I really appreciated not having to transit through BKK as CNX is a real pleasure to clear immigration and customs - no line ups.
Flight back was again on Silk Air, this time an A320. As this flight is 2.55 hours, there is no inflight entertainment except mainscreen short features.
As mentioned earlier flight on SQ to MNL was similar to the outbound, very slow service and crew was quite indifferent.
I commented previously about all the other EVA Air flights and there isn't much more to add except that on our HKG-TPE flight we had the "Hello Kitty" A330-200 aircraft which in the beginning was a novelty but after a while became a little annoying, everything - absolutely everything is in Hello Kitty scene - the boarding passes, of course the airplane, the headrests, the movie playing on all screens in every seat welcoming passangers is a Hello Kitty movie, the silverware is wrapped in a Hello Kitty paper etc.
I was surprised that the safetey demonstration wasn't done by the Hello Kitty charcters - for me that was just to much pink and Kitty, especially since I am a dog lover.
I will most likely continue to fly BR where schedule and price fit better but the same holds true for SQ. I will continue to fly SQ whereever convenience schedule and fare work out for me best.
I did like BR's schedule better as I could get much more rest and was less affected by jet-lag.
SQ's product and service however are still quite ahead eventhough my two flights on this trip weren't the best I have had on SQ over the years.
If I missed something or there are other specific things anyone would like to know feel free to ask.
My flights were as follows: EVA Air: YVR-TPE, TPE-MNL; SQ/MI: MNL-SIN-CNX-SIN-MNL, EVA Air: MNL-TPE-HKG-TPE-YVR
All flights were in Business Class.
Let me start with EVA Air longhaul. The YVR-TPE route is operated with their refurbished 747-400 with the angled flat Premium Laurel seats.
My first impression upon entering the aircraft was that of calm, it was really pleasant and quite spacious. The layout is 2-2-2 on the front lower deck.
Once settled into the seat, which by the way are very comfortable, I started checking out the entertainment system etc. It isn't SQ's wisemen but some very good choices of both movies and CD's.
For all BR flights I had pre-selected my meals beforehand online and received my selected meal on each of my flights without fail.
This flight left at 2.00am, dinner service was quick but not rushed, polite and friendly, which I appreciated as it gave me more time to sleep.
In the fully flat angled position the seats are not the best as they seemed to have a steeper angle then the SQ Spacebed's on which I usually have no problem sliding, however in this seats I did struggle to stay where I was and not end up on the floor. Due to the late departure time, I did manage to get a good sleep dispite the angle.
We had the new Premium Laurel seats on all BR flights except TPE-HKG, where we had the old Super Business Class seats on the upper deck, which were more then adequate for this 1hour flight but I would be very unhappy being in those seats on an overnight.
I was quite impressed by the EVA Air's service - on all flights. It was not quite as refined as SQ but very friendly and attentive at all times - very consistent. I really have no complaint whatsoever. Before departure someone always came to my seat, adressed me by name and confirmed that I had ordered a meal online and if I did want to change it to one of the meals they had on-board that I could do so.
The lounge used in TPE isn't the best but o.k., in MNL it's shared with a few other airlines with great views over the runway, not that there is anything exciting going on in MNL.
In HKG the lounge is shared with VS which was a real treat, compared to all the other lounges we had experienced.
We flew from MNL-SIN on SQ. I must say that I was a little bit dissappointed. Service on this sector and also on return was very slow and lacked the usual friendliness I had told my little brother who was travelling with me so much about. The whole experience wasn't what I have come to expect from SQ but that is probably where the problem lies - expectations.
I asked my brother at the end of the trip which airline he liked the most - he rarely flies and knows very little about the image SQ or other airlines have - his answer was a clear EVA Air.
Once we arrived in SIN we got picked up by the Mandarin Oriental hotel car where we were staying for 3 days. That was a truly divine experience from the moment we arrived we were taken straight to our room, we actually got upgraded (don't know why) to a suite with access to the club lounge (I did book a club access rate), which was really beautiful.
Our flight to Chiang Mai was on a Silk Air A319. Service as always was very good on this flight. I really appreciated not having to transit through BKK as CNX is a real pleasure to clear immigration and customs - no line ups.
Flight back was again on Silk Air, this time an A320. As this flight is 2.55 hours, there is no inflight entertainment except mainscreen short features.
As mentioned earlier flight on SQ to MNL was similar to the outbound, very slow service and crew was quite indifferent.
I commented previously about all the other EVA Air flights and there isn't much more to add except that on our HKG-TPE flight we had the "Hello Kitty" A330-200 aircraft which in the beginning was a novelty but after a while became a little annoying, everything - absolutely everything is in Hello Kitty scene - the boarding passes, of course the airplane, the headrests, the movie playing on all screens in every seat welcoming passangers is a Hello Kitty movie, the silverware is wrapped in a Hello Kitty paper etc.
I was surprised that the safetey demonstration wasn't done by the Hello Kitty charcters - for me that was just to much pink and Kitty, especially since I am a dog lover.
I will most likely continue to fly BR where schedule and price fit better but the same holds true for SQ. I will continue to fly SQ whereever convenience schedule and fare work out for me best.
I did like BR's schedule better as I could get much more rest and was less affected by jet-lag.
SQ's product and service however are still quite ahead eventhough my two flights on this trip weren't the best I have had on SQ over the years.
If I missed something or there are other specific things anyone would like to know feel free to ask.
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