Thailand escape from DST in November (Eva Air Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 787-10)

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About 25 minutes before arrival, our captain came with an announcement about our arrival into San Francisco. We'd be arriving ahead of schedule (55 min ahead of time) around 5:45AM.

Facts about our destination







This isn't like 2014 but Eva Air played a US Customs video which did include the more recent Global Entry. However, no airlines play it, but they do remind you even if everything is automated.















Decent into San Francisco before dawn.



A lot of fog which would make for a cloudy day



Some city lights





Banking left then straight for landing.





















San Francisco Bay

















Touchdown at 5:45AM. We were one of the first arrivals because the G gates were actually quite empty and devoid of any planes at that hour.

Eva departs from the A gates but for some reason parks at the G gates for early morning arrivals. I guess maybe the customs at A side doesn't open till later?

























Parked at gate G5







Deplaning





Premium Economy class





Royal Laurel Business class





Heading to customs and clearing Global Entry and lines weren't long at all. Took no more than 5 minutes. Getting our bags however took about another 15 minutes at most. It was very quick and prompt and we got out around 6:40AM



Past dawn around 6:40AM, which I was expecting to land by this point of time but well we landed ahead of schedule.



We got ourselves an Uber and I got home around 7:15AM before my mom went to work. The good thing about arriving at this time is the traffic back to Hayward via San Mateo Bridge is not more than 35-40 minutes because that's anti commute.

[SQfanatic]

Overall impressions of Eva Air?

They do pride themselves as a 5-star airline and they also have won Skytrax ratings, too.

The crew were reserved while flying to Bangkok on both legs but friendly enough that if you needed something they gave it to you. Nobody was curt like what I've dealt with on SQ back in May.

As far as food, my suggestion is to never order Indian food because the quality is pretty bad here (according to my dad). Vegetarian Oriental meal or lacto ovo meal worked out for us.

The 777-300ER 9-abreast was deliberately picked because I wanted to experience that comfort after 9 years. It did not fail here. No footrest, but it was easy to take advantage of the seat width. The IFE sure it's old but there are also 9-abreast 777-300ER's with newer IFE that they could have deployed here (i.e B-16718 to B-16729 which are used more for YYZ, JFK, ORD and IAH routes and sometimes LAX routes). All I cared was that I had working Wifi and was able to see the map in some shape or form.

Good mix of old and new on each leg was worth experiencing.

The Boeing 787-10 felt a little bit tighter but it was never bad by any means. At the same time very modern. The GENx engines as opposed to the Trent 1000 were louder, but not as loud as the GE90's. And sitting overwing on the way back and hearing the white noise from the speakers felt more nostalgic since early 2019, because the 777's on EK and UA don't have that soothing sound like BR, SQ, and CX as examples when you have an overwing seat.

Moreover, heading to and from BKK was a good choice in terms of layover and time being saved.

My dad wouldn't fly them again but if it was up to me when going to Thailand or somewhere else, then I'd fly them. In the future though, I think BR is replacing their 77W with A35K's (meaning older 777's).

All in all, a great trip to even catch up with friends, visit a new place and even a beach. It was calming and relaxing.

Overall impressions of Thailand?

Let's just say calm and peaceful even when there is traffic. It seems that the folks here are trained to be calm under pressure. In the US, can't say the same thing, rough drivers, people honking even if you're driving correctly (i.e. pedestrian waiting, etc) and definitely nothing like India like my parents had thought. You know in India horn blaring even at your face is a signature move. They don't care if you need to cross or anything and drive rough. If you needed to cross, the cars would stop and wait for you, nobody would honk in Thailand.

My college friend also said Thailand despite the tropical heat and humidity year round is more peaceful.

Beach-wise pick Hua Hin if you want serenity and peace or Pattaya for nightlife. By no means Pattaya is bad from a beach perspective and tourism, but its overall vibe may be nightlife depending which part you go to.

If I was asked on whether to visit Thailand again or not the answer is "Yes" I would with no hesitation. Prices are reasonable and affordable and even better, coffee at high end coffee shops are cheaper than even Starbucks which nobody can say the same thing in the US or other countries.

The last trip of the year for me worked out very well. Not a solo trip but maybe once in the future. Definitely worth every penny spent.