Review: EVA Air “Hello Kitty” Economy Class, Denpasar Bali to Taipei

Booking

I purchased this flight using United miles. The one-way ticket was available for 20,000 MileagePlus miles, which I thought was a steal given the fact that the revenue price for this flight was somewhere within the $300 – $500 range on any full-service carrier among several airlines that fly from Denpasar to Taipei. This was specifically a positioning flight because I found a great deal to fly in Business class from Taipei back to San Francisco using Chase Sapphire Reserve points, operated by China Airlines and Korean Air, with a stopover in Seoul.

The taxes for this flight were a nominal $15.00, plus an additional $27.00 for using Allianz Global insurance.

Day of Departure, Check-In, and Security

We arrived at Ngurah Rai airport around 2:00 PM for our 4:15 PM flight. The airport is relatively small and there is a separate processing point for passengers wanting to check-in for their flights. In other words, the ticket counters for your flight have to be open in order for you to even proceed to security. The architecture on the non-sterile side of Ngurah Rai is really pretty and reminds me a bit of Heathrow Terminal 5.

The afternoon bank of flights from DPS to Southeast Asia and Australia consisted of departures mostly to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, with a scattering of flights here and there to Melbourne, Perth, Mumbai, Hong Kong and our flight to Taipei. Even though the check-in counters had just opened, the lines were already long. Fortunately, the gentleman who was managing the queues was kind enough to let us use the Star Gold check-in (I casually dropped that I was once a Star Gold to my friend Khloe) and he must have overheard and let us through.

Check-in was fairly seamless, but per usual, when flying Asian carriers, your checked luggage is determined by weight, not by how many articles you are carrying. Therefore, even if you are only taking a small personal item and a carry-on sized bag, you have to check it if it weighs above a certain threshold of kilograms (usually anywhere from 7 to 14, also depending on ticketed cabin, of course). Fortunately, EVA has a liberal checked baggage allowance for Economy class passengers as a network carrier.

Security at Ngurah Rai was very efficient and the immigration lines took less than 10 minutes. I was impressed by this, especially since the afternoon bank of flights was particularly busy for the airport.

Once airside, we passed through the sterile area, and sadly, Ngurah Rai has succumbed to the gaudy, Westernized practice of plunging as many duty-free and high-end retail stores through the main corridors to drive up consumer spending. It is tacky and superfluous, in my opinion, and I hate how tasteless it is. It’s a disgusting affront to the people and culture of Bali because the island is beautiful, serene and modest with many parts that are highly underdeveloped. The last thing people want to see before they board their flight to leave this incredible island is a hallway lined with Gucci, Prada, and Burberry stores.

We went to the rather disappointing Premier Lounge, which you can read about here, and then proceeded to gate four for our flight to Taipei.

Boarding

I was shocked to see that this flight would be operated by ship B-16333, one of the three Airbus A330-300s that are painted in the Hello Kitty – Sanrio Characters color scheme. This was going to be a treat! I have only flown on one special livery-themed plane twice before: once on a Star Alliance-branded Lufthansa Airbus A340-300 and once on Southwest Airlines 737-700 painted in the old orange and red livery.

EVA offers newspapers to customers as they board, which is a really nice touch. We were greeted with a smile as we entered the aircraft, and you’ll notice immediately the striking, evergreen-colored uniforms that EVA crews wear. They were some of the friendliest crews that I encountered on all of my flights within Asia. Dare I say, they more charming than the Singapore girls on my flight from SFO to SIN.

The cabin is configured in a 2-4-2 configuration, which is fantastic for those seated in the window or aisle sections on the right or left side of the aircraft. I chose a seat close towards the rear: 44A. The seat cushion colors are an ugly scheme that looks like it was designed by a turtle with a camo fetish. However, they were at least comfy seats.

The crews passed around menus and blankets for customers as they took their seats. Each seat had an in-seat TV monitor, remote control and USB outlet, which was awesome. We also had pillows on the seat as we boarded.

I took a trip to the lavatory and was stunned by the enhancements present for Y customers: there were FOUR cosmetic products on the shelf including moisturizers and fragrances, along with some plant decor. Heck, there was even a flower arrangement! Like most of the Hello Kitty-branded flights, EVA decks these ships out with everything being Hello Kitty-themed, from the paper towel dispenser to the in-flight safety card to the amenity kits.

In-Seat TV Monitor, Wi-Fi and Duty-Free

The program is run by Star Gallery interactive entertainment. The content is okay for the most part, but not the most extensive nor comprehensive. The IFE does a good job of blending high-level and popular TV shows, movies and audio from around the world to cater to a plethora of tastes. I suppose that IFE, for me personally, is a bit of a hit-or-miss anyways because I do not watch many films nor much TV. As such, it is challenging to find films or shows that I actually know, much less view on a regular basis. However, I can sometimes get into a show just by watching a few episodes on an airplane.

The duty-free selection was amazing! It is a paradise for #AvGeeks. I naturally bought a model of the A330-300 Hello Kitty plane (same registration as the bird that I was on!) as a memento. It wasn’t cheap, though. You can find a ton of EVA-branded items in the catalog, which is very extensive.

In-Flight

Our taxi to the runway was very long, given the rush hour period at DPS, which meant that we would wind up departing DPS over an hour late. Thankfully, the IFE screens did work during that period, so people could watch their films and stay entertained.

Our lift-off from DPS had beautiful views of the Lombok strait as we lifted due north towards the Philippines. It was a gorgeous evening for flying.

Menus had been distributed on the ground for our flight. There was a drink round first, and wines, beer, and spirits (whiskey, VSOP, vodka and gin) were all complimentary. Afterward, we would be served dinner. The “Sky Gourmet” meals included one of two choices: deep fried fish with sweet and sour sauce, or braised beef with onion in a mustard brown sauce. It would be accompanied by fruit, cake, and a Thai vegetable salad.

After dinner, there was a coffee and tea service.

The first drink service came around and was served with rice snacks. I had a double whiskey which was served with a smile and a generous pour. There would be another drink service during the meal, and I got a second one. The only challenge with these services, as great as they are, is that being seated in the back means it takes a loooong time to get your meal.

For the main entree, I chose the fish. It wasn’t necessarily “deep fried” per the description, but it did come with a nice, tangy tomato sauce and some rice and vegetables. The starter was interesting: it was two slices of chicken breast and a tomato served on couscous. The fruit was obviously melon, pineapple, and papaya, and then there was a chocolate cake for dessert.

Overall, it was pretty average. Not gourmet by any standards, but not terrible either. Solid 6 out of 10. I ate all of it up and was happy.

After dinner, the tea service came around. There were at least three different types of tea, and some green definitely helped with digestion. They also had these cool little stirring sticks for passengers to use.

The rest of the trip passed uneventfully. I managed to get a lot of work done during the roughly ~4 hours spent in the air (essentially the time I wasn’t eating).

Arrival into Taipei

The descent into Taipei was absolutely gorgeous. I was captivated by the moving map as we approached from the Southwest, over Kaohsiung, and then followed up the west coast over Taichung into Taipei City, then back over to Taoyuan. The connecting gate information was displayed for our connecting customers, most of whom were traveling to Paris, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver or Los Angeles.

The walk from the gate to immigration was extremely long, although thankfully customs and luggage did not take long to arrive. I then found my way towards the hotel transit for the Novotel and promptly checked-in, then crashed. I wanted to go out and explore Taipei, but sadly the flight delay had meant a later-than-anticipated arrival and I had a prompt 5 AM wake-up call the following day.

EVA Air Final Thoughts

This flight was a great value for the money I paid. I enjoyed trying out EVA Air on a regional flight within Southeast Asia, and I am fully confident that they are a good product to fly long-haul as well. That being said, I would like to try out their international premium product sometime, or even their premium economy.

The hard and soft products are all pretty above average and good quality. Not a, “knock-you-out-of-the-park” kind, but certainly very respectable and reliable, much like most Asian carriers I have flown. The flight attendants were friendly and the end-to-end experience was very straightforward. I would definitely fly with them again.