From: Singapore SIN
To: Taipei TPE
Flight: BR226
Plane: B773
Flight time: 4 h 35 min
This was not our first time flying with EVA Air, so we are quite familiar with the airline. I used my *A miles to redeem 2x Economy class tickets from Singapore to New York on EVA Air, which cost 60,000 miles per person plus taxes.
With my HSBC Infinite card, I managed to arrange a complimentary airport transfer. Since our house was quite near to the airport, we reached in 15 minutes. Checkin took some time as there were a lot of passengers in front of us. It took 20-25 minutes for us to get our boarding passes, after the staff had checked our Covid-19 vaccination certificates and our ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation).
Our flight departed from Terminal 3, so there were some Avatar themed decorations at the airport. Besides marvelling at the larger-than-life replicas of the characters, visitors will be able to step into the explore their abode, get up close and take IG-worthy shots with the replicas of the residents.
We also bought a box of 6 macarons from TWG to satisfy our sweet tooth on the flight. We had not eaten them for a long time. There was also a limited edition Christmas special macaron piece.
We had time to go to the lounge using the HSBC card. However there was a slight hiccup with my wife’s card as I did not activate it properly. Her card didn’t go through and I did not want to pay US$35 to bring in an additional guest, which was the reason for me to get the supp card. After a call to HSBC, activating the card took 10 minutes, then she could enter the lounge with issue.
I enjoyed drinking the Champagne Brut. The signature laksa was out of stock unfortunately, and the other types of food did not look appetising to me, so I did not consume food. I knew that the plane would serve a slightly late lunch too, so I was relying on that to fill my stomach.
You could see the airport runway from the SATS lounge but it was partially blocked.
Around 12.40pm, we slowly made our way to the boarding gate as it was a distance away. Boarding had already commenced. We went through the security screening, filled our water bottles with water and then waited at the gate. We were seated in Zone 4 so we had to wait for the other zones to board first. This was a codeshare flight with Air India and Singapore Airlines. For now, there is only one daily flight on BR between SIN and TPE, with hopes to increase to twice daily next year.
I got my favourite window seat. Looking out, it was a partly cloudy day. We saw a Scoot plane docked beside our plane.
A light snack was given to the economy class passengers shortly after take off. This is to allow the crew additional time to prepare for the hot meal. The snack was nice, it contains mixed nuts and rice crackers. It is also suitable for vegetarians.
One hour later, the hot meal was ready to be served. I chose the wok fried beef with oolong tea flavoured superior soy sauce. The meat portion was quite little and the hint of the oolong tea in the sauce was negligible. There was also oolong tea cake with orange zest, but it was too sweet for our liking. Since Taiwan exports a lot of tea, the airline also tried to incorporate tea into its menu items as it is a signature.
The plane started its descent to Taoyuan International Airport around 5.20pm. We could see the gorgeous sunset among the sea of clouds from the window seat.
It was a mid-haul flight of 4h 35min. As we disembarked, we could see the business class seats. It has a strange angle like the SQ one but the seats seemed comfortable. The IFE system looks quite old. Hope to try EVA Air Biz one day, maybe to Europe for the long haul. We had about 2 hours to spare before our next connecting flight to New York.
