Eva Airlines?
 

Hello...
We already have flight arrangements to go to Bali in August but I just found out that EVA airlines goes from Newark NJ (we are in Philly) and it would be much more convenient for us. We were going to fly to LA, switch planes, get to international terminal, etc....with EVA it is a 1 hour stop in Seattle without a plane switch and since we are traveling with 3 kids this would be nice. Overall it will save us 7 hours each way of travel (with layover time).
2 questions I have.
First one - how is that Evergreen Deluxe Class? Very reasonable, but we normally travel business class. For some reason, the business class is very pricey (4200 for our trip vs. 1800 for Evergreen Deluxe!).
How are the seats? Are they much different from Business Class? Service good, etc?
Would you choose it over Singapore Air regular coach?
Second question - the Taipei stop. Not too excited about this. Should we just keep going and get right to Bali? Are there any other creative ideas, without adding to much time, to get from Newark to Bali with a stop somewhere better using Eva? i.e. Narita, Singapore (my favorite) or Hong Kong?
Thanks so much!!

EVA's Evergreen Deluxe Class has seats almost the size of Business Class, but it doen't have the other amenities. Given your situation, it seems to me that EVA is your best option. Is it better than Singapore's Economy class? I'd say absolutely yes. Economy class is pretty much the same everywhere. While Singapore is supposed to have a bit better service, the size of your seat wil make the most difference in the comfort of your flight. The shorter time to get to Bali (7 hours!!) is also worth a lot. You could spend a day or two in Taipei if you wanted to. The biggest attraction is the remarkable museum, but I'm not sure it would hold your kids' interest. Id' say get to bali as fast as you can, get home as fast as you can, and forget the stopover.

$4,000 is about the average for a real business-class seat to Asia. If you want get something between economy and business, you have two choices. Besides EVA's Deluxe Class, you can also consider SQ's EWR-SIN non-stop. It's a two class A340-500 with what they call "Executive Economy", that's 7-abreast (instead of the usual 8 in an A340), extra legroom and foot rest. That's probably a small step below EVA's Deluxe Class, but should be cheaper, and can get you to Bali with just one stop, instead of two. You may want to look into that as well.

Stockexchanger,
7 hours less is alot on a long itinerary and especially with kids.

If you're looking for more opinions this is a great question for the folks over at flyertalk (www.flyertalk.com)I think you'll be able to get a variety of opinions on their various airline forums.

Hope that helps!

RKKWAN - Thank you so much for your suggestion about Singapore Air. We are now going non-stop from Newark to Singapore in Executive Economy.
Are the seats comfortable on those flights? Good entertainment system?
To Bali from Singapore. It is much much better!! I can't thank you enough. And we are using Putu as well :)

Stockexchanger- what frequent flyer programs do you belong to? My guess is that the round trip is close to 20,000 miles. Maybe you want to consider flying on a carrier that belongs to your frequesnt flyer partner. Thats a lot of miles to give up counting kids and all!
EVA partners with Continental.

stockexchanger - You can get more information about SQ's 340-500 on SQ's website, as well as on the discussion board on Flyertalk.com. But even the Executive Economy seats have 9" AVOD (audio/video on demand), not just personal screen, with dozens of channels, etc. The best you'll find on any Economy seat in the world.

Also, check on SQ's website about double miles on this route till 8/31. Probably only for SQ's Krisflyer miles, and not UA's Mileage Plus. But with 40,000 miles earned on this roundtrip, you have already earned more than enough for a intra-Asia roundtrip, or a domestic US roundtrip on United or USAirways.

I just got back from Bali via EVA Airlines. The food is the same as the economy class however the seats are a little larger. It is the 2-4-2 configuration. I usually fly China Airlines Business Class but given how much the rates have gone up I will be flying EVA Deluxe Calss from now on. By the way Bali is very nice, it's my second time there. I will be posting a trip report tomorrow.

ttt for Kywood

topping for juliejj

The seats are wider, and the legroom is greater- I'm 6'2" and can cross my legs.
Amenity kits, individual seat back video, and if you able to get the front of the plane on Evergreen deluxe- the seating is 2 x 2 for the first 3-4 rows!
Its well worth the extra $200 or so for this class of service. We have flown them to Bangkok and Manila and I swear this is the best way to go for the money!