Making up for the bad flight (but not the lost time) - my review of EVA Air B777 Royal Laurel class, Bangkok (BKK) to Amsterdam (AMS)
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01. Trip report introduction
02. SAS A320 business class, Stockholm to London
03. SilverKris Lounge, Heathrow
04. Thai Airways A380 Royal First class, London to Bangkok
05. Thai Airways Royal First Lounge, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi
06. Thai Airways A330 Royal Silk (business class), Bangkok to Taipei
07. Pacific Business Hotel, Taipei
08. Photo Essay: Taipei
09. The Infinity Lounge by EVA Air, Taoyuan Airport
10. EVA Air B777-300ER Royal Laurel (business class), Taipei to Amsterdam (via Bangkok), part 1
11. EVA Air B777-300ER Royal Laurel (business class), Taipei to Amsterdam (via Bangkok), part 2
12. Steigenberger Airport Hotel, Amsterdam
13. SAS A320 business class, Amsterdam to Stockholm
14. Trip summary
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| Taipei (TPE) to Amsterdam (AMS) via Bangkok (BKK) |
For more details about this flight (such as registration number, seat map and duration of flight), please view the last post.
We arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) quite late, and as I only had a one hour connection time at Amsterdam, I was hoping that they could speed things up while on the ground. According to the schedule, they spend 75 minutes here, and all the passengers need to disembark, pass through security, and then board again (with another boarding pass). Not very smooth, and if there had been any available seats, I would have preferred to fly on BR87 instead, the only non-stop flight from Taipei to Europe (Paris CDG).
Unfortunately, they didn't make up for the delay while on the ground. In fact, they spent a lot more time on the ground than they should have according to schedule, and they didn't seem all that interested in speeding things up. I've kept checking this flight now and then, and they basically always spend a lot more time in Bangkok than 75 minutes, often resulting in delayed arrivals into AMS. Another reason to choose another flight (or another airline) than flying EVA Air via Bangkok. But I mentioned in the previous post that this part of the flight actually was a lot better than the TPE-BKK leg, so let's look at what made that happen, shall we?
The cabin was obviously the same, but I had a window seat this time, which made it a lot nicer. Another thing that made it nicer was the crew. All of them (FA:s and pilots alike) changed in Bangkok, so this was a whole new crew - and in my opinion, they were a lot nicer, friendlier and more professional.
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| Looking at the cabin from my seat (10A) |
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| Looking at the cabin from my seat (10A) |
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| What a difference a window seat can make! See that airplane out there..? |
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| Pre-departure drink: Pineapple juice |
I really like big airports with lots of different airlines and aircraft to look at, such as Heathrow and Frankfurt. It turns out Suvarnabhumi is another one. I had a great time plane spotting from my window seat, as we slowly made our way to the runway.
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| A320neo from Royal Brunei |
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| Another B777 from EVA Air |
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| A330 from EgyptAir |
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| The tail of an Etihad B787 and the Queen of the Skies, B747, from El Al |
We took off well behind schedule, and the chances of making my connection were not looking good. But there wasn't much to do but sit back and relax, and although they didn't make up for any lost time, the crew were working hard to make up for the horrible first leg of this flight - the service was phenomenal on this flight!
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| View of Bangkok upon ascent |
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| Noise-cancelling headphones |
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| They actually did a great job shutting out any outside noise, and providing excellent sound - I enjoyed watching Wes Anderson's "Isle of Dogs" during the meal service |
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| Amuse-bouche |
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| Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2006 - absolutely delicious! |
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| Cheers! |
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| Salt, pepper, olive oil and bread |
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| Napkin and cutleries |
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Let's have a look at the menu!
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| Entrée - tiger prawn wrapped in smoked duck, with horseradish and dijon vinaigrette |
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| Third course: carrot soup - I was almost getting full by now... |
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| Salad |
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| The main course arrives: pan fried beef fillet in boletus sauce with potato duchess |
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| Fruits and cheeses |
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| And to wrap it all up - Swiss chocolate ice cream |
The food was probably the best I've ever had on an aircraft - all dishes were spectacular (except for the main meal, which was just alright). After that I had a cup of coffee - really good, but not able to dethrone Austrian Airlines, and a glass of Taiwanese whisky of the Kavalan brand. It was my first Taiwanese whisky, and it was actually really good.
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| Really good coffee |
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| Kavalan whisky |
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| Cheers! |
After eating, I finished watching the movie, listened to some music, and dozed off for an hour or so (despite trying to stay awake to be able to sleep when I got home). I also had a lot of water to stay hydrated, so I had to make frequent visits to the lavatory, which was kept spotless throughout the flight. Next to the lavatory, there was also a snackbar where one could get some snacks or more water.
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| What a view! |
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| Snack bar |
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| Flowers in the lavatory |
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| This flight was making up for the previous bad flight - I was really enjoying myself! |
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| The lavatory was kept spotless throughout the flight |
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| Harnn toiletries |
Later in the flight, I played some "Who wants to be a millionaire?" (and I did it after a few tries - too bad it wasn't for real...), had a double espresso and checked out the amenities kit. Just like in THAI first class, it was a Rimowa hard case. Perfect - now I had one for my wife and one for myself! I also tried to get the wi-fi to work, but it was futile. Why even advertise free wi-fi when it doesn't work? More often than not, I find onboard wi-fi to be slow at best, and non-existent most of the time.
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Who wants to be a millionaire?
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| Double espresso - also good, but still not good enough to replace Austrian on the airline coffee throne |
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| Rimowa amenity kit |
The views were getting more and more spectacular as the sun was starting to set and we flew over northern Turkey. A couple of hours before landing it was time for the second meal service of this flight, and it was just as good as the first one.
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| The sun is starting to set above northern Turkey |
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| *drools* |
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| Who needs in-flight entertainment when you have a window seat? |
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| Okay, just one more... |
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| Now we've crossed the Black Sea - this is the river Danube in eastern Romania |
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| Cereals and cold cuts |
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| Lobster medallion with pesto oil served with cannelloni and caramelised onion |
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| Fresh fruits |
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| Taiwanese oolong tea |
An hour or so before landing, I asked the purser about my connecting flight. She returned a few minutes later and informed me that someone would meet me at the gate to show me to the next gate. Maybe I would make the connection after all?
As it turned out, I was wrong in getting my hopes up - SK1556 pushed back over 20 minutes early, just as we landed. Now, EVA could have rebooked me on a KLM flight departing later that evening, but they didn't. Instead, they rebooked me on an SAS flight the next day. And as it turned out, they actually rebooked me several hours earlier (I had received an e-mail dated mid-flight), so why didn't the purser inform me about this? Maybe she didn't want to break the bad news to me. Still - this tainted this otherwise excellent flight. I've previously called Emirates a hit or miss airline. I think that epithet works well for EVA Air as well...
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