Taiwan’s flag carrier airline Eva Air has seat sales for three world class cities.

            You have until 31 July to book flights to Bangkok, Taipei, and Brisbane on the five-star airline with flights departing daily from London Heathrow.

            The valid flights must be taken between 1 June and 11 July, 2019; 12 August and 5 December, 2019, and; 6 January to 9 July, 2020.

            Offers are available in economy, premium economy, and business class.

            To Bangkok:

• Economy: £514
• Premium economy: £918
• Business: £2,238

            To Taipei:

• Economy: £528
• Premium economy: £1,032
• Business: £2,302

            To Brisbane:

• Economy: £727
• Premium economy: £1,386
• Business: £2,971

            Bookings can be made at Eva Air’s website.

My observations:

            Is this a great deal? Yes and no. No, purely from a price comparison perspective. On the London to Bangkok route, there are cheaper flights available in economy and business class. Using 1-10 July as an example of a flight period within the validity period, here is what I found on Kayak’s website after clicking on the Airline only booking sites.

            Economy

• Royal Jordanian: £424
• Oman Air: £474
• Qatar Airways: £498
• Etihad Airways: £508

            Business

• Swiss Air: £1,855
• Austrian Air: £1,879
• Aeroflot: £1,986
• Finnair: £1,997
• Alitalia: £2,038
• Emirates: £2,109
• Etihad: £2,120

            From this perspective, there are several flights that are cheaper. But there is no cheaper flight in premium economy.

            If we look at the intangibles of the flight, Eva is a better deal. If you prefer a nonstop flight, Eva comes in the cheapest among the non-stop carriers that fly between London and Bangkok. The other, Thai Airways and British Airways, come in much higher in all classes.

            For the flights to Taipei, there are no better deals so this is the best deal possible.

            For the flights to Brisbane only Etihad (£881) was cheaper. Eva was the cheapest flight in premium economy and business class on the route for the days I chose to use.

My recommendation:

            Eva is caught up in a political struggle between China and Taiwan which means that its planes, and those of China Air, Taiwan’s other carrier, cannot fly over Chinese airspace. Therefore, most of these flights have built in a stop in Bangkok. This is why Eva is able to offer direct flights to Bangkok. But the rules are odd (when are rules never strange when governments are involved). If Eva is flying from an foreign country to Taiwan, they cannot fly over China, but they do offer flights from Taiwan into China. Confused? You ought to be.

            The result is what is known in the airline industry as a fifth freedom right. Basically, that means an airline has the right to earn income by carrying passengers between two foreign countries which does not include the airline’s home country. Therefore, Eva can take on passengers who want to go from London to Bangkok and take on different passengers from Bangkok to Taipei.

            Direct flights anywhere tend to be quite expensive. If that is your preference, I would recommend Eva. Yes, you can save up to £90 by stopping over somewhere but is it worth a £90 saving to extend your journey? Eva takes almost 12 hours to fly from London to Bangkok. Sometimes, you do need to take a hit if it means getting to your destination quicker.

            The fact that Eva is the cheapest option to Taipei and almost the cheapest option to Brisbane demonstrates that this sale is a good one.

            Another intangible to consider is that Eva Air is one of only 10 airlines worldwide to receive Skytrax’s five-star rating.

            Skytrax is the industry standard when it comes to rating airlines. Just as the Oscars are the benchmark for movie excellence, Skytrax is the bench standard for the airline industry. They rate airlines on everything from the moment you start a booking, through to ground services at the airport, service on board, and ground service at the destination.

            The 10 five-star airlines are: ANA (Japan), Asiana (South Korea), Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong), Eva (Taiwan), Garuda (Indonesia), Hainan (China), JAL (Japan), Lufthansa (German), Qatar (Qatar), and Singapore (Singapore).

            Several factors make this a great deal:

• Even though there are cheaper flights to Bangkok, this is a direct flight;
• There are no cheaper options to Taipei and only one cheaper economy option to Brisbane;
• Eva departs London daily at 21:35 and arrives the next day at 15:05 local time in Bangkok before departing Bangkok at 16:25 and arriving into Taipei at 21:15. The return flight departs Taipei at 09:00 and arrives in Bangkok at 11:35 then departs Bangkok at 12:50 and arrives in London at 19:25. This is ideal if you do not live in London because you won’t need a hotel as you can travel to the airport on the day of your flight and return home the same evening as your return to London;
• You get to fly on one of the 10 five-star airlines, and;
• You can make a booking into 2020.

            This is definitely a good deal if you have wanted to visit Thailand, Taiwan or Australia.