Today’s review is by reader, Alex, a travel blogger and aviation YouTuber behind LiftOffandTravel, where he shares airline, hotel and destination reviews from around the world.
I have been a fan of Turning Left For Less for many years, reading the articles and the business class deals since just before 2020, when the world fell apart. In my spare time, I’m a YouTuber reviewing different airline cabins and in today’s twist, we are exploring possibly one of the best Premium Economy seats in the world.
Before you scroll on, did you know that EVA Air was the launch customer for the product, although it is disputed by Virgin Atlantic and this is my honest opinion, flying from Taipei, home of elephant mountain that over looks the iconic Taipei 101 and one of the few countries to have Japanese high-speed trains.
Taipei to Jakarta
Airline – EVA Air
Cabin – Premium Economy
Flight number – BR 237
Travel Date – Feb 2026
Aircraft Reg – B-17882
Aircraft Type – Boeing 787-9
Aircraft Age – 5 year old
Seat – 23K
Booking
Fares on this route can be quite reasonable, even in business class, despite being a medium haul route that takes just over five hours. Jakarta is a city full of delicious food, tree covered streets and colonial buildings, but it tends to be more for connecting to Bali or for business travellers.
Fares for Premium Economy are about £353 one way or £463 to sit at the front in what is a very good business class product. I booked about six months in advance and it wasn’t a problem to secure a window seat.
Check-in and Security
Despite being one of the first airlines to have Premium Economy, they haven’t really improved things beyond a fresher cabin and a brand-new seat. You might be surprised to learn that there is only a dedicated counter differentiating it from Economy in Taipei and that, slightly awkwardly, unlike most of the world, there is no separate boarding group, so if you turn up with everyone else, you get to board with Economy.
I had Star Alliance Gold status until the end of February, which I was lucky to get after a few flights with Swiss and Lufthansa over the previous 12 months, including their old but in my opinion, gold Swiss First Class suite, dare I say on the Airbus A340, which sadly won’t be around much longer.
I did quickly have a look at the queue for the Premium Economy, which was reasonable, but decided to take advantage of my status while I have it and use the gold queue. The staff were friendly and I was free from my luggage within five minutes before heading towards security, where there is no dedicated line, but it’s usually pretty efficient, so behind the bag check within ten minutes was not bad.
It’s a fairly festive time because I sadly just missed Chinese New Year, so there were a few horses dotted around as it’s the year of the horse.
Lounge
EVA Air has a few lounges in Taipei and the business class one is vast. It has a wonderful selection of food, salads and drinks and there is even an ice cream fridge from Häagen-Dazs.
Anyone who’s ever visited a Cathay Pacific lounge might wonder why they didn’t book with them instead, as they have more of a homely feel. This one is more comfortable for business travellers with cosy seats which are nicely separated from different sections.
Finding a plug yes, the challenge of a YouTuber that reviews airlines is always on the hunt for and I found some space near the window which overlooks the check-in area. Whilst eating a plate of chicken meatballs in a tomato sauce and a mixed salad, leaving space for the flight.
Boarding
I’ll just note that if you have extra time, Taipei has different themed gate areas and a few installations, but today’s flight is from the oldest part of the terminal. Boarding was divided into two separate queues, with priority and business class to the right and then followed by zone 2, noting that Premium Economy and Economy both boarded in zone 4. I did manage to get a photo out of the window of our seven-year-old Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, ready to whisk us over to Jakarta.
Seat & Departure
The Boeing 787 is slightly narrower than the 777 and the A350, so this cabin is laid out in a pleasant 2:3:2 layout over four rows.
On this trip, I was trying a number of different Premium Economy seats, noting that there are two varieties. Japan Airlines, for example, has a hard shell, which means that the seat does not intrude into the space of the person behind when reclined.
The other, like EVA Air’s product, reclines backward and with 42”, which is generous. I noted that I could actually look over the top of the seat in front and watch the person’s screen at times, which was a little odd, so I reclined my own seat during the flight to give them more privacy.
This is the same product that Cathay Pacific and American Airlines are adopting on their new and retrofitted planes, and it looks modern.
There is ample space to stretch out, with a generous seat back pocket with three separate storage areas and a small tray table that folds down to place things on for additional storage. The seat is beautifully dressed in gray and a bronzy orange. There’s even a small lip something which is uncommon on this product to give you some privacy from the person sitting next to you.
Waiting at the seat is a quality pair of headphones, which I believe are the same ones as business class, which is a nice little upgrade, although they sit on the ear and not over it, which became a little uncomfortable after two hours. There are also two universal plug sockets located between the seats and the seat also has a foot rest, which is quite useful once the seat is fully reclined.
IFE & Wi-fi
EVA Air’s wi-fi is provided by Panasonic and is not quite as fast as the wi-fi supplied by Starlink. However, it is complimentary for all passengers, which makes a nice change.
Otherwise, the in-flight entertainment interface is nicely laid out and there is a lot of choice, particularly with the new movies, although they don’t do so well when it comes to TV shows. You can browse based on how you feel, with options like good, sleepy, or intense, hopefully not the last one so much, which then narrows down your search options.
All brought to you on a 15.6” high-definition display that’s touching on the screen size of business class. I honestly don’t think they could fit a large screen without removing the bezel.
Food and Drink
There weren’t any menus on today’s flight, although this can be a rarity on short business class flights within the region. I decided to go for the local option, which was well presented, starting with cuts of meat decorated with a wedge of orange and a single but large prawn on top of a slice of cucumber.
For the main, we had steamed pork with rice that was beautiful with a side of carrots and mushrooms. Tasty, succulent, and lots of flavour, I finished everything.
There was a very economy style bread roll which looked like something you get in economy out of plastic packaging, some diced fruit and then a crème caramel in a sauce for dessert, all served on one tray in their stylish containers.
What was nice to see was that they didn’t go cheap on the cutlery, so we are graced with a metal knife, fork and spoon. However, this is where it ends because the drinks are all served in paper cups, and I had to sort of nudge for them to put my Asian style tea in the plastic cup supplied.
Arrival & Bags
The flight was wonderfully free of turbulence and a second drinks service commenced just before landing. There is a sort of unwritten rule in Asia that passengers tend to naturally dim the windows after take-off, so those who wish to sleep or avoid the harshness of the sun can do so. Being a Boeing 787, there are no plastic shades and you can polarise the window. I just note some crews can be a bit heavy doing this with United, for example, dimming them before we’d even left the gate.
Be sure, as I did for the first time, to apply for your visa beforehand because it saves having to carry cash and then queue up for your visa on arrival. If you are eligible, this means I could go straight to the e-gates.
The bags arrived fairly quickly, within 20 minutes of landing and then I headed off to find my shuttle bus over to the Courtyard hotel, which is a very relaxing experience.
Rating
8/10
I’d like to score them higher, but they really should make an effort to have a dedicated check-in desk and at least zone 3 boarding. Noting that it would be nice to see the paper cups removed. Overall, this is a very comfortable chair that has been given plenty of room above the average to stretch out.
I give them an 8/10 with room to slightly improve, which could easily be fixed by making Premium Economy a completely separate class, particularly with the check-in and boarding process but it’s a great way to fly.