Best Ways to Book EVA Air Business Class with Points and Miles

EVA Air is an airline that many U.S. travelers may not be familiar with. The Taiwanese airline operates a fairly large route network that includes many destinations in the United States and Canada, including Houston, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. EVA Air was ranked as the ninth-best business-class airline in the world, according to a 2024 Skytrax ranking. The airline is also third best in the world in business-class comfort amenities, according to the same ranking. So, when flying in EVA Air business class, you can expect a top-quality amenity kit.

Of course, EVA Air business class also includes access to VIP airport lounges, priority treatment at the airport, gourmet in-flight dining and more. If you’re paying for EVA Air flights with cash, it’s going to come at a hefty price. But, by booking these flights with points or miles, you can keep out-of-pocket costs low while still experiencing all that EVA Air business class has to offer.

When it comes to booking EVA Air business class with points or miles, some frequent flyer programs offer better rates than others. So, in this article, we’re going to identify some of the best frequent flyer programs through which to book EVA Air business-class flights. We’ll also briefly cover what you can expect when flying in EVA Air business class, which is also sometimes called Royal Laurel Class.

What to Expect in EVA Air Business Class

EVA Air operates most long-haul business-class flights with Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The amenities and experiences you’ll receive when flying in business class on either of these two aircraft types are very similar. Both aircraft feature a 1-2-1 configuration in business class, meaning all business class passengers with EVA Air will always have access to the aisle.

Both Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft feature 76-inch-long fully lie-flat beds and many of the same amenities in business class. However, the 787 Dreamliner offers a much more modern experience and a much larger HD touchscreen entertainment monitor of 18 inches. Both aircraft feature adjustable panels for maximum privacy, plenty of storage spaces for your shoes and other belongings and charging ports for your devices.

When flying in long-haul EVA Air business class, you’ll also have the ability to order your meal online before your flight. EVA Air business-class passengers have access to an impressive menu of gourmet cuisine, including entrees like steak or lobster, delicious hors d’oeuvres, sweets, bread, freshly brewed coffee and tea. Plus, at any time throughout the flight, you can request snacks, instant noodles or Haagen-Daz ice cream bars.

EVA Air also has a wide selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to choose from, including a curated selection of wine that has won many Business Traveller Cellars in the Sky awards over the years. In 2024, EVA Air won the silver medal for best business-class sparkling wine with their 2006 Champagne Castelnau Brut Millésimé.

Long-haul business-class passengers will also receive an exclusive amenity kit. If you’re departing from Taipei, you’ll receive a black pebble-grain hard case with a Giorgio Armani coin purse. If your flight is landing in Taiwan, you’ll receive a black vintage bag with a Giorgio Armani keychain. Both amenity kits contain skincare products from high-end Australian cosmetic brand Jurlique. Business-class passengers on long-haul flights will receive a comfortable two-piece pajama set to use for the flight, bottled water and over-the-ear noise-canceling headphones.

EVA Air also offers a business-class product (also known as Royal Laurel Class) on short- and medium-haul flights, which are typically operated using Airbus A330 or Airbus A321 aircraft.

Business-class seats on Airbus A330 aircraft are arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration and have a pitch of up to 62 inches, allowing you to recline to an almost flat position. These seats have fully adjustable headrests and footrests, lumbar support and other ergonomic features. Plus, you’ll have your own 15.4-inch personal entertainment monitor. Business-class passengers on Airbus A330 aircraft will also receive a delicious meal as well as appetizers, dessert and salad, all of which is served on fine china.

On Airbus A321 aircraft, you‘ll enjoy cozy and spacious seats equipped with a 10.6-inch personal entertainment monitor and an adjustable ambient lighting system. However, these aircraft are used exclusively for short-haul flights, and the business-class experience on these flights is essentially the same as economy class but with larger seats.

No matter what type of aircraft you’re flying on, EVA Air business-class passengers will have access to EVA Air VIP lounges before their flights or during their layovers. Plus, since EVA Air is a member of Star Alliance, EVA Air business-class passengers also have complimentary access to Star Alliance partner lounges. To see if there’s a Star Alliance partner lounge in a specific airport, you can use the Lounge Finder tool on the Star Alliance website.

Finally, all EVA Air business-class passengers will receive special privileges at the airport, including exclusive check-in counters, expedited baggage loading and priority baggage drop-off.

Best Programs Through Which to Book EVA Air Business Class

Because EVA Air is a member of Star Alliance, there are several frequent flyer programs through which you can book EVA Air business-class award flights. However, each of these programs charges different rates for partner award flights. So, the same EVA Air business-class flight might cost more points or miles through one program than through another.

Additionally, earning points or miles with certain frequent flyer programs is far easier than with others. This is because some programs allow you to transfer points from major U.S. credit card rewards programs, while others don’t.

With these things in mind, let’s look at some of the best frequent flyer programs through which to book EVA Air business-class award flights.

EVA Air Infinity MileageLands

One of the best programs through which to book EVA Air business-class award flights is EVA Air’s own Infinity MileageLands program, which uses fixed award charts to price EVA Air business-class awards. However, this is really only relevant to you if you have a Citi ThankYou Rewards credit card or a Capital One Rewards credit card.

Both of these credit card rewards programs allow transfers to the EVA Air Infinity MileageLands program. However, while the Citi ThankYou Rewards program allows you to make transfers at a 1:1 ratio, the transfer ratio from Capital One Rewards to Infinity MileageLands is 2:1.5.

So, for example, if you were to transfer 50,000 Citi points to Infinity MileageLands, you’d receive 50,000 miles. By contrast, if you were to transfer 50,000 Capital One Miles to Infinity MileageLands, you’d receive 37,500 miles. So, by transferring Capital One Miles to the Infinity MileageLands program, you’re immediately losing value. Nonetheless, on certain EVA Air business-class redemptions through the Infinity MileageLands program, you can still get solid value per Capital One Mile despite this unfavorable transfer ratio.

For example, we found an EVA Air round-trip business-class award itinerary between Los Angeles (LAX) and Taipei (TPE) for 150,000 miles. The Infinity MileageLands program doesn’t display taxes and fees for these award flights unless you actually have enough miles to pay for them. However, according to user testimony, the taxes and fees levied on these award flights tend to be pretty low.

If you were to book the same exact flights with cash instead of miles through the EVA Air website, it would cost you about $5,502.

So, by booking this flight with miles instead of cash, you’d be getting a redemption value of about 3.7 cents per mile, which is outstanding. Once again, this calculation ignores the taxes and fees charged for the award flight, which will bring this value down slightly.

If you wanted to book this award itinerary with Capital One Miles, you’d have to transfer 200,000 Capital One Miles, which would give you 150,000 EVA miles with the 2:1.5 transfer ratio. So, if we were to calculate the value of this redemption with Capital One Miles, you would still get a value of about 2.7 cents per mile, which is very good.

So, whether you’re transferring Citi ThankYou points or Capital One Miles, this redemption would give you a good value. However, if you have the option of transferring from either credit card rewards program, it’d be better to transfer from Citi ThankYou Rewards because of the better transfer ratio.

Air Canada Aeroplan

Another program through which you can book EVA Air business-class award flights is the Air Canada Aeroplan program. Unfortunately, after extensive searching, we couldn’t find any EVA Air business-class award availability on long-haul routes.

Nonetheless, if you’re looking to book a regional EVA Air business-class award, you may be able to find one through Air Canada Aeroplan at a favorable rate.

For example, we found an EVA Air round-trip business-class itinerary between Hong Kong (HKG) and Taipei (TPE) for 40,000 Aeroplan points plus about 123 Canadian Dollars (about $90) in taxes and fees.

If you were to book the same flights on the same dates with cash through the EVA Air website, it would cost you 6,418 Hong Kong Dollars (about $819).

So, by booking this flight with Aeroplan points instead of cash, you’d be getting a redemption value of about 1.8 cents per point (factoring in the taxes and fees paid for the award flight), which is pretty good for a short-haul flight.

Plus, one of the biggest advantages of the Air Canada Aeroplan program is that it’s a 1:1 transfer partner of many of the major U.S credit card rewards programs, including American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards. This makes it very easy to earn Aeroplan points if you have a rewards credit card from any of the aforementioned issuers.

The Bottom Line

While EVA Air may not be the most well-known airline among U.S travelers, it was ranked as the ninth-best business-class airline in 2024 by Skytrax. This airline’s business-class product offers ultra-comfortable lie-flat seats, large touchscreen entertainment systems, top-notch in-flight dining, award-winning wine selections and more. And, of course, before your flight, you’ll be able to relax in one of EVA Air’s VIP lounges or a Star Alliance partner airport lounge.

When it comes to booking EVA Air business class with points or miles, the best frequent flyer program to use is generally EVA Air’s own Infinity MileageLands program. That’s because this program offers an abundance of EVA Air business-class award space, prices EVA Air business-class awards using fixed award charts (meaning you can get high value per mile) and is a transfer partner of Capital One Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards.

You can also book EVA Air business-class awards through the Air Canada Aeroplan program at decent rates. Plus, this program is a 1:1 transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards. Unfortunately, EVA Air business class is oftentimes only available on short-haul routes through this program.