You’d be forgiven for thinking that the lowest fares may be on the EVA website and they would be, except that their website technology is limited in that you can only request an economy return fare or a premium economy return fare but not economy in one direction and premium in the other.

EVA Air call their Premium Economy class “Elite Class” but we’ll stick with the generic name even though that was invented originally by Virgin Atlantic.

We looked for specific dates around half term holidays so seats were quite limited. We wanted the cheapest fare and obviously Premium Economy, would be nice if cheap….

Asking EVA Air for economy return and the site said no availability. Asking for Premium Economy, the site offered a return fare of £1,638

Expedia however, when asking for economy return flights, offered Premium Economy outbound and economy back at £1,019 Expedia didn’t even highlight the fact that the flight was Premium but it was in small print!

There is a way around this … On the EVA Air Website, instead of choosing a normal return availability search, choose the “More Destinations / Stopovers” option. This would normally be your choice if you were looking for multiple flights or a more complex itinerary. Then, when you search for economy and choose specific flights, the next page will tell you what’s available and it offered a price of £1,036 So Expedia was still the cheapest

If you choose Expedia and appreciate this advice then please click through from my Expedia Page Here (and above), Thanks!

Neither of these websites charge for credit card but note that with EVA, there is this warning.

“You are required to present the credit card used to purchase the ticket during check-in at the airport. If you will not be among the travel party, you must go to any EVA Air office and sign an Indemnity of Payment form during business hours and at least 48 hours before the passenger’s scheduled departure. Passengers who fail to do so will be denied boarding unless they purchase a full-fare ticket. I agree to the above terms and conditions for using a credit card.”

For frequent travellers and business travellers the choice of seat is usually quite important.

Whilst we may suffer a middle seat on an occasional leisure trip, for business travellers it can be quite an annoyance.

Save on average £30, or £15 each way for a “no-bag fare” and you will not be allowed to choose a seat.

Even at check-in. The specific seat is allocated randomly.

We’ve seen the very last row at the back of the plane next to the toilet allocated on no-bag fares.

A seat at the back means the passenger is likely to be the last off the plane and at the back of the arriving security queues etc.

Not very good for business travellers who have tight schedules and appointments to reach.

Even Silver executive members do not have the option of choosing a seat on British Airways Hand Baggage Fares

So, our recommendation is to choose the higher with-bag fare.