Roame Now Searches EVA Air Infinity MileageLands

Roame now searches EVA Air Infinity MileageLands. Royal Laurel business class space to Taipei shows up in Live Search and SkyView alongside every other program we track, priced in EVA miles.

That matters more here than it does for most carriers. EVA releases the bulk of its long-haul premium cabin space to its own members rather than to Star Alliance partners, and its award site is slow to search by date. Only two US card currencies reach the program, so far fewer people are hunting this space than are hunting a Star Alliance seat bookable with United miles.

EVA Air Infinity MileageLands overview

EVA Airways launched in 1989 as an offshoot of Evergreen Marine, the Taiwanese shipping company whose containers you have seen stacked at every large port. It flies from its Taipei Taoyuan (TPE) hub to North America, Europe, Australia, and most of Southeast Asia. It joined Star Alliance in 2013.

Infinity MileageLands is the frequent flyer program for the airline. Membership starts at Green and runs through Silver and Gold to Diamond, though the tier benefits skew heavily toward people who actually fly EVA out of Taiwan. For a US-based points collector, the program is a redemption tool rather than a status play.

What alliance is EVA Air part of?

Star Alliance, since 2013, which puts the whole alliance network within reach of an EVA balance. The ones that matter most for a US flyer are United, Lufthansa, ANA, and Turkish, and that partner access is where most of the program’s value sits.

EVA also has partnerships outside the alliance, with Bangkok Airways and several Chinese carriers. Those awards cannot be booked online, EVA publishes no chart for them, and pricing only comes out of a phone call. Treat that corner of the program as closed.

How to earn EVA Air miles

Credit card transfers

Two US card programs allow points transfer to Infinity MileageLands:

• Citi ThankYou Rewards, 1:1, usually instant
• Capital One, 4:3, timing varies

As you can see, Citi is the better transfer partner here. Ten thousand Citi points become 10,000 EVA miles; the same 10,000 Capital One miles net you 7,500. Capital One does run periodic bonuses to EVA that close most of that gap. Our transfer bonus tracker shows whichever ones are live right now, and outside a bonus you should be sending the Citi points instead.

Flying EVA Air or a Star Alliance partner

Earning on EVA metal is a percentage of distance flown, set by fare class. Business class fare code C earns 175% of the miles flown, J earns 150%, and the cheapest economy buckets earn 50%. Each Star Alliance partner has its own accrual chart on EVA’s site.

Crediting a partner flight to EVA means giving up earning miles on another program. That trade rarely pays unless you are topping off toward an EVA award you have already found.

Buying miles

EVA sells miles at $40 per 1,000, capped at 150,000 per calendar year, and it will only sell to you if you already hold at least half of what the award costs. Purchased miles stay valid for 36 months. Buying the last 15,000 miles of a business class award you can see on the calendar is reasonable. Buying on spec is not.

How EVA Air prices its award flights

EVA has two award charts: flights operated by EVA Air or its subsidiary UNI Air price off a zone chart; everything else on Star Alliance prices off a second chart that is harder to read and, on most routes, more expensive than what other Star Alliance programs charge for the same seat. Published rates are round trip, with one way being half the price.

EVA Air operated awards

• Within Asia: 35,000 economy, 40,000 premium economy, 50,000 business
• Asia to North America: 100,000 economy, 110,000 premium economy, 150,000 business
• Asia to Europe: 100,000 economy, 110,000 premium economy, 150,000 business

Chicago, Houston, New York, and Toronto sit in a band of their own, and every cabin costs 10,000 miles more.

Star Alliance partner awards

The partner chart is where EVA’s program is less competitive. A round trip inside North Asia costs 30,000 miles in economy and 55,000 in business. US to Europe in business on Turkish is 130,000 round trip. Price that against Avianca LifeMiles before you transfer, because on a plain point-to-point partner award EVA is usually the expensive way to buy the same seat.

Keep in mind EVA also passes along partner fuel surcharges. On a Lufthansa or Turkish award, that can add another few hundred dollars per passenger, which further diminishes much of the value.

The best EVA Air redemptions

Royal Laurel business US to Taipei, 75,000 miles one way

This is the best use of EVA miles. Royal Laurel is EVA’s 1-2-1 business cabin, flown on the 777-300ER and the 787-10. One way from the West Coast to Taipei is 75,000 miles. From Chicago, Houston, New York, or Toronto it is 80,000.

The price is only half the story. Partner programs see a thin slice of this cabin and EVA keeps the rest for Infinity MileageLands members, making EVA miles all the more valuable.

Starting today, you can search EVA Infinity MileageLands availability directly on Roame.

United Polaris transcon for 29,000 miles one way

EVA’s partner chart prices a domestic US business class round trip at 58,000 miles. This means that one could fly United Polaris between San Francisco and Newark in a lie-flat seat on a five-hour flight for just 29,000 miles each way, on a route United itself prices dynamically and often higher.

The catch is that United mostly only releases these seats to their own members, making availability hard to come by.

Two stopovers on a round-trip partner award

This is the rule that can make EVA's partner awards worthwhile. A round-trip Star Alliance award booked with EVA miles allows for up to two stopovers, one in each direction, plus an open jaw at the turnaround. Four cities for the price of a two-city round trip.

However, there are some constrains here. Six segments maximum. Stopovers cannot sit in the same country as your origin or your destination. None of it can be booked online, so budget a phone call to an EVA reservation office.

Round the world for 325,000 miles in business

EVA offers a Star Alliance round-the-world award at 180,000 miles in economy, 325,000 in business, 480,000 in first. You get up to 10 segments and seven stopovers, traveling in one direction, crossing both the Pacific and the Atlantic, over a trip of at least 10 days. ANA prices its version lower. At the same time, if you are sitting on a large EVA balance with no other use, this is redemption could be worth it.

How to find EVA Air award space on Roame

Set the loyalty program filter to EVA Air Infinity MileageLands and search a whole month rather than a fixed date. Royal Laurel spaces are released in ones and twos, and availability can change quickly.

Two other helpful tips:

• Search the route with SkyView to see which other programs can book the same flight, then transfer to whichever one is cheapest after surcharges.
• Set an alert on the route and cabin. EVA loads space at schedule open and releases more close to departure, and an alert catches that second wave without you having to constantly check manually.

How to book an EVA Air award flight

Standard awards go through EVA’s own site, so open an Infinity MileageLands account before you need one. Find the space on Roame and verify availability with the airline first before you transfer. Transfers are one way and final, and a stranded EVA balance is a bad place to keep points.

Anything with a stopover, and every round-the-world ticket, has to go through a local EVA reservation office by phone.

EVA Air award cancellation policy

Canceling an EVA award refunds the miles for a $50 service fee, and changing the date on an existing award ticket is free. While not entirely free, the relatively low downside risk could be helpful for locking in an award speculatively before you work out all the other pieces.

Keep in mind that miles expire 36 months after you earn them, with no way to extend and no reset for new activity. As a last resort, you can ticket travel up to 12 months past the expiry date, so a balance about to expire can be used to lock in a trip up to another year out.

Where to start

Open Roame, filter to EVA Air, and run your nearest gateway to TPE across the next 12 months. If Royal Laurel space lands on dates you can use, price the same seat through the other programs in your wallet before you move a single point. When EVA wins, Citi transfers at 1:1 and usually posts within minutes.

Our full EVA Air Infinity MileageLands guide goes deeper on the earning charts and elite tiers, and the transfer bonus tracker will tell you whether Capital One is running a bonus worth waiting out.