Review: EVA Air Infinity Lounge Taipei Airport (TPE)

Review: EVA Air Infinity Lounge Taipei Airport (TPE)

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NAME: EVA Air Infinity Lounge
Airport: TPE
DATE: December 2023
REVIEW RATING:
BEN SAYS: EVA Air doesn't impress as much on the ground as in the air, with the carrier's flagship business class lounge being quite small, with crowding a concern. The lounge has a large buffet, though, as well as shower suites.
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The Long Way to Abu Dhabi
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During my long journey to Abu Dhabi, I had a roughly four hour layover at Taipei Taoyuan Airport (TPE). I was arriving from Houston in EVA Air’s 777 business class, and was departing for Hong Kong in EVA Air’s 787 business class.

I spent most of my layover in the EVA Air Infinity Lounge, which is the carrier’s standard business class lounge. Honestly, for an airline as high quality as EVA Air, this is a pretty underwhelming business class lounge, far from the world’s best. It’s crowded, it doesn’t have many amenities, and it has an okay selection of food and drinks. At least the lounge has showers and bathrooms, unlike the Starlux Airlines Lounge Taipei.

So don’t spend more time in EVA Air’s lounges than you have to, but it’s also better than being stuck in the terminal. Let’s get into the review…

EVA Air Lounge Taipei access requirements

EVA Air has four lounges at Taipei Taoyuan Airport, all located near one another, and all with different entry requirements. The challenge is that the names of the lounges don’t tell you much about what differentiates them, so let me cover those basics:

  • The EVA Air Infinity Lounge is the carrier’s standard business class lounge, and it’s open to all EVA Air business class passengers, as well as all Star Alliance first and business class passengers
  • The EVA Air Star Lounge is open to all Star Alliance Gold members
  • The EVA Air Club Lounge is open to all Star Alliance Gold members, plus Infinity MileageLands Silver members
  • The EVA Air Garden Lounge is the carrier’s most premium lounge, open exclusively to Infinity MileageLands Diamond members (which is EVA Air’s top tier status)
EVA Air Lounge Taipei access requirements
EVA Air Lounge Taipei access requirements

So as you can see, one lounge is open to Star Alliance premium cabin passengers, two lounges are open to Star Alliance Gold members, and one lounge is even more exclusive, for EVA Air’s top tier elite members.

I currently don’t have any status with Star Alliance, so I exclusively had access to the EVA Air Infinity Lounge, which is what I’ll be reviewing here.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei location

All EVA Air Lounges at Taipei Taoyuan Airport are located in Terminal 2. If you’re originating there, it’s easy to find the lounges, as they’re right past the immigration checkpoint. However, finding the lounges is a different story for connecting passengers, as I find the airport to have horrendous signage.

There were no signs indicating in which direction lounges are located, and EVA Air’s website doesn’t even explain in any sort of detail where lounges are. So I first spent five minutes walking in the wrong direction, before eventually backtracking and going the other direction.

I still can’t actually clearly tell you how to get to these lounges, other than to recommend walking in the direction of gates A1-9 and D1-10, because at least from where I was coming from, that was the right direction.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei direction

This leads to the central part of the terminal, where you’ll find lots of duty free shopping. There’s a second level in this part of the terminal, so take the escalator up to find all the lounges.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei location
EVA Air Lounge Taipei location
EVA Air Lounge Taipei escalator

At the top of the escalator there’s a monitor that shows in which direction the various lounges are. From where I was entering, the EVA Air Infinity Lounge was located to the left once at the top of the escalator.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei signage

This lounge gets a lot of traffic, so there were several EVA Air employees at the entrance with portable scanners to admit people. You’re then pointed left if you have access to the EVA Air Star Lounge (for Star Alliance Golds), or right if you have access to the EVA Air Infinity Lounge (for business class passengers).

EVA Air Lounge Taipei exterior

EVA Air Lounge Taipei hours

The EVA Air Infinity Lounge Taipei is open daily from 4:30AM until 11:30PM, covering virtually all departures from the terminal. As you’d expect, the lounge has varying crowding throughout the day, with the early morning and late night being the busiest time, based on flight schedules.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei seating & layout

For an airline the size of EVA Air, the carrier’s only business class lounge seems quite small. As you enter the EVA Air Infinity Lounge, there’s one main corridor with seating to the left, and bathrooms and the business center to the right.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei main hallway

For about the first half of the lounge, there are two rows of chairs facing the windows, plus a long communal counter with chairs.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei seating
EVA Air Lounge Taipei seating
EVA Air Lounge Taipei seating

Don’t expect much in the way of views, as the lounge’s windows look inward at the check-in desks, rather than toward the apron or runways.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei view

Then you can see the rest of the lounge seating below, which basically just consists of tables with an average of two seats each.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei seating
EVA Air Lounge Taipei seating

I guess I appreciate that EVA Air’s lounge design doesn’t feel super generic. But, like, does anyone understand what theme EVA Air is going for? Is it space themed? Is it 1990s chic?

EVA Air Lounge Taipei design

In addition to the above seating, the lounge has a few more amenities back in the direction of the entrance. This includes a business center with three PCs and a printer.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei business center

There’s also a storage area for bags.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei lockers

Lastly, there’s a baby changing facility, tying in nicely to the carrier’s Hello Kitty collaboration.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei room for parents

That’s the extent of it. I’d estimate that the lounge is around 6,000-8,000 square feet, which doesn’t seem particularly large for a flagship business class lounge.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei food & drinks

The EVA Air Infinity Lounge Taipei has a self-serve buffet area, which is where all food and drinks are available. I visited early in the morning, so breakfast was on offer.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei buffet

Drinks included canned soda and soft drinks, boxed juice, a coffee machine, a cold and hot water dispenser, a selection of around 10 types of liquor (some of which were decent brands), two white wine options, two red wine options, and coolers with lemon water and beetroot juice.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei drinks
EVA Air Lounge Taipei coffee machine
EVA Air Lounge Taipei water machine
EVA Air Lounge Taipei drinks
EVA Air Lounge Taipei drinks

The food selection included some yogurt and pastries, finger sandwiches, a variety of bread, salad, and cereal.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei food
EVA Air Lounge Taipei food
EVA Air Lounge Taipei food
EVA Air Lounge Taipei food

There were then many hot options, including hardboiled eggs, scrambled eggs, veggies, meatballs, waffles, noodles, dim sum, sweet potatoes, and more.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei food
EVA Air Lounge Taipei food
EVA Air Lounge Taipei food
EVA Air Lounge Taipei food
EVA Air Lounge Taipei food
EVA Air Lounge Taipei food

The hot dog setup gave very strong 7-Eleven vibes… not that there’s (necessarily) anything wrong with that.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei food

In terms of dessert, some may appreciate the freezer with Mövenpick ice cream, which you could help yourself to.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei ice cream

The variety of food was pretty good, though the buffet experience was rather unpleasant. The buffet was constantly crowded, with people just practicing very bad hygiene, coughing all over the place, picking their nose and then picking up utensils, using their fingers to remove things from the buffet, etc.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei bathrooms & showers

The EVA Air Infinity Lounge Taipei bathrooms are located inside the entrance to the lounge and to the right. The men’s room had a handful of urinals, four stalls, and two sinks, and seemed to be pretty clean.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei bathrooms
EVA Air Lounge Taipei bathrooms
EVA Air Lounge Taipei bathrooms

The lounge also has four shower suites. These do tend to get booked up during busy periods, so make sure you request one as soon as you get to the lounge, if you’re desperate for a shower (like I was). Fortunately there was no wait for a shower when I arrived in the lounge, so I took advantage of that.

For those wondering about the process, if a shower is available, you’re given a key for that specific shower, and then the receptionist holds onto your boarding pass. You then return your key to reception, and are given your boarding pass back. A sign in the shower suites asks guests to limit their use to 20 minutes.

Each of the four shower suites has a name — you could end up in “Metro Forest,” “Smile Zone,” “Fantasy Flow,” or “Star Drops.” Lol… I think?

EVA Air Lounge Taipei shower suites
EVA Air Lounge Taipei shower suites

I ended up in the “Metro Forest” (ironically enough?).

EVA Air Lounge Taipei shower suite key

The shower suites are quite nice, probably the most impressive amenity in the lounge. Each shower suite has a sink, a toilet, and a walk-in shower, with excellent water pressure.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei shower suite
EVA Air Lounge Taipei shower suite

Toiletries were from L’Occitane, and were in reusable containers.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei shower suite toiletries

There were also a variety of amenities, ranging from slippers to a vanity kit.

EVA Air Lounge Taipei shower suite products

Bottom line

For a high quality airline like EVA Air, the carrier’s Infinity Lounge at Taipei Airport doesn’t exactly impress. It’s the carrier’s only business class lounge, and it’s fairly small, with limited amenities. It does have a fairly extensive buffet and shower suites.

So I guess to compare it to the other excellent Taiwanese carriers based at the airport:

  • The Starlux Lounge has a smaller but higher quality selection of food, including a small menu you can order off of; however, the lounge doesn’t even have private bathrooms or showers, which is a major shortcoming
  • The China Airlines Lounge might just be the most impressive business class lounge at the airport, with nice decor, a more spacious layout, and an extensive food selection

So yeah, EVA Air doesn’t shine as much on the ground as in the air. And while the lounge was busy during my visit, it’s my understanding that it gets even busier in the evenings, when there aren’t even empty seats.

Admittedly I understand the challenge for airlines, though. Lounge real estate is limited, even if airlines want to expand capacity. Then again, EVA Air does have three other lounges at the airport, they’re just not open to business class passengers.

What do you make of the EVA Air Lounge Taipei situation?

Conversations (39)
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  1. Ethan Guest

    In East Asia convenience store doesn't carry a bad reputation like in US…… So the offering is not surprising, probably even intentional.
    I stay away from US 7-11 as far as possible…… Unless Chase Offer has a gas station offer :p

  2. HenryVIIII Guest

    The Garden is the lounge reserved for Diamond Club members. That is the BEST LOUNGE in Asia. Surprised they didn't try to let you in and enjoy it. They served Din Tai Fung meals here. The Star and The Infinity is crowded, not as bad as UA Lounge in ORD. But the Garden is never all the crowded and the service is impeccable. That is the biggest attraction to keep Diamond membership.

  3. derek Guest

    The Inifinity lounge is busy during the 11 pm bank of flights to the US. The lounge check in gave passengers an option to use the Star lounge, which shares a common check in desk.

  4. Bgriff Guest

    I'm surprised you didn't pick up the 2 years of Singapore Star Gold from the promotion for transferring 250K credit card points in last year.

    1. Ben Schlappig OMAAT

      @ Bgriff -- I did, but that was a couple of years ago, and the status just recently expired.

  5. Daniel Guest

    You probably could've checked The Star as well, since business class passengers are usually free to choose between the two lounges (Eva considers a business class ticket to be higher than Star Alliance Gold status). The experience is just the same though, the only difference being a more traditional design instead of the "space theme".
    A few days ago I checked out The Club for the first time and it was really a pleasant...

    You probably could've checked The Star as well, since business class passengers are usually free to choose between the two lounges (Eva considers a business class ticket to be higher than Star Alliance Gold status). The experience is just the same though, the only difference being a more traditional design instead of the "space theme".
    A few days ago I checked out The Club for the first time and it was really a pleasant experience. While the other lounges were packed, The Club was pretty much empty and the waiting list for the shower had only one person before me, while we would talk about hours in The Infinity. It's a tiny lounge but so much nicer experience.

    1. Jason Guest

      Interesting. I was suggested to go to the Club when I checked into the Infinity with my United Polaris boarding pass. I declined to go to the Club because I knew it was for lower tier elites and wanted the "better" lounge that I was entitled to. I did wonder at the time what the Club would be like, but I only had a short-ish stay so just stayed at the Infinity.

    2. Daniel Guest

      The Club has comfortable seats and some "garden" style decoration. It's tiny and it is open to one side bringing in some noise from downstairs. Food options I think are slightly less, but good enough for me (in the end, I'm always full enough from the business class menus and don't need more than snacks in the lounge).
      It only has one single shower room, but that's good enough with almost nobody in there....

      The Club has comfortable seats and some "garden" style decoration. It's tiny and it is open to one side bringing in some noise from downstairs. Food options I think are slightly less, but good enough for me (in the end, I'm always full enough from the business class menus and don't need more than snacks in the lounge).
      It only has one single shower room, but that's good enough with almost nobody in there. Of course it has toilets too.
      I think at the busiest time there were around 10 people.
      Overall I would always prefer to stay there, if only it would be open all day and not just during peak hours.

  6. yepnope Guest

    The plaza premium and oriental club lounge are better options. They were assigning seats when I went to the EVA lounge at 630am. The food options are horrible.

  7. IrishAlan Diamond

    It really is remarkable how one of the world’s best airlines, which I’ve had my best three J flights on, and is a solid 5 star carrier in the air can have what I consider a 3 star flagship lounge. I agree with JW in GA below that SQ has some subpar lounges but nothing is as disconnected from the airline’s premium experience as EVA’s lounges. Only the Movenpick ice cream and consistent availabilty of...

    It really is remarkable how one of the world’s best airlines, which I’ve had my best three J flights on, and is a solid 5 star carrier in the air can have what I consider a 3 star flagship lounge. I agree with JW in GA below that SQ has some subpar lounges but nothing is as disconnected from the airline’s premium experience as EVA’s lounges. Only the Movenpick ice cream and consistent availabilty of showers differentiate it from a The Club lounge in the US. It’s really sad.

  8. Bangkokiscool Guest

    Actually the most impressive lounge in TPE is Cathay's lounge, which has recently re-opened. All the rest are really nothing to write home about.

    1. Ethan Guest

      So much, I always admire Cathay's lounge standard all over the world

  9. Jasin Guest

    The last time I was there in September (flying United Polaris), where I had access to the Infinity, the attendants gently suggested I use The Club instead (the lounge for EVA’s lower tier elite members) because of overcrowding at the Infinity.

    The Infinity hasn’t changed in over a decade when I first flew EVA Royal Laurel class. Really disappointing.

  10. MikeyInOregon Guest

    My sentiments, exactly. For a flagship lounge, it's a shame that EVA can't do better than this. There's nothing luxurious about this lounge, it's always crowded in the evening when their flights to various USA airports leave around the same time. However, their food is quite decent so I always dine in this lounge and then go next door to SQ Kris Lounge which is always empty.

  11. Mark Guest

    Skip the Bombay and sip the hidden gem in the liquor list.
    The cognac is worth USD150.00
    Leyrat XO Hors D'Age Cognac

  12. Crosscourt Guest

    @david when does British Airways ever call business class, first class? Get your facts right. Business is Club and first is First. You are getting things mixed up with US carriers calling first, First class when it's only Premium Economy.

  13. Skywalker Guest

    Anyone tried the lounge at terminal 1? Will it be better

  14. Joe Guest

    Hi Ben! I think British Airways made some devaluations on its chart for American Airlines flights. I always booked MIA-EGE for 11k Avios +5,60, now the price is 14.5k Avios + 5,60.....

    1. Stan P Guest

      That’s an old news , bud !

  15. eponymous coward Guest

    Isn't the play in TPE if you're flying EVA to use your credit card lounge access (if you have the right combination) to go to the Plaza Premium lounge?

    This looks, uh, better than the TRON style EVA has going in The Infinity?

    https://www.plazapremiumlounge.com/en-uk/find/china-regions/taiwan/taipei/taiwan-taoyuan-international-airport/international-departures-terminal-two-zone-a

  16. LOA Member

    Lucky, how was your transit experience in TPE? Did you have to go through transit security since you were arriving from the US?

    I thought I read an announcement that transit pax from the US did not have to go through transit security. If this was the case for you, do you remember how long it took you from the time you deplaned the aircraft to get to the departure/gate level? I'm assuming it was quick, no?

    1. Ben Schlappig OMAAT

      @ LOA -- Indeed, there's no transit security when arriving from the United States, which is great. I was in the terminal within seconds, and then you can easily proceed to any gate from there. The only challenge I had was finding the lounge.

    2. LOA Member

      That's great to hear.

      I'll be transiting through TPE T2 later this month, separate tix from JX1 to BR (to HKG) with a 1.5hr connection. I think as long as my inbound is not severely delayed and BR l gives me an app boarding pass, i should me fine.

      But yes, I agree with finding lounges. I was there in September and had similar issues finding the lounges. :/

    3. Scott Guest

      I flew in March from jfk and I had to go thru transit security. Just throwing that out there. Maybe it varies?

    4. LOA Member

      @Scott

      the transit security waiver for US inbound pax was implemented recently...maybe a month or so ago.

    5. Alinsfca Guest

      That makes sense. I recently transit through TPE from SFO and didn’t have to go through security. But on my return trip from KIX through TPE to SFO, I had to go through transit security (which was fast anyway) and I was wondering why. Thanks for the explanation.

    6. wpcoe Member

      In September I flew the same IAH-TPE flight with a connection to TPE-BKK, and there was no transit security involved.

  17. D3kingg Guest

    I hate the signage for airport lounges. When there’s an up arrow right next to an elevator but all along the up arrow meant to keep walking straight not go up the elevator to the wrong lounge.

  18. starwalker Member

    The lounge is really the most disappointing part of the airline, it needs an upgrade asap, I can't think of any "five star" airlines that have worst lounge than EVA, especially at their main hub, even Cathay which only operates a tiny hub in TPE have a better lounge. The infinity and the star are basically the same lounge, they should close one and start renovating. I hope they aren’t waiting for the new terminal,...

    The lounge is really the most disappointing part of the airline, it needs an upgrade asap, I can't think of any "five star" airlines that have worst lounge than EVA, especially at their main hub, even Cathay which only operates a tiny hub in TPE have a better lounge. The infinity and the star are basically the same lounge, they should close one and start renovating. I hope they aren’t waiting for the new terminal, which gods know when it will open. BTW the garden one is also open for a couple AMEX cards like the Centurion and the EVA Platinum Card.

    1. JW in GA Guest

      Hmm, I don't know I was totally underwhelmed by the Silver Kris Lounge by Singapore Air at their Changi hub, especially after such a great in flight experience. I believe it is the lesser terminal (not close to Jewel) but it had 0 windows (external or internal) which is just a huge turnoff for myself and the Mrs. Food was good but the atmosphere was that of a non-hub US domestic lounge...gasp! :-)

    2. Al Guest

      That would be the Terminal 2 Lounge, which caters to mostly regional flights and hasn't been upgraded for at least a decade. The Terminal 3 lounge is much bigger and has tarmac views. If you have time, you could go to the Terminal 3 via the monorail next time. The only drawback is that the T3 lounge gets packed during peak hours whereas the Terminal 2 lounge usually doesn't.

  19. TravelinWilly Diamond

    What is "Royal Laurel Class?"

    1. David Diamond

      EVA's branding for their business class, sorta like how BA calls their business class "First Class".

    2. Ben Schlappig OMAAT

      @ David -- Well played, well played...

    3. Vinod Guest

      ?
      - BA Business is Club World / Club Suites / Club Europe - I have never seen BA call their Business Class "First Class"
      - BA First is BA First

    4. UncleRonnie Guest

      Americans like making fun of BA First Class when their own domestic version of Premium Economy is also called First….

    5. David Diamond

      @UncleRonnie

      I'm not American, but I do find the US and Europe both quite cute, for what they pass off as domestic "first class" or intra-European "business class". I just didn't want to make a long winded joke, no one likes that.

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

David Diamond

EVA's branding for their business class, sorta like how BA calls their business class "First Class".

3
Ethan Guest

In East Asia convenience store doesn't carry a bad reputation like in US…… So the offering is not surprising, probably even intentional. I stay away from US 7-11 as far as possible…… Unless Chase Offer has a gas station offer :p

0
Ethan Guest

So much, I always admire Cathay's lounge standard all over the world

0
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