#61 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
240 reviews
Report No: 2019-506E
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Welcome to this new series where I would try LOT Polish Airlines for the first time after finding a sweet deal on their Premium Economy cabin. As my final destination would be Washington DC and LOT Polish Airlines doesn't fly to the DC area, I would fly to Chicago with LOT and then take an American flight down to DC. Also, in this series, I would have the opportunity to visit the signature lounges of two different Star Alliance carriers.
The second report of this series would be onboard the 787-8 of LOT Polish Airlines from a flight from Warsaw to Chicago on their Premium Economy cabin. It was my first transatlantic flight onboard this carrier and I also had the chance to experience the breakfast and lunch offerings in the Mazurek Lounge in Warsaw during my layover.
So the routing for this series would look like this;
Pax for this flight:
Business Class: %60-65
Premium Economy Class: %60-65
Economy Class: %95-100
As I was the first passenger arriving to transfer security after my flight from Istanbul, I have cleared it in a breeze with no wait. Then I've headed to the Mazurek Lounge to relax a bit before my flight to Chicago.
The retro-jet that took me from Istanbul to Warsaw was visible from the lounge.
The lounge is really small compared to other airlines' signature lounges; however, the Schengen lounge is much bigger than this one. The lounge was empty early in the morning but it got crowded later on.
Breakfast was present when I arrived to the lounge
The list of food options
Water, snacks and fruits available that morning
Coffee and tea was also available
And the hot options for that morning
Alcoholic beverages were also present
While enjoying my breakfast, this Easyjet A320 had passed by.
As well as our friend, TC-LNF
And this SSJ-100 arriving from Moscow-SVO.
Two of the LOT Embraer's were parked in a gate close to the lounge.
During my layover, I decided to take a shower and this key was handed by the front desk to access the shower room. There is only one shower room at this lounge.
There was only one body towel, one hand towel and a toothbrush present in the shower room. The shampoo was almost finishing so it took a time to get some in to my hand. In overall, this shower is not the best airport lounge shower but it was alright with some missing things.
When I left the shower room my seat was taken, however, I found another spot to sit. At that point, the breakfast offering were being changed to lunch offerings.
While enjoying some of the lunch dishes, F-GKXT had arrived from Paris CDG.
Boarding pass for today's flight
50 minutes before boarding, I had left the lounge. Here are the Non-Schengen FIDS for the day.
Our aircraft was present at the gate. That day, I was going to fly with SP-LRE.
PH-BGX arriving from Amsterdam.
Which was followed by A6-ENR arriving from Dubai.
Both gates 17N and 18N were used for boarding. The left side of the gate was used for Group 2 and 3 passengers while the right side for Group 1 passengers. However, when boarding started, both priorities ( Group 1 ) and Group 2 were boarding at the same time. Boarding had started 25-30 minutes before scheduled departure time.
Fuselage shot
After being welcomed by the cabin crew, I have took my seat. A pillow and a blanket was present at that time. There were no earphones present at that time so I requested one later during the flight.
A refreshing tissue was also present
The legroom onboard Premium Economy is generous as well as the seat is comfortable.
Water and a small amenity kit was present at each occupied seat so this meant that I wouldn't have a neighbor for this flight.
As boarding was completed, champagne was offered as a welcome drink. It was the first time that I was offered champagne in Premium Economy Class.
At that time, SP-LSE had just arrived from LAX.
Shortly later, menus were distributed
And as the personal screens are stowed for takeoff, the safety video was played on the monitors in front of the cabin.
As I could understand from this remote, this aircraft was equipped with the Thales IFE system.
EuroLOT aircraft
A7-AEF had just landed from Doha while we were taxiing to the runway.
OO-ABD was going to operate LO 6 to New York JFK that day.
Another LOT regional jet which would head to Katowice that afternoon
And another one, which would head to Wroclaw.
Later on, we had took off
A last view of the airport
Warsaw
And we're over the clouds
Shortly after takeoff, I have visited one of the lavatories which was clean at that time. As Premium Economy does not have dedicated lavatories, passengers needed to go all the way back to Economy lavatories.
As I've mentioned before, the aircraft was equipped with Thales IFE system.
The IFE system is offered in various languages.
And the menu;
Route map
The seat pocket content: Safety card, magazine and duty free catalogue.
Inflight shopping was offered onboard this flight.
LOT Route Map
LOT fleet
Shortly after takeoff, hot towels were distributed throughout the cabin
Later on, the service continued with the aperitif service which contained a drink of choice and peanuts. Also the cabin crew asked if I would like any wine. In these days it's rare to see peanuts onboard flights.
That day, I have opted for the steak option. The steak was served with gnocchi, carrots and spinach which made the main course enjoyable. Also, I liked the point where there is an actual starter and a separate salad at the same time. A dessert, butter, vinaigrette was also present on the tray. Drink and water refills were offered throughout the service.
Roast beef served with smoked cheese and cranberry chutney
Pork sirloin steak with rosemary sauce served with gnocchi, braised spinach and carrot
Cake with raspberry
After the meal, I've asked for a peppermint tea.
Shortly after the trays were collected, the snack basket came around. These were my picks for the day.
As well as immigration forms were distributed.
Then I've slept for a couple of hours and woke up over Canada
As I've told in the beginning of the report, my seat didn't had earphones so I went to the galley and asked for a pair. The crew told that she was sure that she had put one into my seat, however, she happily gave me two pairs in case one of them didn't worked.
As I didn't have time for a movie, I watched three episodes of Family Guy.
1h30mins before landing, a light meal was served by the crew. It literally had two really light starter dishes and a fruit plate but it was better than nothing when we compare this tray in terms of portion. The dishes were tasty and good. The tray also contained Lindt chocolate and butter. I had asked for a coffee with Irish cream. A funny thing that LOT doesn't have Bailey's. Instead, they serve Carolans.
Beef cheeks with herbal dip served with potato salad
Roast pork loin with pepper sauce served with red and green bean salad
Fresh fruit salad
A regional airport prior to landing as we started our descend
Some photos before landing
And we had landed to Chicago O'Hare Airport, 35-40 minutes before our scheduled arrival time and the nightmare had begun. You would understand why I used the term "nightmare".
The first visible aircrafts were these United and American birds
N57852 heading to the runway for his flight to LAX
United 777-200 heading to Frankfurt
A6-EPW had just arrived from Dubai as EK235
N27724 was heading to Norfolk that afternoon
This Finnair A330-300 had arrived from Helsinki
HP-1844CMP was heading to the runway for his flight to Panama
And we had finally arrived near the international terminal, the first visible aircraft there was this China Eastern bird.
Followed by an Hainan 787 and a KLM A330
SP-LRB was at ORD as well. That bird was going to operate LO32 to Budapest.
United and Aer Lingus birds
N334FR getting ready for his flight to Dallas Fort Worth
This Spirit bird had arrived from Cancun so it was parked at the international terminal
And the nightmare begins, after a 15 minute taxi, the captain told that our gate was occupied so we needed to wait a couple of minutes. As 787's are designed not to receive phone signal, the 30-35 minute wait was a bit painful with nothing to do except listening music. I was planning to catch an earlier ORD-DCA flight because of our early arrival but in the end we would be arriving to the gate few minutes later than our scheduled arrival time.
With the super-low phone signal I was able to catch, I have noticed that Emirates and Royal Jordanian birds were also being waited at another parts of the airport.
And our aircraft waiting
30-35 minutes later we had started to taxi to our gate, this Spirit bird heading to FLL was visible
An American Eagle aircraft heading to Tulsa
This American 787 would head to Rome that afternoon
And as B-7347 had pushed back, we had docked to gate M10.
Our neighbor was this Finnair A330-300 which had arrived later than us.
After entering the terminal, the visitor lane was packed and there was almost a 1h30-2h wait. As my visa type is not eligible for the kiosks, I needed to head to the special visa lane where I've waited 15-20 minutes. Later on, I've went to the belt and realized that priority baggages were not the first bags arriving. All bags were arriving in a random order. After another 5 minutes over there, I had headed to the American Airlines transfer counter to re-drop my bag. I have also requested to change my flight to the earlier ORD-DCA flight which was delayed 1h20mins delayed. Otherwise, I was going to wait around 5 hours as my originally booked ORD-DCA flight was also delayed. The friendly agent tried to make a confirmed change but the system let her do, so I have asked her to put me on the stand-by list. Then I've left the immigration hall and headed to the bus stop to go to Terminal 3.
This report has came to an end.
Thanks for reading and hope too see you in another report.
After a quick transfer security and heading to the lounge, I was not that impressed about the LOT Mazurek Lounge but the offerings were good and the seats were comfortable. The only problems are that there are only one toilet per sex which could mean long waits and that the shower room did not have enough towels and amenities. The boarding area was a bit messy with the lack of space and seating areas. Boarding had started later than expected and priorities were not totally respected as Group 1 and Group 2 started boarding at the same time. The seats onboard were really comfortable and the legroom was good. The IFE system was alright and had enough content. The seat also had a power source and a USB port. The journey had started with a glass of champagne which tasted a bit cheap but alright. After takeoff, I was surprised when I saw peanuts onboard but I really enjoy them. Also, the lunch service had started a decent time later than our takeoff. The lunch was great and I liked the part where there was a starter dish alongside a salad. Some airlines consolidate these two plates and serve as one. Drink refills were also offered throughout services. After a comfortable sleep, the second service seemed a bit light with two starter dishes and a fruit plate but it was OK in terms of Premium Economy. Throughout the flight the crew was professional and the lavatories were always kept clean. The worst part about this flight was Chicago O'Hare Airport which we had waited almost an hour for a gate to be opened. Luckily, the immigration wait times were not that bad but after clearing immigration, it was bad to wait for bags as priority bags were not the one arriving first. The experience at the American Airlines Transfer counter helped me a bit relax at that time as I had the opportunity to be served by a friendly agent and placed to Stand-By for the earlier ORD-DCA flight as both my flight and the earlier flight was significantly delayed. In overall, LOT was definitely worth the price but they could improve such things as respecting priority passengers or placing an extra towel to their showers. However, things in ORD and how they operate must definitely change as that airport is one of the worlds most inefficient airports.
WAW
(+) Efficient transfer security
(-) Boarding area was messy as well as the process, priorities were not totally respected.
LOT Mazurek Lounge
(+) Breakfast and lunch offerings
(+) Comfortable seating options
(-) Could be crowded as the area of the lounge is too small
(-) Shower facilities could be improved
LO1
(+) Comfortable seats and a decent legroom
(+) The quality of meals and services
(+) Friendly and professional cabin crew
(+) IFE system and the availability of USB ports and power outlets
(+) Toilets were kept clean throughout the flight
(+) Welcome drink for Premium Economy
(-) No dedicated lavatories for Premium Economy
(-) No Wi-Fi offered onboard
ORD
(+) Friendly help at the American Airlines transfer counter
(-) Passport wait times could be improved
(-) Waiting for a gate for 40-45 minutes, which completely means that ORD is inefficient
(-) Bags were arriving at a random order, without the respect of priorities
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 3 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Warsaw (WAW) → Chicago (ORD).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est LOT Polish avec 7.1/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 9 heures et 48 minutes.
More information
6 Comments
- It was better than I've expected. Definitely worth the price.
- Don't worry, you are not the only one in the same case. I had several friends and relatives who didn't want to fly LOT on a similar occasion.
- In terms of the seat, it's a bit better than Lufthansa and better than those Premium Economy cabins of US carriers. Also, I could agree that the food and service resembled Business Class.
Once again thanks for your comment and hope to see you in another report.
Yeah, not a fan of ORD in general
Thanks for sharing!
- Yes, I didn't know what to expect before my flight with LOT.
- I really enjoyed their Premium Economy product and I was surprised when I see those glasses of champagnes, but in reality, those champagnes were not the best champagne that I have tasted. :)
- The catering was far beyond than other Premium Economy services that I've seen ( especially than BA of Alex Cruz ) and even though the seat is not up-to-date, it was really comfortable.
- Me too, I'll avoid it unless I find a sweet deal like this flight. Hope the 1.2 billion $ investment on the new international concourse would reduce gate waiting times.
Once again thanks for stopping by and take care.
- Me too, definitely better than British Airways Premium Economy and LOT PE is significantly cheaper than BA PE
- Even in Istanbul, they advertised a "LOT" and the price is definitely worth it. I could tell you that I paid less than what TK offered for the same routing in Y for LOT in W.
Once again thanks for stopping by and take care.
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