Review of LOT Polish flight from New York to Warsaw in Business

Intro

The second portion of this around-the-world review trip would see me flying from New York (JFK) to Warsaw with LOT Polish Airlines onboard their 787-9 in Business Class. Following a redeye the night before from San Diego to New York and a day in New York, it was time to spend the second night straight on a plane!

LOT has always been a carrier that has fascinated me. Traditionally, they have some decent fares across the Atlantic and occasionally over to Asia. So, I decided to put this airline to the test! The hard product isn’t the best in business class, certainly lacking privacy. However, as a whole, I was quite impressed with the soft product that LOT offers. It has good food, a fantastic presentation, and a swanky IFE system. 

Routing

How I Booked

As I wrote about in a separate post, I booked this flight as part of a multi-city Aeroplan adventure for 87.5K Miles. Ordinarily, this flight would cost 70K Aeroplan points in Business or 88K on United. Considering I paid 87.5K Miles for the following, this is a fantastic redemption:

New York-Warsaw LOT 787-9 Business 

The rest will come as I post the reports 😉

Check-In

Arriving at the airport refreshed from a day in New York, I was excited to be leaving the United States once again. LOT operates from the small Terminal 7 in JFK ,which is soon set to be demolished and turned into Terminal 6.

Interestingly, T7 is the only terminal at JFK where you can take Uber/Lyft from directly outside…

Arriving inside T7, the LOT check-in counters were right in front of me and not too busy at T-3 hours until departure. Within minutes I was checked in all the way to Istanbul, and a slip noting I had access to the Horizons T7 Lounge. 

Lounge invitation…

Lounge

Due to my inbound flight, I had access to the Alaska Lounge. I was severely impressed, minus the showers. 

But all LOT Business Class passengers get access to the Horizons T7 Lounge (the former BA lounge). Only passengers flying ANA can use the showers, but at least there is Aperol Spritz available 🥺

Boarding

LOT has more reasonable boarding times compared to US carriers, as 35 minutes prior to departure, boarding group 1 was called from gate 5. 

Marching down the jetbridge, I was excited to be on a brand new airline!

The Seat/Cabin

LOT operates two long-haul aircraft (plus wet leases) consisting of 6 Boeing 787-8s and 6 Boeing 787-9s. While practically the same product in Business, the only difference is that the 787-9 features four rows of Business compared to the three on the -8.

Across the long-haul fleet of LOT, their business class cabin is laid out in a 2-2-2 configuration with seats similar to those found on Turkish Airlines. In some ways, this is good as your feet are not restricted with a right footwell, but if you are looking for privacy, this is not the seat you want…

My seat: 4F

Each seat features an IFE screen in front of you, a small cubby located between the two seatbacks in front, and individual charging ports under the armrest to the side of you. Additionally, there is a nice storage space beneath your footwell, which can easily fit a small backpack/laptop bag. 

Departure

Prior to departure, the cabin crew came around to welcome us onboard briefly and provide some pre-departure drinks. The choice consisted of water or juice (no alcohol on the ground was offered), but they also offered customers an “amuse bouche.” It happened to be some cheese sort of thing, which was delicious. I wish more airlines would give out a small snack on the ground to pair with a drink!

Boarding was wrapped up within 24 minutes, at which point the captain came on to announce our flight time of 7 hours and 40 minutes over to Warsaw that evening.

Sure enough, we pushed back right on schedule at 5:45 pm EST.

We seemed to have gotten lucky, at least luckier than this broken-down AA 777-200 on 31R, as we were given 22R for takeoff. 

Wheels up!

Amenities

Now that we are in the air, let’s go through the goodies that LOT Polish Airlines offers their customers. For a 7 and a half hour flight, I was impressed to find comfortable slippers, a mattress pad, a full-on comfortable and thick blanket, a large but plush pillow, and a swanky amenity kit.

The amenity kit was the best I have ever received in business class, and the eye shade is even more comfortable than the one that BA offers their first-class passengers. 

Blanket:

Amenity kit:

Very impressive LOT, very impressive.

IFE+Wifi

Once we got up to cruising altitude, it was time to check out the IFE system. While not as good as some of the major carriers in the world, there were plenty of options to choose from, such as new releases, English classics, and Polish films on offer.

More

The IFE remote was sleek and of good quality, while the headphones resembled exactly the same. Once again, impressive LOT!

However, no wifi is currently offered on any aircraft that LOT flies. Considering their longest flight is about 12 hours, I think that might be a dealbreaker for a lot of business travelers. They are planning for their 787 fleet to get WIFI sometime in 2026, but who knows… 

Meal Service

The meal service might be the highlight of flying LOT. Passengers are greeted with a menu at their seats upon boarding, and I have to say it looks fantastic! I don’t remember the last time I saw 5 options for dessert and cheese (basically 6). 

More:

More:

Roughly 30 minutes after takeoff, the cabin crew came around to distribute hot towels and take our order for drinks. 

20 minutes later, the FA came around with a bottle of champagne, pouring glasses at our seats. Loving the presentation here! 

Opting to skip the appetizer, I decided to head straight into my main dish: The filet with Cafe De Paris butter and mashed potatoes. It was slightly overdone but not bad, thanks to the butter (it always helps on a steak, ha). I was suggested a glass of the Finca San Martin Crianza, which paired quite well. 

Finishing up the main, I opted to have ice cream for dessert. However, it wasn’t long before the infamous cherry Vodka was offered. The flight attendant working my aisle came around with small glasses and offered to pour passengers some. Seeing as I had never had this or been to Poland, I decided to try it out. It was good, but yeah, no, not again 😅.

All in all, the meal was wrapped up about 2 hours and 15 minutes after takeoff. Considering this is a short redeye, I would have appreciated a little speedier service for a 24-seat cabin, but it worked out alright. 

Bed Time

With a nice full belly, I converted my seat into bed mode and made it all up with the provided bedding. Although the seat isn’t very private, it is extremely comfortable, and I ended up sleeping for the next 4 hours. If you are a side sleeper, this seat is perfect as you aren’t constricted. 

Service

Please do not mistake this is as criticism in any way. I do believe it is important to share truthful feedback regarding the flight and don't mean to come off in the wrong way. 

I figured I would touch on the service aspect of this flight briefly, as I am a bit conflicted. On the one hand, I found the flight attendants to be professional, but I didn’t find them to be overly friendly.

Was not addressed by last name

When taking my dinner/breakfast order, it was “Would you like something to eat?”

In no way was it bad at all, and in my experience, my friends from Poland are straight to the point; it’s just something to note. I also happened to see that they seemed** to be friendlier with those of Polish decent versus Americans. 

Arrival

Waking up extremely refreshed, a cabin crew inquired if I would like to be joining for breakfast. While I politely declined the breakfast order, I asked for an espresso, which was mentioned on their menu. Unfortunately, the espresso machine was broken, so non-espresso coffee it was this morning 😒. 

Around 7:00 am, the captain came on to announce our initial descent into Warsaw and thanked us for flying LOT Polish Airlines. The airline had one other trick up their sleeve, as they came around with a little landing gift consisting of a toffee!

We touched down in Warsaw a whopping 35 minutes ahead of schedule at 7:39 am local time and made our way over to our gate in a short 4 minutes. 

Taxiing to gate

The crew bid us farewell, passport control was a breeze, and I was in a taxi heading downtown by 8:00 am sharp. Efficiency at its finest.