LOT Polish airlines from Warsaw to the US

[sillythinglove 1]

Hi everyone

My daughter and I are flying to Chicago from Bucharest on LOT Polish airlines at the begining of June.

Can anyone please share their experience with LOT from Warsaw to Chicago? Or any other destination in the US on the Dreamliner (economy class)?

Thank you so much

[Dave&Roza 748]

Hi everyone

My daughter and I are flying to Chicago from Bucharest on LOT Polish airlines at the begining of June.

Can anyone please share their experience with LOT from Warsaw to Chicago? Or any other destination in the US on the Dreamliner (economy class)?

Thank you so much

No actual experience with LOT, but there are stories here on VJ about their lack of knowledge with US immigration--you must be able to board the airplane in order to immigrate to the US and if LOT refuses to allow you to board you are stuck. I refuse to travel LOT for several reasons and am willing to pay a few hundred dollars more to fly on Lufthansa. The end of June I am flying from Denver to Frankfurt to Gdansk, Poland. We typically fly Denver to Frankfurt to Almaty when visiting my MIL. One of my co-workers has told me about LOT and he is from Poland and will not fly on them unless there is absolutely no choice. For international travel I tend to spend the money to get the fewest transfers as possible and I will do anything to avoid ORD. Too many times my luggage has had problems when travelling thru ORD.

Sorry I do not have actual experiences to share, but only hearsay.

I hope you have a good hassle free trip,

Dave

[sillythinglove 1]

Thank you for your answer Dave.

What exactly does "lack of knowledge with US immigration" mean? Can you remember some specific examples?

[Dave&Roza 748]

Thank you for your answer Dave.

What exactly does "lack of knowledge with US immigration" mean? Can you remember some specific examples?

One person here on VJ was travelling with an expired GC and the extension letter and the LOT employee would not let them board the airplane. I am sure they are familiar with typical situations, but throw an AP/EAD card at them or the expired GC and they may not know the proper way to handle it and just remember that they hold your fate in their hands more so than CBP. What if they deny you boarding and you have to take another airline and pay full one-way fare. How does that $200 you saved stack up now? That is why I am willing to pay a bit more for a known airline and specific routes or number of stops. My time and having a hassle free trip is worth something to me as is the money I paid for the ticket. YMMV.

Another poster did mention that LOT was late and they missed their connection and had to be put up in the Hilton, This is not a problem if loosing a day is not an issue, but for me it is.

Good luck on your trip,

Dave

[jannapa 12]

i personaly have flown this exact route twice

i can't speak of the their knowledge or lack thereof - i have never had any problems with LOT

once i had a very tight connection in waw - with only 40 minutes between arrival and departure, and was pleasantly surprised that even before the landing the pilot announced gate numbers for all transfer passengers

dreamliner is an ok airplane, reasonably comfortable in economy class - although comfortable becomes a very relative terms if it comes to flying

i have flown better (british airways), and and worse for sure too (airfrance)

i agree that lufthansa is probably one of the most reliable airlines, although i have had a bad moment with them too - while i was seated at the very back of the airplane, the crew ran out of dinner for us, and fed us hot dogs (no buns, just sausages). i was glad i had some random snacks packed in my carry-on for my kids.

[sillythinglove 1]

Well the first reason we chose LOT was the 12h total trip, the shortest possible from Bucharest, compared to at least 14 with other airlines which might not seem much for an adult but for a 5 year old who has never been on a plane is definitely something,.

The money difference is a lot more than 200 dollars too, since its two people traveling .. $1800 difference for the cheapest Lufthansa btw, which is 14 hours so.. I don't know

@jannapa, Thank you.

Did your kids travel with you on the Dreamliner? Do they have some entertainment options? Games? Movies?

I'm trying to prepare my daughter mostly

[jannapa 12]

yes, i flew with my two kids aged 6 and 8. first time my husband flew with us (on an old boeing, with a common screen for several rows), second time on a dreamliner - there is individual entertainment for each seat - quite a selection of free movies, games, shows, plus some paid stuff. i never use it very much, so i can't tell you anything about the quality, but my kids were entertained throughout the whole flight. oh, i flew in august, so things might have changed since then if it comes to charging for movies.

one thing i didn't like (but it is common to all airlines i assume) was that when we had booked the tickets we hadn't had a chance to choose seating (booked through a third party website - kayak or something similar), so we all ended up seated all over the place, and the crew did not help us ask other passengers to relocate. we needed to do that ourselves. it worked out well in the end, but travelling with two little kids i would have appreciated some help.

i fly quite often with my kids, and i must say that flying with LOT was on the pleasant side of all my experience. at the same time i gave up on flying comfort long ago, so maybe my expectations are just so low...

[TBoneTX 42,989]

On the basis of what Dave has said, I'd get on the phone and reach an official with LOT (get a name & location, plus phone number if possible). Confirm what your plans are and ensure authorization against the ignorance of the ticket or gate staff. Be sure to drop names, if you're given flak during ticketing or boarding.

[Confusedtinybird 41]

I flew LOT Warsaw to Vilnius. I was VERY impressed. I would fly them again anytime.

[Roel 7,191]

I recenly traveled with LOT from Warsaw to Chicago. Very pleasant flight, really. Only bad thing was over 1,5h delay I'm sure you have nothing to be worried about.