Business class travel within Europe is mostly about time and convenience. LOT offered neither on my two short flights with them.

Introduction

Star Alliance member LOT operates an extensive intercontinental and regional network out of its main hub, Warsaw-Chopin Airport. These flights often have generous partner award availability, which is how I ended up on board two LOT Embraer jets earlier this year: Prague to Warsaw, and Warsaw to Vilnius the next day.

Check-In and Security

I had already received my boarding passes from LOT partner Austrian Airlines in Vienna—which was a good thing, since even with access to a priority lane check-in at Warsaw was jammed. At both Prague and Warsaw LOT business class passengers are entitled to use Fast Track, which saved me a good half an hour in Prague: the normal line was lined up to the end of the security rope lanes, while I was the only passenger in Fast Track.

The security situation at LOT’s main Warsaw hub was a mess. Both entrances to Fast Track security had lines dozens of passengers deep, with staff entirely unfazed by the chaos and disorder. In theory, passengers scan their boarding passes at automatic gates to get through. What ended up happening was nearly everyone who tried this was rejected and directed to a manned security desk, where a lone officer sat on the phone processing passengers as he pleased. Ironically passengers with LOT boarding passes seemed to be the ones having problems: my Austrian pass let me through the automatic gate, and I bypassed dozens of waiting passengers.

Photographing airport security usually isn't a good idea, so have a plane instead.

The security check itself was disorganised, with staff manually ferrying bins to the front of the line when they noticed the supply had run dry leaving passengers standing waiting for bins as the queue continued to grow.

All in, security took around 20 minutes, most of which was waiting and navigating poorly designed procedures. This is not directly LOT’s fault, though as the primary customer of Chopin Airport they have influence over airport operations, and could pressure the airport operators to improve their security experience especially for premium passengers. Clearly, LOT hasn’t done this.

Lounges

Seating options at the Erste Premier Lounge in Prague.

Since flag carrier and Skyteam member Czech Airlines ceased operations in October 2024, no alliance carriers have had a major presence at Prague’s Václav Havel Airport. This makes the lounge situation sparse, despite Prague being a major destination for European tourism: all airlines that offer passengers lounge access for Schengen-area flights, including LOT, use the Erste Premier Lounge in T2. This was below-average for a contract lounge: busy, limited seating options, no hot food options. Staff were working hard to keep the space clean though, and there was good coffee and self-serve alcohol on offer.

The only "hot" options on offer in the early morning at the Erste Premier Lounge were two trays of couscous with vegetables. Neither was actually hot.

In Warsaw, LOT offers its flagship Business Lounge Polonez. There is also a lounge-within-a-lounge accessible to Star Alliance Gold members. Both spaces are immediately after duty free, with elevator and stair access.

This lounge-within-a-lounge is reserved for passengers with Star Alliance Gold status.

For a flagship lounge, the Business Lounge Polonez is on the lower end of average. No views, seating options mostly the same. Food options were better than Prague, with eggs, sausages, pastries, and assorted charcuterie on offer. There was a single bartender for barista coffee and alcohol, along with multiple automated coffee machines.

With only one bartender/barista working, these two automated machines had a much shorter wait.

LOT operates a large block of regional flights at 07:XX, within which my flight to Vilnius fell. Despite the dozens of short-haul departures the lounge coped well with traffic and never felt crowded.

Boarding

In theory, LOT business class passengers have priority boarding. This was called but not enforced: gate agents both in Prague and Warsaw immediately began boarding any and all passengers who pushed their way to the front, ignoring boarding groups. Neither gate had a jetbridge so I hung back and boarded towards the end anyway—but from the apathy gate staff displayed, I don’t expect priority boarding would have been respected for a jetbridge either.

Our E195, registration SP-LNL, arriving late into Prague.

Waiting for me on board both the Embraer E195 from Prague and the E175 from Warsaw was a small business class cabin with well-worn 2-2 seats. The beige material showed years’ worth of grime, and was not a good colour choice for an airline not committed to regular cabin upkeep. Business class passengers have the adjacent seat unoccupied, with red headrests marking these blocked seats to discourage self-upgraders. I was alone in business class from Prague to Warsaw, and one of two passengers onwards to Vilnius; both times I got an exit row seat, 2A on the E195 (which is really 1A) and 1A on the E175. Cabin crew both times let me keep my personal item on the seat next to me, strapping it in using the seatbelt.

Comfortable enough seats in the first row of a LOT E195.

The seats reclined and were comfortable for two short, 45-minute flights. Leg room was ample in the front row.

Slightly older-looking seats in the same row of a LOT E175.

From Prague, no pre-departure service was offered. Cabin crew never acknowledged me until after takeoff. From Warsaw, a pre-departure drink of orange juice or water was offered.

One point in LOT's favour: it is one of a dwindling number of carriers still offering printed in-flight magazines.

We got underway an hour late from Prague, and on-time out of Warsaw.

On Board

Good crews will see a sparsely-populated front cabin as an opportunity to provide stellar service. This was not my experience on LOT.

From Prague, the flight attendant who, I assume, was assigned to business class (despite spending most of the flight either in economy or in the galley, curtain closed) spoke a total of eleven words to me all flight: “What would you like to drink”, and “Would you like your meal”. No greeting, nothing at all when leaving and clearing trays.

Sitting in a sparsely-populated front cabin can often mean more attentive service. This is not the case on LOT.

The chief steward out of Warsaw was more…human, and I at least wasn’t able to keep a word count of cold exchanges.

Breakfast aboard LOT regional business class was quite good actually, allowing for no hot meals possible on these regional jets: Greek yoghurt with fruit, some fig-and-cheese hors d’oeuvre that was excellent, and sliced meats. I paired this both times with sparkling wine, which was about as good as what I got the previous day aboard Austrian.

Breakfast service on both flights was the same, and perfectly acceptable for a short flight on a regional jet without an oven.

One touch I did appreciate: the business class washrooms were stocked with facial mist and hand cream, and were reserved for business class passengers with a full-length curtain divider across the aisle.

Cost

I booked both of these flights as part of a larger six-flight Aeroplan redemption, costing 75,000 miles and $336.80 CAD in fees, most of which was for my trans-Atlantic hop with SWISS. The five short-haul flights within Europe I added essentially for free, paying a few euros in fees for each.

Booking two months out, LOT wants around €400 one-way PRG-WAW and €300 WAW-VNO, which is not at all justified by the service on offer (though in fairness these flights are rarely booked as one-way business class cash tickets).

Final Thoughts

Nothing about LOT Polish Airlines was terrible, and I wouldn’t go out of my way to avoid them in the future if the price and itinerary made sense. But I’d also choose most other competitors over LOT, and wouldn’t pay much extra for their business class. Everything about this experience was either average or poor: chaotic security, disorganised and non-priority boarding, inconsistent pre-departure service, cold, impersonal service, worn cabins. The only aspect I would consider good is the food, and even that only because breakfast services on short-haul business class flights are usually forgettable.

LOT is not a carrier I would seek out again, and based on their short-haul product would hesitate to trust them on a long-haul service.

Since business class within Europe is almost always just an economy seat, premium passengers are paying for enhanced service and expedited check-in, security, and boarding. LOT does not consistently offer this.