Review: LOT 787-9 Business Class New York (JFK)- Warsaw
Updated: Feb 23
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.
Route- New York (JFK)-Warsaw (WAW)
Seat- 4F
Flight Number- LO7
Aircraft- Boeing 787-9
Date- August 15th 2024
Flight Time- 7 Hours 54 Minutes
Price Paid- 87.5K Aeroplan Miles+120$ (4 legs)
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
Warsaw-Istanbul LOT E190 Business
Istanbul-Dhaka- TK A330-300 Business
Dhaka-Bangkok TG 777-200 Business
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.
Boarding
Clearing security was a breeze, and within minutes, I was off to the Alaska Airlines Lounge. When I got bored of that, I decided to check out the Horizons T7 Lounge. I have reviewed both of these in separate posts.
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…
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.
15 minutes later, we were wheels departing Southwest from New York JFK.
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.
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.
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).
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
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.
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.
Final Thoughts
LOT Polish Airlines is a prime example of an airline doing the small things right. From a pre-departure amuse bouche to actual wine glasses to real champagne flutes to pouring champagne at your seat, they seem to be highly invested in these small details, which add up to a nice experience. On other positive notes, the amenities and bedding that are offered are fantastic, making for a great way to sleep.
However, onto the negatives. Unfortunately, this configuration of seats is no longer competitive on a transatlantic flight. When you add in LOT having no Wi-Fi on any of their aircraft, it makes it harder to justify flying LOT over BA/VS/UA unless Warsaw is your final destination.
Would I fly LOT Polish Airlines again? If the price were right, I would, but if they managed to install better business class seats and offer wifi on their planes, I might go as far as to seek them out!
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