Review: LOT Polish Airlines Business Class (787-9)

As mentioned in my Eurotrip overview article, the first leg of the trip was a business class itinerary on Aeroplan from Edmonton to Toronto on AC metal, and then onward to Warsaw on LOT Polish Airlines.

What follows is my review of the hard and soft product on board LOT Polish Airlines business class.

Booking LOT Business Class

I booked this itinerary through Air Canada Aeroplan as part of a one-way route from Edmonton to Toronto to Warsaw to Copenhagen, with a 2-day stopover in Warsaw. I booked this itinerary for a total cost of 220,000 Aeroplan points in addition to $272 CAD in taxes and fees total, for two people.

Ground Experience

Air Canada Maple Leaf International, YYZ

We had a 5-hour layover in Toronto and so made a stop at the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, International in Terminal 1 (right before the escalators down to the E gates). 

I’ve visited this lounge a few times before and have always been satisfied with the quality of the offerings. This time around they had cheeseburger sliders and brownies which were a highlight. 

LOT Business Lounge Polonez, WAW 

Although we were arriving in Poland, it’s worth mentioning we did get a chance to visit the LOT Business Lounge Polonez at Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW), on our flight to Copenhagen, the final of our Aeroplan itinerary. 

This lounge is LOT’s flagship lounge and is intended for business class travelers traveling within the Schengen Area (which includes 22 EU countries). The lounge is located on the mezzanine second floor just past security. The closest gate is A25 and you can take stairs, escalator, or elevator up.

 The lounge was packed when we entered during the early afternoon, and for good reason. It was a rather nice lounge experience, between the plethora of hot food, snack, and beverage options. There was a lot more selection than many of Canada’s Plaza Premium and Maple Leaf lounges, perhaps the exception being YYZ and YVR. 

Another thing that stood out versus lounges in Canada is the cocktail menu, which included Bushmills Blue Orange Whiskey Sour, Curious Jackalope, Old Fashioned, Irishman, Gold Rush, and Old Virginia Manhattan. They even used one of my favorite gins, the Gunpowder Irish Gin, which is a fairly premium liquor. 

Boarding 

The boarding gate was a bit of a free-for-all for premium economy and business class passengers, with three different lines. However, this soon made sense as, upon entering the plane, to your immediate left is the business class cabin while on the right is the premium economy cabin.

Cabin Arrangement

The LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner has a total of 24 forward-facing business class seats, arranged in 2-2-2 configuration over 4 rows.

The LOT business class cabin was located to the left of the plane’s entry door, with one washroom located at the front of the cabin, and two at the back behind seats 4A/B and 4E/F.

On the other hand, the exit door was located at the very front of the cabin, so you still get off the plane first as a business class passenger (the most important part of being in business class right?!).

Seat

Unfortunately, I wasn’t timely with checking in and was left with slim pickings between seats at the back of the cabin near the washrooms, or bulkhead seats at the front of the cabin next to the galley.

We chose the latter – seats 1E and 1F. These seats were nearest to the front of the cabin and the galley, but this isn’t even a bad spot to be in my opinion. You often get served first before the rest of the cabin, and get to leave the plane first. 

One minor disadvantage – the footwell on these front seats was surrounded by the seat trim which made your lower body a bit more restricted when sleeping, at least compared to the other seats in the cabin. More on the sleeping experience later.

The seats are off-the-shelf Zodiac Aura Lite seats. These seats can be found Uzbekistan Airways, Kenya Airways, and Ethiopian Airlines’ Dreamliners as well. The seats are 23 inches wide and 78-80 inches long in lie-flat mode.

They have a clean blue striped aesthetic to them, in keeping with LOT’s color scheme of blue. The seats while sitting were spacious and rather comfortable. 

The control console was located under the middle armrest, along with bottled water and holder. This was a rather awkward positioning for use, as you had to turn and contort your body to get a decent view of the small screen and controls.

The controls for the chair position on the other hand were located just in front of the armrest, which was a convenient positioning.

The leg well offered moderate storage space and in between the two seat leg wells were four compartments which provided another place for storage in addition to the table space on top. This was appreciated as the storage space next to the seat itself felt a bit restrictive. 

Bed

The seats were able to convert from sitting to lie flat position entirely electronically via controls on the armrest. With the way the bottom portion of the seat raised to meet the leg rest, you couldn’t have your bag protruding at all from the storage compartment (footwell) or the chair would be blocked from meeting the leg rest. 

The cabin was quite warm so I changed into some shorts and a light t-shirt to prepare for what would hopefully be at least a nap. There was no mattress pad for the seat, only a sheet, blanket, and pillow provided, which I set up on my bed.

As far as my review of the lie-flat sleeping experience on LOT Polish Airlines… I’ll be honest, it wasn’t particularly enjoyable. I am an average 5’10” height man, and I found there was very little extra room for my body when lying straight. However, the seat was also a bit too narrow to comfortably lie on my side.

Furthermore, the pillow provided was not great. I may be a bit of a snob when it comes to pillows (I like my shredded memory foam), but this thing was flimsy and lacked any substance. I might as well have not had one. I ended up using my sweater as a pillow instead, something I am accustomed to doing from my long-past days of flying long-haul economy 😉.

Nonetheless, I was able to get about 4 hours of okay sleep, which is a game changer for long-haul flights arriving at your destination at 8:00 AM.

Amenity Kit 

The LOT Polish Airlines amenity kit was on the seat upon boarding and was efficiently packaged in a little blue tote bag. 

The amenity kit was rather minimal and included a blindfold, ear plugs, a toothbrush and paste, and some socks. However, I am a minimalist at heart and had an appreciation for the simplicity of it.

Aside from the packaged kit, there were slippers in one of the storage compartments, and a pair of over-ear headphones as well. 

I didn’t actually use the headphones so I can’t comment on their sound quality but they seemed fairly decent in terms of build quality.

Dining

Immediately upon sitting down, we were presented with a welcome beverage by our flight attendant, with a choice between water, orange juice, and champagne (obviously we chose the latter). The amuse-bouche was served shortly thereafter as well. 

Menus were given to us at this time as well and our orders were promptly taken. We were also presented with hot towels after ascent and just prior to the first meal service: dinner.

Meal Service 

Appetizer

For appetizers, I chose the Smoked duck and prosciutto served with mango chutney, while my travel partner chose the pumpkin cream soup with roasted pumpkin seeds.

Both were well-presented and very flavorful, although the soup was mildly lukewarm.

Main Course

For the main course I chose the white fish with saffron sauce, jasmine rice, and tomato ratatouille.

Aside from the butter being rock hard (a common problem on airlines) – everything about this meal was incredible and satisfying. One of the best airline meals I’ve ever had.  

My travel companion chose the seared beef tenderloin with Lyonnaise potatoes and grilled vegetables, which was apparently also very delectable.

Dessert

The desserts were served from a trolley. Naturally, I gave in to gluttony and asked the flight attendants if I could try all three options. 

The chocolate cake with raspberry was just okay, a bit dry. However, the mango and lime mousse was really nice. Light and sweet, just the perfect dessert for an already full stomach.

Breakfast 

The hot breakfast pre-arrival meal from LOT didn’t disappoint either. I chose the broccoli and cheddar frittata with bacon and potato wedges.

There was also a continental breakfast available consisting of cold cuts plate, fruit salad, and yogurt.

Snack Service

Before our main dinner service we were given a basic snack option of assorted nuts, almonds, and cashews, and given the option to order more drinks.

Beverages

The LOT menu had a nice selection of different beverages, including champagnes, wines, and spirits. 

The only beer was Polish of course – Zywiec. But it had a nice light-bodied taste which I enjoyed.

Entertainment

Sadly, a major downside of LOT business class is that there is no WiFi available on the plane at all 😢. I didn’t really pay much attention to the entertainment console, instead opting to enjoy the meals, the views, and work on my computer on some offline tasks. 

I did notice the entertainment console had a few decent movie options and access to HBO Max. One recommendation for anyone who hasn’t seen it and loves travel – consider watching ‘The White Lotus’, a phenomenal dark comedy series from HBO.

Conclusion

My LOT Polish Airlines business class experience was excellent and classy. LOT Polish Airlines provided a pleasant and effective service with smooth flight operations.

I did find the flight attendants weren’t incredibly personable or attentive, and sometimes servers seemed antsy to get your trays cleared, but this is a relatively small nitpick in the grand scheme of airline service.

Moreover, the meals were delicious and well-presented. While I would have appreciated some more traditional Polish foods (why were there no perogies?), this was soon forgotten upon first bite into the main course. 

Meanwhile, the seating was comfortable, clean, and modern, albeit the bed left something to be desired in terms of spaciousness. Perhaps my biggest complaint would be the lack of WiFi, which is somewhat unexpected.

Nonetheless, I would be happy to fly LOT business class again in the future and highly recommend it to anyone who can make it happen with award availability on Aeroplan.