LOT Polish Airlines

Round trip ORD-WAW-KBP. I found B767 to be surprisingly spartan (no adjustable air vents over the seats in economy for example). The return trip was a disaster. KBP-WAW flight was delayed by 4 hours which meant I missed my connecting flight. I was put up in the Mariott adjacent to WAW which was nice but making the arrangements was a pain and should have been done for me when I got off the plane. I had to stand in 3 different lines for the better part of an hour to get the arrangements taken care of. The next morning I was put on a flight to Newark because the ORD flight was full and that flight was also delayed by 4 hours. When I became aware of the delay I talked to someone at the desk to ask if there were any open seats on the ORD flight that was boarding at that time. I was told that there were in fact some business class seats but upgrading would have required going to the ticket desk at the front of the airport. Nobody at the gate seemed to be authorized to do such a thing. In a situation where there are a dozen or more passengers like me who missed their flight to ORD the day before there's no excuse for any business class seats to be empty on the next flight to ORD. By the time I got to Newark there were no remaining flights out that night so I was handed another hotel voucher and got on an uneventful flight on American Airlines the next morning and arrived home 36 hours behind schedule. To the credit of LOT in Newark they had my voucher and rebooking ready but could do nothing more than just apologize. Why couldn't the people at WAW be this organized? It's LOT's main hub after all. I understand delays happen and missed connections happen but I think when you're handing someone their second straight hotel voucher perhaps you owe them more than just a ticket to get them the rest of the way home.

Heathrow-Warsaw B737-500 Economy. Newspapers handed out and adequate refreshments. The plane was old but clean and well maintained and flight left promptly. The legroom was good and the seats although a bit narrow were fine for the fare paid.

Lviv-Warsaw-Budapest. Check in agent efficient but check in area at Lviv airport was very cramped. Flight to Warsaw (B737-500) was pleasant with a tasty snack and wine served legroom generous. At Warsaw passengers were bussed to the terminal and then again to the E170 for the second leg to Budapest. Comfortable seat on-time pleasant service and tasty snack with wine. Apart from the tedious bussing at Warsaw this was a good product at a very reasonable price.

As a weekly Business traveler from LHR to Warsaw LOT has been my choice for nearly 2 years mainly because of the convenient scheduling even though on average a business return costs approximately £100 more than with BA. Until recently all was going well with the occasional delayed flight which is normal. In the last few months all this has changed. LOT now have a policy of cramming their flights to capacity - as most passengers fly economy the result has been the compacting of business class to 2 or 3 rows with all seats occupied 6 across. The last 3 weeks I have been sandwiched into already small seats with no space to work or even sit comfortably. On one occasion upon entering the plane I was confronted by a 140kg woman in the middle seat with a crying baby on her lap. Her body occupied fully a third of my seat & I didn't fancy 2.5 hours under her bulges & a crying baby for company. When I pointed this out to the stewardess I was met with a shrug and told "flight is full". I asked how was I supposed to even sit here discretely so as not to offend the passenger concerned & was met with total indifference. Last night was the last straw same situation yet again with same uncaring attitude of the flight crew. I took my bag and left the plane. I went to the customer service desk where there were 5 staff 1 of which was working with a queue of customers 1 on the land line phone presumably to a customer 2 women on mobiles who I can only assume were on private calls due to their demeanor - the 5th woman resting with her head in her hands & elbows on the counter all with closed signs. I asked for the station chief and was directed upstairs to his office . On complaining of the situation again I was met with total indifference. No apology or attempt to placate me was made shrugs and said flight was full. Apart from the fact that a business ticket is purchased for just that reason to work the absolute apathy & uncaring attitude of the staff mean that I will never use this airline again & bodes very badly for their future as a competitive service provider to business users. I wonder if enough business fliers like me who spend in excess of 120000zl a year were to leave them would they even notice or care. I don't think so. This is definitely a leftover from the days of the Politburo and hopefully it will soon meet the same fate.

LHR-WAR-KTW- LHR. Very old 737-500 but felt sturdy. Refreshments good. Cabin Staff very friendly and responsive. It was my first time on LOT and generally found it okay. Small Embraer jet to Katowice service was fine

WAW-LHR Economy. On the whole service is quite good however my biggest annoyance is the use of small old aircraft on high capacity routes. On the Heathrow flights they are filling up old 737-500's. There are usually over 100 people in economy yet only 1 toilet for all the passengers. The whole experience on many LOT flights is one of being cramped. Competitors are flying newer A320's and A319 with 2 toilets in economy on similar routes. LOT is very poor at customer feedback. They never answer queries on their dedicated e mail address. They are good at Warsaw at getting special assistance passengers and passengers with young children through check-in and security.

NYC-WAW-VNO and back. LOT is horrible when it comes to being on time. 3 out of 4 flights were late and flight attendants should have been more proactive and sharing this information. I had special meal which was fine NYC-WAW but was less than average on the way back. Drinks are $4 each and lack any quality stuff. I appreciate them serving a small meal for the short flight from WAW-VNO. Friendly staff half spoke conversational English. Aircraft are older models and average at best. Seat buttons for the entire row didn't work for the NYC-WAW flight. Provided cushion and blanket. Seat comfort good for economy class.

Krakow to Newark in business class. The seats were old and did not work well. Was not provided with the normal kit such as eye cover socks etc. The staff was attentive. I would not fly again on this airline -it was marginal at best.

Chicago-Warsaw-Munich return. Seats were reasonably comfortable except on the overnight Chicago-Warsaw where my seat felt hard from the outset. Food good as food goes these days in coach - a hot meal with 2 choices as well as a sandwich meal. Sandwiches on the WAW-MUC-WAW legs. Inflight entertainment not up to standards of other international carriers - the 2 movies on main screens only were "B" movies at best - and my audio came through only one ear piece of the head set. My wife's headset was the same. LOT staff were courteous and efficient at check-in and on the flights. The baggage got where it was supposed to without damage.

WAW-LHR in Y class. Very quick boarding to a little bit old B737-500 and punctual take off. Crew was friendly and smiling. Drinks had wide range of choice. To eat I got Tortilla and later snack.