LOT Polish Airlines

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.

JFK to Warsaw - arrived at airport and was told flight was delayed until following day at 9am. I told them that I would miss my connecting flight They told me that it didn't matter. The important thing was to get me to Warsaw and then to try to find a flight to final destination. Came back to airport the next day at 9am only to find out the employees didn't even work until afternoon and that the flight was delayed until 11am. Then was told the flight was delayed until 1pm. When I called customer service I was hung up on! Finally I was told the entire flight was cancelled and they could not get me on another flight for 4 days! I insisted they book me with another airlines and they reluctantly did so and I continued on my vacation 36 hours later.

Myself and my partner booked flights on www.lot.com in November to Agadir in Morocco. We were keenly anticipating the typical LOT service and pampering on our 6 hour flight. You can imagine my dismay when upon boarding the aircraft we were presented with a menu card and a selection of cold sandwiches Knorr Barscz and peanuts for our long distance jaunt. I immediately enquired with the cabin crew that surely we would be receiving a warm meal on board. She replied curtly in the negative. Was this a joke? If it was a short 2 hour journey it could be forgiven but this was unacceptable. I explained that we had paid almost 2200 zl for our tickets on the LOT website and demanded to know why we wouldn't be receiving any warm food on the flight. She explained that this was a chartered flight and the tour operator decides if passengers have the option of getting a warm meal or not. So let me just confirm that. A tour agency I have no affiliation with decides whether I am able to avail of a warm meal or not? I explained that I had booked independently and had no affiliation with any tour group or agency. I was a LOT customer and there was no indication on the website that I was purchasing a LOT charter flight. I felt cheated. Seems that LOT Charter do a good job masquerading as LOT. To sit at 35000 feet for six hours without any food and to be told that you can buy a miserable sandwich for 10 zl is scandalous. Some people with a couple of children were spending up to 100 zl just for some sandwiches and soup. Shameful. On the return flight on the 27th Jan it became even more farcical. They ran out of sandwiches half way through the flight and there was no other option for people but to just sit there-grin and bear it. I feel that I have been cheated. I bought tickets which in no way could be considered low cost.

AMS-YUL and JFK-AMS economy comfort. Out on refurbished MD 11 very comfortable seating friendly and staff. Interesting catering concept - small portions but good quality and packaging. Self service drinks. From JFK on B777 with 3x3x3 seating. First 5 or 6 rows are economy comfort with 4 inches of extra legroom. KLM charges 80 euros extra for this section - but onboard the crew has no issue with passengers re-seating themselves into this section which seems unfair to those that have paid for the privilege. Purser explained to me that it is KLM's policy to not enforce seating assignments meaning its free for all. Very strange while other airlines are perfectly well able to keep passengers in their dedicated section.