Airline Review: LOT long haul Business Class
The LOT long haul Business Class offers a decent experience for flights between Europe and Asia as well as North America. While not outstanding, I’d say that LOT offers a good value for the money. Learn more about what to expect in this extensive airline review!
I’ve already had the chance to fly with various different Star Alliance airlines in Business Class in the last years. While LOT Polish Airlines isn’t considered as one of the best options in this alliance, I was reallyin the experience, especially compared to my flights in the Lufthansa long haul Business Class, the Swiss long haul Business Class or the Singapore Airlines long haul Business Class! I finally had the chance to fly with LOT on a flight from Warsaw to Tokyo, a flight of about 11 hours and thus perfect for trying the full LOT Polish Airlines experience!
Seating in the LOT long haul Business Class
On long haul flights, LOT operates a fleet of modern Boeing 787 dreamliners, which comes with a small business class cabin. The Boeing 787-8, which operated my flight to Tokyo, only has three rows on Business Class in a 2-2-2 configuration.
The configuration is the same as in the LATAM Business Class in the Boeing 787 as well as the Turkish Airlines Business Class in the Airbus A330.
The seats are typical forward facing business class seats, which extend to a fully flat bed, more on that later.
I’d say that the seat design in the LOT long haul Business Class is nice enough and somewhat colorful, without being impressive or anything. The seats offer a good padding and feel wide and comfortable in an upright position as well as in various relaxtion positions, which you can move the seat to.
While the seats aren’t very private, there is at least a privacy divider, which you can pull out in-between the two seats. Furhermore, there are two armrests, so there’s not the typical Economy Class fight for the armrest.
The seat pitch in the LOT Polish Airlines long haul Business Class is really good and makes it easy to stretch out.
Storage, however, is rather limited in this configuration, at least close to the seat. There’s a large ottoman, which you can use to put larger hand luggage underneath.
Then there is also a storage compartment above, in between the two seats, but you can’t reach this one when sitting.
Other storage only exists right next to the seat, where you can also find the entertainment controller, a plug and a usb charger. Yet, you should be careful here as things tend to fall into the seat mechanics when moving the seat to a flat position.
The large table folds out from the middle armrest and is very stable and good for working. It’s also easily large enough to hold a 13 inch laptop.
All in all, I’d say that the seats in the LOT long haul Business Class offer a decent comfort without being phenomenal. There are surely better Business Class seats out there, but especially when you are travelling with a companion, the LOT Business Class in the Boeing 787 isn’t bad.
Sleeping in the LOT long haul Business Class
While I don’t like that the LOT Business Class product is not very private, it’s actually quite nice for sleeping thanks to being so roomy. The bed is about two meters long and you can move freely in all directions, something not all business class seats allow.
Especially as there is no tight feet cubbie, you can really expect to sleep well (at least when other seat mates aren’t loud or watching something, because that’s hard to not realize due to the lack of privacy). Sadly, there’s not mattress pad, but the pillow and blanket are okay.
Nevertheless, the LOT bedding definitely isn’t on the same level as the bedding is in the Japan Airlines Business Class, for example.
Catering in the LOT Business Class
I wasn’t really sure what to expect in regards to catering in the LOT Business Class, so I was positively surprised that the welcome drink was served with a little amuse bouche, which was tasty.
Once in the air, I was served another drink alongside with some nuts, another positive touch.
The meal service as such consisted of two meals, lunch after take-off and breakfast before landing. Sadly, the whole process was painfully slow and it was over an hour before the starter was served.
There was no choice for the Western Menu (you can also opt for a Japanese Menu on flights to Tokyo), but the smoked duck carpaccio was tasty.
I also appreciated that the ‘seasonal salad’ served alongside the starter was creative and had some interesting ingredients.
There was also a limited choice from the bread basket, before the main dish was served. There was a choice of a lamb steak and a chicken breast and I went with the latter.
I’d say it was okay, but a tad dry. The presentation left a lot to be desired though. At least, the crew asked for alcoholic beverages for a full four times during the meal, a typical Polish touch.
For dessert, there was a cart rolled through the aisle with a few sweet choices and cheese, but I skipped this meal as we were nearly three hours into the flight at this point already.
Breakfast was served about two hours before landing and consisted of four dishes, once again without any choice on the Western menu.
Yet, I thought that everything tasted very good, including the fresh fruit, the strawberry yogurt and the selection of ham and cheese.
Aside from another selection from the bread basket, there was also a hot main dish, a broccoli souffle with tomato salsa – another tasty dish.
All in all, I’d say that the catering in the LOT Polish Airlines Business Class is good, but not outstanding. I was also quite annoyed by how slow the service was in such a small cabin as the sleep time was limited quite a bit by that.
Entertainment in the LOT Business Class in the Boeing 787
When it comes to entertainment, the LOT Business Class is fine, but not outstanding. Service in that regard started with newspapers and magazines handed out. The choice is okay and includes local editions of the destination, Poland and also international papers.
Aside from the board magazine, the other main area of entertainment is the entertainment screen on the back of the seat in front of you.
I’d say it’s rather small for Business Class, particularly combined with the fact that you are sitting quite far away from it. The resolution is okay, but not really good.
The selection of movies, tv series, shows, music etc. is rather mediocre and not comparable to what is even offered in the Emirates Economy Class, for example.
Furthermore, LOT Polish Airlines doesn’t offer WiFi in their planes, so that’s disappointing. At least the other passengers, after too much alcohol, were ‘entertaining’ of sorts as they enganged in some activity – I’ll spare you with the details.
Amenities in the LOT long haul Business Class
LOT Business Class passengers have access to two lavatories, in the front and in the back of the cabin, both were clean, but nothing special. Other than that, the amenities include slippers, headphones and an amenity kit, which looks somewhat plain.
The stuff in the amenity kit is exactly what you’d expect, from socks to eyeshades to a toothbrush to a comb. Nothing out of the ordinary, but also nothing lacking. The headphones are just okay and don’t actually offer really good noise-cancellation.
You should also be aware that slippers are not offered on all LOT long haul flights, but only thoes to Asia.
Overall impressions of the LOT long haul Business Class
The LOT long haul Business Class didn’t disappoint, but it also didn’t amaze. While the service wasn’t warm and was way too slow for a flight, where people want to sleep, everything else about the experience was totally fine. The food was tasty, the entertainment is alright and the seats are comfortable for sleeping. Sure, there could more choice for the meal services, the entertainment could be more extensive and could include WiFi and the seats could offer more privacy, but taking in account that LOT often is cheaper than many other airlines when it comes to Business Class flights, I wouldn’t hesistate to fly with them again!
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