LOT Polish Airlines Business Class To Europe For 2
Hello from Melbourne!
Let's get this out of the way upfront. LOT business class isn't an earth shattering experience. However, if a lie-flat is a priority on flights to Europe, there are a bunch of dates with space for two people out of a few airports for summer and fall travel next year.
When you consider how tough business class award space between the west coast and Europe can be, this could be quite useful out of LAX next fall.
With plenty of connections throughout Eastern Europe and cities such as Munich, Rome, etc., this could be a solid option to lock in award space.
Now, let's get into it!
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Image courtesy of Live And Let's Fly
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Straight To The Points:
Routes: EWR/JFK/LAX/ORD/YYZ-WAW
Operating airline: LOT Polish Airlines
Class of service: Business class
Dates: July - November 2023
Seats available: 2-3
Cabin layout: 2-2-2
Book with (per person, one-way):
- *Air Canada Aeroplan:
- EWR/JFK/ORD/YYZ: 70,000 points
- LAX: 90,000 points
- ANA Mileage Club: 88,000 miles (round-trip only)
- Asiana Club: 40,000 miles
- *Avianca LifeMiles: 63,000 miles
- EVA Infinity MileageLands: 65,000 miles
- Miles & More: 56,000 miles
- Singapore KrisFlyer: 81,000 miles
- Turkish Miles&Smiles: 45,000 miles
- *United MileagePlus: 77,000 miles
*No surcharges
Taxes/fees (per person):
- One-way: $5.60
- Round-trip: ~$42
- With Surcharges:
- One-way: ~$85
- Round-trip: ~$201
Bank transfer partners:
- Air Canada Aeroplan: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Marriott
- ANA Mileage Club: Amex, Marriott
- Asiana Club: Marriott
- Avianca LifeMiles: Amex, Capital One, Citi, Marriott
- EVA Infinity MileageLands: Citi, Capital One
- Singapore KrisFlyer: Amex, Chase, Citi, Capital One, Marriott
- Turkish Miles&Smiles: Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Marriott
- United MileagePlus: Bilt, Chase, Marriott
Don't forget to let me know if you book and how you did it!
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Image courtesy of Live And Let's Fly
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Flight Experience
While seats are lie-flat, this 2-2-2 business class cabin layout does not provide direct aisle access for all passengers. If you want easy aisle access without your seatmate having to climb around you, pick one of the middle seats.
As I mentioned up top, this is about getting lie-flat seat more than anything else. Personally, I wouldn't expect to be blown away by the food or service.
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Available Dates
ORD-WAW
July: 24-27, 29-31
August: 1, 5, 7-9, 12-16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 26-28
September: 4, 6, 10, 11, 15-17, 19, 20, 24-30
October: 1-4, 6, 9, 11-14, 16, 18-20, 22-25, 27, 28, 30, 31
November: 2-4, 6-11, 13-15, 17, 20-22, 24, 27-29
WAW-ORD
July: 2-6, 13
August: 22, 24, 27, 29, 31
September: 5-7, 11-14, 17, 18, 21, 22, 26, 28, 29
October: 1, 11, 12, 16, 18, 19, 26
November: 14, 21, 28, 29
JFK-WAW
August: 21-31
September: 2-6, 8-11, 15-19, 22-27, 29, 30
October: 1, 3, 9, 10, 12, 15-29, 31
November: 1-3, 5, 7-10, 12-29
WAW-JFK
September: 16, 17, 21-24, 29, 30
October: 1, 3, 5, 19, 21, 26
November: 1-4, 7-11, 14-18, 21-26, 28, 29
LAX-WAW
October: 11, 16, 23, 26, 30
November: 4, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 22, 25, 27, 29
WAW-LAX
November: 6, 11, 13, 15, 18, 22, 24, 25, 28, 29
EWR-WAW
August: 21, 23, 30, 31
September: 4, 5, 11, 19, 20, 26, 27
October: 2, 3, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16, 23, 24, 28, 29, 31
November: 2, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 21, 23, 26, 28
WAW-EWR
September: 17, 21, 24, 27, 28
October: 1, 5, 10, 13,1 4, 19, 21, 31
November: 2, 7, 9, 14, 19, 21, 23, 26, 28
YYZ-WAW
August: 1-7, 9, 10, 13-17, 19-21, 23-27, 29-31
September: 2-4, 6-21, 23-25, 27-30
October: 1, 2, 4-7, 9-20, 22-31
November: 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11-13, 15-29
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Best Ways To Book
Turkish Miles&Smiles: Great One-Way Option
At 45,000 miles one-way, Turkish provides an excellent option with reasonable surcharges. If you have Bilt, Capital One, or Citi points, I'd be inclined to utilize this option. Capital One and Citi transfer can take a day or two but you can call to put an award ticket on hold.
ANA Mileage Club: Best Round-Trip Option
If you have Amex points, 88,000 ANA miles round-trip + ~$201 taxes/fees is a great way to book. Just keep in mind the 2-3 days transfers can take as award space could disappear while you wait.
LifeMiles: Great One-Way Option, No Surcharges
LifeMiles is a solid option at 63,000 miles one-way if you have Amex, Capital One, or Citi points and want to avoid surcharges. It's even better if transferring Amex points as there's a 15% transfer bonus promo running through December 7. With the 15% bonus, you'd only need to transfer 55,000 Amex points.
Aeroplan: Best East Coast/Midwest Option With Chase
If you have Bilt or Chase points, Aeroplan has the advantage at 70,000 points one-way from/to Chicago, JFK, or Newark.
If you connect within the US or Europe, you'll quickly get bumped up into the next award tier that requires 70,000 points. If you're flying from the west coast, you'll be look at 90,000 points for a one-way.
You can include a stopover for 5,000 additional miles on a one-way award.
You can use GCmap to calculate your total flight distance and double-check Aeroplan's zone-based chart.
United MileagePlus: Best West Coast Option With Chase
From LAX or with some itineraries include connections, United's 77,000 miles one-way will be a better option than 90,000 Aeroplan points if you are going to transfer Bilt or Chase points.
If you book a round-trip award ticket, you can use United's Excursionist Perk (a free one-way flight within a single region) to see another city in Europe. Practically speaking, this is United's stopover program.
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Image courtesy of Live And Let's Fly
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How To Book
Unfortunately, United has removed the once useful flexible search option that allowed you to see a snapshot of award space for two months. However, you can still see a calendar of 30 days (even if it's not always accurate).
- From United's homepage, select Advanced search
- Choose to show price in miles
- Enter the origin & destination
- Select your dates or choose Flexible dates
- Select nonstop
- Select the number of passengers
- Select Business
- Show flights from "Star Alliance airlines"
- Run the search
- Transfer points (if necessary)
- Log into your account
- Run the search again
- Complete the booking
Once you know the exact dates you want, you can run the search with the program you'll be using to book. As always, I recommend confirming the program you're using sees the award space before you transfer points.
If you want to use Turkish miles, you can call 800-874-8875 to put space on hold then pay the taxes/fees.
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Final Thoughts
While western Europe gets more attention, Poland is worth a visit. While you're there, I recommend booking a tour of both Auschwitz and Birkenau. It's a tough but valuable experience that it's important to have.
Happy Booking!
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