Budapest (BUD) – Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
DEP 11:15 PM ARR 2:30 PM (Significantly delayed)
Duration: 10h 15m
Seat number: 3E & 3F (aisle & window)
Aircraft: Dreamliner 787-8
Miles Redeemed:
70,000 United Miles + $126.04 USD
63,000 LifeMiles + $76.07 USD
The Verdict
PROS: Large and huge seats with a lot of legroom and space, comfortable lie-flat bed and Business Class cabin. Good customer service from the crew. Cool window shades change color.
CONS: Mediocre food, lack of lounges after the passport control, delayed flight and so-so amenity kits.
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| LOT Polish Airlines LO31 Business Class Boeing 787-8 |
Miles Booking
For my companion, I redeemed 140,000 United miles for his round-trip business class flights from US to Europe. I was also able to take advantage of the United excursion perk on a round-trip award ticket so his leg from Paris to Warsaw in business class was 0 miles required. If you want to use United miles for this specific flight, it will require 70,000 miles + taxes. His flight ended up like this:
- SEA – FRA – CDG Paris (stop over a few days) Business Class – 70,000 United miles
- CDG – Warsaw Business Class – 0 miles
- Budapest – ORD Business Class – 70,000 United miles
As for me, I transferred Citi ThankYou points to LifeMiles to redeem for this award ticket. It’s worth mentioning that unfortunately Aeroplan currently still cannot book LOT Polish Airlines flights. Aeroplan only charges 55,000 Aeroplan miles plus small taxes. So my next option was to redeem 63,000 Avianca LifeMiles + $76.07 USD for LOT Polish Airlines flight Business Class instead.
Check-In & Security
We arrived at the Budapest airport terminal 2A two hours before our flight time. After figuring out which counter to check in, we proceeded accordingly. However, it was confusing as there was no sign for Business Class lane at the check-in counter, but after looking around for a few minutes, we managed to find it. We were going to proceed with checking in for our flights but got stoped by a gentleman with a small podium before the check-in counter. He was there to ask security questions such as who packed your bags, etc. It is a typical process when flying from abroad into the United States, but we didn’t expect it to take place at the check-in area. After that was completed, we received our boarding passes. We proceeded to the security A. There’s a security Fast Track lane for business class passengers. Afterwards, we were on our way to the lounge.
Lounges
At the Budapest airline, LOT Business Class passengers have access to both Menzies Aviation Lounge and SkyCourt Lounge. Here is my full review on both lounges at the Budapest airport for LOT Polish Airlines Business Class passengers.
The SkyCourt lounge appears to be much better option than the Menzies Aviation lounge. However, as stated in my review, because both lounges are located in the A gates area only, we didn’t stay at the SkyCourt lounge too long because the A gates are located before the passport control. Therefore, after eating and drinking at the lounge, we continued on to the passport control and proceeded to the C gates area where our flight was departing from.
Fortunately there’s another lounge in the B & C gate areas called Platinum. The lounge appears to be contracted for One World airlines and since we were flying with LOT Polish Airlines, a Star Alliance member, we could not use our LOT business class ticket’s privilege to access it. However, we also had the Priority Pass card with us and the Platinum lounge accepted it, so we were able to get in. The Platinum lounge is very small and pretty basic type of lounge, but it is located after the passport control and then just a short walk to the C gates area.
Pre-Boarding & Boarding
Our flight got delayed for ridiculous more than 5 hours long due to a technical issue. The flight attendant let me know that the aircraft needed a part that they had to fly to Warsaw to get the part replaced. It was never fun when flight is delayed but we were glad LOT took passengers’ safety seriously. Right when the flight got delayed more than 3 hours long, the LOT agent at the gate started handing out the EU rule in regards to compensation when flight is delayed more than 3 hours long. I have since then filed the claim to ask for the compensation and got approved for a total of 1,200 Euro for both of us.
When it was time to board, there was again no Business Class lane or even a telecom announcement. We had to be closer to the gate’s agent to hear what was said. Before they scanned our passport, there was the same security agent guy asking us again if we left our bags unattended, etc. It seems silly really to us, but no big deal!
To get to our Dreamliner 787 plane, we had to take a shuttle to it. It was nice that there’s one exclusive shuttle was mainly for premium and business class passengers, however, we still had to wait until all the other shuttles were full for other passengers. Upon arrival at the aircraft, every passengers had to board through the first door that goes to business class, premium economy, economy, etc.
LOT 787-8 Dreamliner Seats & Lie-flat Bed
There are a total of 18 Business Class seats with 2-2-2 configurations. The configuration is not very friendly towards solo travelers. However, if you are traveling with someone, you will appreciate that 2-2-2 configurations.
The Business Class wasn’t full at all, the middle seats were not taken. Flight attendant even offered us to switch to another seat if we’d like, but we didn’t take up the offer because the seats worked out great for us traveling together. The leg room and space in each business class seat are huge so we did not feel like cramped at all.
The overall impression of the LOT Business Class seats on the 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft is superb. The big XL seat feels very spacious and of course has plenty of legroom. It was very comfortable and anyone that has claustrophobia like me will very much appreciate it. Also, although the configuration is staggered seats together, the Business Class cabin feels very spacious up at the nose of the aircraft.
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| Seats 3E & 3F |
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| Sandals in Business Class 🙂 |
The seat does also turns into a lie-flat position. Pillow and blanket were provided at the seat along with a sheet. The seat control is in the middle of both seats. I comfortably took a quick nap after the meal service. The window shade can be controlled with a button right underneath each window. It changes the color to blue when the shade is on so that was quite interesting.
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| The window shade can be controlled with a button right underneath each window. It changes the color to blue when the shade is – how cool is that! |
Food & Drinks
The lack of good lounges with good food at the Budapest airport and because the flight was delayed for several hours, we were a little bit hungry. When you are hungry, everything tastes great.
We found that the food offered in LOT Polish Airlines Business Class were good but not the best. Between the Goose Liver and soup for appetizer, we picked the soup. It also comes with a small plate of salad. For the main entree, we chose the Turkey breast roll filled with chive cheese cream and dried tomatoes in cheese sauce. During the meal service, we were also offered assortments of breads. Then last but not least, the two flight attendants rolled out a cart that was full of cheese, ice cream, strawberry, chocolate cakes, and fruit plates. I took the ice cream and strawberry cake while my companion took the chocolate cake.
For drinks, LOT Polish Airlines has several kinds of white and red wine. We were offered a light snack and champagne before taking off. During meal, I had vodka and Pepsi cocktail while my travel companion just had a couple glasses of champagne because they didn’t have tonic water that he wanted. I also asked for green tea to go with my dessert. All in all, we got full and relaxed quickly afterwards.
Here’s the menu after take-off and before landing:
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| LOT Polish Airlines Business Class Before Landing Menu |
Service
The service of the 3 crew members in LOT Polish Airlines Business Class deserve compliments. They were very nice and provided good customer service. I didn’t expect much of service when it comes to business class really after my experience with SAS that the crew members were blah. LOT’s flight attendants did a good job on serving us during the meal service and whenever in need so kudos to all of them!
Amenities
Conclusion
All in all, we were very please with our experience with LOT Polish Airlines Business Class. Although the flight was significantly delayed for more than 5 hours, we were excited to wait for our onboard experience with the 787 Dreamliner with the help of the Platinum lounge that’s accessible with our Priority Pass card. Best of all, we even got compensated with a huge amount of money due to the delay and EU’s regulation and we only used miles to redeem for those business class seats. The lack of lounge access for Business Class passengers at the Budapest airport before the passport control is disappointing. The food selection is mediocre, but the crew’s service is superb and the business class seats are so huge that provide so much space and comfort for a long 10 hours flight from Budapest to Chicago.
