With the growth of its Boeing 787 fleet, LOT Polish Airlines has expanded its long-haul network out of Warsaw to include destinations such as Tokyo and Singapore. Separately, using the Dreamliner, it has also launched routes out of Budapest to the United States.
While I considered flying LOT to Tokyo a couple of times before, it never came to fruition. As such, I was glad when I got the chance to try the LOT 787 earlier this year on a flight from Warsaw to Singapore thanks to a very cheap (less than $1,000 roundtrip) business class fare.
Continue reading this review to see what the flight was like.
Transit in Warsaw and Boarding LOT Flight 67
After arriving in Warsaw from Copenhagen in the morning and spending the day in the city, I headed back to the airport around 6PM.
Since I already had the boarding pass for this flight, I headed straight through security. While the regular line had maybe one or two people in it, for the sake of this review, I decided to walk towards the end of the terminal and go through the fast track security which was deserted as well.
Airside, I visited LOT’s Polonez lounge in the Schengen area before making my way through passport control and into Mazurek lounge – the airline’s lounge in the non-Schengen area.
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I left the lounge at 10:05PM and went to gate 15N where boarding was scheduled to start at 10:15PM. As the boarding time approached, though, the boarding time was pushed back to 10:35PM.
Then, it was changed to 10:40PM, and an announcement was made that the flight would be delayed by about 30 minutes due to operational reasons.
The boarding time on the display above the gate changed two more times – to 10:50PM and 11:00PM – before the boarding actually begun at 10:56PM.
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LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 787-8 Business Class Cabin
Given that I was one of the first passengers to board, I got to snap some photos of the small – 18 seat – business class cabin before it got full.
LOT uses standard full-flat seats arranged in a “2-2-2” configuration. As such, not all seats offer direct aisle access, and they lack a bit in privacy.
However, when it comes to sleeping – as I will talk about further in this review – I think they are much more comfortable than the newer staggered and reverse-herringbone seats. And, I think they don’t get as much credit as they deserve on many aviation blogs.
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Upon boarding, there were an amenity kit and a set of bedding that included a bed sheet, a comforter, and a pillow waiting on the seat.
A very low-quality noise-cancelling headset was ready in a compartment in the seatback in front. And, there was a bottle of water in a storage compartment under one of the armrests.
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As for the seat itself, most of the features could be found on the console between each pair of seats. There was a small counter where one could place drinks, cell phone, and so on, next to which the simple-to-use seat controls could be found.
Then, there was an armrest under which there were a bottle holder, the in-flight entertainment remote control, the audio port, as well as universal power and USB ports. There was also a button that would raise the armrest a bit, thus slightly increasing privacy when sleeping.
Finally, there was a reading light.
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The seatback in front of me housed the IFE screen, a coat hook, and the headset storage compartment.
There was also an ottoman with a larger storage space that was too small to fit a carry-on bag, but was good for storing the bedding when not in use, etc., and a shoe compartment underneath.
When the seat was in full-flat mode, the ottoman was, of course, part of the “bed.”
Lastly, between each pair of ottomans, there was a magazine rack where all the printed matter like the safety card and in-flight magazine could be found.
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Departing Warsaw Bound for Singapore
Once I settled down in my seat, I was brought a napkin and a packaged wet tissue. Not long after that, a welcome drink from a selection of Champagne, water, and orange juice followed.
With me going for the orange juice, and the lady sitting next to me opting for both the water and the Champagne, I managed to get all three of them in the photo below.
Besides the welcome drink, a salmon and cream cheese amuse-bouche was served as well.
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Then, newspapers and menus were handed out – and not long after that, one of the crew members came to take my meal order.
From the menu below, I opted for the soup and fried salmon. I also asked to be woken up two hours before landing to have the breakfast.
By the time boarding was completed at 11:24PM, the business class cabin was completely full.
With everyone onboard, the captain welcomed us onboard via the PA and mentioned that we were expecting a flight time of ten hours and thirty minutes.
Just a couple of minutes after that, the cabin crew armed the doors, and the safety video was played as we were pushed back.
We took off at 11:44PM.
LOT Polish Airlines Long-Haul Business Class Dinner
The seatbelt signs were switched off about ten minutes after take-off at which point the cabin lights were switched back on, and the crew distributed Singaporean immigration forms.
Twenty minutes past midnight, the meal service started with the cabin crew distributing hot towels and setting up the tray tables with table cloths. Before the actual meal, a choice of nuts or rice crackers (I went with the latter) and drink (I went with Pepsi Max) was served.
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Then, the crew served the salmon appetizers to those that ordered it, and provided salad, bread, condinements, and cutlery to those that ordered the soup – including me.
The carrot and sweet potato cream soup with croutons itself followed just a couple of minutes later. While it was very tasty, unfortunately, it was not heated enough which brought the overall impression of it down a bit.
Once I was finished with the soup and the salad, both of the plates were promptly cleared, and the main was served. The salmon was tender, and the mash potatoes and vegetables were good enough – and so it made for a decent meal.
By the time the main was cleared, it was around 1AM, and while I tried to resist eating a dessert, it was difficult given that it was presented on a cart. And so, instead of zero desserts, I got two – mango mousse which was excellent and a fruit plate.
After the dessert, the cabin crew went around offering sweet Polish vodka for digestif which I politely declined.
Before continuing, if you are wondering, below is what the drink menu looked like.
LOT Polish Airlines 787-8 Business Class Bed
With the meal (and a duty free shopping round) done, I paid a quick visit to the bathroom, and then I made my bed, put the partition between the seats up, and went to sleep.
As mentioned in the beginning of the article, the seat was very comfortable for sleeping as there was no footwell to bang your feet against. Furthermore, because of how solid the seat was and because part of the bed was made out of the ottoman, I found it more comfortable to sleep on than the full-flat seats without ottoman that, for example, Qatar Airways uses.
All in all, I managed to sleep for almost seven hours more or less non-stop.
LOT Polish Airlines Long-Haul Business Class Pre-Landing Meal
Immediately after waking up – around 3:20PM Singapore time – I received a cold tower from one of the cabin crew members in preparation for the pre-landing meal.
The meal itself followed about fifteen minutes later and was served on a single tray which consisted of the items listed on the menu below.
A couple of minutes after the tray was served, tea and bread were served separately.
LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 787-8 In-Flight Entertainment System
Rewinding back a little, while I was waiting for the meal to be served, I took a look around LOT’s in-flight entertainment system.
While the system could be controlled using the touchscreen function as well, given that it was far from the seat, I opted to use the remote control instead. Unlike some other systems, it was quite responsive.
The IFE system was available in eight languages, although not all content was – of course – available in all languages.
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There were dozens of movies in a variety of categories, as well as some TV shows. As for the TV shows, as is usual with most airlines, there were only two or three episodes of each.
As far as audio was concerned, there were dozens of albums, as well as some audio books.
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Finally, there was also an in-flight map which offered several different views as well as the option to automatically scroll through each of them.
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The one thing I have to note here – and the biggest downside of in-flight entertainment – is the headset that was provided, as it was of very low quality and its connector was broken.
Arriving at Singapore Changi Airport
Going back to the flight itself, once I was done with the pre-landing meal, I filled out the immigration form, and then watched a couple of episodes of The Big Bang Theory – my go-to onboard TV show.
Around 4:25PM, the cabin crew went around the cabin distributing chocolates, and five minutes later, the captain announced that we would be starting our descent in a couple of minutes, had about 45 minutes left in the flight, and that it was 30 degrees in Singapore.
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We started descending at 4:40PM, and eight minutes later, the seatbelt signs were switched on.
We landed at 5:11PM, and arrived at our parking gate at 5:23PM – two minutes ahead of schedule.
7 thoughts on “Review: LOT 787-8 Business Class from Warsaw to Singapore”
Wow, thats very usefull review, very detiled, maybe i miss only the general impresion of the flight.
I did few flights with LOT to Tokio and NY and really like the experience, especially the flat bed and food/drink service.
Dear Keishi, thanks for your business with us, and choosing LOT. Thank you for your valuable feedback and your comments and observations. We’re soon planing to replace current headphones with the new ones, which I hope, will suit you better.
Faithfully
Krzysztof Moczulski
Product Director
Dear Sir,
Thank you for listening to KN Aviation. I hope Lot Polish will change the Noise Cancelling Headphones to a better one. Flying long haul really need a very good noise cancelling headphones.
Thank you very much for that helpful review. I am in choice between Turkish Airlines and LOT for Business Class from Munich to Singapore now. Since I have a lot of bad experience with TK, I will choose LOT based on your review.
that’s a mistake, Turkish has bigger longer seats and better service
Hello Keishi,
Nice review on Lot Polish Business Class. Enjoyed reading it very much. I’m very happy and agree with you, pointing out the “Noise Cancelling Headphones”. Many airlines never pay attention this small detail which is very IMPORTANT in today flying World. LOT POLISH Business Class seats are already very good if not better.
I flew the LOT business a few times from Warsaw to LAX and back and each time I found the seat not to be comfortable, unlike what you describe. The plane itself is too small for such a long flight and the bed is too small/short. I, like most Europeans am taller and my legs are too long for the bed and so I had to try and sleep with knees bent which was uncomfortable. I didn’t have this problem with Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss or Turkish because they use larger, better planes with larger seats which are better than this boeing 787-8. I am not a fan of this airplane at all.