How We Flew LOT Business Class to Our Wedding in Europe

For our wedding in Tuscany this summer, we had one particularly important piece of luggage to get to Europe: the wedding dress.

It was very expensive, and having it crushed in an overhead bin or damaged in transit was not an option. We decided to fly business class so we would have more space and, hopefully, a crew that could help us take care of it.

There was one problem. I started looking for flights around February, only a few months before the wedding. For points travel to Europe in summer, that is pretty late.

Finding LOT Business Class for 70,000 points

Most of the award options I wanted were already gone. Then I found LOT Polish Airlines from Chicago to Warsaw for 70,000 Aeroplan points plus about $75 in fees.

I had heard mixed things about LOT Business Class, and it was one of the few airlines where I kept finding availability.

At that point, I was willing to give it a try. I had accumulated quite a few Chase points from wedding expenses. Large wedding bills made it much easier to hit sign-up bonuses on Chase business cards.

I combined those Ultimate Rewards points into my Chase Sapphire Preferred account and transferred them to Air Canada Aeroplan. Chase allows you to combine Ultimate Rewards across your own eligible cards, and Aeroplan is a 1:1 Chase transfer partner.

So the booking was:

• Route: Chicago O'Hare to Warsaw
• Airline: LOT Polish Airlines
• Aircraft: Boeing 787-8
• Class: Business
• Cost: 70,000 Aeroplan points
• Fees: About $75

The points math

When I was booking, the one-way business-class ticket was selling for roughly $4,000. I would never value the redemption at $4,000, because a round-trip business-class ticket could realistically be purchased for around $5,000. So I valued our one-way ticket at roughly half of that, or $2,500.

That gives:

$2,500 / 70,000 points = 3.6 cents per point

I will happily take 3.6 cpp, especially during peak summer travel.

The new LOT lounge at O'Hare

The trip started surprisingly well. LOT opened its own lounge in Chicago O'Hare Terminal 5 in December 2024. Business-class passengers get access with their ticket. The lounge has large windows overlooking the apron, plenty of seating, and a buffet with Polish food including things like pierogi.

LOT lounge in Chicago - Photo credit: RGS

LOT's 787-8 Business Class seat

The LOT 787-8 Business Class cabin definitely shows its age.

The seats are arranged 2-2-2, with limited privacy and no direct aisle access from every seat. They convert into fully flat beds. If I were traveling alone, I would care more about the lack of privacy. Traveling with my wife, I actually liked the setup.

LOT business cabin - Photo credit: RGS

The seats feel very spacious, especially around your feet. Many newer business-class seats squeeze your legs into a small footwell. LOT gives you a huge open area instead. For sleeping next to someone you are traveling with, it worked really well. The amenity kit was top-notch, I kept the sleeping mask!

The food was excellent

I had fairly low expectations for the food. Then came the artichoke soup… I am still thinking about that soup. Dinner was genuinely excellent, and after the main meal the crew rolled out a dessert cart. I have mostly associated that kind of service with airlines like Turkish.

artichoke soup on LOT - Photo credit: RGS

After dinner, the purser walked through the cabin carrying a bottle and offering everyone:

"A little cherry vodka for a good night's sleep."

At that point I was fully converted to LOT.

Dinner on LOT - Photo credit: RGS

Entertainment and Wi-Fi

The entertainment system on our 787-8 felt very dated, and ours was barely functioning. Our aircraft also had no Wi-Fi. For this particular flight, I did not care. I had zero intention of working.

We slept almost all the way to Warsaw and landed feeling surprisingly refreshed. Warsaw itself was considerably less refreshing. We walked off the plane into a brutal summer heatwave.

Would I fly LOT Business Class again?

For an overnight flight to Europe with two people, absolutely.

You get:

• a fully flat bed
• a lot of personal space
• good food
• excellent service
• a great lounge in Chicago

The 2-2-2 seat would be less appealing to me traveling alone.

For a daytime flight back to the United States, I would also prioritize a product where I can comfortably work for most of the flight. That is exactly what we did on the way home. We flew Iberia's newer A350 Premium Economy, which ended up being a great setup for a daytime flight where I wanted to open my laptop and get things done.

For the overnight flight to our wedding, LOT was exactly what we needed. I booked LOT because it was available. I would book it again because of the experience. Safe to say, I liked it a “LOT”!