We flew LOT Polish Airlines business class from Toronto to Warsaw on the 787, booked with 75,800 Aeroplan points each. It was the better half of a round trip that also included Lufthansa in the opposite direction for 70,000 points — and the gap between the two was wide enough to be the most useful thing I learned on the whole trip.
Short version: LOT beat expectations comfortably. Genuinely good service, a seat with real width, and a full multi-course meal off a proper trolley. Lufthansa, on nearly identical points, did not come close.
The quick answer
- Route: Atlanta to Warsaw via Toronto — Air Canada to YYZ, then LOT’s 787 across
- Cost: 75,800 Aeroplan points per person, one way, whole itinerary
- Round trip total: 145,800 Aeroplan points per person, returning on Lufthansa
- What we actually transferred: ~121,500 Chase Ultimate Rewards points each, thanks to a 20% transfer bonus
- Cabin: 2-2-2, fully flat
- Best seats: row 2, not row 1 — see below
What it cost, and the 20% bonus that made it cheaper
Aeroplan prices every award one way, so the round trip came to 145,800 points per person: 75,800 outbound on LOT plus CA$88, and 70,000 back on Lufthansa. Taxes on the return were CA$368.80 for the two of us.
Two things worth reading off that search. The award is a mixed cabin — the Atlanta to Toronto leg is economy on Air Canada Express, operated by Jazz, and only the transatlantic is business. If you are picturing a lie-flat seat for the whole journey, that is not what this is.
The other is the comparison sitting right there in the app: economy started at 40,000 points and business at 75,800. Under twice the points for a flat bed across the Atlantic is a good trade in almost anyone’s book, and it is the sort of thing worth checking before you default to the cheaper cabin.
The part worth copying is what we transferred. Chase Ultimate Rewards moves to Aeroplan at 1:1, and there was a 20% transfer bonus running when we booked. So instead of moving 145,800 Chase points, we moved about 121,500 — the bonus covered the remaining 24,300.
That is the whole lesson in one number. Transfers are one-way and final, and moving the same points a week earlier would have cost 24,300 more for an identical booking. It is worth understanding when a transfer bonus is actually worth using before you move anything to any airline.
For scale: LOT sells business class on this route anywhere from roughly $1,500 round trip on discounted consolidator fares up to around $4,800 on published fares, so it is worth checking cash prices for your own dates before deciding whether the points are the better deal.
Getting there: Atlanta, Toronto, and a positioning flight
We started at the Amex Centurion Lounge in Atlanta, which remains one of the better lounges in the US network and an easy way to start a long trip properly.
From there it was Air Canada Express up to Toronto, operated by Jazz — a regional jet with a 2-2 cabin, unremarkable, and entirely fine for the length. Aeroplan folding that positioning leg into the same award is one of the quieter advantages of booking through them, even if it does mean the first leg is economy.
Toronto gave us time in the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge before the transatlantic, which is the connection working as intended rather than a scramble between terminals.
The cabin — and the seat tip worth knowing
LOT’s 787 business cabin is laid out 2-2-2. It is not the newest configuration flying, and if you are travelling solo you will be sitting next to someone. Travelling as a pair, it is genuinely pleasant — you get a companion seat rather than being separated by an aisle.
Here is the thing I would not have known without sitting there: pick row 2 over row 1. From row 2 back, your screen is set into the shell of the seat in front, so it sits directly ahead of you at a natural viewing distance. Row 1 has no seat in front — so its screen is built into the divider between the two seats, meaning it sits beside you rather than ahead of you.
Do not be fooled by the screen you can see up on the bulkhead in these photos either. That one is a generic route tracker for the cabin, not a passenger monitor. The front row looks like the premium pick when you are choosing seats, and on this aircraft it is not.
Seat width was the other surprise. These are wide seats by any standard, and noticeably more generous than what we had on the return.
The food, which is where LOT really separated itself
Service started before pushback with champagne and an amuse-bouche while the crew laid out bedding. The menu arrived printed properly, in Polish and English.
It was a genuine multi-course affair rather than a tray. First course was smoked mackerel and marinated shrimp with mango salsa, or asparagus cream soup, followed by a seasonal salad. Three mains: chicken breast with tarragon sauce and vegetable ratatouille, beef tenderloin with mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables, or a paneer korma with rice and blanched spinach.
We both started with the asparagus cream soup, which came out properly hot with a side salad alongside — and on real china with LOT-branded glassware, not the plastic you sometimes get in the back half of business.
For mains we ordered differently, which meant we got to try more of the menu. My wife had the beef tenderloin with mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables.
I went for the paneer korma, half expecting the usual vegetarian afterthought, and it turned out to be a properly made dish — real sauce, rice and blanched spinach, not a reheated compromise. If you are vegetarian, this is a menu that has actually thought about you.
Then dessert, and this is the detail that stuck with me. There were five to choose from — seasonal fruit salad, tiramisu, mango charlotte cake, vanilla and chocolate mousse, ice cream — plus a cheese selection of cheddar, brie and gouda. They came off a linen-covered trolley wheeled down the aisle and plated in front of you.
That is restaurant-style service on a transatlantic flight, and it is not what I expected from a mid-size European carrier. Coffee followed, again in china.
Breakfast before landing was hot and properly composed rather than the usual cold tray: an omelette with cheese, hashbrown and grilled vegetables, with a cheese plate, yoghurt and fresh fruit alongside.
The small stuff
Two details worth flagging, one in each direction. The hot towel before departure was noticeably thin — the sort of thing that costs nothing to get right and that better carriers do get right. It is a small gripe and it did not affect the flight, but it is the one place the product felt like it was saving money.
In the other direction: the lavatory has a fold-down baby changing table. Otherwise it is a standard business class lavatory, nothing special. But if you are flying long-haul with an infant, that single fixture decides a lot about how the flight goes, and it is almost never listed anywhere you can check before booking.
The bed
The seat goes fully flat, with a mattress pad, a proper pillow and a duvet rather than the thin blanket you often get. Both of us slept, which on an overnight eastbound is the only review criterion that really matters.
LOT versus Lufthansa on the same points
We came home Kraków to Frankfurt to Atlanta on Lufthansa, also on Aeroplan, for 70,000 points each — within 6,000 points of the outbound. It was a markedly worse experience.
That receipt is the return leg specifically: 140,000 points for the two of us, so 70,000 each, plus CA$368.80 in taxes. The LOT outbound was booked separately at 75,800 each.
The likely explanation is not the airline but the aircraft. The LOT flight was a 787. The Lufthansa transatlantic was an A330-300, one of the oldest long-haul business products in their fleet, where the window seats do not have direct aisle access.
That is the practical takeaway from the whole trip: on Aeroplan, check the metal before you spend the points. Two Star Alliance options to Europe at almost the same price delivered very different flights, and the difference was visible in the aircraft type at the time of booking. A full write-up of the Lufthansa leg is coming separately.
Warsaw to Kraków: the bit the award does not cover
The Aeroplan award ended in Warsaw, not Kraków. Rather than force the award all the way through, we bought a cheap separate cash ticket for the short WAW–KRK hop. On Aeroplan that is often the right call — routing an award into a secondary city can cost more points than simply buying the domestic leg outright.
From there it was four nights at Hyatt Place Kraków at 3,000 points a night, which made the whole trip an unusually cheap week in Europe.
Who should book this
- Couples. The 2-2-2 layout is a genuine advantage if you are travelling together, and a drawback if you are not.
- Anyone with Chase points. Aeroplan takes Chase transfers at 1:1, and Chase points are the easiest of the major currencies to accumulate. Aeroplan has also been getting more useful for hotels, which makes it a better place to park points than it was a year ago.
- Anyone heading to Central or Eastern Europe. Warsaw is a far better connecting point for the region than the big Western European hubs, and LOT’s short-haul network out of it is extensive.
FAQ
How many Aeroplan points is LOT business class to Warsaw?
We paid 75,800 points per person one way from Toronto, including an Air Canada positioning flight from Atlanta. Aeroplan prices awards one way and by distance, so your figure will vary with your departure city.
Can you transfer Chase points to Aeroplan?
Yes, Chase Ultimate Rewards transfers to Aeroplan at 1:1. We moved ours during a 20% transfer bonus, which cut roughly 121,500 Chase points into 145,800 Aeroplan points for the round trip.
What is the best seat in LOT 787 business class?
Row 2. From row 2 back, the screen is set into the shell of the seat in front, directly ahead of you. In row 1 there is no seat in front, so the screen is built into the divider between the two seats and ends up beside you rather than ahead. The screen visible on the bulkhead is a communal route tracker, not a passenger monitor.
Is LOT business class better than Lufthansa?
On our trip, clearly yes — but the fairer comparison is 787 versus A330-300. We flew LOT’s 787 outbound and Lufthansa’s older A330 home for a similar number of points, and the aircraft explains most of the difference.
Does the award include the flight to Kraków?
Ours ended at Warsaw. We bought a separate cash ticket for the Warsaw to Kraków leg, which worked out cheaper than routing the award through.
The bottom line
LOT is not the first airline most people think of for a transatlantic business class redemption, and after flying it I think that is a mistake. The seat is wide, the bed is a real bed, the food is well above the category average, and the service was the best part.
At 75,800 Aeroplan points — or about 63,000 Chase points with a transfer bonus running — it is one of the more sensible ways into Europe from North America. Just take row 2, and check what aircraft you are getting before you transfer anything.
