Star Alliance member LOT Polish Airlines surprises with an excellent business class fare with departure from Istanbul. The airline sells tickets to Chicago for as little as €1,197 with a change of planes in Poland. New York is also available for just €200 more.
Our availability calendar highlights all possible flight dates at the lowest price for trips up to 28 days. It will forward you to LOT via our flight search with your selected flight dates. You can also check what OTAs have to offer, as they sell these tickets up to €30 cheaper.
We have limited our search to the most convenient connections with one stop in each direction and less than 20 hours travel time. If you are willing to spend more time in Krakow or Warsaw, you can find almost daily availability at the lowest fare.
Flights between Istanbul and Poland are Embrear 195 or Boeing 737 services. You will enjoy LOT’s European business class product, which guarantees an empty seat next to you. A Boeing 787 Dreamliner takes you across the Atlantic, with lie-flat-seats in a 2-2-2 seating pattern.
The Polish airline LOT only has one long-haul aircraft type, the Boeing 787 (Dreamliner) – thus every flight will have the exact same seats. Everything is slightly above average, except the seat alignment (2-2-2), which doesn’t offer direct access to the aisle for the window seats. A further disadvantage of flying with LOT: There’s no Wi-Fi, even if you’d be willing to pay for it. So, if you intend to work (with internet access) during the flight, you should choose a different airline. LOT is, however, very generous with its baggage allowance (3 x 32 kg).
Search & Book
The fare rules give no travel or sales period. A minimum stay of six days or a night from Saturday to Sunday applies to get the lowest fare. You can find these fare in September and October 2023.
Google Flights helps you find additional flight dates, especially when easing the filters. We recommend buying premium tickets directly with the airline, in this case on LOT’s website.
Why is booking with an airline better than with an online travel agency?
More often than not, online travel agencies offer lower fares than airlines do. We still recommend booking with the airlines directly. There are two main reasons for that:
Better Customer Service
In case any problems like delays, cancellations or missed connections arise, you can communicate directly with the airline. The airline has to take care of you because you have a contract with them.
If a travel agency issues your ticket, you may have to reach out to them first. You also depend on your OTA to forward information like flight changes instead of receiving them directly from the airline. In many cases, you may get a prime exhibition of responsibility shifting rather than problem-solving.
This especially applies to premium tickets. You don’t want to spend more than €1,000 to wind up with some budget OTA’s telephone hotline in case anything goes wrong.
Baggage and Other Fees
Economy fares not including hold luggage are industry standard by now. In most cases, travel agencies charge much higher baggage fees than the airlines themselves. If bags are not included in your fare, airlines are often the cheaper alternative.
This also applies to other things like food services, insurances or priority treatment. In almost all cases, you pay less for additional amenities when booking on the airlines’ website.
Mileage
LOT issues tickets for all flight segments in booking class F. Star Alliance frequent flyers can earn the following mileage for a roundtrip to Chicago via Warsaw:
- 15,278 Miles on Ethiopian ShebaMiles
- 12,730 Miles on Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 10,694 Miles on Aegean Miles+Bonus
- 10,184 Award Miles + 1,702 PQP on United MileagePlus
- 10,184 Miles on Asiana Club
- 10,184 Miles on Air Canada Aeroplan
- 10,184 Miles on EVA Infinity MileageLands
- 10,184 Miles on Copa ConnectMiles
- 10,184 Points on SAS EuroBonus
- 10,184 Miles on Singapore KrisFlyer
- 10,184 Miles on Thai Royal Orchid Plus
- 10,184 Miles on TAP Miles&Go
- 10,184 Miles on Avianca LifeMiles
- 10,184 Miles on ANA Mileage Club
- 10,184 Miles on Egyptair Plus
Since different routings and destinations are possible, you might want to use our mileage calculator for better results:
Thanks to our source YHBU!
Cover Picture: © LOT Polish Airlines
Comments (2)
Hi,
Looks like the described fare doesn’t exist any more.
Regards.
Hi Nicolas! It seems you are right. Thanks for pointing that out!