LOT E195 Business Class Review: Madrid to Warsaw
Each time I get to try a new airline, airplane, or product, I get really excited, and this time was no different. It was my first time flying LOT Polish Airlines.
LOT E195 Business Class Madrid to Warsaw
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Flight Details (LO434)
- Airline: LOT Polish Airlines, LO
- Aircraft: Embraer E195LR, SP-LNC
- Flight Number: LO434
- Seat: 2A
- Class: Business Class (Europe)
- Origin: Madrid Barajas (MAD Terminal 2), Spain
- Destination: Warsaw (WAW), Poland
Check-in
My flight was at 15:30, but I woke up early to prepare the final pieces of luggage and get some breakfast before checking out Aloft Hotel Madrid. I checked in online:
I called a Bolt, which in my experience, has been better than Cabify lately, and after a short 20-minute ride, I was already at Barajas Terminal 2.
At the airport (Madrid Barajas T2)
Once entering the terminal, I saw that the counters for LOT were 500-530, passing all the 400-460 first.
The check-in had already started, and there was some line for the economy, but not too bad (about 40 people. There was no line for business class, so it took no time. My luggage was checked through to Arlanda, and I saw the agent adding two stickers, one for priority and the other for short connection (50 minutes). Our flight was leaving from gate D60, and we had access to the Alcalá lounge (managed by Anna)
I got the boarding passes printed and went straight to security. Barajas has separate Fast Track / VIP security lanes in all terminals, and they are usually quite smooth. I got to use those in Terminals 1 and 4, but never on Terminal 3 until this flight.
We waited in line for a few minutes, as one of the machines was broken, and then went down the stairs and through the security checkpoint. The whole process took less than a minute.
Alcalá VIP Lounge
After you pass through security, you are right next to gates D60/61, which is where the Alcalá VIP Lounge is located (first floor, up the stairs). At the entrance of the lounge, there was a host asking for our boating passes and giving us some flight and lounge information.
Aircraft (Embraer 195LR)
My airplane was an 11-year-old Embraer 195LR (long-range), SP-LNC. I could spot it from the lounge right after it landed, and it had a special livery.
Boarding Madrid to Warsaw
After a 1h-stay there, I went to the gate 5 minutes before boarding time. People were already queued, but the lines were messy, so some staff came to re-organize the lines and signs. All business class and priority passengers were moved to the other side of the gate. Luckily no other flight was boarding right beside us, so there was plenty of space.
Boarding began on time and went quite smoothly. Ground agents only asked for boarding passes only, no IDs, speeding things up. As soon as stepping on the airplane, we were greeted by the crew.
One interesting thing about their Business Class on LOT’s Embraer is that they block two seats for each passenger for “extra comfort”. So, if you are traveling solo, you have the whole row for yourself. And if you are traveling with someone, you must book either on each side of the plane or behind the other. I took some screenshots when doing the check-in to clarify what I mean:
I guess they do this so that each passenger has direct access to the aisle. This layout makes the business-class cabin feel empty and intimate. It also gives a lot of room on the overhead bins, which are much larger than in any other Embraer I flew before (KLM’s, Aerolineas Argentinas, Lufthansa, etc.)
Boarding was completed after 20 minutes, but we had to queue at the gate for around 15 more minutes before we could depart. The captain told us we had lost our departing slot, and now we had to be rescheduled. Soon, we pushed back and started going toward the runway. For some reason, we were assigned the furthermost runway, close to Terminal 4.
The takeoff was beautiful and a bit windy. Check the full video on my YouTube channel!
Onboard
Once airborne, the crew started with the meal service. There was a welcome drink, and then a tray with the main service. There were two options for the main dish: pork or fish (cod).
The service was full of nice little details, such as a menu card, napkins with the logo, nice cutlery, etc. Overall, quite impressive for such a short flight. Lufthansa, for example, on similar-length legs, has a significantly worse service.
Approach and Landing
After lunch, I worked for a little bit and then enjoyed the beautiful views 🙂
It started getting cloudy and grey close to Warsaw, so the landing was quite bumpy. After the landing, we went straight to the terminal, gate A40.
Conclusion
Overall, I would say LOT Airlines offer a very competitive business class offer. Even though planes are smaller than other airlines (using A320s and 737s), blocking the seat on the side gives a lot of extra room and comfort. The soft product was excellent, the meal quality was great, and the crew was outstanding; super friendly and warm. Warsaw Airport (WAW) was also nice for connecting and offered several business-class lounge options.
