LOT Polish Airlines Reviews 130

I am very disappointed with how LOT Polish Airlines has handled my damaged baggage claim.

On 28 December 2025, I traveled on flights LO136 (IST–WAW) and LO495 (WAW–GOT). Upon arrival in Gothenburg, one of our suitcases was severely damaged, and some of our belongings had fallen out on the baggage belt. The damage was reported immediately at the airport and a report (GOTLO10079) was created on the spot.

Despite following all procedures and providing the requested documents multiple times, the handling of the case has been frustrating and slow. After a long exchange of emails, I was informed that the suitcase “can be repaired” and that I should arrange and pay for the repair myself, then send the invoice for reimbursement.

This means I am expected to spend additional time, arrange transport, pay upfront costs, and simply trust that the airline will reimburse the full amount later. There is no clear confirmation that related expenses (transport, time, additional costs) will be covered.

As a passenger, I fulfilled my responsibilities immediately. I reported the damage on arrival and provided all documentation requested. However, the process feels unnecessarily complicated and lacking transparency.

I expected a more customer-oriented and solution-focused approach from a European carrier. Unfortunately, my experience has significantly reduced my trust in LOT Polish Airlines.

After reading other passangers experiences, I've changed my mind about buying a ticket from London to Seoul, in case the same thing happens to me.
Thank you everyone who shared their reviews!!

I paid and received receipts from LOT directly, but a day before the flight I couldn’t check in using the data from those receipts. It’s absurd to get a booking reference from LOT and then see “user not found” on their website. I had to spend three hours on the phone just to complete a simple check-in. Overall, the experience was the worst I’ve ever had.

I am not surprised from the amount of bad reviews..
they took my money although they say tickets are refundable within 24 hours of purchase.
they say it's not refundable on the website yet underneath it they say it's refundable within 24 hours, then when you actually cancel the ticket they send you some terms and conditions with half of it saying it's refundable and the rest saying it's not.

Could be faster. Overall great flight

This is the worst airline that I have ever flown with zero customer service. Our flight was delayed for over 1 hours 45 min with very little communication from the pilot. People onboard were stressed and anxious. In the rush and distraction to get to my next gate in time, my bag was stolen. Ground LOT staff were not helpful and even told me that I could not file a report. Once my bag with inexpensive items was found, LOT refused to ship it to me and asked me to use private courier service instead. At first they said they would ship it to me but the answer changed when a different staff member picked up the phone. Everyone in this company tells you something different and the departments do not communicate with each other. It took me three days to get a final answer and the company didn’t honor the first thing they said about sending me the bag to pick up at my local airport. For what was only four articles of clothing and a box of cookies, this privately owned courier service wanted nearly 200 euro. Oh and I was also blamed for losing the bag by a staff member named Claudia who yelled at me. There was no option to escalate. Talking to any hire up was «not allowed» according to her. Fly at your own risk with this company. They do not care for or value their customers. Both my flights had long delays without explanation and were overall unpleasant experiences. Completely ruined my trip. Does not deserve the Star Alliance label and prices are cheap for a reason. Avoid at all costs. Pick any other airline but don’t pick LOT.

Paid for an upgrade which wasn’t given. Impossible to contact for a refund. Filled in online forms but no response. Totally inefficient. Waited over 3 hours on online chat for an agent, finally a BOT directed me to the online complaints form which does not work. Never again they are a disgrace

Beware of some, in my opinion, potentiality fraudulent business practices of LOT (read the full story of my bad experience):
- The check-in for my LOT Bydgoszcz -> Warsaw flight closed 120 minutes before departure—without a heads-up!
- (Less than 120 minutes before departure, they were generous enough to send a seat upgrade offer but not enough to allow a check-in).
- To me, that’s absurd, given that checking in is just a formality of like 5 taps/clicks if you only have a carry-on.
- I arrived at the airport 90 minutes before departure. But there was no staff at the desk, and the displays there said that check-in had closed.
- After I bought a train ticket with the plan to at least return by plane, they also canceled my return flight! What’s the legal basis for canceling someone’s flight against their will, against their intention to fly on the first route, and without a refund?
- And to cancel the cancellation, I called customer service, but they said that, for that, they would request a fee almost twice as high as the cost of simply buying a second ticket for the same flight!
- I’m seriously considering notifying the consumer protection office in Poland—as LOT also didn’t state the 120 minutes rule on the website of in the email; in particular, any statements that “no earlier than 36 hours in advance” did not contain anything like “no later than 120 minutes in advance”.
- Taking it as a whole, it looks like LOT combines staff cost-cutting and failing to inform the customer about its internal rules to gain extra profit from passengers who cannot check in despite arriving at the airport on time.

I had a connecting flight but the first flight was delayed making it impossible to catch the second. After talking to costumer service they told me to not board the flight and that I will get a full refund. Two days later they claim I never was at the airport and just skipped the flight so I will not be getting any money back. Absolute Scammers!

I had paid along with my ticket for a nonvegetarian meal, that which after boarding on the flight became unavailable and available only on the paid menu which means a trick to loot passengers on the sky

I strongly urge everyone to avoid flying with LOT Polish Airlines. My experience with them during a very difficult time was not just disappointing – it was inhumane and disgraceful.

I was traveling from Delhi to Hamburg with my husband while I was 26 weeks pregnant. For my comfort, we decided to upgrade to Business Class at the airport check-in counter, paying €2,000 for the upgrade. Within five minutes of this payment, I suffered a medical emergency and fainted at the counter. An ambulance was called, and I was taken to the hospital.

The staff at the counter verbally assured my husband that given the exceptional nature of the situation, the Business Class upgrade would be refunded. This provided us with a moment of relief, assuming at least the financial burden would be lifted amidst a health crisis.

However, what followed was an absolute nightmare.

While I was in the ambulance, my husband tried multiple times to reach LOT’s customer service, only to find that it is virtually unreachable if you're outside the EU. After countless attempts, we finally managed to contact them, only to be told that no refund was ever initiated, and that we would need to fill out a refund request form.

We did that — explained the medical emergency, the timing (only 5 minutes after upgrade), and the fact that the Business Class seat would likely have remained empty otherwise. We trusted that LOT would show basic human decency.

Instead, we received a cold, canned response that the refund request was denied, citing standard terms and conditions.

Let me be clear:

This was a rare medical emergency, not a cancellation or no-show.

The upgrade happened at the airport, moments before the emergency.

We did not block another paying customer from that seat.

Their own staff verbally promised a refund based on the situation.

And yet, we have no accountability, no escalation point, and no refund.

We are appalled at how dishonest, unempathetic, and unprofessional this airline is. Every decent airline I researched would refund in such cases, recognizing the nature of the emergency and the ethical obligation to be understanding.

Instead, LOT’s behavior shows that their business model thrives on squeezing money from customers and dodging responsibility. The customer service is rude, inaccessible, and unwilling to help, especially in emergency situations.

Airlines Must Do Better:
There must be clear policies and guidelines for emergency medical situations, especially when they occur on-site at the airport.

Verbal promises from staff should be formally recorded and honored.

Refund requests should not be dismissed using boilerplate terms & conditions when compassion and common sense are called for.

Airlines must offer a reachable escalation channel for urgent matters, especially in global scenarios.

My baby and I are thankfully safe, but the experience with LOT was traumatic, unethical, and infuriating. I will never fly with them again, and I will actively discourage anyone I know from doing so.

We flew from Warsaw to Tokyo, and the experience exceeded expectations in every regard. The food was excellent, the service attentive and professional, and the cabin environment surprisingly spacious and comfortable for economy class. The overall quality of the flight reflected a level of care and consideration that is increasingly rare in commercial air travel today, making the long-haul journey not only bearable but genuinely pleasant.

If You Have One Chance to Choose Another Airline, Do It!
Our recent experience flying with LOT Airlines from Vilnius to Miami via Warsaw was beyond disappointing. What was supposed to be a smooth and well-planned journey turned into a frustrating and stressful ordeal due to the airline’s mismanagement and complete lack of customer care.
We booked three seats—two for my husband, one for myself, an additional seat added to ensure a comfortable journey for us and our pet. Everything seemed fine during online check-in for the first leg of our flight. However, at the airport, LOT’s staff only issued us two boarding passes and assured us that the third seat was reserved. When we boarded the plane in Warsaw, we were shocked to find that the seat we had paid for was given to another passenger. LOT’s mistake not only caused us significant discomfort but also resulted in our booking being falsely marked as a "no-show."
The most frustrating part wasn’t just the mistake—it was how LOT handled it. Despite having clear proof of payment and check-in, we received no meaningful support or apology. To make matters worse, the cabin crew, while technically following procedures, lacked the most basic empathy or communication skills. No one acknowledged our distress, offered any kind of solution, or even apologized. Imagine being on a long-haul flight, having paid extra for comfort, and being completely ignored when that service was not provided.
LOT Airlines may offer pet-friendly travel, but our experience proves that when things go wrong, they do not take responsibility. If you have an option to fly with another airline, take it—you’ll save yourself a lot of stress and disappointment.

I had a terrible experience with LOT Polish Airlines regarding my refund. I paid extra for a cancellation flexibility fee, which was supposed to allow me to cancel my flight and receive a refund. However, after canceling, LOT only refunded the taxes and completely ignored the extra fee I paid for flexibility.

Despite multiple attempts to contact customer service and providing all necessary documents, they refused to return the money they owe me. Their responses were vague, unhelpful, and avoided addressing the issue directly. It feels like they are just keeping my money unfairly.

I expected better from a major airline, but this experience has shown me they do not care about customer satisfaction. If you're considering flying with LOT, be very careful with their refund policies—you might end up losing your money like I did. I will not be flying with them again.

I had to fly from Cracow airport to Amsterdam with transfer in Warsaw. Because there were a difficult weather conditions in Cracow and I was concerned that I may miss my transfer in Warsaw. I went straight to warsaw to avoid the risk of missing my flight. I passed the gates and waited for my flight. I received the mail that my flight was anulated because I did not show up in Cracow. I went to LOT information center and they said that I didn't show up in Cracow they anulated my whole flight! hey said that that is they policy and it is my problem. I was already inside the airport they had free places and they proposed me to buy the ticket another time on rates 3 times higher that I paid for. In this company you are the number where they try to squeeze as much money they can. Their customer service is there to tell you that, that is not their problem and they will not make any exceptions. The lady by the LOT information was quite rude without any empathy that even should not serve customers. That is absolutely the worst customer experience I can recall. Give yourself a favour and choose another airline! My reservation is JWG8XL.

LOT has a really bad and inadequate customer service. I paid extra for my seat upgrade from Chicago to Warsaw and on the way back. However, when coming back at the end of June, they printed a new board pass for me even though I said I confirmed electronically 24 hours before and showed it in my phone. It had the correct seat I paid for. Their printed board pas had a different seat number. Somebody also was in my paid seat and they bumped me to a seat I would not choose myself. The crew said they can't do nothing about it and I need to ask for refund. So I did at the beginning of July...I had a few conversations via Facebook messenger with the customer service which had no clue and kept referring me to different websites to fill out a form. Even though I provided my case number. It's December and I never got a refund, even though I actually got automated case number in September saying they the refund will be processed. It's December and I got nothing. Frankly, I don't expect anything anymore, and I read reviews about LOT Polish Airlines selling the same seat twice. Needles to say I'm very disappointed and will try another airlines for my direct flight to Europe. LOT is a mess with delays, food and service.

Flight cancelled.
2 hours in line waiting for hotel voucher - they could only find one person to work the counter.
Rebooked us without any communication.

My experience was very poor. I booked a return flight with my 15 months old baby who got unwell. I had no chance to pack or call. I missed it. When I finally had a chance I booked another flight to be home on the same day but then LOT cancelled my return so I found myself having to book another flight back to London. Whilst I understand there are policies to follow the very lack of any attempt to contact me to check shows that the service provided by this supposedly better quality airline is that comparable to Ryanair. Don't bother overpaying.

Good Airiline, nice net of connections. Good food on WAW-JFK flight

Plains are Dirty, staff is unpleasant. Airport Fr Chopin is old and Dirty. Just disgusting to travel with this company. Never Again.