Poland's LOT Air Problems

Hi All, I need some advice on what to do next as I cannot let them get away with this. We were due to fly to WRO from WAW at 22:50 hours last week. Boarding was delayed by around 1 hour. We boarded, then a few minutes later were told the airport is closed ( due to it being midnight ) and the flight is therefore cancelled.

I asked for refund and comp under EU law and they have told me no to both of these requests as "its not their fault the airport closed"

1. Fellow passengers were saying Lot Air "do this all the time". And then offer people a place on a bus.
2. They delayed us boarding by approx 1 hour, this is why we did not meet the cut off point of midnight.The flight was cancelled not because of the airport shutdown but because boarding was delayed for so long.

3. They boarded people knowing fully that the flight would be cancelled. The boarding of people was theatre, the Pilot and Stewardess knew we would not fly. Fellow passengers actually asked Lot staff "are you going to cancel again or are we really flying?"

4. They had only a couple members of staff to deal with hundreds of people. Thus forcing people to go home and making Lot lots of money??

Does anyone have any ideas what I can do next? I do not think the booking agent is going to give us a refund for the tickets.

Thanks

The next thing is to provide some more details, e.g., the date of unlucky flight. I checked the Polish internet and out of hundreds of people nobody is complaining about the scandalous situation you are describing.

Besides, a few articles inform about the curfew at the airport but add it doesn` t apply to delayed flights.

PS. OK, be frank, which rival airline do you work for? :):)

@OP:LOT I have seen is one of the best airlines by mt experience internationally but expensive.They did provide me hotel(I had an flat still opted for a free room) dinner and breakfast and ride to and back from the airport.Also once when they were over booked they gave me 100% refund and a free ticket.I suspect there is something more to your story.

Trolling about LOT airlines is a trick as old as the hills in this forum. :):)

LO3849 on June 7th, 2019

The only thing that matters is why the flight was delayed. If it was due to reasons such as tech, crew shortages (very common with LOT) or other reasons termed "operational" in the GDS then you can get your 250 EUR (but you haven't posted if this trip is part of a longer trip, the compensation could be as high as 600 EUR). If its ATC related, weather, then no.

However, be aware, a failure to get the flight ready before the curfew is absolutely not an extraordinary circumstance. The FRA night ban is very well known, and if LH are too late for very reasons, especially SIN flight, then its back to the gate and compensation will be paid.

Go through the channels on LOT.com and put in your complaint using the Contact section. Succinctly explain the issue and in general, they are not too bad at paying out compensation. No matter what, your reasonable hotel and food costs will be reimbursed no matter of the reason. They seem happy with claims up to 65 EUR without a fuss.

LOT are incredibly stretched at the moment with the groundings of the 7M8 and the 788 engine issues so there is little tolerance in the schedule if there is IRROPS. They have a new charter in this past week to cover YYZ that doesn't even have C class.

Having said that, with dozens of Polish domestics under my belt, including typically on the last flight to KRK, I haven't heard of a flight being cancelled due to the night ban but anything is possible and anything can be said by the employees of LS.

If you were one of passengers of that flight which indeed was cancelled, you are entitled to receive 250 euros.

You can file your official complaint at LOT at their site
lot.com/gb/en/passenger-complaint-after

or try this site which covers all Europe
flightright.co.uk/compensation/#/flow/standard

I agree they even refunded me for a pair of jeans when the crew spilled juice in flight,they gave me a form and I got my money in 2 weeks in USD in USA.

The plan was to goto a relatives birthday party in WRO. At about 01:30am we decided to cut our losses and head back home to Warsaw instead of waiting in the queue. We would have been too tired for the party the next day. Polish speakers in the queue ( my gf speaks Polish ) were telling us that they would pay 250Euros and have done in the past when it happened. They all seemed in good spirits and were happy to go on the bus.

We lost money on a shared apartment but im not really interested in claiming for that. I just want the 250Euro that I think we are due.

I have already done a compliant and they got back fast

"Please be advised that the flight LO3849 was cancelled due to airport closure. It is a situation out of the carrier's control, constituting extraordinary circumstances. In accordance with Regulation no 261/2004, the carrier is exempted from the obligation to pay a compensation in the event of flight cancellation if it was caused by reasons beyond its control.

In light of the above, unfortunately we are unable to accept your claim for the compensation"

There is no option for me to reply to that as its a "noreply" email.

Should I raise a second complaint and reference the first and ask for a senior manager to come back to me?

I was all set to contact the EU ombudsman but Lot Air are not part of that :(

Thanks

I flew on the new LOT Dreamliner non-stop Chicago to Krakow, no problems with the flight or service at all.

I have a problem with the name "Dreamliner" its a fine airplane, no doubt, but when they pack in like cattle, you cant wait to get off!

As for LOTs pricing is concerned, its the best deal considering most the carriers will have a lay over in Budapest or Frankfort.


So, you guys didn't really have a ticket, lets call this flying stand by?lol Every airline does this and guess what? You got bumped! Haven't you flown before or is really that bad jumping around Europe? I received the extra, special security treatment in Dublin once, just coz Im a Yank, so dont feel so bad:)

@Joker - You have not read the full details. Its not a "bumped" scenario.

Everyone was thrown off the aeroplane at midnight. It was a small prop plane but ours was not the only flight affected, there were some other lot flights including some long haul flights which resulted in hundreds of people and long queues and chaos. There were 2 queues several hours each so after being in a queue for 1 hour we decided to go home.

Please post the date of your trip.

I put another complaint in so I could respond to their first response. I have not heard anything back.

The company that sold us the tickets have said they will not refund.

Its quite close to being a scam. Have late flights knowing there is a hard cut off at midnight. If there is any delay then stick people on a cheap bus and pocket their expensive flight ticket.

Lesson learned, dont fly with an airline that does not participate with the EU ombudsman scheme.

update : they got back to me a few minutes ago. They are not changing their position on this.

Get a lawyer and sue them if its worth it for you or just let that little experience go by and carry on with your life.

Ive never had a problem with LOT and they also have best prices from the USA:)

Non stop is a big plus for me and most other carriers have at least one.


Ya, do it!!

WE can tell you have an axe to grind with LOT, its ok, I hate AT&T they tried ripping me off 15 years ago!!!!! LOL

Coming here and complaining isn't going to accomplish anything:)

Yes, but coming to fora etc and complaining about poor customer service can also be treated as a way of solving the problem. Companies often forget that having bad reputation on the net can harm their profits. What if the OP describes the situation everywhere possible and does so for a few next years? :)

Is it seriously worth it Pawian?I have been travelling LOT on and off 20 years and will not change my opinion.There is certainly more to the story.

Yes, you suggested two important things. Firstly, is it worth it? For most people it isn`t, but some feel they have been wronged very unfairly, then they have an opportunity to take their revenge on the net.

Secondly, there can be some hidden story within the story, indeed.

Forget it man. LOT is perfect. You entered in twilight zone and confusion was inflicted on your brain. Just forget everything.

I don't mind lot the new dreamliners are nice n there's decent entertainment. Some of the regional planes suck though.

As far as your tickets did you buy them from lot directly or a third party? Are they stand by?

If yes, you're sol...

Exactly.

Buy directly from LOT or if in Serbia, you can buy LOT tickets from Air Serbia. In my country on airports LOT is recommended as best and safest air partner.

Too funny, Crow! They aren't bad compared to some of the other airlines.......


I flew the Dreamliner to Krakow, its was just ok, because of the lack of leg room. A new plane and they want to squeeze every dollar out of it. Next time, Ill pay extra for business class.


That could be a big issue.

I always buy tickets from the carrier and same goes for hotel rooms, its best to purchase directly from the source.

Funny, you say? Its not funny. Nothing in connection to Poland is funny to me. Least the LOT. LOT is synonym for quality. As the matter of fact, vast majority of Poland`s products are synonym of quality. Only ruling regime of Poland directed by so called west if funny and you also as Duda`s supporter.

If its up to me, if man didn`t buy tickets directly from LOT he is moron and truly deserved twilight zone. He is happy that ever emerged from twilight actually. And now he publicly criticize LOT. F*** him.

I tell you most American airlines suck with customer service,food etc,United and American being the worst.LOT I like but is expensive from EWR to WAW compared to others.Also the dreamliners have reduced my chances for upgrade as they are bigger and rarely overbooked.

whatever the reason was, the time it was probably not, because while cancellations are rare, the flight in question took off from WAW several times this year after midnight, in particular the day before 7 38 min. past midnight:

DateAircraftOriginDestinationDepartureArrivalDuration
25 cze 2019DH8DWarsaw Frederic Chopin (WAW / EPWA)Copernicus Wrocław (WRO / EPWR)12:30AM CEST01:08AM CEST0:37
20 cze 2019E75LWarsaw Frederic Chopin (WAW / EPWA)Copernicus Wrocław (WRO / EPWR)12:08AM CEST12:45AM CEST0:37
14 cze 2019DH8DWarsaw Frederic Chopin (WAW / EPWA)Copernicus Wrocław (WRO / EPWR)12:08AM CEST01:05AM CEST0:57
7 cze 2019DH8DWarsaw Frederic Chopin (WAW / EPWA)Copernicus Wrocław (WRO / EPWR)11:00PM CEST11:40PM CESTCancelled
6 cze 2019E190Warsaw Frederic Chopin (WAW / EPWA)Copernicus Wrocław (WRO / EPWR)12:38AM CEST01:14AM CEST0:35
4 kwi 2019B734Warsaw Frederic Chopin (WAW / EPWA)Copernicus Wrocław (WRO / EPWR)12:14AM CEST12:53AM CEST0:39

also almost every day some other flights depart after midnight, like just yesterday LO3911 to KRK, departed 00:24 (actually today). Might be, that on the 7th something was particular and WAW really forced closure but there must be evidence for it. So I would come back to the airline asking for this evidence. If they cannot produce said evidence and still refuse to pay, it is easy to sue them because it's just a small claim. In PL, a postępowanie uproszczone goes for a 100zł fee, no laywer necessary, just filling out the appropriate form and file it at the local court where one lives. If one does not want to take the risk, there are companies filing on one's behalf, but they take a substantial cut from the payment.

Buy Polish products - buy Slavic - fly by LOT - ban western European products

Buying Polish stuff- good!
Banning Western European products - wrong!

Just another one of his ridiculously stupid comments.


Thats why I never will fly with Delta or United again. Id rather take a bus instead.lol


Ryan air sucks the big one as well.