Why does everyone seem to hate LOT Polish Airlines?

LOT is ok. My worst experience were most recently US carriers. DC to Amsterdam was a disaster!!!

it's because that there airplanes don't have every seat tvs and that some americans only speak english and its hard for the flight crew to understand.

Not everyone is bothered for watching TV on a flight and the flight attendants on international flights speak good English.

A bigger issue with flights to and from Poland (not just LOT) is the bizarre behaviour of passengers at the gate. That I suppose is an issue for the airports.

seriously, yes.

What do you mean?

What do you mean "what do you mean"? Polish people are very pushy at the airports, they complain about the baggage, they push with their elbows not allowing you to get near the carousel, they look at what you're wearing and criticize your clothes, they are loud, rude and seam very uncivilized. You can tell right away they are Polish. In O'hare they have 20 huge suitcases, they wear leather jackets, women have high heels, they look like they are better than everybody else and get mad if you accidentaly touch them or smile to them. They never smile and always look mad about something.

Went to London last year, a very unpleasant Polish woman worker at the airport was very rude and snotty and didn't want to help with anything.

That is pretty bang on. However, O'Hare is a clusterf*ck and all the people are rude, particularly those who work there. In Canada, since the RCMP killed Robert Dzienkanski- there are now Polish attendants on hand in Toronto when Lot lands to help those flying in. Same with the many Asian groups flying in to Vancouver- there is a translator waiting for them. At O'Hare it is a bunch of under educated rednecks working the airport with too much power that treat people like garbage.

I caught a flight to Warsaw recently from an airport (Ataturk) where a lot of the gates are quite close together and lead off a long concourse. Right at the start of the concourse, from several hundred metres away, I could see which was the one for the Warsaw flight.

Before people even needed to go to the gate, most of the passengers were standing in a huge scrum as if they were trying to force their way through. Almost all the passengers were standing, despite there being plenty of seats at the gate. This was over an hour before take-off. This is not unusual. I have caught well over a hundred flights to Poland down the years and see this every time.

I've often wondered why people do this - perhaps they think there won't be enough seats and the plane will go without them or someone will have to stand. You used to get the same (and even sometimes far worse) at Victoria Coach Station until they had to move departures to Poland to part of the station where that behaviour was less of a safety risk. This only concerned journeys to Poland.

By the time we got on the plane, tempers were already flaring and by the time people got on the plane a couple were almost fighting over stowed luggage. During the flight too, some of them were giving the flight attendants hassle over meals, drinks etc. And yes, some of them clapped when the plane landed.

This was a strong example (especially the onboard stuff) but the thing about airport gates is entirely normal in my experience of flights to and from Poland. By far the worst are cheap flights on low-cost airlines. This always happens and is not only deeply uncomfortable but is also dangerous. My elderly mother was caught up in such a scrum at the gates at Gdansk airport not long ago and fainted. The staff were very helpful and forced people back to give first aid etc, but the passengers would just have trampled over her in their insane panic if the staff hadn't intervened.

The question is, why does this happen? What is the psychology behind this strange and annoying behaviour that makes a straightforward journey far worse?

Kudos to her for recognizing a prick.


Well,it seems that your elderly mother exhibit similar behaviour you accuse Poles of.Let me tell you son,I am Polish and I am usually the last passenger boarding the plane.The reason for that is that I a I mainly fly trans Atlantic routes and I know that I will be sitting on this plane long enough to become sick of it.I also know that they won't leave without me and if they will I will make sure to be compensated.I haven't noticed the behaviour you accuse Poles of on my last FRA-POZ flight either even though the plane was full of Poles (it was a small plane though Embraer 43 or something).

What fainting due to being crushed in a stampede?

Remember I've flown to and from Poland, including transatlantic flights, probably far more often than you ever will, Angry Person, and have seen this bizarre behaviour every time without exception.

Good question!

JonnyM
The question is, why does this happen? What is the psychology behind this strange and annoying behaviour that makes a straightforward journey far worse?

I actually was completely unaware that Poles used aeroplanes. I thought the National Express coaches were their only means of travel. Do Polish people actually fly then?

I suppose all this technology is difficult to get to grips with at first and that they will settle down once they enter Western civilization and see that it is quite normal to use planes as a mode of transport.

See the point is that if she was just chilling like I do when people start boarding the plane there wouldn't be chance in hell for her being crushed in the stampede.So,I will repeat in case you did not get it the first time YOUR MAMA EXHIBITS THE EXACTLY SAME BEHAVIOUR YOU ACCUSE OTHERS (THE POLES) OF.That makes your thesis a garbage son,unless of course your mama is Polish.


Surprise,surprise,yes we do fly.Contrary to you I am completely aware of how ignorant regarding our wonderfull world the Brits are,therefore I always treat them with disregard,as it's obvious to me that their level of intelligence is well beneath mine.

Same here. Flew quite a few times with kids, without kids, alone, with others, pregnant, not pregnant. LOT was not a problem. The US carrier I flew with though? Never again.

Since 1970s the domestic flights have had their fair share of the market.
Also, as nowadays the rail connections become more and more expensive (and less and less reliable) Eurolot seems to be taking over.


I have always thought it happened only to Ryanair flights as they did not assign any seats to the passengers and everyone wanted to be the first one on board to get their window / aisle sea, whatever the preference was. Not to mention the fact that there is never enough space for everyone's luggage.

Why on earth this should happen to a flight that operates in a civilised manner (ie. allows people select their seats during booking / check in procedures) is beyond my comprehension.

Actually, 'youknowwho' the lady was walking slowly with a stick after having sat peacefully for a while. So stop trolling.

The bizarre behaviour of Poles at airport gates is something I have heard people comment on time after time. The fact that it happens isn't in dispute, the question is why it happens.

I wouldn't fly with a carrier that doesn't allow elderly, disabled and families to board first. I'd also never fly with a carrier that doesn't assign seats to at least some extent.

Have you ever actually booked through their site? They DO allow seat selection at booking time. Stop trolling.


It may be less polite, but it would make more sense to give priority to passengers seated furthest away from the entrance, irrespective of who they are.


In my experience, by far the worst were Russians and Chinese mainlanders :)

I could see why you would think that but since those ppl take the longest to settle in, it makes more sense time wise to let them on first, otherwise, it would take forever to take off. imo.

Yes, for the last 3 months or so. For additional charge.
Before that the best you could do was buy "priority boarding". Which actually was quite a hillarious invention - at many airports you got into "priority queue" of 10-15 people, got through the gate as one of the first - and then ended up in a bus that was waiting for the rest of the passengers to take everyone to the plane somewhere at the far side of the airport. The whole thing was highly surreal.


I could and should say exactly the same about your post here :]

what civilization ?can you fly a plane ? Can you build one ?Are you civil ?No , no and no !
What civilization are you talking about ?prick-land?

Aha,so now your mama slowly walked into stampede after having sat peacefully for a while?No dude, wheter you like it or not your mama took active part in the alleged stampede.If your mama remained seated until there was 3,say 4 passengers left to board the plane she would be fine.So,stop trolling and tell your mama not to rush to the gate as soon as the boarding is announced but wait untill almost every other passenger is on the plane and I can guarantee you (and her) that she will be fine.


It is as I have not noticed this phenomenon.


Give him a break,he is a Brit.They still haven't figured out how to make hot and cold water run from a single faucet.

Honestly - I've never seen this. Maybe it's because I only fly from Poznan ;)

But actually, now that I think about it - I was on a plane from Rome to Wroclaw that had a very nasty spoiled little bastard on it. I was sleeping (I hate flying, and to be able to sleep on the plane was amazing) when suddenly I heard two very loud bangs. I jumped out of my chair and yelled, then realised that the plane wasn't crashing - only to spot this little thug stamping his feet because he wanted something or other. This went on for the whole flight, I told him to shut up several times, but to no avail.

Of course, when we started to descend for landing, he needed the toilet. And they wouldn't let him go - and I have no problems to admit that I enjoyed every second of his suffering. The plane landed, and they couldn't find the stairs for the plane - which made it even better. And then - when the stairs were found, the door to the terminal was locked. I think he learnt a lot about karma then ;)

My new joke, an original creation from the mind of modafinl:

Lot flight 113 lands in the dead of night.
'Where have we landed?', asks Kasia.

Magdelena sticks her hand out of the window
'We are in Paris, I just felt the eiffel tower'

Ewa sticks her hand out
'We are in New York, I just felt the Empire state building'

Kasia the sticks her hand out to confirm
'No. No. We are in London, I just felt a penis'

Ahhh, but very nasty spoiled little bastards come in all nationalities... So, I'm sure you wouldn't assume all flights would be like this or that all Polish children would be like this. In fact, who says he was Polish?


Agreed. I also haven't seen it.

Of course, it just reminded me of the situation. I dare say spoiled British children are equally nasty ;)


I've seen it on trains frequently, actually - usually the cheaper the train, the bigger the attitude problem.

Well, in that case, I've seen that on the subways in the US and in France as well. Again, the cheaper the train. Perhaps it's a social class thing? Idk. But it certainly doesn't have something to do with a particular airline, imo.

*Gasp* Delph, I think you and I just agreed on something. ;)

Me neither. But that might well be because I only fly from/to Warsaw T2 and when going to the UK only to/from Heathrow T5.

I remember the first time I ever flew Lot. I was flying from Toronto to Warsaw- this was about 14 years ago. I am familiar with flying- I have flown all my life- my parents were int the air force, I consider myself very well travelled etc etc. Anyway, I was dropped off at the gate in Toronto and there was utter chaos. A Polish driver dropped me off and I asked him what was going on at the counter- he looked at me as if I was insane. "That is the line up to get to the counter"., sorry wtf??? I have never experienced anything like this in my life. So I made it through the counter and customs on the Toronto side only to land in Warsaw and face the same thing. Retards at the luggage pick up and customs. I finally made it out the gates to meet my boyfriend (now husband) and I asked him wtf just happened to me- welcome to Poland- he replied. What a clusterf*ck. I have never experienced anything so ridiculous in my life. And in 14 years it hasn't gotten any better. This is one of the reasons that I don't fly Lot on transcontinental flights.

I've flown on LOT three times on trans-atlantic flights. No problems at all. My experiences with LOT have been good and I would fly with them again.