hugolover

Yes, fares ex-PL are very expensive in C, and those connecting to/from WAW on domestic have to slum it in C. I remember great fares ex-BRU to OTP.

The sooner LO quits M&M the better. It's like Ken Morrison using Clubcard as their loyalty scheme. They're in a silly situation. In my opinion, they have a far better product than LH Group, they reward their Elite members with better lounges and benefits, they're cheaper than LHG and to top it all off, they spend more on M&M per flown pax than LHG does. It's a silly circle they found themselves in.

AlicorporateUK

Agreed. LOT’s C fares (F) on my usual routes (Balkans-AMS/LHR via WAW) were nearly always cheaper (and I refer to mid-week travel e.g. Tue-Fri), compared to LH/OS, the dreaded P fares which will get you ~450 “basic” miles as opposed to the ~1250 miles (excluding the status bonus) that I’d get on LOT. As you say, overall better product as opposed to LH (I like OS/VIE, though), the only issues are the reliability in terms of on-time performance which, as we all know, gets “rough” at peak times and the crowded Schengen lounges.

G

yurtripper

LO should quit *A and join OW!

the810

This is essentially my dream. I strongly prefer OW over *A, but their current European network makes it impossible for me to earn status with them. LO on the other hand became the airline I fly the most these days.

Not gonna happen, but imagining it is very nice

Concerto

Actually I would prefer it in Scaryteam, and Oneworld is welcome to TAROM! We need something decent in the east to replace Aeroflot.

hugolover

Perhaps PS could take over from SU?

hugolover

Alliances are not LO primary worries, it needs proper management, to stop the same crap that killed off Olympic.

TPJ

But then Lufti et al. would eat their market share. Even before Covid LH Group had more flights from e.g. KRK than LO and LH was flying to most airports in PL including liliputish BZG. LO's only fortress is WAW, but once LH gets/buys more slots it will monopolize Corpo traffic from WAW, too. Now they are not interested as LO feeds them.

BA will not save LO as LHR is full.

The only option is to co-exist with LH and try to grab as much connecting traffic from *A markets (DACH, Scandinavia) as possible. I recall even this forum's Moderator was once sort of forced to fly from MUC to YYZ on LO as C class fare was competitive and LO vs. LH/AC difference was too much for his employer.

Being realistic - any other alliance is not an option.

hugolover

I have often though it's wishful thinking on the part of FTers that FFP's make such a difference. Ex-WAW why would anyone in a corp pick AF/KL/LH/BA/LX/OS on connecting flights over LO on direct flights? If its price sensitive business, let those other carriers have it because they're flogging off their seats for a fraction of what they'd get ex-hubs. Send them on FR or W6.

For trips to all the business centres that LO fly to, no one comes close and that's why its priced so high. You'd be surprised how few pax in C/on high fares have no status.

LO have 6-7 flights a day on WAW-KRK but they're all on regional aircraft, with an occasional B737 (which is sometimes just due to ops not load). They're not even beginning to compete with LH ex-KRK and in some cases you're actively discouraged from flying ex-regions than ex-WAW. They just don't want the business. Take a 78 seat DH8 flying to WAW to feed to feed a TLL-headed 76 seat E70 (most likely in 72 seat configuration). There is almost no "give" to feed anything. Once the taxes are taken off LHG will be left with almost nothing to cover their costs except for the most expensive tickets. They're just putting bums on seats.

I don't want LO to leave Star but I think M&M just doesn't work for them, I know for a fact this is a view shared by LO management.

I'd be most happy to consult LO to make a Diamond Club style programme that earns them money .

TPJ

Ha ha, I still have a few old Diamond Club welcome packs with all the earn/burn rules and other regulations. I decided to keep them as a reflection of the best times ever. Can share with LO

AlicorporateUK

But that’s often the case at those so-called “regional airports”, see Manchester for instance, where I’m relatively sure that LHG (and possibly KLM as well) operate way more flights compared to BA. It is already a “miracle” or so to speak that a tiny airline like LOT is able to sustain(ish) quite a robust network out of their Warsaw hub, I would certainly not expect them to operate more services out of Kraków or Poznań or anywhere else for that purpose as opposed to a carrier (i.e. LH “standalone”) which has over 200 (?) narrow-body aircraft to spare for the job…

G

Fabo.sk

I'd be more than happy if LO decided to go the ST route. OK is not coming back.

Alisamix

I love LOT, I wish they had flights to Singapore again

hugolover

It will come back. It would be some serious flight time though, LO80, NRT-WAW is currently 14hrs30 in the air.

bertles86

It has always struck me that M&M don't really want LO and vice versa.
From a user perspective, if your profile is ex PL, then you can't order anything from the World Shop (if you actually find anything good value), you can't exchange award miles to top up your status miles, you don't have any M&M CC options since mBank cancelled their one and then there was the Diners Club debacle. So you're in this scenario where you get FTL or SEN and it amounts to some bag tags and lounge access.