Your Guide to Getting LOT Airlines Compensation for Delay and Cancellation

What is the amount of your LOT flight delay compensation?

The length of your journey and the duration of the delay you experienced on your LOT flight determine how much compensation you may be entitled to. Your compensation varies as follows:

Am I eligible for LOT Airlines flight compensation?

According to EU Regulation 261/04, air passengers who with a delayed, cancelled or overbooked flight can claim a refund for their disruption.

To be eligible for delay or flight cancellation compensation, however, your disruption must not be the result of extraordinary circumstances.

Extraordinary circumstances include but are not limited to bad weather, airport personnel strikes, air traffic control restrictions and bird strikes. In general, these are the cases in which an airline could not have reasonably taken any measures to prevent the disruption.

Since under these circumstances, a delay or cancellation would not have been the airline’s fault, LOT can avoid paying flight compensation to the affected passengers.

LOT Flight Delay Compensation

If your LOT flight was delayed and reached your final destination more than 3h late, you can submit a claim for flight delay compensation. In these cases it is important that your delay was not caused by extraordinary circumstances and that your flight either departed from an EU airport or was operated by an EU airline. If so, you have legal grounds to claim LOT Airlines flight delay compensation.

Unfortunately not all flight disruptions are eligible for compensation. The airline could not be held responsible, if there are extraordinary circumstances. Certain circumstances may appear extraordinary, but they are not. These include:

• Airline wildcat strikes

• Technical problems with the aircraft

• Bad weather, affecting a previous flight (knock-on effects)

In all the above mentioned cases, our team at SkyRefund can help you get what is rightfully yours.

LOT Airlines Cancelled Flight Compensation

According to EU rules, you can claim for a cancelled LOT flight if

• You were notified of the cancellation less than 14 days before take-off
• If your alternate flight arrived at your final destination more than 4 hours behind schedule (when notice is given more than 7 days before the flight) or more than 2h late when you were informed of the cancellation less than 7 days before.

In practice, most LOT flights are cancelled the day of their departure. Thus, if your alternate flight has arrived more than 2h behind schedule, you would likely be able to claim cancelled LOT flight compensation.

LOT Airlines Denied Boarding Compensation

Overbooked flights usually happen when the airline has sold more seats than the ones available on the plane. In that case, the airline tries to find volunteers who are willing to exchange their seat for some benefits.

To be eligible for compensation, you have to be denied boarding against your will. This means that you should not accept any offers from the airline.

If you are denied boarding, you have the option to:

1. Get an alternate flight to your final destination - either as soon as possible or at a later date.
2. Get a full refund for the ticket costs and a return ticket to your original point of departure.

In practice, most LOT flights are cancelled the day of their departure. Thus, if your alternate flight has arrived more than 2h behind schedule, you would likely be able to claim cancelled LOT flight compensation. 

Right to care in case of LOT Flight Delay

If your flight with LOT Airlines was delayed or cancelled, under Regulation EC 261/2004, the airline is required to help you out during your wait for your departure. Because of their right to care, passengers are entitled to food and drinks for the duration of their delay or until their alternate flight’s departure.

Unlike the right to compensation in case of a late flight, the right to care applies even when there are extraordinary circumstances. This means that the airline should cover all of your necessary expenses, even if the delay was due to bad weather or a strike.

So, if your flight is delayed, LOT is required to take care of all of your food and accommodation expenses. The airline will often offer you vouchers for a specific amount. Even if this is not the case, you can still make any necessary purchases. LOT will then have to reimburse you for all of these expenditures.

It is very important to keep your receipts. They will be sufficient proof for your expenses.

In fact, you can get a refund for any expenses that exceed the voucher amount. Again, remember to keep your receipts, as bank statements are not accepted as proof.

About LOT Polish Airlines

LOT is the Polish flag carrier and one of the oldest airlines in the world still in the business. LOT has been a member of Star Alliance since 2003. The company’s base is Warsaw’s Frederic Chopin Airport (WAW).

After years of net economic losses, in 2015 LOT returned to profitability and since then, the company has championed a series of development as a growth strategy. LOT is the first European airline to commence flights with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and since then, this aircraft has been serving all the company’s long-haul flights. Intercontinental routes operated by LOT include flights from Amsterdam or Warsaw to Seoul, Beijing, and Newark.

LOT Rankings

Airline ranking website Skytrax has awarded LOT an overall rating of 6/10 which reflects the value for money as well as the in-flight comfort of LOT’s flights.

Flight data provider FlightStats has estimated that 20% of LOT’s flights experience a delay, with an average delay duration of 39 minutes.

Luggage and Fare Information

LOT airlines offer four distinct travel fares. The Economy Saver fare allows passengers to check in a bag up to 23 kg on most intercontinental but only cabin luggage on European and domestic flights. This allowance can rise with the standard Economy Class, which allows for 1 piece of cargo luggage.

With the Premium Economy fare, you could bring up to two pieces of checked-in luggage on all flights, while Business Class gives you two checked-in bags on European flights and up to three on LOT’s intercontinental ones.