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LOT, a Polish airline that is a member of the Star Alliance, flies several Boeing 787 Dreamliners to North America with incredible award space in business class.
The Dreamliner is a technical marvel, a plane I am dying to get on.
LOT’s business class on the Dreamliner is up to international standards–a fully flat bed with a big TV monitor at each seat.
LOT flies to three North American destinations, all with the Dreamliner.
New York (JFK) <-> Warsaw (WAW)
Chicago (ORD) <-> Warsaw
Toronto (YYZ) <-> Warsaw
Space is incredible for two people in business class along all three routes, even for this August. Green and blue dates on the calendar mean there is space in business class that day on a Dreamliner for two people.
New York to Warsaw
Warsaw to New York
Chicago to Warsaw
Getting to New York, Chicago or Toronto
Most of us will be booking this LOT Dreamliner space with United or US Airways miles. That means we can add on any Star Alliance flights to the award.
Getting to JFK might be the hardest. United only flies to JFK from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington-Dulles. US Airways flies in from Charlotte, Phoenix, and Philadelphia.
If you don’t live at one of those cities, you can fly into Newark, where United flies from dozens of cities, but moving from Newark to JFK might be difficult, time consuming, and expensive. But if you don’t mind the land travel, this is a valid routing on both US Airways and United awards.
Chicago is easy to get to, since it is a United hub, and United has incredible award availability in economy and domestic first class, which you are eligible to fly on an international business class itinerary.
Don’t forget about the Toronto flight. Toronto might not be hard to get to from your home airport in the US, since it is an Air Canada hub. Air Canada serves Toronto from numerous US cities, big and small.
Not Interested in Warsaw?
Since my visit to Krakow and Warsaw, Poland in summer 2012 to watch the Euro Cup, Poland is one of favorite countries.
Success Story: Europe with Points
But if you’re not interested, LOT connects to everywhere else in Europe and their intra-Europe space is excellent.
Booking the Award
To book the award, identify the transatlantic business class space, then the necessary domestic space to get to the LOT flight, then the intra-Europe space you want.
If you are booking with United miles, you can do that online for 50k miles each way or 100k roundtrip plus taxes. If you are having trouble booking online, hold one segment online then call 800-UNITED-1 to finish the booking and avoid the phone fee as outlined in How to Avoid the Phone Fee on Award Bookings.
If you are booking with US Airways miles, you need to book by phone by calling 800-622-1015 after identifying the award space on united.com. Oneway or roundtrip will cost 100k miles plus $50 plus taxes to book with US Airways miles.
Don’t forget to add a free oneway onto your award!
Master Thread: Free Oneways on United Awards
Master Thread: Free Oneways on US Airways Awards
Or if you don’t want to spend the time, hire my Award Booking Service for only $99 per person.
This offer has expired. Click here for the top current credit card sign up bonuses.
Getting the Miles
You can get 30k US Airways miles on first purchase with the Barclay’s US Airways MasterCard, but the card has an $89 annual fee the first year. You can also get the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express with a 25k bonus that transfers 1:1 to dozens of airlines with 5k bonus miles for every 20k points transferred.
Application Link: Barclay’s US Airways MasterCard
Application Link: Starwood Preferred Guest American Express
Recap
A lot of us want to get on the new Dreamliner airplane in business class, and a lot of us want to go to Europe this summer. Why not do both at the same time flying LOT to Poland with United or US Airways miles? You can quickly pick up the miles you need with a few credit card sign ups and be on your way.
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠ and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
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Re: “There isn’t quite as quick of a way to rack up 100k US Airways miles.”
It’s 25% faster to to rack up US Airways miles with the non-affiliate offer which waives the annual fee and nets you 50K total at anniversary. Do a second app and you will get 50K + 50K = 100K in a year.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz/1182580-fee-waived-no-spend-us-air-card-40k-55k-benies.html
Hi, Milevalue has had so much good info in today’s email! Thanks. While I have no idea when I might get to New Zealand I signed up for the free membership anyway. But I do plan to fly to Israel and will consider LOT as a way to get there. Thanks so much! Elaine
Scott, I have looked on United’s site and cannot see LOT even mentioned for tickets in Sep/Oct 2014, or even June next year … what am I missing?
I see Lufthansa space, but nothing direct to WAW from USA.
Check aeroplan.com. United stopped displaying LOT space.