LOT has introduced a number of changes to its passenger service and in-flight product, which will improve passenger comfort. In addition to technological changes in communication with the passenger, LOT was one of the first air carriers in Europe to introduce digital press on its boards. More than 1,000 titles can be downloaded via the mobile app 36 hours before departure and up to 6 hours after landing. 

LOT has responded quickly and flexibly to the challenges posed to the aviation industry by the coronavirus pandemic. This applies not only to the gradually restored destinations, which are of interest to passengers after a difficult period of restrictions. In order to meet the expectations of its customers, LOT has introduced a number of facilities for passenger service and in-flight product. An example of this is the replacement on board and in business lounges of paper newspapers and magazines with a wide range of Polish and foreign press in a digital version.

“At this difficult time for the aviation industry, we are constantly working on developing our offer to better meet the needs of our passengers. By offering digital press, we not only increase the range of titles to over 1,000 Polish and foreign magazines, but also make them available to a much wider audience, i.e. passengers travelling in LOT Economy Class and on domestic flights. The pro-ecological aspect of this change is also important. Until now, we have been taking parcels with traditional press, weighing up to 45 tons, on board our planes every month. Now we offer each of our passengers an environmentally friendly, up-to-date and modern product tailored to individual needs – digital press,” says Michał Fijoł, Chief Commercial Officer at LOT Polish Airlines.

The new service is provided by the technology company Media Carrier, which provides passengers of airlines, cruise ships and guests of more than 1,200 hotels around the world with access to digital press on their own mobile devices.

„We are delighted that, with LOT, one more top airline demonstrates its trust in us and integrates the Media Box in its service offering. Our Media Box can be used with any internet-capable device; it is not necessary to install an app, register or enter personal data. Each passenger uses only their own mobile device to read their digital newspaper or magazine, and merely touches the display to download their favourite reading, turn pages or scroll. This is of course much more hygienic and safe than using print titles, which often pass through several hands and can therefore be carriers of a variety of germs or viruses," says Philipp J. Jacke, Managing Director at Media Carrier.

Until now, traditional printed press was available only on LOT’s international flights for passengers of LOT Business Class and LOT Premium Economy Class, and its offer included approximately 20 titles. Currently, LOT offers over 1,000 digital press titles for all passengers, regardless of class and travel destination. The offered press includes dailies and magazines in several dozen language versions (e.g.: Polish, English, Hungarian, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Spanish, Japanese and Korean), as well as LOT’s in-flight magazine “Kaleidoscope”. Favorite titles can be downloaded 36 hours before departure and up to 6 hours after landing. The dailies and magazines can be found in the accessible lot.com/digitalpress application, where after entering the name and booking number, the passenger can download the selected magazine free of charge. Depending on the travel class we can download from 1 to 5 titles to our storage medium free of charge. After using the allocated limit, the passenger has the possibility to choose from the available free titles or purchase additional titles. Prices of dailies start from 1 PLN, weeklies from about 4 PLN and specialist press from several dozen PLN. Payment can be made by credit card or PayPal.

Following the success of digital products such as TIME2THINK, a service enabling temporary booking of a ticket at a specified price for up to 72 hours, and A la Carte Services such as travel insurance, LOT is implementing a number of further technological solutions at lot.com to improve passenger service in the current epidemic situation. The new ticket change/refund form allows passengers to notify their wish to change or return their ticket without having to contact us by phone or e-mail. The carrier has also introduced a chatbot, which automatically answers the questions asked by passengers. The bot is able to recognize the issue and provide a precise answer to the question, or redirect the passenger to the lot.com information pages.

Another novelty is the automation of dealing with irregularities. Currently, passengers have the opportunity to confirm changes on the lot.com website in the manage my booking module without contacting the LOT Contact Center. Since the implementation of this solution, almost 30 thousand bookings have been confirmed this way. Passengers whose flight schedule has been changed are informed automatically via e-mail or SMS.

Bearing in mind the comfort of travel planning in the era of a pandemic, LOT has also prepared additional facilities for its passengers. The existing offer was extended by new FLEX PLUS tariffs. The first such flexible offer on the European market is LOT's response to the greater need for passenger booking management. If it is necessary to change plans, tickets purchased in the FLEX PLUS tariffs can not only be exchanged or returned, but also assigned to another person on preferential terms. For the first time, LOT also allows for extensive changes to be made to the booking - cancellation within 24 hours of the purchase of the ticket, change of passenger data and a free-of-charge choice of a new flight date on condition of availability of seats, as well as return of the ticket on preferential terms.

In addition, the carrier has recently extended its free in-flight service to include new snacks. From 1 June, a novelty on domestic flights is a sweet bun, a 0.5 l bottle of water for each passenger and a disinfecting tissue. On short-haul flights, passengers are also offered a selection of salty and sweet snacks (pretzels, nuts and sweet buns) free of charge.

On lot.com there is a possibility to order a free special meal (there are as many as 25 different meals to choose from, including: meals for small children, kosher, gluten-free or seafood meals) on long-haul flights in all booking classes and in LOT Premium Class and LOT Business Class on short-haul routes. Soon, the self-service option on lot.com will also include paid meals.

From June this year, passengers with Google Pay application can use compatible boarding passes. They can be downloaded via SMS or e-mail.