LOT Polish

Ahhh, yes, the benefit of low expecations. I was looking forward to flying LOT Polish (Copenhagen-Warsaw-NY) return for the novelty but upper mgmt wasn't, not after sumptuous service on Singapore Air from NY to Frankfurt on the outbound. (For the list of kooky airlines flying to weird destinations, write us here)

Surprise, surprise- an above avg experience! Half-full flight to Warsaw on a clean, good legroom regional jet. They are our first to offer a second drink (tea or coffee) right away with the meal. Alcohol was free, and the food pretty good, though repetitive.

Shockingly, we'd have to put LOT above SAS, where nothing, not even water, was free. They're both under pressure from low-cost carriers (SAS from Norwegian Air Shuttle and Sterling; LOT from Wizz and there they are again- Norwegian Air Shuttle in Warsaw)- maybe LOT is owned by the state still and doesn't care. Nonetheless, it joins Iberia as an airline without a reputation we rate above the crowd.

A gleaming new Terminal 2 at Warsaw's Chopin airport as good as any in Europe- looked underused but this is a growing economy- it will fill in due time. It was quite a contrast to the Soviet-era Terminal 1 we arrived in- ugly red vinyl chairs, atrocious dotted white tile floors.

The European airports we transited were all great- Frankfurt is a little worn being older and heavily used, but Oslo, Copenhagen (!!!), Warsaw's new terminal 2 were all expanses of light and high ceilings, easy directions/departure screens, no lines, beautiful wood or tile floors, hard-to-imagine getting crowded. Even Bergen's and Tromso's small airports in Norway put your typical American small city airport to shame.