Southwest Airlines Adds Another Partner: LOT Polish Airlines

Southwest has picked up another international airline partner, this time linking arms with LOT Polish Airlines to make it easier for travelers to move between Warsaw’s global hub and Southwest’s U.S. network.

“This new relationship between Southwest and LOT Polish Airlines gives travelers easy access to desired destinations in the United States and new marketplaces in Central and Eastern Europe,” said Justin Jones, chief commercial officer at Southwest. “We’re creating more opportunities for single-ticket global journeys while adding to our portfolio of airline partners.”

Here’s what the deal means if you’re planning a trip.

Southwest Signs Interline Agreement With LOT Polish Airlines

Southwest Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines launched their interline agreement on September 1, 2026, giving passengers on both carriers a straightforward way to string together itineraries that touch Warsaw and points across the U.S. Bookings can be made as of today directly through LOT Polish Airlines through travel agents, or through online booking channels.

Because this is an interline arrangement rather than a codeshare, don’t expect any perks tied to loyalty accounts — no reciprocal elite recognition, and no earning or burning miles across the 2 programs. What you do get is a single ticket that covers both carriers and the ability to check bags through to your final stop, at least in 1 direction.

The airlines overlap at 3 U.S. gateways: Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), and San Francisco (SFO). Travelers heading westbound out of Warsaw can step off LOT’s Boeing 787 at any of these airports and connect onto Southwest to reach cities such as Las Vegas, Denver, Nashville, Phoenix, or Houston without booking a second ticket.

Baggage rules run in 1 direction only. U.S. customs regulations require inbound international passengers to claim checked bags at the first port of entry, so LOT flyers connecting onward on Southwest will need to pull their bags at LAX, MIA, or SFO, clear customs, and recheck them for the domestic leg. Going the other way is smoother: A bag checked at a Southwest departure point in Nashville, for example, can travel through to Warsaw or beyond without you touching it in between.

LOT operates its long-haul flying with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and serves North America, India, Japan, and South Korea from its Warsaw Chopin (WAW) base. The carrier has been flying since 1929, which makes it one of the oldest airlines still in the sky, and it’s a well-known Polish brand across Europe.

Southwest’s Growing Roster of International Partners

LOT Polish is now the 11th airline partner Southwest has brought on board over the past couple of years. The lineup also includes China Airlines, Condor Airlines, EVA Air, Icelandair, Philippine Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines, ANA, and Air Premia, among others, and the pace shows no sign of slowing.

None of these partnerships has crossed the line into codeshare territory yet, which means mileage earning and elite benefits remain off the table for Rapid Rewards members flying partner metal. Still, adding partners this quickly hints that Southwest sees genuine value in feeding foreign carriers into its domestic web, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see some of these relationships graduate to something deeper down the road.

Final Thoughts

With LOT Polish Airlines in the fold, Southwest customers gain a new way to reach Central and Eastern Europe on a single ticket, and Polish travelers gain access to Southwest cities they couldn’t reach on a single ticket before.

Given how fast Southwest has been adding names to this list, it’s probably only a matter of time before we’re writing about partner number 12.