Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > United Airlines | MileagePlus
Reload this Page >

✨ Polaris (& PP) Retrofits: Schedule, ....

Community
Wiki Posts
Search
Old May 29, 2017, 1:21 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: kirkwoodj
Check the current status of aircraft reconfigured (or delivered) with new Polaris seats: http://view.ceros.com/united/polaris...-desktop-4/p/3.

A Polaris Update and Polaris Mod Schedule to indicate the status of specific aircraft are maintained by those that manage the United Airlines Fleet Website.

Except for 773- and 781-operated flights, and those markets selling Premium Plus, Polaris-equipped planes have not been allocated to specific routes. You won't know until approx. 36-48 hours before departure if you'll have a newly reconfigured aircraft, and even then, it may be replaced with a non-retrofitted aircraft.

777-300ER - All 22 aircraft have Polaris (60 seats) and installation of Premium Plus cabins (24 seats) is complete.

767-300ER - As of September 2020, 31 of the 38 aircraft have been reconfigured with the Polaris seats.
- Retrofit is from 3-cabin to 2-cabin with direct-aisle-access seats. No 3-cabin 767s remain in service.
- 76A configuration is 30J/50Y+/134Y, total of 214; fleet to consist of 17 ships (former 3-cabin 767s).
- 76L configuration is 46J/22PE/47Y+/52Y; fleet to consist of 21 ships (18 former 2-cabin 76C and 3 used ships from Hawaiian).

767-400ER - [16 aircraft] None updated yet; modifications put on hold due to Covid-19.

777-200ER - As of September 2020, 46 of the 50 aircraft have been reconfigured with Polaris and Premium Plus seats.
- Configuration is 50 Polaris seats, 32 in the front cabin and 18 in the second cabin (behind 2L/R)
- Configuration is 10 across in economy, with 24 Premium Plus seats, 46 86 E+ seats and 156 E seats, with E+ in front economy cabin plus exit rows and bulkhead at 3L/R, i.e., almost the same as current pmCO planes, except with 4 seats in middle section.
- Seat map (v5) on united.com

787-8, 787-9 - As of November 2022, all 787-8/9 are converted or in mod. No chance of flying old configuration anymore.
- 788 configuration has 28 Polaris seats (20 in front cabin, 8 in rear mini-cabin), and 21 Premium Plus seats (2-3-2).
- 789 configuration has 48 Polaris seats (32 in front cabin, 16 in rear mini-cabin), and 21 Premium Plus seats (2-3-2).

787-10 - 13 787-10s have been delivered in 2020. All come with Polaris and Premium Plus cabins factory-installed. Another 19 should be added by 2024.

FAQ:
Q: Does a Polaris ticket mean the aircraft has the new Polaris seat?

A: No, Polaris is the label UA uses for long haul international business class. It is also the label UA uses for the new seats, so this does create some confusion.
All the 773s and 787-10s are 100% the new seat.
The rest of the long haul fleet in various stages of conversion, see http://view.ceros.com/united/polaris...-desktop-4/p/3

Q: How to tell if my aircraft is the new style Polaris seats?
A: If the unassigned business class section is showing orange seats or all the seats are side-by-side or there is a section for 4 adjacent seats in the middle, this is an old style lie-flat aircreaft
If the unassigned bussines class seats are dark blue seats or the all the seats appear to have direct aisle access, then you aircraft is the new Polaris seat.
You can also look at the FT maintained, United Fleet Site and crosscheck the tail number or check thePolaris Update tab

Q: How to tell if my aircraft has the new PremiumPlus (PP) / Premium Economy seats?
A: If the unassigned seats just behind business class are purple seats or the aircraft is 773 or 787-10, then yes. However, the purple color seat will only show on routes where PP is being sold.
Aircraft with PP seats are being used on some routes but are not being sold as PP. In those cases, the seats are considered to be a part of E+. In those cases, an indicator of PP sold as E+ will be if the first few rows of economy, there are just 2 seats on the sides (with the rest of E+ showing 3 seats).

Q: Will the aircraft I see at booking be the same configuration at flight time?
A: Unfortunately with the fleet in transit, aircraft swaps happen. UA tends to use placeholders until 2 days before travel and even after that last minute swaps do happen.

Q: My flight seat map shows 772 with polaris seats is it a retrofit?
A: Possibly. The flight status page shows the most accurate scheduled aircraft. If a 77W is swapped in, it will list the aircraft as 777-300ER. However, if the 772's seatmap shows blue rectangular boxes in the business class cabin instead of orange "pointy rounds", this would indicate that a retrofit aircraft has been swapped.

See also: United Future/Changed Routes w/ Polaris seats

Print Wikipost

✨ Polaris (& PP) Retrofits: Schedule, ....

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Jun 25, 2017, 6:57 am
  #346  
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Programs: UA GOLD
Posts: 9
Originally Posted by Microwave
It's impossible to have 48 people booked into Polaris First, on any flight to any destination... I think you're confusing or conflating some things. First, Polaris First is the same seat as Global First was before, and Polaris Business is what United call all long-haul business class now, even if it's not got the new seats.

UA804 tomorrow does indeed have 772 listed as the equipment, though the seat map shows a 77W. Assuming the seat map is correct, this aircraft will not have Polaris First, and it will have the new Polaris Business seat in addition to the Polaris Business catering and soft product it would have had in any event. I hope this helps.
Thanks, I am not super familiar with the nomenclature for different Polaris products. I was just repeating what the United website told me

ballen is offline  
Old Jun 25, 2017, 7:03 am
  #347  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 31,977
Originally Posted by ballen
Thanks, I am not super familiar with the nomenclature for different Polaris products. I was just repeating what the United website told me

the system is confused with the AC swap. This is the new Polaris Business config. and there is no First on this plane. If you were booked in 'F' ask for a compensation from United.
cfischer is offline  
Old Jun 25, 2017, 2:38 pm
  #348  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,393
Originally Posted by cfischer
the system is confused with the AC swap. This is the new Polaris Business config. and there is no First on this plane. If you were booked in 'F' ask for a compensation from United.
Correct - you will have a new Polaris seat and the equipment is actually a 777-300ER. If booked in First originally, you should be due some sort of downgrade compensation.
findark is offline  
Old Jun 26, 2017, 11:56 am
  #349  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: NYC
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist, M Life Gold, SIXT Platinum, Marriott Gold, Amex Platinum, Global Entry
Posts: 150
United has installed a Polaris Progress Tracker on its webpage, which tracks the progress of aircraft types/routes with Polaris seats and Polaris lounge openings. Here is the link:

http://view.ceros.com/united/polaris...-desktop-4/p/1

The next new Polaris lounges in EWR, SFO and LHR are listed as opening "by early 2018."
Under the "Aircraft" tab, all currently existing routes serviced by the new 773 (SFO-HKG, EWR-TLV and SFO-NRT are listed) are listed as well as (yet to be converted) 763 and 772 types. For the 763 the listed starting date is "Fall 2017." For the 772 the webpage states "Winter 2017," which sounds optimistic to me as it sounds more like 4th quarter of 2017 than the previously announced first quarter of 2018. Zodiac's output of Polaris seats for all three aircraft types must be ultra smooth by now, if United wants to stick with its predictions. Can't wait to see the first converted 763 in mid July...
UASleeper is offline  
Old Jun 26, 2017, 12:34 pm
  #350  
 
Join Date: May 2015
Programs: All the programs!
Posts: 1,006
This is a useful update.

However, why is TPE shown as being in the Indian Ocean?
oopl is offline  
Old Jun 26, 2017, 1:11 pm
  #351  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: NYC
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist, M Life Gold, SIXT Platinum, Marriott Gold, Amex Platinum, Global Entry
Posts: 150
Originally Posted by oopl
This is a useful update.

However, why is TPE shown as being in the Indian Ocean?
LOL. I was wondering the same. Let's hope United will be moving TPE into its correct geographical position once the SFP-TPE service has started!
UASleeper is offline  
Old Jun 26, 2017, 1:26 pm
  #352  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Morris County, NJ
Programs: UA 1K/*G, Avis Pres, Marriott Plat
Posts: 2,305
Originally Posted by UASleeper
United has installed a Polaris Progress Tracker on its webpage, which tracks the progress of aircraft types/routes with Polaris seats and Polaris lounge openings. Here is the link:

http://view.ceros.com/united/polaris...-desktop-4/p/1

The next new Polaris lounges in EWR, SFO and LHR are listed as opening "by early 2018."
Under the "Aircraft" tab, all currently existing routes serviced by the new 773 (SFO-HKG, EWR-TLV and SFO-NRT are listed) are listed as well as (yet to be converted) 763 and 772 types. For the 763 the listed starting date is "Fall 2017." For the 772 the webpage states "Winter 2017," which sounds optimistic to me as it sounds more like 4th quarter of 2017 than the previously announced first quarter of 2018. Zodiac's output of Polaris seats for all three aircraft types must be ultra smooth by now, if United wants to stick with its predictions. Can't wait to see the first converted 763 in mid July...
I hadn't really thought about it, but wonder why not the 764ER? I know there's only 16 of them, but once the 763's are fit, you'd think the 764's would be fairly straightforward ...?

And no 788/789's in sight ... that's a bummer too, but not surprising.
dmurphynj is offline  
Old Jun 26, 2017, 1:37 pm
  #353  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,420
Originally Posted by dmurphynj
wonder why not the 764ER? I know there's only 16 of them, but once the 763's are fit, you'd think the 764's would be fairly straightforward ...?
Because they are refurbishing all the 3-class aircraft first.
Kacee is offline  
Old Jun 26, 2017, 1:42 pm
  #354  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: NYC
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist, M Life Gold, SIXT Platinum, Marriott Gold, Amex Platinum, Global Entry
Posts: 150
I would not take the tracker as the final and all inclusive, detailed statement from United as to which aircraft will get Polaris and which won't. Previous United press releases and interviews made it clear that the plan has been to merely "start" the conversion process with pmUA763 and 722 to get rid of the 3 class ITPE seats (esp. the GF and 8 across business class seats). Other UA mainline aircraft types will follow over time, including the 787 8/9 when their first big check ups come up starting in 2018.
UASleeper is offline  
Old Jun 26, 2017, 1:42 pm
  #355  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Morris County, NJ
Programs: UA 1K/*G, Avis Pres, Marriott Plat
Posts: 2,305
Originally Posted by Kacee
Because they are refurbishing all the 3-class aircraft first.
Got it - I ASSumed that the list on that tracker was the end-all-be-all. I guess they don't want to put the 2-class birds on there this far out ...

I know better than to ASSume!
dmurphynj is offline  
Old Jun 26, 2017, 1:53 pm
  #356  
 
Join Date: May 2015
Programs: All the programs!
Posts: 1,006
The 772 map is interesting.

http://imgur.com/V1MgISP

So UA will fly the 772 out of DFW, BFL and other smaller airports?
oopl is offline  
Old Jun 26, 2017, 1:58 pm
  #357  
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Chicago
Programs: United 1K
Posts: 477
Originally Posted by UASleeper
I would not take the tracker as the final and all inclusive, detailed statement from United as to which aircraft will get Polaris and which won't. Previous United press releases and interviews made it clear that the plan has been to merely "start" the conversion process with pmUA763 and 722 to get rid of the 3 class ITPE seats (esp. the GF and 8 across business class seats). Other UA mainline aircraft types will follow over time, including the 787 8/9 when their first big check ups come up starting in 2018.
Overall, this is really pathetic for UA. Why can't they have some information on conversion - although its probably because the conversion schedule is as much of a farce as other promises by UA.
uber1K_Flyer is offline  
Old Jun 26, 2017, 1:59 pm
  #358  
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: ORD
Programs: UA GS
Posts: 659
Originally Posted by oopl
The 772 map is interesting.

http://imgur.com/V1MgISP

So UA will fly the 772 out of DFW, BFL and other smaller airports?
Where did you find the seatmap?

It is interesting to see the different stars pop up when selecting different aircraft.
FlyHighInTheSky is offline  
Old Jun 26, 2017, 2:09 pm
  #359  
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Tx
Programs: AA, UA, WN
Posts: 812
Please
Overlook the
Lack of
Available seats
Rollout
Is
Sluggish

The keeping it real polaris slogan
Halo117 is offline  
Old Jun 26, 2017, 11:26 pm
  #360  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Programs: UA 2MM
Posts: 1,679
Originally Posted by oopl
The 772 map is interesting.

http://imgur.com/V1MgISP

So UA will fly the 772 out of DFW, BFL and other smaller airports?
Why would UA fly out of DFW and BFL?? They will continue to fly these on routes that UA currently flies from their current hubs, I doubt that BFL or DFW will ever become a UA hub.
N104UA is offline  


Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.