The non refurbed aircraft can still operate on all routes and may well be subbed at late notice. There may, however be a fuel stop along the way.
The remainder of the 747s (9) are being used on Asia/JNB/FRA routes and 3 of them have the old F-class seats that are used for lucky J-class passengers (like me
). None of these 9 were used to the Americas at all since early November, so the chances of a subtitution are fairly small.