May 29, 2017, 1:21 pm
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, 4686 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
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
- 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
✨ Polaris (& PP) Retrofits: Schedule, ....
Jul 18, 2019, 7:53 am
#1847
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: MBS/FNT/LAN
Programs: UA 1K, HH Gold, Mariott Gold
Posts: 9,630
IMhO, yes it can be confusing, but since the onboard service is the same for E & E+, it doesn't really matter if they are all grouped together.
Jul 18, 2019, 8:01 am
#1848
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,409
But... why? The seats are on tracks it's not like they couldn't just slide them around so the E+ rows are contiguous.
Jul 18, 2019, 8:09 am
#1849
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,460
I attempted to ask the same general question a little bit ago. It doesn't make sense to me why there's the island row. Also, assuming they don't do something funny with the pitch, something doesn't add correctly because zone 2 has 5 rows of E+ on the ABC side and 4 rows on the JKL side.
Jul 18, 2019, 8:57 am
#1850
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC (Primarily EWR)
Programs: UA 1K / *G, Marriott Bonvoy Gold; Avis PC
Posts: 9,005
The TPG post makes it sound like the 788 is going to be put on mostly leisure routes. Perhaps this means we will see some of the more business-oriented routes it currently flies (e.g. DEN-NRT, IAD-PEK) get changed to 789s/772s?
Jul 18, 2019, 9:12 am
#1851
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,409
I think that's plausible, especially with the net adds of 77W and 78J coming through the pipeline.
Jul 18, 2019, 9:31 am
#1852
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: MSP, WLG, or the forward most A seat in Y I can get
Programs: UA Plat (and all the derivatives on cars and hotels that implies)
Posts: 491
I looked at this in horror too as someone who's regularly looking for the best E+ seat on a long haul (hello IAH-SYD!). But it might not be as bad as I'm fearing because some people who would be entitled to E+ will book into the Premium Economy section instead.
Jul 18, 2019, 9:34 am
#1853
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC (Primarily EWR)
Programs: UA 1K / *G, Marriott Bonvoy Gold; Avis PC
Posts: 9,005
That will be true at the beginning, until they have enough planes to maintain certain routes with dedicated retrofit aircraft (like they are doing with the retrofitted 772s).
Jul 18, 2019, 7:01 pm
#1855
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
I too am very disappointed at the lack of E+, especially on the 788. E+ was one of UAs competitive advantages and that's little by little going the way of the dodo.
I was thinking that dropping PE in exchange for more E+ would have been a better idea, since these will be on leisure routes with price-sensitive buyers, but then I remembered that PE is already in exchange for the full Polaris Cabin.
I was thinking that dropping PE in exchange for more E+ would have been a better idea, since these will be on leisure routes with price-sensitive buyers, but then I remembered that PE is already in exchange for the full Polaris Cabin.
Jul 18, 2019, 7:52 pm
#1856
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Portland OR
Programs: United 1K 1MM, Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton HHonors Gold
Posts: 560
Edit - GPU for my waitlisted SFO-HKG cleared this evening (7/19) 6 days in advance. RT PDX-SFO-HKG in (upgraded) Polaris for $2K. Strategy is working. ;)
Last edited by usbusinesstraveller; Jul 19, 2019 at 9:31 pm
Jul 18, 2019, 11:56 pm
#1857
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 57,568
I'm thinking more along the lines that quite a few that currently purchase Y (especially W hoping for a GPU upgrade) will instead buy P+, thus reducing the need for so much E+. That’s my strategy going forward. My (PDX-)SFO-HKG for next week in R was only a few hundred more than W and worst case I get a very decent P+ seat. The GPU for the return cleared within a few hours of booking, outbound is still waitlisted but I’m ahead of everyone waitlisted from economy/E+. .
Jul 19, 2019, 8:22 am
#1858
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA Gold 1MM, AA EXP, HH Diamond, MR Gold, Avis PC, Hertz PC
Posts: 1,252
I don't understand why that middle E+ row on the 788 is two rows behind E- rows. Why couldn't they just stick it behind the rest of E+? Also, not counting the exit rows, there are only 5 E+ window seats on the 788. As a window seat flier, that sucks.
Jul 19, 2019, 8:29 am
#1859
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1K MM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 4,768
Jul 19, 2019, 9:27 am
#1860
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2003
Programs: UA*Lifetime GS, Hyatt* Lifetime Globalist
Posts: 12,327
Interesting and disappointing to see cutting back the number of J seats in 788. I think I fly the 788 most based on my monthly roundtrip commune between IAD and PEK. I often counter a full J cabin within 2 to 5 days of departure and have to route through ORD or EWR to purchase a J seat.
Perhaps it is an inventory management issue that they clear the upgrades too early. When I purchase Y seats and upgrade in advance, I have never had any problem clearing upgrades.
I do wonder whether 788 will be replacing 752 on PS routes since both will have the same number of J seats..... too much of an airplane perhaps to do transcon, but 788 is horrible for international routes with the small J cabin.
Perhaps it is an inventory management issue that they clear the upgrades too early. When I purchase Y seats and upgrade in advance, I have never had any problem clearing upgrades.
I do wonder whether 788 will be replacing 752 on PS routes since both will have the same number of J seats..... too much of an airplane perhaps to do transcon, but 788 is horrible for international routes with the small J cabin.
Last edited by UA_Flyer; Jul 20, 2019 at 4:02 am