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, ....
Aug 14, 2019, 8:36 am
#1906
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Houston
Programs: UA GS 2.6MM & Lifetime UC, Qantas Platinum, Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Bonvoy Platinum, HawaiianMiles
Posts: 8,694
Wow! 4 days in a row for IAH-AMS 772 to be Polarisized (13-16 AUG)! Red-headed stepchild IAH finally getting some love! 
Last edited by kirkwoodj; Aug 15, 2019 at 2:08 am
Aug 14, 2019, 11:05 am
#1907
Join Date: Sep 2008
Programs: UA 1P
Posts: 320
Aug 15, 2019, 2:09 am
#1909
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Houston
Programs: UA GS 2.6MM & Lifetime UC, Qantas Platinum, Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Bonvoy Platinum, HawaiianMiles
Posts: 8,694
Aug 16, 2019, 1:32 pm
#1910
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 2
We flying UA FLT 42 from Dulles to FCO on Nov 28. Plane is 767-300. In looking at the seat map it looks like the old Business class seats. In reading update schedules I can't figure out if this plane will be upgraded before we fly? and also are there only 2 lavatories for the whole plane and they're in the front?
Would like to change but doing so would cost $700+ for both of us.
Would like to change but doing so would cost $700+ for both of us.
Aug 16, 2019, 1:59 pm
#1911
Join Date: Sep 2008
Programs: UA 1P
Posts: 320
We flying UA FLT 42 from Dulles to FCO on Nov 28. Plane is 767-300. In looking at the seat map it looks like the old Business class seats. In reading update schedules I can't figure out if this plane will be upgraded before we fly? and also are there only 2 lavatories for the whole plane and they're in the front?
Would like to change but doing so would cost $700+ for both of us.
Would like to change but doing so would cost $700+ for both of us.
Aug 16, 2019, 6:34 pm
#1912
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,850
UA is about halfway thru the seat change retrofits for 763 and it is expected to take another 12 maybe 15 months to finish. So there is a chance but not a certainty. UA will probably wait until a few days before departure if they plan to switch to the new seating. Watch how planes are actually departing (Blue seats are new, orange seats are older) to get a sense if the Polaris seats are used (which I believe for FCO that has not been common)
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Aug 17, 2019 at 12:28 am Reason: typo "common"
Aug 16, 2019, 11:26 pm
#1913
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Houston TX
Programs: United Premier 1k, Hertz Presidents Circle, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 408
We flying UA FLT 42 from Dulles to FCO on Nov 28. Plane is 767-300. In looking at the seat map it looks like the old Business class seats. In reading update schedules I can't figure out if this plane will be upgraded before we fly? and also are there only 2 lavatories for the whole plane and they're in the front?
Would like to change but doing so would cost $700+ for both of us.
Would like to change but doing so would cost $700+ for both of us.
Aug 17, 2019, 6:23 am
#1914
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,451
UA is about halfway thru the seat change retrofits for 763 and it is expected to take another 12 maybe 15 months to finish. So there is a chance but not a certainty. UA will probably wait until a few days before departure if they plan to switch to the new seating. Watch how planes are actually departing (Blue seats are new, orange seats are older) to get a sense if the Polaris seats are used (which I believe for FCO that has not been common)
Aug 21, 2019, 3:48 pm
#1915
Join Date: Oct 2017
Programs: MR Platinum Premier
Posts: 43
Perhaps this is covered elsewhere, but in the event of a retrofit of an existing flight, are the passengers in the forward E+ seats reassigned to the Premium Plus seats or are they moved back to the existing E+ seats? I've got a flight DEN-NRT for December that's booked on a 787-8 and I'd be more than happy to book the Premium Plus seats, but that's not an option at the moment. I'm flying with a companion without status on a separate PNR and I'd hate for a last minute retrofit to split us up or preclude us from sitting in Premium Plus.
Aug 21, 2019, 4:45 pm
#1916
Join Date: Jul 2016
Programs: UA1K | *A Gold
Posts: 767
Perhaps this is covered elsewhere, but in the event of a retrofit of an existing flight, are the passengers in the forward E+ seats reassigned to the Premium Plus seats or are they moved back to the existing E+ seats? I've got a flight DEN-NRT for December that's booked on a 787-8 and I'd be more than happy to book the Premium Plus seats, but that's not an option at the moment. I'm flying with a companion without status on a separate PNR and I'd hate for a last minute retrofit to split us up or preclude us from sitting in Premium Plus.
Companion on separate PNR may get pushed back to E- when they reassign the seats. Best bet is to keep any eye out for the swap and call again to request that you and your companion get seated together towards the front.
Aug 22, 2019, 7:13 am
#1917
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,410
"Towards the front" is still a bit of a murky statement.. there's some of the monkey and the dartboard involved here 
However, I'm not aware that there are likely to be many (if any) PE-equipped 788s by December.
However, I'm not aware that there are likely to be many (if any) PE-equipped 788s by December.
Aug 22, 2019, 5:49 pm
#1918
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
Wiki says all 772s will be Polaris by 2020.
Does that mean the start of 2020 or the end of 2020?
I'm looking at mid April and UA949 shows on Seatguru as one of those 2-4-2 J cabins.
What are the chances that all 772s will be converted by April 2020? Or better yet, what time of the year do they typically go to the 77W between SFO and LHR?
Does that mean the start of 2020 or the end of 2020?
I'm looking at mid April and UA949 shows on Seatguru as one of those 2-4-2 J cabins.
What are the chances that all 772s will be converted by April 2020? Or better yet, what time of the year do they typically go to the 77W between SFO and LHR?
Aug 22, 2019, 5:55 pm
#1919
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC (Primarily EWR)
Programs: UA 1K / *G, Marriott Bonvoy Gold; Avis PC
Posts: 9,005
Wiki says all 772s will be Polaris by 2020.
Does that mean the start of 2020 or the end of 2020?
I'm looking at mid April and UA949 shows on Seatguru as one of those 2-4-2 J cabins.
What are the chances that all 772s will be converted by April 2020? Or better yet, what time of the year do they typically go to the 77W between SFO and LHR?
Does that mean the start of 2020 or the end of 2020?
I'm looking at mid April and UA949 shows on Seatguru as one of those 2-4-2 J cabins.
What are the chances that all 772s will be converted by April 2020? Or better yet, what time of the year do they typically go to the 77W between SFO and LHR?
Aug 22, 2019, 7:43 pm
#1920
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,850
Wiki says all 772s will be Polaris by 2020.
Does that mean the start of 2020 or the end of 2020?
I'm looking at mid April and UA949 shows on Seatguru as one of those 2-4-2 J cabins.
What are the chances that all 772s will be converted by April 2020? Or better yet, what time of the year do they typically go to the 77W between SFO and LHR?
Does that mean the start of 2020 or the end of 2020?
I'm looking at mid April and UA949 shows on Seatguru as one of those 2-4-2 J cabins.
What are the chances that all 772s will be converted by April 2020? Or better yet, what time of the year do they typically go to the 77W between SFO and LHR?
At the moment I would not put much credence in the placeholder aircraft this far out.
Given we have only a bit more than 1-year history, the typical time of the year for anything is probably not a meaningful approach.