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 27, 2019, 12:43 am
#1921
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Houston TX
Programs: United Premier 1k, Hertz Presidents Circle, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 408
The max is not going to effect 777 retrofits. Entirely different aircraft that fly entirely different missions. If they were retrofitting narrowbodies, like AA is, the max grounding would effect volume.
Aug 27, 2019, 2:05 am
#1922
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
But isn't there a trickel-down effect? Use a 772 in place of a 763, use that 763 in place of a 752, use that 752 in place of a 39M? Either that or the 772 could be used in place of 2 39Ms on a hub to hub route with frequent service?
Aug 27, 2019, 8:31 am
#1923
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Houston TX
Programs: United Premier 1k, Hertz Presidents Circle, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 408
In theory, there could be, but it doesnt appear to be the case. We are still in the busier summer schedule and they have (3) 772s and (2) 763s in for retrofit. UA hasn't mentioned either that they are slowing down the retrofit for the max. AA has specifically said that project oasis is on hold due to the grounding.
Aug 27, 2019, 12:46 pm
#1924
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: IAH, SGN, BKK
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 396
I think it will. 777s are making trips between IAH-SFO & ORD-SFO where before we had 2 738/9 flights.
Aug 27, 2019, 12:55 pm
#1925
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: UA-1K MM, AA-Gold, DL-Silver, AS-MVP
Posts: 2,509
In theory, there could be, but it doesnt appear to be the case. We are still in the busier summer schedule and they have (3) 772s and (2) 763s in for retrofit. UA hasn't mentioned either that they are slowing down the retrofit for the max. AA has specifically said that project oasis is on hold due to the grounding.
Aug 30, 2019, 7:58 am
#1926
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 553
I noticed a couple flights where IAD-HNL is flying the new 763 Polaris configuration (29 and 30 August, at least). Anyone familiar with that route? I'm flying it later this year and am curious how often the config has swapped. I'll likely be in Y, though considering an upgrade if it might swap since there weren't many good E+ seats left in Y when I booked.
I know from the wiki that the former 3-class 763s have been prioritized for conversion and that some of the old 2-class 763s will keep BF seats. I figure the latter would be used for these leisure routes - so It was surprising to see the Polaris config on IAD-HNL.
I know from the wiki that the former 3-class 763s have been prioritized for conversion and that some of the old 2-class 763s will keep BF seats. I figure the latter would be used for these leisure routes - so It was surprising to see the Polaris config on IAD-HNL.
Aug 30, 2019, 10:31 am
#1927
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,417
It's just the ratio of Polaris to non-Polaris 763s (excluding the 76Ls). They are not doing anything special to segregate the Polaris and pmCO seat subfleets.
Sep 2, 2019, 7:34 pm
#1928
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Houston TX
Programs: United Premier 1k, Hertz Presidents Circle, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 408
IAH-SFO has 777s from time to time, this is not new. Also, IAH-EWR is entirely on 737s right now, typically there is at least one wide body and at least an additional 752 on that route.
Sep 6, 2019, 1:50 pm
#1929
Join Date: Sep 2019
Programs: MileagePlus
Posts: 1
Premium Plus Updates
I am on a flight in October to/from Europe. Made some adjustments via Customer Service. They suggested I take some Economy Plus seats because the middles were blocked out. To them this showed that the planes were being converted to Premium Plus and we would be automatically upgraded once the plane was switched over.
Months later... seats are still showing Blue (not the Premium Plus purple). Has anyone seen/heard of similar or know when certain planes will be upgraded?
Specific flights are: 10/11 -- UA918, 10/26 -- UA986
Months later... seats are still showing Blue (not the Premium Plus purple). Has anyone seen/heard of similar or know when certain planes will be upgraded?
Specific flights are: 10/11 -- UA918, 10/26 -- UA986
Sep 6, 2019, 2:07 pm
#1930
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: 66,856
Welcome to FT!, stancoville
In our FT vernacular, those are 2-2-2 pmCO 772s, which have just started being converted and it will probably take a year (?-before end of 2020) to be converted.
6 of 22 done, 2 in progress, rate 1-2 / month
There is a small chance you will get a converted Polaris/PP aircraft for IAD-LHR, ORD-CDG, but probably best to assume for Oct 2019 you will not.
My error -- these flights are "scheduled" as the 2-4-2 pmUA 772's -- those are further along in the conversion process and expected to be done before the end of 2019. But UA is not yet selling PP for your routes, so no guarantee of configuration
23 of 29 done and some previous routes (EWR-LHR and some to Asia) are now scheduled for the new configuration
For now, UA will show the older config until 2 days before the flight and than make a decision of which config will be used. In the uncertainty phase, if the new config appears, those with E+ access may be able to choose the PP seats. There are no guarantees if there are swaps, any previous E+ seat will become PP.
Once UA starts selling the PP for that route, only those that purchased PP will have access
6 of 22 done, 2 in progress, rate 1-2 / month
There is a small chance you will get a converted Polaris/PP aircraft for IAD-LHR, ORD-CDG, but probably best to assume for Oct 2019 you will not.
My error -- these flights are "scheduled" as the 2-4-2 pmUA 772's -- those are further along in the conversion process and expected to be done before the end of 2019. But UA is not yet selling PP for your routes, so no guarantee of configuration
23 of 29 done and some previous routes (EWR-LHR and some to Asia) are now scheduled for the new configuration
For now, UA will show the older config until 2 days before the flight and than make a decision of which config will be used. In the uncertainty phase, if the new config appears, those with E+ access may be able to choose the PP seats. There are no guarantees if there are swaps, any previous E+ seat will become PP.
Once UA starts selling the PP for that route, only those that purchased PP will have access
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Sep 6, 2019 at 4:17 pm Reason: wrong 772s
Sep 6, 2019, 5:09 pm
#1931
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: In between IAD and DCA
Programs: UA Plat 1.1MM , Marriott Gold Elite, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,262
For now, UA will show the older config until 2 days before the flight and than make a decision of which config will be used. In the uncertainty phase, if the new config appears, those with E+ access may be able to choose the PP seats. There are no guarantees if there are swaps, any previous E+ seat will become PP.
Sep 6, 2019, 6:08 pm
#1932
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: 66,856
Is this always the case? I am flying to NRT soon on a currently old-style pmUA 772, and am checking every day to see if it has changed. Will it be changed (if it is) at 48 hours out exactly? Anything I can do to make sure I'm put in an odd-numbered window automatically if possible?
I would not be bothering to check until 3-4 days out, to be on the safe side.
Sep 7, 2019, 11:52 pm
#1933
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
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.
1. They use the old configuration on your flight and your seat is the one you selected.
2. They use the new configuration on your flight, but do not sell P+ as a service. You get lucky and get a P+ seat with E+ services (meal, etc) for E+ price.
3. They use the new configuration and sell P+ on that flight as a separate cabin, full with meal, etc. You can either buy up to P+, or have to take an available E+ seat farther back.
The only risk is the chance of not getting lucky. You won't loose out on anything. That said, if booking E+ on any 787-8 or 797-9 route, it would be advisable to select seats in one of the first two rows.
Sep 17, 2019, 12:18 am
#1934
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: HND
Programs: AA EXP, UA 1K
Posts: 1,230
For anyone playing at home, ORD-NRT toward the end of the year (my flight is Jan 1) was pmUA772, then a month or two ago went to pmCO772, and now back to pmUA772. Not sure what I prefer at this point except I think I have a better chance of last minute swap to Polaris with a pmUA772 than a pmCO.
Sure pays to check your res everyday!
Sure pays to check your res everyday!