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 Sep 26, 2019, 10:57 am
  #1951  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,404
Originally Posted by unagi1
The best one I was on was China Airlines 359 which had 2-3-2 config in Premium Economy SFO-TPE a couple years ago.
I believe CI and LH are alone in the 7-across 350 PE, but I hope I'm wrong about that
findark is online now  
Old Sep 26, 2019, 11:33 am
  #1952  
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Anywhere but home
Programs: UA 1K/MM, DL GM/MM, HH Dia, PC Plat, MR Gold, ALL Sil,
Posts: 4,552
Originally Posted by unagi1
Booked a ticket back in May for October travel SFO-CDG. I booked the route specifically because it was showing a 787 with PP as the equipment. Went to check my booking the other day on united.com and it now shows as a 772 with PP on the seat plan. The 2-3-2 on the 787 is a nice config. While I know the 2-4-2 on a 777 is also the customary config. 2-3-2 on a 787 always seemed slightly more spacious, as I've flown it also on Virgin Atlantic. I'll get over it. Just mildly annoyed. Ha.
At least it wasn't changed to a non-PP 772, which happened to me. Was rebooked into E+ with no good alternative. Fortunately I used a GPU just before departure.
FlytheTail is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2019, 12:02 pm
  #1953  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
Originally Posted by FlytheTail
At least it wasn't changed to a non-PP 772, which happened to me. Was rebooked into E+ with no good alternative. Fortunately I used a GPU just before departure.
While going from P+ into E+ is definitely a downgrade, at least you would have been going into 9X E+. Being downgraded from P+ into 10X E+ ...... ohhh nooooooooo
FlytheTail likes this.
phkc070408 is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2019, 1:38 pm
  #1954  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 128
Originally Posted by st3
I am travelling to LHR just after new years (1/1/2020 actually) and I just booked myself going through ORD on the High-J 763. There are two flights through IAH, one is being downgraded to a 764 for the winter so that is a pass but the other is a 772. Looking at the flight history it appears to get Polaris about 50% of the time. The pmCO772s (which is what this route looks to be) are only about 1/3 converted so far. Trying to gauge the risk of whether it is worth it for the extra PQMs and hour of sleep versus going through ORD. There is always the possibility of bad weather on ORD too....
I travel through Houston on about 20-30 international long-haul trips a year, and I've been on exactly two flights with Polaris... one was back in 2017 when the 77W was new and doing a tour through all the hub cities and just happened to be subbed in on NRT-IAH the day I was flying, and the second was just last month on IAH-NRT. Based on my experience out of IAH, I would say your chances are low on catching a Polaris cabin.
iflyabunch is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2019, 3:43 pm
  #1955  
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 553
Originally Posted by findark
Is that a new design of a UA seatmap?


Yes - I've only see it on the new flight status page though. It appears when you click "View seat map" from there.

When searching flights and selecting seats, I still see the old one. The new one does appear to show both the BF and Polaris seats in the same way, meaning you have to be more knowledgeable about aircraft configurations to know which seat you're getting!
windhund is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2019, 4:20 pm
  #1956  
st3
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: TPA
Programs: United MP
Posts: 463
Originally Posted by iflyabunch
I travel through Houston on about 20-30 international long-haul trips a year, and I've been on exactly two flights with Polaris... one was back in 2017 when the 77W was new and doing a tour through all the hub cities and just happened to be subbed in on NRT-IAH the day I was flying, and the second was just last month on IAH-NRT. Based on my experience out of IAH, I would say your chances are low on catching a Polaris cabin.
I'll stick to my ORD flight on the 763 then. I will check to see the seat map on the IAH flight and may try for a SDC when it gets close enough.
st3 is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2019, 5:23 pm
  #1957  
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1MM 1K, BA Gold
Posts: 430
Originally Posted by FlyingHighlander
Very briefly, what do some prefer about the 2+2+2?
I recently flew the 787-10 for the first time (in Polaris odd window seat). It was really-really narrow. And I am not big. This was the first time ever that I felt cramped in a J seat.
elynchking and pbartp like this.
fatlasercat is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2019, 6:37 pm
  #1958  
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat; *A Gold; Marriott Gold
Posts: 351
Polaris and P+ SFO-HKG in Jan 2020?

Have a weekend mileage run booked in P+ SFO-HKG-SFO over a 3-day weekend in Jan 2020. When booked, flight was shown on a 773 with Polaris and P+, so selected a P+ seat. Booked in July 2019 (?) Just checked the schedule/seat and the plane's been swapped for a pmCO 772 (2-2-2 in biz and 9-across in E+). Obviously my P+ seat is gone, no contact from United.

The SFO-HKG route was one that they advertised as being all Polaris/P+ so was surprised to see this change. On the wiki and the UA Polaris Tracker page I see the 772 is 57% complete with retrofit to continue "through 2020." Before I phone UA CS to ask them to cancel due to the downgrade, any knowledge regarding plans for this route? Don't see anything recently on this point.

Really not interested in a 15-hour MR entirely in E+, if I was willing to do that I'd have paid half as much money, and that's not my idea of a fun weekend getaway. Thanks for any thoughts
Brucemcdou is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2019, 7:12 pm
  #1959  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: UA-1K MM, AA-Gold, DL-Silver, AS-MVP
Posts: 2,508
Originally Posted by Brucemcdou
Have a weekend mileage run booked in P+ SFO-HKG-SFO over a 3-day weekend in Jan 2020. When booked, flight was shown on a 773 with Polaris and P+, so selected a P+ seat. Booked in July 2019 (?) Just checked the schedule/seat and the plane's been swapped for a pmCO 772 (2-2-2 in biz and 9-across in E+). Obviously my P+ seat is gone, no contact from United.

The SFO-HKG route was one that they advertised as being all Polaris/P+ so was surprised to see this change. On the wiki and the UA Polaris Tracker page I see the 772 is 57% complete with retrofit to continue "through 2020." Before I phone UA CS to ask them to cancel due to the downgrade, any knowledge regarding plans for this route? Don't see anything recently on this point.

Really not interested in a 15-hour MR entirely in E+, if I was willing to do that I'd have paid half as much money, and that's not my idea of a fun weekend getaway. Thanks for any thoughts
This happened when they suspended ORD-HKG. This thread has a bit of discussion on going from 77W to non-polaris 772: Reduced service - ORD-HKG suspended as of 8-Sept-19 & EWR-EZE suspended as of 26-Oct

Also this thread: Winter 2019-2020 EWR-HKG back to non-polaris seating 772? (Now 77W - Polaris w/ PP)
hirohito888 is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2019, 7:36 pm
  #1960  
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat; *A Gold; Marriott Gold
Posts: 351
Originally Posted by hirohito888
This happened when they suspended ORD-HKG. This thread has a bit of discussion on going from 77W to non-polaris 772: Reduced service - ORD-HKG suspended as of 8-Sept-19 & EWR-EZE suspended as of 26-Oct

Also this thread: Winter 2019-2020 EWR-HKG back to non-polaris seating 772? (Now 77W - Polaris w/ PP)
Interesting - thanks for the links, Hirohito! I’ve got some more reading to do...
Brucemcdou is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2019, 8:27 pm
  #1961  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,448
Originally Posted by Brucemcdou
Really not interested in a 15-hour MR entirely in E+, if I was willing to do that I'd have paid half as much money, and that's not my idea of a fun weekend getaway. Thanks for any thoughts
If you're okay with the timing, UA should be willing to switch you to UA862/869, which are still showing Polaris and PE equipped aircraft.
Kacee is online now  
Old Sep 26, 2019, 8:37 pm
  #1962  
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: IAH/EWR-LGA/MIA
Programs: UA Global Services 3.2 MM, Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium Elite, AA Exec Plat
Posts: 2,503
Wiki says re 763s: " Remaining 7 aircraft will remain in the 2-class Diamond BF seat configuration"

And be used for what?
st530 is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2019, 9:13 pm
  #1963  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Portland OR
Programs: United 1K 1MM, Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton HHonors Gold
Posts: 560
Originally Posted by st530
Wiki says re 763s: " Remaining 7 aircraft will remain in the 2-class Diamond BF seat configuration"

And be used for what?
The wiki may be out of date. The Fleet updates website (the FlyerTalk one) now says 4 of those 7 will get High J Polaris, with 3 not. The most likely outcome for those that don’t get Polaris is retirement, or possibly domestic flying.

One of those seven has been in HKG since mid August. The fleet updates site is being non-commital on the reason (it says “Maint?”). It could be maintenance but it could be Polaris. I think they’re right not to commit and see what comes out.
st530 likes this.
usbusinesstraveller is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2019, 9:35 pm
  #1964  
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat; *A Gold; Marriott Gold
Posts: 351
Originally Posted by Kacee
If you're okay with the timing, UA should be willing to switch you to UA862/869, which are still showing Polaris and PE equipped aircraft.
Hmm, perhaps I’m not reading the UA site correctly but 862/869 is/are the flights I’m on which were originally 777-300 w Polaris/PE but now pmCO 777-200 without Polaris or PE. The other daily round trip would be 877/878 which also currently show as pmCO 777-200 without Polaris or PE.

Given the uncertainty I've now requested upgrades using miles so I’ll see what happens after a week or two but otherwise may call to cancel and look for another mileage run in January. Thanks Kacee for your thoughts
Brucemcdou is offline  
Old Sep 26, 2019, 9:52 pm
  #1965  
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 490
Do the retrofitted 777s and 767s have LED mood lighting installed? or did they keep the old fluorescent lighting?
ASA_1 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.