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, ....
#1951
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#1952
Join Date: Oct 2004
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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.
#1953
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
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
#1954
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 128
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....
#1955
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 553
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!
#1956
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: TPA
Programs: United MP
Posts: 463
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.
#1957
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1MM 1K, BA Gold
Posts: 430
#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
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
#1959
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NYC
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Posts: 2,508
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
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
Also this thread: Winter 2019-2020 EWR-HKG back to non-polaris seating 772? (Now 77W - Polaris w/ PP)
#1960
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat; *A Gold; Marriott Gold
Posts: 351
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)
Also this thread: Winter 2019-2020 EWR-HKG back to non-polaris seating 772? (Now 77W - Polaris w/ PP)
#1961
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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.
#1962
Join Date: Jan 2009
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Wiki says re 763s: " Remaining 7 aircraft will remain in the 2-class Diamond BF seat configuration"
And be used for what?
And be used for what?
#1963
Join Date: Jan 2017
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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.
#1964
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat; *A Gold; Marriott Gold
Posts: 351
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