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, ....
Oct 1, 2019, 4:23 pm
#1981
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,447
Which dates are you seeing this? For my dates of travel (12/12 to 1/8) both 869/862 and 877/878 are showing the pmCO configuration at this time.
Oct 2, 2019, 1:03 pm
#1982
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat; *A Gold; Marriott Gold
Posts: 351
See post 1885 upthread; Kacee corrected himself (herself?). They are switching both sets of daily flights SFO-HKG to pmCO 777 layouts later in the year, so eliminating both Polaris seats and also P+ cabin. That was my situation as well. You can wait around and take a chance they may swap back to a Polarized aircraft, or you can cancel now and look for other options that guarantee you a more comfortable seat.
Oct 3, 2019, 12:35 am
#1983
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,392
Just because it's a pmCO 772 doesn't mean it doesn't have Polaris and PE seats! 
The seatmap on United always shows the old 77Y layout initially during booking, but that can change once they decide to use a converted pmCO plane.
In about a week there will be 9 already converted, 2 in conversion, and 11 not converted. By the end of the year there should be more converted than not.
The seatmap on United always shows the old 77Y layout initially during booking, but that can change once they decide to use a converted pmCO plane.
In about a week there will be 9 already converted, 2 in conversion, and 11 not converted. By the end of the year there should be more converted than not.
Only 1 gets released in a week. Look at the dates they went into MOD. N69020 just went in on 9/20. ERS should be in November.
Oct 7, 2019, 1:30 am
#1984
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,392
Well, the first 788 just went in for MOD.
Now I just thought of something. When this plane reenters service, until it gets a dedicated route, how are they going to avoid downgrading up to 8 Polaris passengers every time this plane is flown? My only guess is it will be assigned a specific route, and that route will have limited J capacity for sale. If the chosen route is a daily route, requiring a non-polaris 788 on alternate days, those days will be great for upgrades. Maybe they could put it on a 3X weekly route to start and then shift it to a daily route once the second 788 returns.
Now I just thought of something. When this plane reenters service, until it gets a dedicated route, how are they going to avoid downgrading up to 8 Polaris passengers every time this plane is flown? My only guess is it will be assigned a specific route, and that route will have limited J capacity for sale. If the chosen route is a daily route, requiring a non-polaris 788 on alternate days, those days will be great for upgrades. Maybe they could put it on a 3X weekly route to start and then shift it to a daily route once the second 788 returns.
Oct 7, 2019, 3:35 am
#1985
Join Date: May 2010
Location: AVP & PEK
Programs: UA 1K 1.8MM
Posts: 6,335
Oh, weird.
So they have three in Polaris mod in HKG now?
N37018, N78017 (those two just got to HKG yesterday), and N69020?
Added: N78005's UAL2731 HKG-SFO from today was canceled - not good as they already had it supposed to immediately do HKG-SFO-IAH-ORD-PEK.
I guess some of those flights will now get the infamous United-musical-chairs.
Last edited by narvik; Oct 7, 2019 at 3:43 am
Oct 7, 2019, 9:02 am
#1986
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 1999
Posts: 11,468
Well, the first 788 just went in for MOD.
Now I just thought of something. When this plane reenters service, until it gets a dedicated route, how are they going to avoid downgrading up to 8 Polaris passengers every time this plane is flown? My only guess is it will be assigned a specific route, and that route will have limited J capacity for sale. If the chosen route is a daily route, requiring a non-polaris 788 on alternate days, those days will be great for upgrades. Maybe they could put it on a 3X weekly route to start and then shift it to a daily route once the second 788 returns.
Now I just thought of something. When this plane reenters service, until it gets a dedicated route, how are they going to avoid downgrading up to 8 Polaris passengers every time this plane is flown? My only guess is it will be assigned a specific route, and that route will have limited J capacity for sale. If the chosen route is a daily route, requiring a non-polaris 788 on alternate days, those days will be great for upgrades. Maybe they could put it on a 3X weekly route to start and then shift it to a daily route once the second 788 returns.
In any case some last-minute changes can be expected, until sufficient converted 788s are in service.
Oct 7, 2019, 10:49 am
#1987
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: ORD
Programs: United Premier 1K , Marriot Titanium, Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum
Posts: 114
Seems like my ORD - NRT route is going to be one of the very last to get the Polaris upgrade. A year ago I was shocked to get one of the mythical last minute plane changes to Polaris and scored a free Premium Plus seat.
Got another trip coming up in November. Fingers crossed!
Got another trip coming up in November. Fingers crossed!
Oct 7, 2019, 12:50 pm
#1988
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: ORD
Programs: Marriott Titanium Elite, UA Silver, AA Gold
Posts: 494
Seems like my ORD - NRT route is going to be one of the very last to get the Polaris upgrade. A year ago I was shocked to get one of the mythical last minute plane changes to Polaris and scored a free Premium Plus seat.
Got another trip coming up in November. Fingers crossed!
Got another trip coming up in November. Fingers crossed!
Oct 7, 2019, 5:06 pm
#1989
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC (Primarily EWR)
Programs: UA 1K / *G, Marriott Bonvoy Gold; Avis PC
Posts: 8,994
Well, the first 788 just went in for MOD.
Now I just thought of something. When this plane reenters service, until it gets a dedicated route, how are they going to avoid downgrading up to 8 Polaris passengers every time this plane is flown? My only guess is it will be assigned a specific route, and that route will have limited J capacity for sale. If the chosen route is a daily route, requiring a non-polaris 788 on alternate days, those days will be great for upgrades. Maybe they could put it on a 3X weekly route to start and then shift it to a daily route once the second 788 returns.
Now I just thought of something. When this plane reenters service, until it gets a dedicated route, how are they going to avoid downgrading up to 8 Polaris passengers every time this plane is flown? My only guess is it will be assigned a specific route, and that route will have limited J capacity for sale. If the chosen route is a daily route, requiring a non-polaris 788 on alternate days, those days will be great for upgrades. Maybe they could put it on a 3X weekly route to start and then shift it to a daily route once the second 788 returns.
Oct 7, 2019, 7:31 pm
#1991
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Portland OR
Programs: United 1K 1MM, Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton HHonors Gold
Posts: 560
Probably the most likely. 28J matches the ps 752 and the 772 HD. There will need to be some familiarization for cabin crew. The first plane likely won’t be out before the end of the year so we’re talking it flying Jan-Feb until the next one or two get modded.
Oct 8, 2019, 7:57 am
#1993
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,393
Probably the most likely. 28J matches the ps 752 and the 772 HD. There will need to be some familiarization for cabin crew. The first plane likely won’t be out before the end of the year so we’re talking it flying Jan-Feb until the next one or two get modded.
Oct 8, 2019, 9:35 pm
#1994
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Houston TX
Programs: United Premier 1k, Hertz Presidents Circle, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 408
Oct 9, 2019, 1:17 am
#1995
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,392
That never stopped them before. — *ahem 772s and 763s
This could be feasible on on some of the 3x weekly routes to start. I can’t see Kirby giving away 8 upgrades on every off-day of a daily route.
This could be feasible on on some of the 3x weekly routes to start. I can’t see Kirby giving away 8 upgrades on every off-day of a daily route.