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 Nov 24, 2019, 2:19 pm
  #2041  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: KOA/PHKO
Programs: Starbucks Gold :-)
Posts: 831
I think they use the dorm-style 777ʻs on HNL flights on the regular.
MDTyKe is offline  
Old Nov 24, 2019, 2:54 pm
  #2042  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: UA-1K MM, AA-Gold, DL-Silver, AS-MVP
Posts: 2,509
Originally Posted by vaguba
Are the dorm room style 777s with the 2-4-2 business class still doing trans pacific routes?
Yes, N221UA is doing ORD-PVG tomorrow.

I think it's largely contained to ORD-PVG/PEK/NRT.
hirohito888 is offline  
Old Nov 24, 2019, 3:01 pm
  #2043  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Posts: 11,468
Originally Posted by televisor
Also curious what the plans are for ZRH-IAD: currently that seems to switch between 763 and 764. Fortunately ZRH-EWR and the new ZRH-ORD service seem to be going to Hi-J,
I think there is a chance for ZRH-IAD to get the 76L as well, once more frames are available. Among other things, it would make sense operationally to have the same equipment on EWR & IAD.
Meanwhile, GVA-EWR will get the 76L incl PP as of 6 March.
Nice to see Switzerland getting multiple PP flights on UA.
cesco.g is offline  
Old Nov 24, 2019, 4:38 pm
  #2044  
 
Join Date: Dec 2018
Programs: UA
Posts: 104
Originally Posted by hirohito888
Yes, N221UA is doing ORD-PVG tomorrow.

I think it's largely contained to ORD-PVG/PEK/NRT.
Frightening, last year when I flew the ORD PEK route i was lucky enough to get a polarized 772 both ways, hopefully by january they will retire those for good
vaguba is offline  
Old Nov 25, 2019, 11:53 pm
  #2045  
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: UA 1K, DL Med, Marriott Plat
Posts: 54
Originally Posted by kevanyalowitz
I would avoid them. The seats are dated and uncomfortable. Getting out is not fun even for someone nimble.
Do you mean avoid the old Polaris seats on 772 completely, or avoid Windows on old Polaris?

For what it is worth, I originally reserved on SFO-HKG when it was showing New Polaris seats on a blue seat map in 1-2-1 config. Somewhere along the way, I lost my seat assignment it went to old Polaris with orange seat map and 2-2-2.
former1k is offline  
Old Nov 26, 2019, 2:35 am
  #2046  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
Interesting. The fleet site shows N29968, a 789, entering XMN on Sunday(24), but it doesn't have the "Polaris" note with the yellow highlight. Here's hoping this is the first one in for MOD.
phkc070408 is offline  
Old Nov 26, 2019, 1:36 pm
  #2047  
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Houston TX
Programs: United Premier 1k, Hertz Presidents Circle, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 408
Originally Posted by former1k
Do you mean avoid the old Polaris seats on 772 completely, or avoid Windows on old Polaris?

For what it is worth, I originally reserved on SFO-HKG when it was showing New Polaris seats on a blue seat map in 1-2-1 config. Somewhere along the way, I lost my seat assignment it went to old Polaris with orange seat map and 2-2-2.
On 2-2-2 configuration, go with the middle section. They are not the best seat but they are more than serviceable!
mike2003242 is offline  
Old Dec 12, 2019, 3:29 pm
  #2048  
 
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 2
Polaris 777-200 IAH-HNL

Newbie here..
How do I find the tail number so I can get an idea of when this route will get the polaris seats. Flying next Nov but not going to spend the points to fly first class in th 2-4-2 format.
Does anyone have any info? Thx
gopackgo66 is offline  
Old Dec 12, 2019, 3:30 pm
  #2049  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
Does this represent a change or is it what they’ve planned all along for the 787 retrofits?


https://viewfromthewing.com/uniteds-...irby-retrofit/
wco81 is offline  
Old Dec 12, 2019, 3:31 pm
  #2050  
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, AA, DL
Posts: 7,418
Originally Posted by gopackgo66
Newbie here..
How do I find the tail number so I can get an idea of when this route will get the polaris seats. Flying next Nov but not going to spend the points to fly first class in th 2-4-2 format.
Does anyone have any info? Thx
Is this the domestic version of the 777 (28J seats)? That's late in the priority list.
drewguy is offline  
Old Dec 12, 2019, 3:39 pm
  #2051  
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,454
Originally Posted by wco81
Does this represent a change or is it what they’ve planned all along for the 787 retrofits?


https://viewfromthewing.com/uniteds-...irby-retrofit/
The leaked seat map for the 78H is wrong. The onboard accessible lav will be midships at door 3.
EWR764 is offline  
Old Dec 12, 2019, 3:48 pm
  #2052  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
Originally Posted by EWR764
The leaked seat map for the 78H is wrong. The onboard accessible lav will be midships at door 3.
But the blogger seems to be implying that Kirby changed up the retrofit plans to squeeze in more Y seats, with fewer lavs.
wco81 is offline  
Old Dec 12, 2019, 3:58 pm
  #2053  
 
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 2
It has 28 "first class" seats if that's what you mean.
gopackgo66 is offline  
Old Dec 12, 2019, 4:09 pm
  #2054  
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,454
Something screwy is going on with the 788 seat map. Compare the galleys at doors 2 and the lavs at doors 3 in these two versions:

leaked in the summer:


cf. today:



Elsewhere it's being reported that the configuration is wrong, and I believe it is. 2 lavs for 215Y pax on a longhaul aircraft is completely unreasonable. But the modification still seems deliberate.
EWR764 is offline  
Old Dec 12, 2019, 5:16 pm
  #2055  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,416
Originally Posted by gopackgo66
Newbie here..
How do I find the tail number so I can get an idea of when this route will get the polaris seats. Flying next Nov but not going to spend the points to fly first class in th 2-4-2 format.
Does anyone have any info? Thx
Originally Posted by gopackgo66
It has 28 "first class" seats if that's what you mean.
HNL routes are operated by the 77G (28F old IPTE seats) and will never see Polaris seats. Possibly after they fly the wings off the 77As and need new aircraft, but certainly not until then.
findark 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.