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, ....
#2101
Join Date: Apr 2009
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#2102
Join Date: Dec 2016
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Programs: UA GS, Bonvoy Gold
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Having flown the Polaris hard product on both the 777-300ER (NRT-EWR) and the 787-10 (SFO-EWR), I can say for certain that the seats are tighter on the 787-10. In the odd-numbered window seats you sit much closer to the wall, and the whole "cubby" feels a bit tighter. I can't say the actual seat itself felt any narrower. The screen also might be a bit smaller.
With all that, I still prefer it over the old 2-2-2 configuration since I'm a window-seat person and no longer have to step over someone to get to the aisle.
With all that, I still prefer it over the old 2-2-2 configuration since I'm a window-seat person and no longer have to step over someone to get to the aisle.
#2103
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But we were reacting to OP's reference to a "new" Polaris configuration on the 781. That's a head scratcher, b/c to my knowledge all the 781s have precisely the same configuration.
#2104
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#2105
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It's narrower, but I still strongly prefer it to the Diamond seat. In an ideal world, UA would have gone with the alternating 1-2-1/1-1-1/1-2-1 configuration that was mocked up (before any plans to put it in the 787) but that would have hurt density quite a bit.
I'm 6'2" and found the length just fine (767 is shorter) but I can imagine larger pax in any dimension might find it uncomfortably tight.
I'm 6'2" and found the length just fine (767 is shorter) but I can imagine larger pax in any dimension might find it uncomfortably tight.
#2106
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#2107
Join Date: Mar 2018
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Posts: 1,134
First modded B788 is ship #3908 . Currently inbound from XMN now (as of 2000z 8 Jan) as UA2738. Then immediately flows to UA 1912 SFO-IAD.
Biggest issue I can see is only 28 J Polaris seats vs 36 in the previous config. Real estate went to P+ seats.
Biggest issue I can see is only 28 J Polaris seats vs 36 in the previous config. Real estate went to P+ seats.
#2108
Join Date: Oct 2004
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I also noticed the narrower seat on the 763, with 20.6" width. It felt more snug in the shoulders as well as closer to others. It's also 3" shorter than other Polaris seats but is still much better than the previous seats.
#2109
Join Date: May 2012
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First modded B788 is ship #3908 . Currently inbound from XMN now (as of 2000z 8 Jan) as UA2738. Then immediately flows to UA 1912 SFO-IAD.
Biggest issue I can see is only 28 J Polaris seats vs 36 in the previous config. Real estate went to P+ seats.
Biggest issue I can see is only 28 J Polaris seats vs 36 in the previous config. Real estate went to P+ seats.
#2110
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: EWR
Programs: UA GS, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 15
The seat is absolutely narrower, per UA's own numbers - 20.5 vs. 22 inches. That is a significant difference. The video screen is definitely smaller as well - that's a consequence of the narrower seat.
But we were reacting to OP's reference to a "new" Polaris configuration on the 781. That's a head scratcher, b/c to my knowledge all the 781s have precisely the same configuration.
But we were reacting to OP's reference to a "new" Polaris configuration on the 781. That's a head scratcher, b/c to my knowledge all the 781s have precisely the same configuration.
#2111
Join Date: Jan 2005
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First modded B788 is ship #3908 . Currently inbound from XMN now (as of 2000z 8 Jan) as UA2738. Then immediately flows to UA 1912 SFO-IAD.
Biggest issue I can see is only 28 J Polaris seats vs 36 in the previous config. Real estate went to P+ seats.
Biggest issue I can see is only 28 J Polaris seats vs 36 in the previous config. Real estate went to P+ seats.
If I ever find myself on an airplane's first scheduled flight after a major mod, I will be prepared to find alternate plans!
#2112
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#2113
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#2114
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#2115
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Looking at the seat map for 990/11Jan/SFO-CDG, it looks like we need to be careful on recommending odd or even window seats in Polaris. In the mini cabin behind Door 2, row 6 is the seat near the cabin wall, and row 7 is the seat angled toward the aisle.