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, ....
Jan 10, 2020, 8:31 am
#2116
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Houston
Programs: UA GS 2.6MM & Lifetime UC, Qantas Platinum, Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Bonvoy Platinum, HawaiianMiles
Posts: 8,695
Oooo sneaky, I hadn't noticed that when looking at seat map.
Jan 24, 2020, 11:22 pm
#2117
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: 1A
Programs: UA GS, NH Diamond, Hyatt Lifetime Globalist (formerly Courtesy Card sadly), Amanjunkie, CLEAR
Posts: 3,713
Currently on board UA876, new 787-10 seat configuration in Polaris. Nice to see new seats but they are:
- Tiny, cramped, narrow and short
- Many “window” seats have no window
- Appears to be smaller monitors but could just be the design
- Nice closable cubby
- Convenient not to have to step over other J pax
- Crews seem confused and especially slow with the new configurations, galleys, etc.
- Two USB ports, rubber lined shelf under monitor finally
Overall, nice to have a brand new hard product but feels like a comfort downgrade. Incidentally, meals are the same crap. I fly this every week, so I’m quite confident in my opinion on the subject.
GS rep accompanied me on board to see the new configuration and apologized (this is Japan) that the seats were so much narrower. She says today is the second day for the new config on UA876 and they are already getting loads of complaints.
- Tiny, cramped, narrow and short
- Many “window” seats have no window
- Appears to be smaller monitors but could just be the design
- Nice closable cubby
- Convenient not to have to step over other J pax
- Crews seem confused and especially slow with the new configurations, galleys, etc.
- Two USB ports, rubber lined shelf under monitor finally
Overall, nice to have a brand new hard product but feels like a comfort downgrade. Incidentally, meals are the same crap. I fly this every week, so I’m quite confident in my opinion on the subject.
GS rep accompanied me on board to see the new configuration and apologized (this is Japan) that the seats were so much narrower. She says today is the second day for the new config on UA876 and they are already getting loads of complaints.
I can’t BELIEVE what I’m reading here. I fly SFO-HND round trip every 2 weeks and the new 787-10 Polaris seats are - HORRIFIC. Sure, they look nice and have a decorative (and useless due to low light output) lamp, but they are WAY more cramped (and I’m only 5’7”), the aisles are so tight that the FA’s bump seats with the cart consistently, the seat controls no longer provide an independent back recline function (that control now adjusts the back as well as the foot rest simultaneously), storage under the monitor is smaller and many “window” seats have no window views.
UA GS manager at HND told me that customers are complaining about the new configurations and only want the “straight” seats. We lamented how the 787-10 crams 75 more people into Y, and the new bird are simply designed to trade off customer comfort for increased revenue.
I’m taking my $10K per round trip J tickets elsewhere. GS isn’t worth it anyways.
Jan 25, 2020, 1:58 pm
#2120
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Boulder, CO
Programs: UA, AA, WN; HH, MR, IHG
Posts: 7,054
Have to say, I like it. It’s my first time on the new Polaris hard product (previously just got soft product, based on my routes and UG luck). I agree the lack of independent recline is annoying, and the angled seats for sure don’t seem as great. But bulkhead 6A seems nice to me! (Keep in mind I have low standards, I spend most of my time in E+.)
Seatguru doesn’t have this config yet. I’d say 6A/L are top choice for singles, 6D/F for pairs. Close to galley but doesn’t seem a big deal at the moment. Row 7 looks less ideal. In front cabin, I guess prefs would be the same as the 781.
Despite fewer seats I think nobody (or maybe 1 person) lost an upgrade. There are also a number of open seats in the back (not empty but quite a number of open middles).
I’m in E+ on the return in Feb unless I can find a fairy godparent with upgrades so I’m hoping for another swap so I can at least get PP hard product!
Jan 26, 2020, 9:39 am
#2121
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Houston TX
Programs: United Premier 1k, Hertz Presidents Circle, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 408
Jan 26, 2020, 10:27 am
#2123
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,455
Yes, but it's a shame UA has insisted on a space neutral configuration for Polaris on the narrower aircraft (767, 787), because it's going to be awfully tight for a 16 hour flight.
Jan 26, 2020, 11:06 am
#2124
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
I guess people are comparing to the 77W Polaris pods, which are not as cramped and narrow, even for average sized fliers.
Jan 27, 2020, 11:39 pm
#2125
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Houston TX
Programs: United Premier 1k, Hertz Presidents Circle, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 408
Unless you have very broad shoulders the seats are fine. They are light years ahead of the pmCO seats. Priority will be given to SFO-SIN and IAH-SYD. For Singapore they only need 3 planes I believe. I wouldn't be surprised if it was all Polaris mid march with one retrofitted and two new deliveries in service by then.
Jan 27, 2020, 11:47 pm
#2126
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Join Date: Apr 2013
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Posts: 56,455
Jan 27, 2020, 11:59 pm
#2127
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
I believe I read somewhere that while the 789s will float around at first, UA is going to try and concentrate the Polaris Planes to the longer routes. SFO-SIN and IAH-SYD were specifically mentioned.
On a different note, there appears to be a rush in getting the 772s done. Right now there are 4 sCO 772s going through HKG, 2 sUA 772s in XMN (one Polaris, one Domestic), and now the wiki shows an sCO 772 in XMN for possible Polaris overhaul. That's either 6 or 7 of them being done at once. I guess they want to try and get as many done as possible before the peak season starts up.
On a different note, there appears to be a rush in getting the 772s done. Right now there are 4 sCO 772s going through HKG, 2 sUA 772s in XMN (one Polaris, one Domestic), and now the wiki shows an sCO 772 in XMN for possible Polaris overhaul. That's either 6 or 7 of them being done at once. I guess they want to try and get as many done as possible before the peak season starts up.
Jan 28, 2020, 6:00 am
#2128
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,452
I just did 787 (-10) Polaris nearly back-to-back with the 767 (76L) and the “feel” of the 787 is noticeably narrower. It wasn’t a problem at all for me (having flown them both a number of times, bed length is great) but comparing one to the other in relatively quick succession made it easy to tell the difference.
I really like the 787 anyway so I won’t go out of my way to avoid it, and it’s a major improvement over the old configuration, but it’s clear why the initial mockup (not UA branded) for the Optima seat alternates between a 1-2-1 and 1-1-1 configuration on the 787.
I really like the 787 anyway so I won’t go out of my way to avoid it, and it’s a major improvement over the old configuration, but it’s clear why the initial mockup (not UA branded) for the Optima seat alternates between a 1-2-1 and 1-1-1 configuration on the 787.
Jan 28, 2020, 7:49 am
#2130
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Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,414
I was very surprised they didn't do the 2-3-2 pattern on the 787 given how much narrower it is. I assume they had to reduce the angle to fit the 2-4-2? (Not trying to cast aspersions on Polaris by double counting rows - it's just how it looks for a geometric design standpoint).