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 12, 2022, 5:06 pm
#2552
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,759
However, if Premiums is not being sold as a seperate cabin, the seats will be shown as standard E+ and will receive standard economy service. Anyone eligible for E+ can select the "better" seats for free.
As a sidenote, there are non-Polaris seat 772s presently ground but may be back in service for doesmtic routes in 2-3-? months.
Jan 25, 2022, 7:54 pm
#2553
Join Date: Feb 2021
Posts: 16
787-9 Polaris upgrade status
Good evening – anyone with updates on current status to complete all 787–9 Polaris conversions? Last article I read said summer of 2022 and just wondering if United is still on pace for that or if there are more significant delays due to Covid? And I go to the progress website it says 66% of the planes are converted if I am reading that correctly. I have a flight from den-Nrt booked at beginning of September and would love for this to be new Polaris biz class… right now configuration is showing up with the old Polaris product. Thanks for any knowledge!
Jan 25, 2022, 8:12 pm
#2554
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,441
Good evening – anyone with updates on current status to complete all 787–9 Polaris conversions? Last article I read said summer of 2022 and just wondering if United is still on pace for that or if there are more significant delays due to Covid? And I go to the progress website it says 66% of the planes are converted if I am reading that correctly. I have a flight from den-Nrt booked at beginning of September and would love for this to be new Polaris biz class… right now configuration is showing up with the old Polaris product. Thanks for any knowledge!
For the math, the Polaris mods take about 6 weeks to complete in XMN. 3 789s went in this month: 1/11, 1/22, 1/23. When those ships arrived in XMN, 3 newly-reconfigured 789s exited, bringing the in-service fleet to 28 Polaris, 7 non-Polaris, 3 in progress. Based on current timing, we can expect the current 3 to emerge around 2/22, 3/5, 3/6. Assuming they continue to go nose-to-tail and keep 3 lines, we can anticipate that the last 789 should go in for its Polaris retrofit in mid-May, returning to service in late June. However, once that last 787 goes in for mod, all remaining 787s are "Polarized" and thus from the passenger's perspective, the program is complete.
Suffice to say, DEN-NRT in September looks like a pretty safe bet for Polaris... provided it's actually going to be operating...
Jan 25, 2022, 8:24 pm
#2555
Join Date: Feb 2021
Posts: 16
This post is probably headed for the fleet thread, but to save you some digging, yes it appears 789 mods are on track for completion this spring.
For the math, the Polaris mods take about 6 weeks to complete in XMN. 3 789s went in this month: 1/11, 1/22, 1/23. When those ships arrived in XMN, 3 newly-reconfigured 789s exited, bringing the in-service fleet to 28 Polaris, 7 non-Polaris, 3 in progress. Based on current timing, we can expect the current 3 to emerge around 2/22, 3/5, 3/6. Assuming they continue to go nose-to-tail and keep 3 lines, we can anticipate that the last 789 should go in for its Polaris retrofit in mid-May, returning to service in late June. However, once that last 787 goes in for mod, all remaining 787s are "Polarized" and thus from the passenger's perspective, the program is complete.
Suffice to say, DEN-NRT in September looks like a pretty safe bet for Polaris... provided it's actually going to be operating...
For the math, the Polaris mods take about 6 weeks to complete in XMN. 3 789s went in this month: 1/11, 1/22, 1/23. When those ships arrived in XMN, 3 newly-reconfigured 789s exited, bringing the in-service fleet to 28 Polaris, 7 non-Polaris, 3 in progress. Based on current timing, we can expect the current 3 to emerge around 2/22, 3/5, 3/6. Assuming they continue to go nose-to-tail and keep 3 lines, we can anticipate that the last 789 should go in for its Polaris retrofit in mid-May, returning to service in late June. However, once that last 787 goes in for mod, all remaining 787s are "Polarized" and thus from the passenger's perspective, the program is complete.
Suffice to say, DEN-NRT in September looks like a pretty safe bet for Polaris... provided it's actually going to be operating...
thank you!! I really appreciate that detail … fingers crossed japan is open 🇯🇵 Then !!!
Jan 28, 2022, 8:13 am
#2556
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Anywhere but home
Programs: UA 1K/MM, DL GM/MM, AA Gold, HH Dia, PC Plat, ALL Sil, MR Gold
Posts: 4,550
First time I've received an E-mail notifying me of a change in aircraft (789 non-Polaris to 789 Polaris) and thus change in seat assignment. Good stuff.
Feb 6, 2022, 10:05 am
#2558
Join Date: Feb 2021
Posts: 16
Seat width on retrofit narrower?
So I was looking on SeatGuru and noticed that the seats on the retrofitted Polaris are narrower ( 20.5 vs 22 on old Polaris)— is this accurate ? Is the new retrofitted Polaris necessarily “better“ than the older dream liner Polaris seats? My assumption is yes they are better or else they would not be doing them but it was just unclear of why they would be narrower :-)
thanks
Andrew
thanks
Andrew
Feb 6, 2022, 10:13 am
#2559
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 57,502
So I was looking on SeatGuru and noticed that the seats on the retrofitted Polaris are narrower ( 20.5 vs 22 on old Polaris)— is this accurate ? Is the new retrofitted Polaris necessarily “better“ than the older dream liner Polaris seats? My assumption is yes they are better or else they would not be doing them but it was just unclear of why they would be narrower :-)
thanks
Andrew
thanks
Andrew
Feb 6, 2022, 11:53 am
#2560
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Anywhere but home
Programs: UA 1K/MM, DL GM/MM, AA Gold, HH Dia, PC Plat, ALL Sil, MR Gold
Posts: 4,550
The Polaris seats vary slightly but noticeably, depending on the plane type. Dreamliners and 767s have a width of 20.5" whereas those on the 772s and 773s are 22" wide. I still prefer the Polaris seats (even when narrower) because of the privacy and direct aisle access.
Feb 7, 2022, 8:19 am
#2561
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: IAH/EWR-LGA/MIA
Programs: UA Global Services 3.2 MM, Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium Elite, AA Exec Plat
Posts: 2,496
IAH-LHR now a PP route?
I'm on UA 880 (IAH-LHR) on 28 March (789) and it shows new Polaris cabin and PP. Seat map glitch or is this now a PP route?
Feb 7, 2022, 11:05 am
#2562
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,759
In a few months, all 789s will have the new cabin -- so more and more 789 routes will offer PremPlus seating
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Feb 7, 2022 at 12:06 pm
Feb 7, 2022, 4:01 pm
#2563
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: IAH/EWR-LGA/MIA
Programs: UA Global Services 3.2 MM, Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium Elite, AA Exec Plat
Posts: 2,496
Respectfully, not really responsive. According to the UA site, currently only 65% of 789s have new Polaris and PP cabins. That's why I posed this question originally in the thread for dedicated flights selling PP seats. The question is whether IAH-LHR is currently (or will be on March 28, long before the scheduled completion of all 789 retrofits) a dedicated PP route. If anyone knows the answer to that, please advise. Thanks.
Feb 7, 2022, 4:21 pm
#2564
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,447
Respectfully, not really responsive. According to the UA site, currently only 65% of 789s have new Polaris and PP cabins. That's why I posed this question originally in the thread for dedicated flights selling PP seats. The question is whether IAH-LHR is currently (or will be on March 28, long before the scheduled completion of all 789 retrofits) a dedicated PP route. If anyone knows the answer to that, please advise. Thanks.
2) If UA is selling PP tickets on your flight, then it is treating your flight as a dedicated Polaris/PP flight. There remains a small chance of equipment swap to an unretrofitted plane (this chance goes down as more planes get retrofitted), but the probability is not nearly as high as that of a non-dedicated Polaris/PP flight, which got allocated a Polaris/PP plane at T-48, getting swapped back to an unretrofitted plane.
Feb 7, 2022, 6:35 pm
#2565
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,759
UA880 is selling PremPlus as a separate cabin today, once UA has converted a flight / route to offering PremPlus, it has rarely reversed direction, thought occasional aircraft storage may cause a last second swap but the 789s non-PremPLus will be rare by end of March. UA880 28 March is offering PremPlus as a paid cabin.
