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✨ Polaris (& PP) Retrofits: Schedule, ....

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

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✨ Polaris (& PP) Retrofits: Schedule, ....

Old Apr 20, 2022, 5:01 pm
  #2596  
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: UA 1K MM, HH Gold, Marriott Gold Elite
Posts: 1,478
Originally Posted by FoxFlyer
So I was able to snag one of those 60k Award Flights from WLG-SYD-LAX, and noticed that the SYD-LAX flight is showing OLD/Fauxlaris seating, but what's odd is all the outbound LAX-SYD's the same week of my flight all show true Polaris. The only other 787-9 flying to Sydney seem to come from IAH, but those outbounds are also showing True Polaris. Is this just a temporary seat map/plane scheduling thing? Do we anticipate it'll update eventually to true Polaris? (SYD-LAX is on Feb 26th).
There are only 4 B787-9 flying that have not been converted yet. The conversion will complete around June 2022 timeframe.
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Old Apr 20, 2022, 5:05 pm
  #2597  
 
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Originally Posted by CAPT Tee
There are only 4 B787-9 flying that have not been converted yet. The conversion will complete around June 2022 timeframe.
Sorry for my earlier post (now deleted); I wasn't paying attention to the year (789 completion by June 2022), which all but assures I'll have true Polaris for 2023! (But then does beg the question as to why the old seat map exists in the system for any 789 flight in 2023.)
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Last edited by FoxFlyer; Apr 20, 2022 at 5:22 pm
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Old Apr 20, 2022, 5:59 pm
  #2598  
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Originally Posted by FoxFlyer
Sorry for my earlier post (now deleted); I wasn't paying attention to the year (789 completion by June 2022), which all but assures I'll have true Polaris for 2023! (But then does beg the question as to why the old seat map exists in the system for any 789 flight in 2023.)
UA IT. Do we need to go any further? I have 2023 flights where the outbound shows new and the inbound shows 'old' ... it'll all be 1-2-1 by then.
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Old Apr 20, 2022, 7:56 pm
  #2599  
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Originally Posted by cfischer
UA IT. Do we need to go any further? I have 2023 flights where the outbound shows new and the inbound shows 'old' ... it'll all be 1-2-1 by then.
On your inbound flight do they offer PP for sale?
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Old Apr 20, 2022, 8:11 pm
  #2600  
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
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By May or so, all 787s in service will have Polaris. Only a few more weeks to go.

As for the 76As, they are all due to receive Premium Plus. The question is... when? I understood they were planning to install PP by this summer, but UA has been squeezed on widebodies since Boeing has been unable to deliver 787s for a year and a half, and UA is waiting for at least 6-7 787-10s it was expecting to have in service by now (notwithstanding the PW 777 debacle).

764 Polaris mods will start in a few weeks, too.
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Old Apr 20, 2022, 8:30 pm
  #2601  
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Originally Posted by uastarflyer
On your inbound flight do they offer PP for sale?
no idea ... booked in J. Checked again and they do not.
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Old Apr 20, 2022, 10:38 pm
  #2602  
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Originally Posted by cfischer
no idea ... booked in J. Checked again and they do not.
Very dumb. If the fleet is done by June why arent they selling PP beyond then?

Very shortsighted to put the 789s behind the 788 conversions.
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Old Apr 22, 2022, 9:57 am
  #2603  
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
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Originally Posted by CAPT Tee
There are only 4 B787-9 flying that have not been converted yet. The conversion will complete around June 2022 timeframe.
Originally Posted by FoxFlyer
Sorry for my earlier post (now deleted); I wasn't paying attention to the year (789 completion by June 2022), which all but assures I'll have true Polaris for 2023! (But then does beg the question as to why the old seat map exists in the system for any 789 flight in 2023.)
Interesting. Does this mean I can book with confidence for a trip (in J) in September 2022 (SFO-MUC) that typically flies on a 789? I'm not a regular UA flyer, so I'm not sure how much to trust their planning process.

And if I do book, is there a simple way to understand what seat I should book on the old Polaris 789 to ensure I get reseated in a desirable (window) seat on the updated 789?

Last edited by felixmendelssohn; Apr 22, 2022 at 10:49 am
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Old Apr 22, 2022, 10:11 am
  #2604  
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Originally Posted by felixmendelssohn
Interesting. Does this mean I can book with confidence for a trip in September 2022 (SFO-MUC) that typically flies on a 789? I'm not a regular UA flyer, so I'm not sure how much to trust their planning process.

And if I do book, is there a simple way to understand what seat I should book on the old Polaris 789 to ensure I get reseated in a desirable (window) seat on the updated 789?
pick a seat in the first 3 rows of Coach. On the seat map it might even show only 8 across instead of 9 for those rows

Not a guarantee but it puts your stake in the ground
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Old Apr 22, 2022, 10:50 am
  #2605  
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
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Originally Posted by uastarflyer
pick a seat in the first 3 rows of Coach. On the seat map it might even show only 8 across instead of 9 for those rows

Not a guarantee but it puts your stake in the ground
I can't book a flight in J while also choosing seats in Y, can I?
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Old Apr 22, 2022, 11:42 am
  #2606  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
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Originally Posted by felixmendelssohn
I can't book a flight in J while also choosing seats in Y, can I?
No, you can't. There's no reported reliable way to select a seat in J (old config) to insure a certain type of seat in the new config. Just pick a seat and keep watch on it so you'll know to select again when the configuration changes (assuming it does).
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Old Apr 26, 2022, 9:53 am
  #2607  
 
Join Date: May 2007
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Originally Posted by EWR764
764 Polaris mods will start in a few weeks, too.
TPG is reporting that the first 764 is in for Polaris mod. Has there been any advancement to the previously stated timeline of "in a few weeks"?

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Old Apr 26, 2022, 10:48 am
  #2608  
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
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Originally Posted by dkc192
TPG is reporting that the first 764 is in for Polaris mod. Has there been any advancement to the previously stated timeline of "in a few weeks"?

https://twitter.com/_ZachGriff/statu...23265649131522
N76055 got to HKG a few days ago, but when I posted it was not confirmed exactly when it would be going to HKG, and whether this was the STC bird. We now know it is, and it's there.

Rule of thumb for the various Polaris mod install/STC approval has been 8-10 weeks from arrival of the first ship to return to service. So, it's reasonable to expect to see a Polaris 764 "in the wild" around July 4th or so.
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Old Apr 28, 2022, 12:53 pm
  #2609  
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 807
764s finally getting polaris seats

hopefully will restore 2 lavs at door 1, the current configuration with only 6 lavs is no bueno.
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Old Apr 30, 2022, 8:27 pm
  #2610  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: SFO
Programs: MM / UA 1K
Posts: 468
Recent flight on UA1 SIN-SFO was booked as Polaris but a couple days before departure noticed that seat assignment had changed to Fauxlaris.
The plane was apparently N45956.
I mentioned to one of the flight crew that the USB outlet was broken and that the power outlet needed to be finessed to work properly. The reply was "this is like one of only 2 787's left to upgrade so they'll do it then". Touch!
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