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, ....
#1456
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
2. Even if they did upgrade 16 Y passengers to J and 22 Y passengers to PE, where do the other 47 passengers who lost seats get put? That's a lot of IDB
#1457
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: SNA
Programs: Mileageplus
Posts: 15
Newbie here. I saw that, too on my flight to TPE, the outbound is the old config. with center seats of the first three rows of E+ at the windows blocked (2-4-2), but the return had three rows of Premium Plus seats, and they changed the row numbers. Had I not paid attention and made changes, my 50K aisle seat would have been a middle seat in the new config.!
#1458
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Northeast Kansas | Colorado Native
Programs: Amex Gold/Plat, UA *G, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Gold, NEXUS, TSA Disparager Unobtanium
Posts: 21,603
Flying SFO-TPE this week and about 36 hours ago, I noticed the app showed the aircraft as a 772, despite the 77W seatnap. Now that we’re within 48 hours of departure, the seatmap is showing the 77W with premium plus. Most of the PEY seats are showing as selected.
#1460
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC (Primarily EWR)
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#1461
Join Date: Jul 2011
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#1462
Join Date: Dec 2007
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#1463
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,452
This is true, and the mod is being carried out in HKG (where sCO 777s typically undergo heavy maintenance) so it does not impact the schedule of the IPTE 777s. There are currently 4 777s confirmed in Polaris mod, and another 777 (N77012) went to HKG over the weekend... unclear if that one is also due for a Polaris reconfiguration or just in for a short visit.
#1464
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2003
Programs: UA*Lifetime GS, Hyatt* Lifetime Globalist
Posts: 12,332
This is true, and the mod is being carried out in HKG (where sCO 777s typically undergo heavy maintenance) so it does not impact the schedule of the IPTE 777s. There are currently 4 777s confirmed in Polaris mod, and another 777 (N77012) went to HKG over the weekend... unclear if that one is also due for a Polaris reconfiguration or just in for a short visit.
Just curious about the sCO 777 conversion vs sUA 777 conversion, perhaps this has been asked before:
Are they going to have the same Polaris cabin layout? I note the bathrooms and closets are not located in the same spots between the sCO 777 and sUA 777.
#1465
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,452
Thanks for the update.
Just curious about the sCO 777 conversion vs sUA 777 conversion, perhaps this has been asked before:
Are they going to have the same Polaris cabin layout? I note the bathrooms and closets are not located in the same spots between the sCO 777 and sUA 777.
#1466
Join Date: Sep 2017
Programs: United MP Platinum
Posts: 10
I'm currently doing LHR-ZRH-SFO in J on Swiss metal, but on a United Saver Award. I've been looking at LHR-SFO directs, and the 9am just updated with a new Polaris configuration. It's the full 155k vs 70k, which I'm happy to put in, but is there a chance that this bird could get switched back to pre-Polaris configurations?
I've flown SFO-FRA-SFO and SFO-NRT-SFO on 77W routes, so it's never been a question of what product I'm going to receive--curious if this group has experience on how often swap-in/swap-outs occur.
I've flown SFO-FRA-SFO and SFO-NRT-SFO on 77W routes, so it's never been a question of what product I'm going to receive--curious if this group has experience on how often swap-in/swap-outs occur.
#1467
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: Marriott Platinum Elite, National Executive, United Gold
Posts: 1,181
There is a real possibility, I was recently on a longhaul flight which switched aircraft three times within 72 hours prior to departure. I would stick with your LHR-ZRH-SFO routing, and enjoy the soft product and lounge in E at ZRH on LX.
I'm currently doing LHR-ZRH-SFO in J on Swiss metal, but on a United Saver Award. I've been looking at LHR-SFO directs, and the 9am just updated with a new Polaris configuration. It's the full 155k vs 70k, which I'm happy to put in, but is there a chance that this bird could get switched back to pre-Polaris configurations?
#1468
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Posts: 14,413
I'm currently doing LHR-ZRH-SFO in J on Swiss metal, but on a United Saver Award. I've been looking at LHR-SFO directs, and the 9am just updated with a new Polaris configuration. It's the full 155k vs 70k, which I'm happy to put in, but is there a chance that this bird could get switched back to pre-Polaris configurations?
#1469
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Portland OR
Programs: United 1K 1MM, Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton HHonors Gold
Posts: 560
This is true, and the mod is being carried out in HKG (where sCO 777s typically undergo heavy maintenance) so it does not impact the schedule of the IPTE 777s. There are currently 4 777s confirmed in Polaris mod, and another 777 (N77012) went to HKG over the weekend... unclear if that one is also due for a Polaris reconfiguration or just in for a short visit.
#1470
Join Date: Oct 2004
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Posts: 4,552
Indeed - also, now 9 772 frames have been refitted (18%) so the pace is now finally picking up.