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

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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, ....

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Old Nov 13, 2018, 8:13 pm
  #1426  
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: HNL
Programs: UA GS4MM, MR LT Plat, Hilton Gold
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Originally Posted by crippy
or was Joe Brancatelli's theorizing in last week's Brancatelli file that Polaris is being de-emphasized by UA / Scott Kirby as a money-loser perhaps on the nose?
I'd have a hard time believing it is a money loser based on the last earnings report and future earnings guidance.....
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Old Nov 16, 2018, 10:33 am
  #1427  
 
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LAX-NRT Flight 32 - 787-9 Dreamliner - how check Polaris retrofit?

When i go to United's fleet upgrade progress checked, it only mentioned 787-10 series ("Aircraft will be added to our schedule starting in early 2019")

Why doesnt it mention other A/C types' progress like 787-9

Also, since this flight is 11 hours 50 minutes, there arent any PJs? Hard to believe a 10-minute cutoff makes a difference, but i guess it does.

Finally, what amenities should I ask for in advance before takeoff then? Gel pillow only?
caseminole is offline  
Old Nov 16, 2018, 10:37 am
  #1428  
 
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789s are going to be one of the later types to be retrofitted - maybe they get started in the later part of 2019?
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Old Nov 16, 2018, 10:40 am
  #1429  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 102
Originally Posted by caseminole
Finally, what amenities should I ask for in advance before takeoff then? Gel pillow only?
Gel pillow will already be on your seat. You can ask for a “mattress pad”
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Old Nov 16, 2018, 10:47 am
  #1430  
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789s are going to be the seat PMCO announced a decade+ ago for at least another year.
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Old Nov 16, 2018, 10:57 am
  #1431  
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Originally Posted by caseminole
Also, since this flight is 11 hours 50 minutes, there arent any PJs? Hard to believe a 10-minute cutoff makes a difference, but i guess it does.
Pajamas are based on average flight time inbound/outbound. If the average is 12 hours or more, it is a pajama flight. If it's less than 12 hours, it's not.
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Old Nov 17, 2018, 12:33 am
  #1432  
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Originally Posted by shawnjeck


Gel pillow will already be on your seat. You can ask for a “mattress pad”
And the slippers, if they are not at seat.
Some FAs don't (want to) know about the mattress pads.
I have seen them stored in the cabinet, in front of the middle seats of row 6.
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Old Nov 17, 2018, 6:50 pm
  #1433  
 
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Originally Posted by Kacee
Pajamas are based on average flight time inbound/outbound. If the average is 12 hours or more, it is a pajama flight. If it's less than 12 hours, it's not.
TLV flights offer pajamas even though the outbound is about 10.5 hours and the return is 12 hours.
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Old Nov 17, 2018, 7:51 pm
  #1434  
 
Join Date: May 2008
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777-200 Polaris class seats rows 1-2

We are booked on UA926 on July 8, 2019 from SFO-FRA. We originally were you 7CDG and I noticed that rows 1-2 are now shown as business class instead of first. The system let us select 2ACH as being a business class instead of first.

Is this correct or is this a glitch? We’d rather be in row 2 than 7 where we’re in 3 seats in a block of 4 but I don’t want to find out later and get kicked back or worse stuck on the middle seats of a block of 4

sfonorth is offline  
Old Nov 17, 2018, 8:29 pm
  #1435  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
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Originally Posted by sfonorth
We are booked on UA926 on July 8, 2019 from SFO-FRA. We originally were you 7CDG and I noticed that rows 1-2 are now shown as business class instead of first. The system let us select 2ACH as being a business class instead of first.

Is this correct or is this a glitch? We’d rather be in row 2 than 7 where we’re in 3 seats in a block of 4 but I don’t want to find out later and get kicked back or worse stuck on the middle seats of a block of 4

The old Global First seats are now being sold as business.
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Old Nov 17, 2018, 9:59 pm
  #1436  
 
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Originally Posted by MarkP24
TLV flights offer pajamas even though the outbound is about 10.5 hours and the return is 12 hours.
The only TLV flight provisioned with Pajamas is SFO. If you’ve received them on the EWR flights it is likely they were left over from another long haul.

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Old Nov 18, 2018, 12:06 am
  #1437  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
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Originally Posted by UAinAUS


The only TLV flight provisioned with Pajamas is SFO. If you’ve received them on the EWR flights it is likely they were left over from another long haul.

My daughter flew them from EWR-TLV both ways, and they had them on both flights
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Old Nov 18, 2018, 2:37 am
  #1438  
 
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Originally Posted by UAinAUS


The only TLV flight provisioned with Pajamas is SFO. If you’ve received them on the EWR flights it is likely they were left over from another long haul.

Missing from the list: IAH-SYD
phkc070408 is offline  
Old Nov 18, 2018, 3:01 am
  #1439  
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
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Originally Posted by phkc070408
Missing from the list: IAH-SYD
yes, the graphic was from when Polaris began in Dec 2016. Several routes on that list are no longer flown, and one or two have been added.
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Old Nov 18, 2018, 6:58 am
  #1440  
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
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Originally Posted by sfonorth
We are booked on UA926 on July 8, 2019 from SFO-FRA. We originally were you 7CDG and I noticed that rows 1-2 are now shown as business class instead of first. The system let us select 2ACH as being a business class instead of first.

Is this correct or is this a glitch? We’d rather be in row 2 than 7 where we’re in 3 seats in a block of 4 but I don’t want to find out later and get kicked back or worse stuck on the middle seats of a block of 4

On October 20, they changed the system and started allowing GS and 1K to select the seats in the former First Class area. I see that you are 1K so you should be fine keeping those seats.

I guess that the two other passengers are on your PNR. If they are not 1K make sure not to split the PNR as then it's not sure that they will keep those seats.

However as your flight is only in July 2019 there are bigger chances that you'll get a Polarized plane.

Last edited by StuckinITH; Nov 18, 2018 at 7:04 am
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