pk12

Thanks for your quick reply and your link!

When you say that they are the old Global First seats and that only GS or 1K's have access, are you sure that's true? I was able to select 1K and I'm not either of those levels. Am I missing something? Maybe they changed it to a normal business class seat or do you think it's literally the same old GF seat?

I searched through that thread but no one posted pictures and most of them are talking about economy/+. Thanks again for your help!

WineCountryUA

That are the reports in this thread
And the purchase was successful?
This contrary to recent reports in this thread
It is still the older GF seat

LordHamster

It is an equally frustrating issue on other airlines.

pk12

The purchase was successful (I purchased via Lufthansa.com) but when I went in about 2hrs later to review my itinerary they had changed my seat to 6K . Thanks for the feedback.

StuckinITH

That's the typical behavior. You still have a chance to get one of those former First Class seats at check-in if there are any available at that time. For a ORD-PVG flight in May I managed to do it as I do my check-in exactly at T-24. However, all was not good as the next day they changed the plane to a pmCO 772.

pk12

The flight is on 9/7/19 - do you think there are other options for a more updated configuration? I can't believe they're still using this on one of their main routes!

Itinerary:

8/29-8/30:
9/7/19:
LH1829 - BIO - MUC
LH 9280 - MUC - IAD <-- Flight in question


I have 24hrs to change the itinerary so any suggestions are appreciated! I don't mind going through a different city if it means I'll have a more comfortable ride+more miles.

FlytheTail

As of today, 25 of UA's 51 772s have been converted to the Polaris business seats. So, there's at least a 49% chance you would be in the new configuration, and as planes continue to be refitted, the chance increases (3 are currently in modification).

UA does have some dedicated Polaris routes to/from the US and Europe, such as CDG-IAD and BRU-IAD. I suggest you search for different routing options on your date of travel, looking for seat maps that show the Polaris configuration.

schley

OK so as a 1k I have to book D or higher and then wait until 24 hours at checkin and grab a GF seat hopefully?

I don't see them available upon purchase at all, as reported.

WineCountryUA

Based on the based conversion rate it will be likely 2/3s converted or in the shop by mid-Sept and UA may have nearly all converted or in the shop by the end of the year.

findark

Reports would be that it is "or" not "and".

schley

so if you can't grab the seat upon booking as a 1K at D or higher and ALL biz classes can grab them upon checkin at T-24 why would anyone book the higher classes?

StuckinITH

There were reports that some 1K passengers that had booked a D fare were able to choose one of those seats when they purchased the ticket. Other 1K passengers that had booked a D fare reported that their seats were changed automatically by UA to one of those seats and UA sent them an email notification about the seat change.

Anybody can choose one of those seats upon checkin at T-24 but there might not be availability. For one of my flights to Asia there is only one seat left and we are still some days to the flight. Most probably a last minute passenger will have to purchase a D fare and will get that seat. For the return, there are only two seats left and more than three weeks to go so I'm expecting that at checkin there will be 0 seats left. I would not purchase a D fare but a lot of companies purchase those fares or higher for their employees.

pk12

The problem is that I don't trust the layouts. Do you? For example, the screenshot I put a couple posts back says that this jet has United Polaris Business when it's clear that this is just an old jet. Do you have to look at the layouts to know whether or not it's actually Polaris? Or is there somewhere else you look to know for sure?

WineCountryUA

And in UA's world the screen shoot labeling is correct.

The problem is the word "Polaris" has two meanings for United.
Long haul international business is called "Polaris" cabin or "Polaris" ticketed
Additionally when UA introduced the Polaris cabin concept, UA also announced the "Polaris" seat that would be offered in "Polaris" cabin BUT it would take until the end of 2020 before all seats would be retrofitted.
See https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showwiki.php?t=1819215 for a description of the retrofit timeline and how to determine which seat style you might have. UA does make it clear if you understand the color coding

UA is retrofitting hundred's of aircraft and thousands of seats, it takes time and you have a transition phase.

You can argue, as has been done many times on FT, this dual naming was a mistake but that is not going to change where we are today.

pk12

I would like to try out United's new 'premium plus' cabin, so I may book 1 leg with it and 1 leg with Polaris business. Would you worry about purchasing a premium plus seat and have them change the equipment to a normal economy plus seat at the last minute? Sorry for all the questions on this, I usually don't fly United as much so I appreciate you helping.

FWIW - I'd be buying class R (united premium plus)