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3-class F seat now sold as Domestic F/Polaris Bus,GS or J/C/D 1K? may select pre-OLCI

Old Feb 5, 2019, 6:20 am
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Last edit by: Ari
As of Feb. 5, only Global Services are able to select FC seats. The ability for 1K to reserve seats was removed. Existing 1K seat selections appear to be kept. In June 2019, the advance access for 1Ks on J/C/D fares was restored. [It appears this is not the case.]

Ex-GlobalFirst seats are selectable for all confirmed business class passengers at check in, even if >24 hrs from flight with GF seats (in the case of positioning flights).

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3-class F seat now sold as Domestic F/Polaris Bus,GS or J/C/D 1K? may select pre-OLCI

Old Mar 20, 2019, 3:16 pm
  #541  
 
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Originally Posted by mmack
How do I know if its a pmCO 772?
2-2-2 in the business cabin.
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Old Mar 20, 2019, 4:16 pm
  #542  
 
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Originally Posted by wxguy
2-2-2 in the business cabin.
Thanks. No our plane is the old 2-4-2 configuration. Not very many 2 on the side seats left, now I think I will stick to the 1k and 2k seats, and watch VERY closely. I did book these seats in June 2018.
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Old Mar 20, 2019, 4:25 pm
  #543  
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Originally Posted by mmack
Thanks. No our plane is the old 2-4-2 configuration. Not very many 2 on the side seats left, now I think I will stick to the 1k and 2k seats, and watch VERY closely. I did book these seats in June 2018.
If you paid F prices, and get bumped, you should get a refund.
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Old Mar 20, 2019, 4:49 pm
  #544  
 
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Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
If you paid F prices, and get bumped, you should get a refund.
I paid for business class P, there was a pretty good price for Business class last year. My real goal is not to get bumped into middle J. I think I can watch and make the switch if they go Polaris, but I as a 1K was able to select these seats last spring. So I think we should get to keep them unless the plane changes.
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Old Mar 20, 2019, 5:16 pm
  #545  
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Originally Posted by mmack
I paid for business class P, there was a pretty good price for Business class last year. My real goal is not to get bumped into middle J. I think I can watch and make the switch if they go Polaris, but I as a 1K was able to select these seats last spring. So I think we should get to keep them unless the plane changes.
United has found a good way to remove 1Ks from those seats: switch to a Polarized plane and then switch back to a plane with the 2-4-2 configuration. Anyways, I'm in the same situation as you. My wife and I have 1K and 2K in both directions for a trip to Europe next week. I think that when they changed the rule we should be grandfathered in.......but this is United. We'll just know sometimes in the middle of the night of Saturday to Sunday for the outbound.
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Old Mar 20, 2019, 5:50 pm
  #546  
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Originally Posted by mmack
I paid for business class P, there was a pretty good price for Business class last year. My real goal is not to get bumped into middle J. I think I can watch and make the switch if they go Polaris, but I as a 1K was able to select these seats last spring. So I think we should get to keep them unless the plane changes.
Yes, stay in your seats. There is a real risk of equipment swaps messing up your seat assignment, but choosing a different seat doesn't help.
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Old Mar 21, 2019, 9:56 pm
  #547  
 
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IAD-BRU after March 30 is a 777-200 selling Premium Economy. I'm a 1K who does not want to be in the 2 x 4 x 2 section but doesn't mind the Polaris business seating.
Since I can no longer choose a row 1 or 2 seat, and this flight is selling Premium Economy as a separate cabin, do you think it is safe to say this flight will most likely has Polaris business seating?
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Old Mar 21, 2019, 10:40 pm
  #548  
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Originally Posted by chuck1
IAD-BRU after March 30 is a 777-200 selling Premium Economy. I'm a 1K who does not want to be in the 2 x 4 x 2 section but doesn't mind the Polaris business seating.
Since I can no longer choose a row 1 or 2 seat, and this flight is selling Premium Economy as a separate cabin, do you think it is safe to say this flight will most likely has Polaris business seating?
Yes. What date do you not see the Polaris/PE 772 seatmap?
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Old Mar 21, 2019, 11:06 pm
  #549  
 
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IAD-FRA on 3/17 went Polaris and then back to three class pmUA. Due to a bizarre and persistent UA app bug (see my earlier posts), I was able to select 1H weeks in advance as a gold when the app offered it as a $599 upgrade from my existing 6A assignment, and then assigned it for free when I hit continue. Companion on a separate PNR got 2D as a Silver.

When the plane went Polaris, I moved us to 3A and 3L respectively. When the plane swapped back, I got the standard SMS from UA and, to my complete surprise, found us assigned 2K and 2H, respectively.

Its possible UA looks at prior seating assignments when reassigning, but given reports upthread I cant imagine so. We were on D fares, so probably not high enough for that to matter. The plane had approx 6-8 GS and 20-30 1K, so status wouldnt seem to be the dominant factor either.

Last edited by prometa; Mar 21, 2019 at 11:13 pm
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Old Mar 21, 2019, 11:45 pm
  #550  
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Originally Posted by prometa
It’s possible UA looks at prior seating assignments when reassigning, but given reports upthread I can’t imagine so. We were on D fares, so probably not high enough for that to matter. The plane had approx 6-8 GS and 20-30 1K, so status wouldn’t seem to be the dominant factor either.
I think it's pretty well established that the primary, and probably only, factor is your current seat assignment when the equipment is swapped. It's the exact mapping that tends to make no sense.
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Old Mar 22, 2019, 3:57 am
  #551  
 
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Originally Posted by findark
I think it's pretty well established that the primary, and probably only, factor is your current seat assignment when the equipment is swapped. It's the exact mapping that tends to make no sense.
watching the seat maps just after a swap back, UA seems to avoid assigning the middle middle seats in the 2-4-2 section unless required due to loads. For example, when my flight swapped back, 7-9DG were left open (with all other seats assigned), and, on another flight I was watching, 6-10DG were left open. Given the scattered nature of the open Polaris seats just before both swaps back but the concentrated nature after, I dont think theres a 1-1 Polaris to 3-class mapping.

Instea, I think UA assigns windows to windows, then aisles to aisles, etc, leaving the middles to last. In what order they assign Polaris seats to 3-class is TBD.

(There does seem to be a 1-1 interim to Polaris mapping though)
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Old Mar 22, 2019, 7:13 am
  #552  
 
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Originally Posted by prometa
Instea, I think UA assigns windows to windows, then aisles to aisles, etc, leaving the middles to last. In what order they assign Polaris seats to 3-class is TBD.


Just a small data point: the [presumably] automatic seat-map re-assignment when swapping back to pmUA 3-class initially also seems to assign pilot rest seats.
Those are then blocked at a later time. So, beware of assignments to 1A or 6B...they likely won't stick.
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Old Mar 22, 2019, 1:44 pm
  #553  
 
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Hi all. I've flown ORD-NRT roundtrip 3 times in the past 6 months and all 6 flights have been Polarised a couple of days before the flight. Normally I travel alone for business, and while I lose my selected Global First seat when the plane gets Polarised, I'm not that picky on which Polarised seat I end up in. Next week I have a non-GS family member travelling with me on a separate itinerary/record locator, and it would be great to sit close to each other. I had picked 2C while my family member is in 6B (close enough) if the old seating configuration sticks. I assume if it Polarises we'll probably have to pick new seats anyway (and I recognize that you can't really easily have a conversation sitting "next to" someone in the Polarised pods anyway) so I'll keep monitoring it.

It seems the chances this routing will be Polarised are very high. Anyone have any data points where they've flown ORD-NRT or NRT-ORD in the past few months and United operated the non-Polarised seating configuration?
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Old Mar 22, 2019, 3:51 pm
  #554  
 
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Flying on UA 952 and it's the old 3-class cabin. I initially had 2A, plane changed 3 days ago, got row 3 in new Polaris, and now last night back to 3-class cabin and no 1-2 row available anymore. Hard to believe that the flight has 8 GS (it's possible), but would they move a 1K out of the seat and make room in case the computer assigned it to 1K members?

Thanks.

Last edited by blue2007; Mar 22, 2019 at 4:04 pm
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Old Mar 22, 2019, 3:57 pm
  #555  
 
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Originally Posted by blue2007
Flying on UA 952 and it's the old 3-class cabin, but the seat chart doesn't show the old F seats available. Called the GS desk and couldn't tell why. Any ideas?
All booked already?
What does flight status say regarding "United PolarisSM business: 48 Booked: ??"
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