May 29, 2017, 1:21 pm
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, ....
Jul 22, 2019, 11:47 pm
#1863
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
So I'm looking at the seating diagrams:
For the 788, there is indeed a loss of J, however if you consider PE to be a premium cabin, there is actually a net of 13 premium seats, or put differently, 13 seats seats that are tollerable for an ULH flight. Granted, most of the PE cabin is ex J real estate, and the reduction of E+ is more attributed to the increase in Y.
For the 789, The current J capacity is retained plus an additional 21 PE seats, makes for 21 additional tollerable seats. However the E+ cabin was gutted for PE and some additonal Y seats.
Being a kettle myself, I'm not familar with the ins and outs of the upgrades and can't measure if the benefits outweight the cost of limited E+ seats for elites, however the general consensus (based of of FT posts) seems to be that E+ is still sub-par for these long trips.
For the 788, there is indeed a loss of J, however if you consider PE to be a premium cabin, there is actually a net of 13 premium seats, or put differently, 13 seats seats that are tollerable for an ULH flight. Granted, most of the PE cabin is ex J real estate, and the reduction of E+ is more attributed to the increase in Y.
For the 789, The current J capacity is retained plus an additional 21 PE seats, makes for 21 additional tollerable seats. However the E+ cabin was gutted for PE and some additonal Y seats.
Being a kettle myself, I'm not familar with the ins and outs of the upgrades and can't measure if the benefits outweight the cost of limited E+ seats for elites, however the general consensus (based of of FT posts) seems to be that E+ is still sub-par for these long trips.
Jul 22, 2019, 11:53 pm
#1864
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 57,554
Being a kettle myself, I'm not familar with the ins and outs of the upgrades and can't measure if the benefits outweight the cost of limited E+ seats for elites, however the general consensus (based of of FT posts) seems to be that E+ is still sub-par for these long trips.
Jul 23, 2019, 12:28 am
#1865
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
Keep in mind I'm talking about the 9 across on a 787, but that is just as pathetic from what I gather, so your point is valid.
Jul 23, 2019, 1:01 am
#1866
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,386
That's going to be an individual decision, of course. I've seen the P+ seats but haven't flown in them. While they are undeniably a step up from E+, I'm not sure how premium they actually are. I just don't think there's enough space for them to be comfortable for a long period of time. The comparison that people make is domestic F, but domestic F isn't all that roomy once the person in front of you reclines...
Jul 23, 2019, 1:22 am
#1867
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
That's going to be an individual decision, of course. I've seen the P+ seats but haven't flown in them. While they are undeniably a step up from E+, I'm not sure how premium they actually are. I just don't think there's enough space for them to be comfortable for a long period of time. The comparison that people make is domestic F, but domestic F isn't all that roomy once the person in front of you reclines...
Being 1 data point, while not as ideal as J, I could sit in a Domestic F seat for 16 hours if I had to and not be totally miserable. I wouldn't even consider a Y, or even a Y+ seat for that length of time. That said, for me, there is a net increase in inventory on both aircraft for me.
Jul 29, 2019, 4:11 pm
#1868
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 1999
Posts: 11,468
It does seem interesting they are cutting the 788 to such a high-density configuration... not sure what the target routes might be. If they had an eye on replacing 767s on EWR/IAD-HNL then I don't think they would put PE on the frames, but maybe they could be seen on some of the East Coast routes seeing 77G today?
Aug 1, 2019, 12:55 pm
#1869
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
While I'm sure UA has already figured that out, I wonder what the weight difference is of both empty and full cabins of before and after versions, and how range is affected. Even if the weight empty is roughly equal, higher density means more passengers / baggage. Since UA has been known to push the range limit of their planes, I'm curious if there will be any issues.
IIRC, the sCO 772 was pushed to the limit with the EWR-HKG route, but since that is now a 77W, we can NOT prove that adding capacity DOES cuts range.
IIRC, the sCO 772 was pushed to the limit with the EWR-HKG route, but since that is now a 77W, we can NOT prove that adding capacity DOES cuts range.
Aug 1, 2019, 4:06 pm
#1870
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC (Primarily EWR)
Programs: UA 1K / *G, Marriott Bonvoy Gold; Avis PC
Posts: 9,002
While I'm sure UA has already figured that out, I wonder what the weight difference is of both empty and full cabins of before and after versions, and how range is affected. Even if the weight empty is roughly equal, higher density means more passengers / baggage. Since UA has been known to push the range limit of their planes, I'm curious if there will be any issues.
IIRC, the sCO 772 was pushed to the limit with the EWR-HKG route, but since that is now a 77W, we can NOT prove that adding capacity DOES cuts range.
IIRC, the sCO 772 was pushed to the limit with the EWR-HKG route, but since that is now a 77W, we can NOT prove that adding capacity DOES cuts range.
Aug 1, 2019, 8:43 pm
#1871
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
Since the 77W is now used on EWR-HKG, we are comparing Apples to Oranges.
Aug 2, 2019, 5:26 am
#1872
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: SAN
Programs: 1K (since 2008), *G (since 1990), 1MM
Posts: 3,217
I am eagerly waiting for PP on SFO-SYD and LAX-SYD. Know it is towards the end of the retrofits but E+ is hard on that route and the upgrades to Polaris are unicorns (for the most part). I have been choosing NZ for PE to SYD so looking forward to finally getting UA PP on the SYD routes on the 787.
Aug 2, 2019, 5:56 am
#1873
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Delaware
Programs: UA Mileage Plus, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 1,393
I am eagerly waiting for PP on SFO-SYD and LAX-SYD. Know it is towards the end of the retrofits but E+ is hard on that route and the upgrades to Polaris are unicorns (for the most part). I have been choosing NZ for PE to SYD so looking forward to finally getting UA PP on the SYD routes on the 787.
Well, hopefully the AU routes are among the first to get dedicated Polaris P+ aircraft. While I’m sure the SIN routes will be first, hopefully SYD / MEL won’t be far behind.
Aug 2, 2019, 7:28 am
#1874
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: SAN
Programs: 1K (since 2008), *G (since 1990), 1MM
Posts: 3,217
Use SIN as the stepping stone to get to PER and that is a tough ride (SFO-SIN) in E+ but fortunately upgrades to Polaris are achievable on that route but another route where I am looking forward to PP on the 787.