It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Middle East . The airline’s current Polaris-equipped fleet actually breaks down as: Boeing 777-300ER: 21 of 21 (new) Boeing 777-200ER: 38 of 51 (retrofitted) Boeing 787-10: 11 of 11 (new) Boeing 787-9: 1 of 25 (retrofitted) I would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. Solo travelers will prefer an odd-numbered window seat (A or L). © 2021 THE POINTS GUY, LLC. United MileagePlus miles are relatively easy to earn, both from cobranded cards like the United Explorer Card  and by transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio. If you board the plane to see a stunningly blue Polaris cabin, kick back and enjoy it, but understand the odds currently aren’t in your favor with these types of plane. Is Amtrak’s big Rail Passengers Association point bonus worth the cost? The disconnect between expectation and reality created some real disappointment, especially for business-class passengers who shelled out thousands of dollars only to be seated in the infamous eight-across, “dorm-style” cabin. If you’re not familiar with ExpertFlyer, you should start by reading this beginners guide. (It also partners with Capital One, though at a relatively poor 2:1 transfer ratio.) If you’re willing to take the risk of ending up with the old eight-across business class seat, you should still do your research before booking. Despite the slower-than-expected progress, United recently announced the tenth route on which it will fly a 777-300ER with its new Polaris seats. A Polaris business class seats on United’s 767-300ER back in February, when the world was very different. Get 25% more value when you redeem for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. Is Amtrak’s big Rail Passengers Association point bonus worth the cost? Since you’ll find Polaris primarily on long-haul flights to Europe, Asia and South America, we’ll focus on those destinations. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. I flew United 777-300ER Polaris between San Francisco and Hong Kong a couple of months ago, and had a good experience. You’re good to go if you’re flying a 777-300ER or 787-10, but that’s where the certainty ends. This means that you have an almost 75% chance of scoring an updated onboard product. Everything US citizens need to know about the Bahamas’ simplified entry process, Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. At 22 inches wide, SeatGuru says that the seats on the 772 are one inch narrower than the 77W, but when TPG Senior Writer JT Genter flew the first 772 retrofitted with Polaris seats, he said it felt the same as the 77W. United isn’t retrofitting its domestically-configured 772s, only the international ones. Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. While the 787-10 seats the most passengers of the various Dreamliner configurations, it has the shortest range at only 7,400 miles. N644UA, a 767-300ER that’s been flying for United since 1991, spent four months on the ground in Hong Kong, where it underwent a complete cabin overhaul. And thankfully there are no fuel surcharges when you redeem KrisFlyer miles for United-operated flights, so expect to pay less than $10 in taxes. This included opening nine new Polaris lounges around the globe. Polar Unite motivates you to stay consistent in your training and makes staying fit and healthy a … It wasn’t just United’s aging fleet that was in desperate need of a facelift, and part of Polaris includes bringing the ground experience up to modern day standards. You should also aim to avoid sitting in the front or back of the forward cabin, or in the front of the second Polaris cabin, since these seats are right next to the galleys, lavatories and walk-up bar. We can see from the Polaris tracker that 27 of the 38 Boeing 767s have been retrofitted vs. only one of the 12 787-8s. These seats are closer to the window and offer much more privacy than the even row window seats, as you can see below (the odd-numbered seats are in the front and back, while the even-numbered row is in the middle). Fitness trackers and watches. KrisFlyer points are also incredibly easy to earn because they are a 1:1 transfer partner of all three major transferable points currencies: Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards. We’ll do our best to update this guide as additional planes are retrofitted and new routes are added. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). Just like there are certain planes (777-300ER and 787-10) that guarantee you the full Polaris experience, there are ones (787-8 and 787-9) that almost guarantee that you won’t get Polaris seats, at least not yet. According United’s Polaris tracker, the airline has already reconfigured 13 of 14 Boeing 767-300ERs, 13 of 51 Boeing 777-200s and all of its 777-300ERs and 787-10s were delivered to the airline with the new seats. A few of these planes are already operating, and we tested the new configuration out on its first flight from Newark to London-Heathrow. Let’s start with the good news: If you’re flying on one of United’s 21 777-300ERs or 11 new 787-10s, you are absolutely certain to get the new seats. If the first available seat for upgrade is a United Premium Plus seat, we will continue to look for space in the United Polaris business class cabin should it become available. In reality, many passengers who book expensive tickets marketed as “Polaris” still end up flying in a seat like this — United’s dreaded eight-across international business class. 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. Overview Polaris destinations on world map . A few weeks after booking I got a notification from AwardWallet telling me my seat assignments had changed from two middle seats to two window seats in different rows. You don’t need an encyclopedic knowledge of different aircraft models to do this research, as the pattern is same for every long-haul aircraft in United’s fleet: 777s and 787s with the new Polaris seats have a 1-2-1 layout in business class, while those with older seats do not. United recently became the first airline to operate all three variations of the 787 Dreamliner when it took delivery of its first 787-10. The airline was always stingy with saver-level business-class award space, but the same routes that were deemed premium enough to get the new Polaris seats first are now some of the hardest ones on which to find award seats. Seat selection also follows a similar pattern for both 777 variants. Solo travelers should opt for an odd-numbered window seat, while couples traveling together should pick a center D/F pair in an odd-numbered row. View our latest valuations here. How to check if a United Airlines flight offers the new Polaris seats? Missing from this list is United’s (relatively young) fleet of 787-8s and 787-9s, none of which have been retrofitted to feature the new seats. Download U.S. and International maps of routes served by United. View our latest valuations here. It’s clear that a lot of thought went into designing these seats, which include storage cabinets, side tables, and personal lamps. Except for 773- and 781-operated flights, and those markets selling Premium Plus, Polaris-equipped planes have not been allocated to specific routes. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit this page. That’s an awfully long time to have an aircraft out of service, but as you’ll see below, it was certainly worth the wait.Once I saw that this particular plane had mad… It’s time to rethink digital advertising. While some people like surprises, I’d much rather know exactly which plane I’ll be flying before I leave for the airport (as well as its tail number, recent flights, safety record and more, but I can be a bit nerdy like that). Photo: United Airlines. Polar Unite is a waterproof fitness watch with advanced wrist-based heart rate and connected GPS. Our focus as we developed the United Polaris experience was on providing our international travelers with what they've asked for: better sleep in the sky. Asia. Everything US citizens need to know about the Bahamas’ simplified entry process, Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, Tel Aviv (TLV) — only flights 90/91, though flights 84/85 are operated by a 787-10 with Polaris seats, Shanghai (PVG) — seasonally, from Oct. 27 to March 27, U.S. to Australia & New Zealand: 80,000 miles, U.S. to Europe: 55,000 – 57,500 miles (depending on final destination), U.S. to Asia: 75,000 – 77,500 miles (depending on final destination), U.S. to Southern South America: 55,000 miles, U.S. to Asia: 105,500 – 115,000 miles (depending on final destination), U.S. to Australia & New Zealand: 130,000 miles, Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. See, the infamous eight-across, “dorm-style” cabin, The 9 best credit cards for flying United, an A350-900 featuring Qatar’s excellent reverse herringbone business class seats, Calling all Queen’s Gambit fans: There’s a new hotel room in Lexington, KY, just for you. United has a handy site where you can track the progress on Polaris retrofits: Click here to check it out. View list below for exact numbers. Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Except for 773- and 781-operated flights, and those markets selling Premium Plus, Polaris-equipped planes have not been allocated to specific routes. A painfully ironic case in point: When a former TPG staffer experienced one of the worst flights of his life (for reasons well beyond the fact that he was seated in United’s outdated business class), he was told to wait under this Polaris ad in the United Club for a manager to come speak to him. 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