Except for 773- and 781-operated flights, and those markets selling Premium Plus, Polaris-equipped planes have not been allocated to specific routes. Download U.S. and International maps of routes served by United. Overview Polaris destinations on world map . Longer flights are attractively priced as well, with one-way Polaris awards costing the following amounts: While LifeMiles did recently announce changes to partner award rates within the U.S., these didn’t extend to Polaris, so if you can find I class availability with United, Avianca should be able to book it. If you’re not familiar with ExpertFlyer, you should start by reading this beginners guide. Photo: United Airlines. Is Amtrak’s big Rail Passengers Association point bonus worth the cost? Sign up for our FREE bi-weekly email updates. I load all my flight and hotel reservations to my account, and it automatically alerts me if there are any changes to my seat assignment. On the results page (which may take some time to load), you’ll see the bad news: on a number of future dates, including Feb. 19, 2020, UA881 appears to be operated by the old eight-across configuration, a far cry from the sleek Polaris seats. 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. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). 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) We’ll do our best to update this guide as additional planes are retrofitted and new routes are added. Unfortunately since then, United’s execution of Polaris service has left a … 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. Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. While American Airlines quietly began opening new lounges and retrofitting existing planes without much fanfare, United took a more marketing-oriented approach. (It also partners with Capital One, though at a relatively poor 2:1 transfer ratio.) View list below for exact numbers. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Is Amtrak’s big Rail Passengers Association point bonus worth the cost? This means that some of the most modern birds in United’s arsenal are still sporting an older 2-2-2 layout in business class with limited privacy. Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater. Of course if you’re especially worried about an equipment swap (because you’re flying an airline with a non-homogenous fleet), ExpertFlyer is once again your best tool. We're proud to offer United Polaris customers a chef-designed, multi-course inflight dining experience. Case in point: I booked Qatar’s fantastic Qsuite from Shanghai (PVG) to the Maldives (MLE) via Doha (DOH), and I specifically reserved a middle pair of seats with a double bed for me and my girlfriend. 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. United’s 777-300ERs feature 60 Polaris seats in a customized 1-2-1 configuration, with 28 seats in the front cabin and 32 in the rear. United Polaris pre-departure champagne. 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). The Points Guy will not sell your email. If you’d been holding off on booking a Polaris trip, United’s switch to dynamic award pricing likely threw a huge wrench in your plans, but here’s hoping that you’ll be able to experience the full Polaris product on your next international United flight! This means that there are eight 787-8s and 23 787-9s that still need to be retrofitted. © 2021 THE POINTS GUY, LLC. This flight is operated by a 777-200ER, and we know from United’s Polaris tracker website that 37 of the carrier’s 51 772s have completed the retrofit process. The new Polaris lounges have been a huge step up from the carrier’s tired old United Clubs and Global First lounges. A Polaris business class seats on United’s 767-300ER back in February, when the world was very different. NOTE: This is The Points Guy’s permanent page on United Polaris. According to the Polaris tracker website Dulles is the only location currently under construction, but United hasn’t shared updated opening dates for any of these lounges so it might still be a while until they open their doors to premium passengers. The 16-row, 46-seat cabin is good news for award travelers, as it means more business-class seats (and therefore hopefully more award space), but expect service to be slow with that many passengers. A total of 21 will eventually contain the high-density premium cabin layout, complete with 46 business-class seats and 22 Premium Plus seats. *Bonus value is an estimated value calculated by TPG and not the card issuer. As a result, it’s critical that you do your own homework. Seat selection also follows a similar pattern for both 777 variants. What you’re hoping to see instead is the 1-2-1 configuration shown below: This tells you, at the very least, that this flight is currently scheduled to be operated by a Polaris equipped jet, but as we’ll talk about in a minute even that isn’t a 100% guarantee. 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. The credit card offers that appear on the website are from credit card companies from which ThePointsGuy.com receives compensation. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. United’s Vice-President of Marketing Mark Krolick says that by the end of 2020, “We should have the majority of the international widebody fleet reconfigured … the only possible exceptions to that would be any aircraft that are slated for immediate retirement.”. Instead of opting for a standard reverse herringbone or staggered seat like many airlines, United has an exclusive five-year license on the design for these seats, so it’ll be a while before any airline can copy the Polaris layout. 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. When looking to book Polaris seats, make sure to verify your route and flight will have the new seat, in addition to the Polaris service offered aircraft new and old. United has designated Newark and San Francisco as its 77W bases, using them to operate the following routes: While United launched the 77W on its flagship San Francisco to Hong Kong route, as of October 26th, 2019, the carrier will be upgrading capacity and switching from one daily 77W flight to two daily 777-200 flights. Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. ExpertFlyer offers a number of different search options, but you’ll want to make sure you’ve selected the seat map search before filling in the info for your chosen flight. This means that your “free” ticket really will be as close to free as possible, with under $10 in taxes. While Singapore’s KrisFlyer program has undergone some devaluations in recent years, one positive change has been the ability to book Star Alliance partner awards online without having to call. Please view our advertising policy page for more information. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. For now, your best indicator of whether you’ll be getting the full Polaris experience is still the aircraft on which you’re flying. Regardless of whether you’re alone or with a friend/family member, seats D and G in even-numbered rows are worth avoiding, as they don’t provide any privacy nor do they have any window views to make up for it. The 777-200s have been sporadically operating long-haul routes like Chicago-O’Hare (ORD) to Tokyo-Narita (NRT) and Washington-Dulles (IAD) to London-Heathrow (LHR). United’s handy Polaris tracker website (above) paints a fairly complete picture, but it’s typically a bit delayed. Initially United just introduced the new service as well as a new lounge, and then a few months later the first plane with the new Polaris seats came into service. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Mobile Tools; Open UnitedHub.com in a new tab; Open United's Facebook page in a new tab It’s easier to search for award space if you perform an advanced search on the United website and check the box that says “my dates are flexible,” but as you can see, San Francisco to Hong Kong doesn’t have a single saver-level business-class award seat for months at a time. However, the disconnect between expectation and reality created a lot of confusion around the Polaris brand and what it actually entails. United has since taken delivery of all 18 of the 777-300ERs (also referred to as “77Ws”) that is has on order. 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. 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