Air New Zealand Air Points - upograde options on US domestic leg of transpac booking?

Hi all,

A question re upgrade options if I am flying a US domestic leg (West Coast to New York) on United as part of an Air NZ ticket.

I will be flying, hopefully, in BP via R class upgrade (book while I still can!) on the transpacific segment so will be on an econ fare.

What are my options on the domestic leg? Can I use any kind of upgrade (Star alliance?) or pay at gate? Also, will they automically seat us in the extra legroom seats (I am Star Gold, my wife is not)

Any advice/tips appreciated!

What are my options on the domestic leg? Can I use any kind of upgrade (Star alliance?) or pay at gate? Also, will they automically seat us in the extra legroom seats (I am Star Gold, my wife is not
If the flights are booked into Y or B class you might be able to use a Star Alliance upgrade award. If they're on UA flight numbers (not NZ codeshare) and you have UA status, then CPU will work - or you can apply RPUs/miles. If they're on NZ codeshares then CPU may not work (my experience has been mixed), and RPUs cannot be waitlisted til day of departure under the old rules - not sure about the post 3/3 rules.

UA will not seat you in Economy Plus however you may be able to purchase an upgrade to E+ or, potentially, First since UA seems to like to sell those upgrades now.

What are my options on the domestic leg? Can I use any kind of upgrade (Star alliance?) or pay at gate? Also, will they automically seat us in the extra legroom seats (I am Star Gold, my wife is not)

Advice above is accurate, but I thought I'd chime in b/c I just tried this (but going west), and had the rarity of flying a UA segment PHLSFO where the first cabin had empty seats in flight, so it tested the limits of what UA gives to NZ elites.

Basically, unless you're booked in those full-fare economy classes or have UA status (even UA Silvers can be upgraded), your only option is to pay for the upgrade to First or Economy Plus. You will not be added to the upgrade list or given E+ based on your NZ status, which counts for absolutely nothing when it comes to seating on UA (this was not so a few years ago, when I was occasionally upgraded at the gate).

On my flight today, which was somewhat empty in economy as well, the cabin crew even announced prior to take off that anyone who changed seats from Economy to an empty economy plus seat in flight would be charged!

Advice above is accurate, but I thought I'd chime in b/c I just tried this (but going west), and had the rarity of flying a UA segment PHLSFO where the first cabin had empty seats in flight, so it tested the limits of what UA gives to NZ elites.

Basically, unless you're booked in those full-fare economy classes or have UA status (even UA Silvers can be upgraded), your only option is to pay for the upgrade to First or Economy Plus. You will not be added to the upgrade list or given E+ based on your NZ status, which counts for absolutely nothing when it comes to seating on UA (this was not so a few years ago, when I was occasionally upgraded at the gate).

On my flight today, which was somewhat empty in economy as well, the cabin crew even announced prior to take off that anyone who changed seats from Economy to an empty economy plus seat in flight would be charged!
All of this is normal practice for UA. If First went out with empty seats then all upgrades were cleared.

If you were upgraded to First in the past then that was simply an op-up (where your NZ elite status does count, rather than UDU where it did not), and it sounds like your flight wasn't exactly in that situation.

The change in Economy Plus access for non-UA elites happened years ago - 2008 maybe. It was actually one of the factors in me earning UA status.