May 10, 2017, 11:29 pm
Last edit by: MBS MillionMiler
Upgrading on flights operated by ANA
Each NH/ANA segment requires an unique GPU. A a single GPU can not be used for two ANA segment nor for a connecting UA segment
Summary of Practical Advice from this thread:
* If you have bought a ticket from United (e.g., cause you want PQDs), you likely have UA codeshares of NH-operated flights. However, only NH-ticketed flights can have upgrades requested. When you have these flights, you need to call United (e.g., the 1K desk) and tell them you want to use GPUs on this itinerary. What they will do is modify your ticket so that the codeshares are replaced with the native flight numbers. This takes 10-15 minutes. You will still need to separately request the upgrades using the United GPU request form (link below) for LH/ANA flights.
* The web form will ask for information from your ticket. You will need to enter the NH flight numbers. Also it will ask for your confirmation code and can use the United-issued confirmation code (not the NH confirmation code)
* You should be able to verify in advance whether the upgrade is going to clear based on NH inventory. I class is for Y->J upgrades and O class is for J->F. These are also the business and first 'saver' award buckets, and can be estimated by doing phantom bookings of award travel for the same flights. If saver awards are showing up the classes should be available.Expertflyer and other sites can also show the availability.
* The T&Cs suggest that you cannot request upgrades until 8 weeks before the flight, but various flyertalkers have confirmed upgrades beyond the 8 week window.
* If your upgrade is not confirmed, you can keep trying before the flight. Waitlisting is now an option (for NH/ANA)
* There seems to be mixed opinion on whether O and I class inventory is put back into the system as the flight gets closer, but several have reported finding inventory show up 2-3 weeks before the flight.
* Fare mapping from ANA to UA:
J/C/D/Y/B = J/C/D/Y/B
G/E = O/A
Below are various T&Cs from United relevant to the applicability of fares, etc, copied from the website.
Acrhive: Using PlusPoints on NH / ANA {Archive}
PlusPoints can be used on flights operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA) for one-segment, one-cabin upgrades on any multi-cabin international flight operated by ANA and marketed by ANA or United. Upgrades are subject to availability and valid for paid, published fares only. The following ANA fare classes are eligible for PlusPoints upgrades: B, C, D, E, G, J, M, U, Y and Z. PlusPoints can’t be used to upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy on ANA-operated flights. Please see the terms and conditions below for specific eligibility rules.
The PlusPoints upgrade system with NH/LH appears to be a slightly modified version of the star alliance upgrade award system (using PP instead of miles obviously). Given Z is a valid booking code on NH for a SAUA, not really surprising if there was an oversight in adapting the system to work for PlusPoints upgrades and someone forgot to either add Z-fare being allowed in the official T&C, or forgot to take Z-fares out when the upgrade request system validates the booking code.
Each NH/ANA segment requires an unique GPU. A a single GPU can not be used for two ANA segment nor for a connecting UA segment
Summary of Practical Advice from this thread:
* If you have bought a ticket from United (e.g., cause you want PQDs), you likely have UA codeshares of NH-operated flights. However, only NH-ticketed flights can have upgrades requested. When you have these flights, you need to call United (e.g., the 1K desk) and tell them you want to use GPUs on this itinerary. What they will do is modify your ticket so that the codeshares are replaced with the native flight numbers. This takes 10-15 minutes. You will still need to separately request the upgrades using the United GPU request form (link below) for LH/ANA flights.
* The web form will ask for information from your ticket. You will need to enter the NH flight numbers. Also it will ask for your confirmation code and can use the United-issued confirmation code (not the NH confirmation code)
* You should be able to verify in advance whether the upgrade is going to clear based on NH inventory. I class is for Y->J upgrades and O class is for J->F. These are also the business and first 'saver' award buckets, and can be estimated by doing phantom bookings of award travel for the same flights. If saver awards are showing up the classes should be available.
* The T&Cs suggest that you cannot request upgrades until 8 weeks before the flight, but various flyertalkers have confirmed upgrades beyond the 8 week window.
* If your upgrade is not confirmed, you can keep trying before the flight. Waitlisting is now an option (for NH/ANA)
* There seems to be mixed opinion on whether O and I class inventory is put back into the system as the flight gets closer, but several have reported finding inventory show up 2-3 weeks before the flight.
* Fare mapping from ANA to UA:
J/C/D/Y/B = J/C/D/Y/B
G/E = O/A
Below are various T&Cs from United relevant to the applicability of fares, etc, copied from the website.
updated May 2023
- Upgrades are valid only on ANA.
- Requests for upgrades can be made after you have purchased your ticket. Upgrades can be requested until 24 hours prior to departure. Your MileagePlus account number and password are required to complete the request.
- PlusPoints upgrades may not be requested when you travel on industry discount, agency discount, deeply discounted promotional tickets, award tickets using miles, or tickets purchased on websites where you don’t know the exact flight itinerary or airline until after you’ve paid for the ticket.
- ANA may impose blackout periods where upgrades are not permitted.
- You may request PlusPoints upgrades for up to four people traveling on the same reservation. The amount of PlusPoints required is listed per passenger for each itinerary and deducted at time of request; to upgrade additional people, you’ll need to use additional PlusPoints. (If the reservation has more than four travelers, you will need to call the operating carrier.) You do not need to be traveling with the passengers to request the upgrades and you can request upgrades for travelers with a different last name than yours.
- While you can only request upgrades for one segment at a time, you may upgrade more than one eligible segment on the itinerary.
- Double upgrades from Economy to First are not permitted on three-cabin aircraft.
- Standby is not permitted, but waitlisting is permitted. Waitlisting is now an option (for NH/ANA)
- An upgrade may be confirmed within eight weeks of departure, if a seat is available.
- Mileage accrual is based on the original ticketed booking class, not the upgraded class of service.
- Requests for seat assignments, special meals and amenities should be made directly with the operating carrier.
- If you wish to make changes or cancel your PlusPoints upgrade request, please contact ANA.
- If an ANA segment of your itinerary is canceled, the upgrade request for that segment will also be automatically canceled. Your PlusPoints will be automatically redeposited 24 to 48 hours after the cancellation.
- PlusPoints upgrades are not available through general selling agents.
How to request
Once the ticket has been issued, requests can be made online through the Global Premier Upgrade on ANA or Lufthansa request page. You can make upgrade requests for ANA-operated flights beginning eight weeks before departure until up to 24 hours before departure. You can make upgrade requests for Lufthansa-operated flights beginning 331 days before departure until up to 10 hours before departure.
You may request Global Premier Upgrades for up to four people traveling on the same reservation. You will need one Global Premier Upgrade for each traveler. (If the reservation has more than four travelers, you will need to call ANA or Lufthansa.) You do not need to be traveling with the passengers to request the upgrades and you can request upgrades for travelers with a different last name than yours. While you can only request upgrades for one segment at a time, you may upgrade more than one eligible segment on the itinerary.
If upgrade space is available at the time of the request and the requester chooses to confirm the upgrade, United will automatically deduct Global Premier Upgrades from the requester's MileagePlus account.
How to request for codeshare flights
If you are traveling on an ANA- or Lufthansa-operated codeshare flight with a United flight number, upgrades may be available and can be requested by calling 1-800-UNITED-1 (1-800-864-8331) within the U.S. and Canada, elsewhere call your local United Customer Contact Center.
Once the ticket has been issued, requests can be made online through the Global Premier Upgrade on ANA or Lufthansa request page. You can make upgrade requests for ANA-operated flights beginning eight weeks before departure until up to 24 hours before departure. You can make upgrade requests for Lufthansa-operated flights beginning 331 days before departure until up to 10 hours before departure.
You may request Global Premier Upgrades for up to four people traveling on the same reservation. You will need one Global Premier Upgrade for each traveler. (If the reservation has more than four travelers, you will need to call ANA or Lufthansa.) You do not need to be traveling with the passengers to request the upgrades and you can request upgrades for travelers with a different last name than yours. While you can only request upgrades for one segment at a time, you may upgrade more than one eligible segment on the itinerary.
If upgrade space is available at the time of the request and the requester chooses to confirm the upgrade, United will automatically deduct Global Premier Upgrades from the requester's MileagePlus account.
How to request for codeshare flights
If you are traveling on an ANA- or Lufthansa-operated codeshare flight with a United flight number, upgrades may be available and can be requested by calling 1-800-UNITED-1 (1-800-864-8331) within the U.S. and Canada, elsewhere call your local United Customer Contact Center.
Using PlusPoints on NH / ANA
Jun 3, 2022, 9:35 am
#16
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: NYC
Programs: UA 1K; DL DM; IHG Platinum; Hilton Diamond; Marriott Gold; Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 237
It didn’t work. The ANA agents couldn’t see the UA upgrade transferred to the airport. They called UA and they’re completely clueless about the PlusPoint as well. The ANA agent said the only way to do it is to apply 18K ANA points once you’re at the airport. Bummer as there were two seats open.
Jul 30, 2022, 5:14 pm
#17
Join Date: May 2005
Location: SFO
Programs: MM / UA 1K
Posts: 473
One thing I discovered today while trying to use the online form to apply a PlusPoint upgrade to an NH flight:
The "optional" field for "Ticket number" should be left empty. Filling it in resulted in an error message upon submission that stated "Try submitting again in 15 minutes or call customer support"
Leaving the field blank and submitting allowed me to apply the request successfully.
Of course, clearing the waitlist is another story...
The "optional" field for "Ticket number" should be left empty. Filling it in resulted in an error message upon submission that stated "Try submitting again in 15 minutes or call customer support"
Leaving the field blank and submitting allowed me to apply the request successfully.
Of course, clearing the waitlist is another story...
Aug 15, 2022, 11:31 am
#18
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: ORD
Programs: UA GS
Posts: 38
Aug 25, 2022, 11:11 am
#20
Join Date: May 2005
Location: SFO
Programs: MM / UA 1K
Posts: 473
I have a four segment trip coming up with two segments on UA and two on NH.
I had applied for a PP upgrade on one of the segments and saw that it was waitlisted on the NH website plus the placeholder on the UA website and the note that 40 PP had been deducted. Everything looked ok.
Yesterday I got notice of a schedule change for one of the UA segments - pretty minor - just a few minutes later for departure and and arrival. But I also notice this change seemed to have broken the waitlist request even though the waitlisted NH segment was not directly impacted by the schedule change.
On the NH website, the flight no longer states waitlisted and the UA site no longer shows the placeholder segment. Oddly, the PlusPoints previously applied haven't been redeposited.
Is this something that usually resolves itself or does it typically require a lengthy session with a CSA?
I had applied for a PP upgrade on one of the segments and saw that it was waitlisted on the NH website plus the placeholder on the UA website and the note that 40 PP had been deducted. Everything looked ok.
Yesterday I got notice of a schedule change for one of the UA segments - pretty minor - just a few minutes later for departure and and arrival. But I also notice this change seemed to have broken the waitlist request even though the waitlisted NH segment was not directly impacted by the schedule change.
On the NH website, the flight no longer states waitlisted and the UA site no longer shows the placeholder segment. Oddly, the PlusPoints previously applied haven't been redeposited.
Is this something that usually resolves itself or does it typically require a lengthy session with a CSA?
Aug 28, 2022, 4:03 pm
#21
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Sonoma, CA
Programs: United 1K UA, MM *G for life
Posts: 19
ANA/NH PP upgrade help
Hi All,
I am planning a trip leaving Jan 17th 2023 SFO>NRT>CGK and return Jan 28th. Does any NH metal have first out of SFO (or only LA)? Wanted to buy business and use PP's to upgrade to first or buy Prem Econ and upgrade to Business. Any thoughts or stratedgy for the best success?
Thanks!
I am planning a trip leaving Jan 17th 2023 SFO>NRT>CGK and return Jan 28th. Does any NH metal have first out of SFO (or only LA)? Wanted to buy business and use PP's to upgrade to first or buy Prem Econ and upgrade to Business. Any thoughts or stratedgy for the best success?
Thanks!
Aug 28, 2022, 4:34 pm
#22
Join Date: Oct 2005
Programs: United, Hilton, Marriott
Posts: 27
I just did a similar search looking for flights that have the Suite. I went to the ANA site and looked at 1 ways on the date options and city pairs and booking in first to find the routes with the suite. For example, I am flying today to NRT and wanted to go through ORD because of this reason (buy Business upgrade to the suite), but had to settle for going through IAD because of a schedule requirement on my side and the IAD flight which doesn't have the first on this plane. But, the Business seats are great and 1/3 empty, so all upgrades would have cleared using PP I imagine.
Aug 28, 2022, 6:43 pm
#23
Join Date: Feb 2022
Location: LAX
Programs: UA
Posts: 1,531
Hi All,
I am planning a trip leaving Jan 17th 2023 SFO>NRT>CGK and return Jan 28th. Does any NH metal have first out of SFO (or only LA)? Wanted to buy business and use PP's to upgrade to first or buy Prem Econ and upgrade to Business. Any thoughts or stratedgy for the best success?
Thanks!
I am planning a trip leaving Jan 17th 2023 SFO>NRT>CGK and return Jan 28th. Does any NH metal have first out of SFO (or only LA)? Wanted to buy business and use PP's to upgrade to first or buy Prem Econ and upgrade to Business. Any thoughts or stratedgy for the best success?
Thanks!
I just did a similar search looking for flights that have the Suite. I went to the ANA site and looked at 1 ways on the date options and city pairs and booking in first to find the routes with the suite. For example, I am flying today to NRT and wanted to go through ORD because of this reason (buy Business upgrade to the suite), but had to settle for going through IAD because of a schedule requirement on my side and the IAD flight which doesn't have the first on this plane. But, the Business seats are great and 1/3 empty, so all upgrades would have cleared using PP I imagine.
Aug 28, 2022, 11:19 pm
#24
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Sonoma, CA
Programs: United 1K UA, MM *G for life
Posts: 19
Prem-Economy on NH Metal is not sold on United's site. Is it better to buy Economy on united.com and upgrade with PP's or Premium Economy on ana and upgrade with PP's. Seems like a lot of fare classes are not available on united.com. ANA must be holding back availability.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Aug 29, 2022 at 12:46 am Reason: repaired quote
Aug 29, 2022, 1:54 am
#25
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,447
Thanks.
Prem-Economy on NH Metal is not sold on United's site. Is it better to buy Economy on united.com and upgrade with PP's or Premium Economy on ana and upgrade with PP's. Seems like a lot of fare classes are not available on united.com. ANA must be holding back availability.
Prem-Economy on NH Metal is not sold on United's site. Is it better to buy Economy on united.com and upgrade with PP's or Premium Economy on ana and upgrade with PP's. Seems like a lot of fare classes are not available on united.com. ANA must be holding back availability.
Aug 29, 2022, 5:40 am
#26
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 31,977
Thanks.
Prem-Economy on NH Metal is not sold on United's site. Is it better to buy Economy on united.com and upgrade with PP's or Premium Economy on ana and upgrade with PP's. Seems like a lot of fare classes are not available on united.com. ANA must be holding back availability.
Prem-Economy on NH Metal is not sold on United's site. Is it better to buy Economy on united.com and upgrade with PP's or Premium Economy on ana and upgrade with PP's. Seems like a lot of fare classes are not available on united.com. ANA must be holding back availability.
Aug 29, 2022, 9:34 am
#28
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,364
Not on every flight. If you search for the flight that OP is looking for -- SFO-NRT-CGK on Jan. 17, operated by NH -- you'll find PE as "not available." The same is true on the way back. If you search with Google Flights, or use multi-city search (SFO-NRT + NRT-CGK), you can get it to come up. The problem is that there's no PE on the NRT-CGK leg, and the website appears reticent to come up with a mixed-cabin itinerary on its own, for some reason.
OP: Keep in mind that SFO-NRT is less than 60% of the total SFO-CGK distance; you'll be spending nearly as long on NRT-CGK on a plane with no PE.
OP: Keep in mind that SFO-NRT is less than 60% of the total SFO-CGK distance; you'll be spending nearly as long on NRT-CGK on a plane with no PE.
Aug 29, 2022, 12:38 pm
#29
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Sonoma, CA
Programs: United 1K UA, MM *G for life
Posts: 19
I searched round trip to Jakarta (my final destination) so I did not see Premium Economy as an option. If I just search SFO to NRT/HND it does become available. This must mean I need to do four segments to book the fare class / cabin I want for the PP upgrade?
Aug 29, 2022, 1:54 pm
#30
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,769
Without get into the weeds too much, a PremPlus ticket will book economy of connecting segments but it need to have certain available fare class, if not it fails. Multi-city gets around that. Generally seems to work for major partners but fails for some subsidiary carriers. IME, works for LH group but fails for Air Dolomiti, Helvetic