Go to united.com, under my itineraries, if you see your flight as one segment, then you will receive miles for the non-stop flight distance; IAD-HKG. If you see it as two segments, even though it has the same flight number, you will receive miles for IAD-LAX and LAX-HKG.

Upgrade will be determined by the number of segments ticketed.

There is a thread of this topic; http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ferrerid=22732 UA will not book IAD-HKG as two separate segments with one flight number. You and/or your travel agent can book it as two separate segments with one flight number.