Originally Posted by
zcat18
I'll add another question to the mix...can you purchase an upgrade on, say, LH or LX using UA miles without status on any? Now that I think about it, my attempts to upgrade have always been on partner airlines, not on UA itself. This probably makes a big difference.
I believe that it used to be possible to upgrade high fare bucket tickets on other *A carriers with UA miles, but not anymore.
But
zcat18 you do not seem to understand that upgrading with miles has little (for your purposes) to do with status. If NC or NF space is available, and you've puchased a ticket in a qualifying fare bucket, then upgrades are confirmed immediately regardless of status. Status only comes into play if you are waitlisted.
Re E- vs E+, E+ is not a higher class of service thus one cannot "upgrade" to it. While E+ seats are sold to GMs at a premium it is not by definition an upgrade.