Empress, there have been no changes to the upgrade requirements for Elites on international flights. It has always been from a full fare economy Y-class ticket. No other fare categories have been permitted. [The M really isn't an operative fare.] As Empress can testify from his recent experience flying transPac on UA, you might get an operational as a STAR Gold [as he did coming back from HKG to SFO] but it is a long shot. I am resigned to a back cabin trip to PDX via SFO at the end of July because I will be flying UA rather than AC [even though it is AC metal to SFO]. But then, at the L or Q fare I have -- UA's is $300 less than AC's via YVR -- I could not upgrade on AC either. It would have to be an overbooked flight on which I received an operational upgrade based on my Elite [Premier Executive] status.