Originally Posted by jasonvr

I'll try to help here a bit.

1) Upgrading on a Star Alliance airline with UA miles requires you to buy a Y or B fare, which will likely be very expensive. You can find Y and B availability via KVS.
2) You will need NC space (i.e. something other than NC0) for flights on UA (the method that can be be used is X1 under upgrades). For flights on other carriers, I'm not sure what you will need to see (varies by airline). You might need a Miles & More account to see upgrades on LH and LO.
3) To get these methods on KVS, you will need a Platinum membership at a minimum.