Originally Posted by
Tokyoite
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You wait until after the you fly the outbound before upgrading the return.
FYI, the ticket is under airport control for T-24h to T+24h, Changes, upgrades etc. for other segments in the ticket is not process able within this timeframe, hence the 24 hour limit.
Ahh, that makes everything make sense, thank you.
If you’d like to know how the story ended…
I called back about an hour after my initial call (roughly T-20h), and an NH agent said she could “reserve” upgrade availability for the return segment and confirm it for me after the arrival of my outbound flight to HND.
I was incredulous, and sure I had misunderstood something.
But sure enough, at T+17h (relative to departure), I got a new e-ticket itinerary (different ticket number/ticket reissued), and at T+18h I got a (fully Japanese) email that アップグレードの申し込みを承りました, that my return upgrade had been processed. The miles were deducted at this time.
I was quite impressed at this act of service, since it required the agent (or someone) to manually take some action many hours after my original call.
ANA!