Here is a hard lesson learned for doing a *A Upgrade on ANA.

*A upgrades on ANA are rarely given. Basically they come last after ANA decides they can no longer sell the seats and no ANA mileage club members want to upgrade. In my case the C cabin was empty 28 days prior to the flight. That is when the United *A upgrade window opens. I put my upgrade request into the United *A Upgrade page and got the dreaded "No seats available".

Here is the trick to save a lot of aggravation. Call ANA North America (800-235-9262) before you try the United upgrade. Ask if they have seats available for *A upgrades. Call every day up till 24 hours before the flight. If seats open up then go to the United page and submit the request. Be ready to follow up with a call to United dot com support (800-589-5582).

Good luck,

Drew