I booked on the NH website and while I didn't search for a particular fare class (not sure if that's even possible on NH), the NH web site showed a "biz flex" or "regular biz" option, only the latter of which said upgrades to first were permitted. (Presumably that is a reference to NH's own upgrade criteria but I assumed "flex" would not allow Plus Points since those don't work on discounted NH biz fares). So I chose the "regular biz" option.

Once the NH flight was confirmed, I went to the UA.com upgrade form for LH/NH/CM and got on the waitlist.

I have an NH FF account as well. Do you log-in with your NH credentials or as a guest and add your UA number at the end?

The latter.

Unfortunately the availability disappeared after I grabbed the last remaining seat

So my reservation on the ANA app (I booked through ANA) shows that my PP upgrade from C>F on NRT-LAX has cleared (i.e., I only have the F segment in the itinerary; I no longer have a J segment with a separate O segment waitlisted). I was also able to select a seat (1K on "The Suites" 773). So all seems fine. But, I never received a confirmation email from UA (ccntra to what the UA PP upgrade page says will happen once I clear), and the corresponding reservation on the UA app (I have LAX-IAH on UA after the NRT-LAX flight on ANA) still shows two segments for the NRT-LAX ANA flight -- the first segment still says business, but the second segment, which appears out of order at the end of the reservation after LAX-IAH, says first (although it no longer says waitlisted as it did before).

So am I in the clear (no pun intended)? It seems I should feel confident in what the ANA app is showing, despite the still-somewhat-confusing picture on the UA app.

As I think was mentioned upthread, or somewhere else in this forum, I'm searching for flights from US to TYO on UA metal in premium economy, then TYO to BKK on NH in PE. I can find NH-NH flights in PE-PE, but every UA-NH flight books into PE-Y. In other words, I can only get PE on TYO-BKK if I book NH metal on the leg before. The reason I want to book UA metal over the water is I'd like to apply PP for a possible upgrade.

I've tried various combinations on the ANA site, UA.com, and ITA but nothing has worked so far. Does anyone know a workaround for this, or is there some marriage of segments that can't be worked around? Thanks in advance.

Without digging into all the fare rules probably booking code/flight applicability restrictions in the PE fare filings. Searching around what I'm seeing is NH is only making O-available on the UA codeshare flight (G on native flight number, you can use either to get access to the fare) when its combined with a UA US-TYO flight. So theoretically you can search for an O fare, and it looks like it will price PE-PE as an unrestricted mileage fare ($$$).

Though for what you're trying to do, it shouldn't matter, because you can go from Y-J ((unless you really want PE on the TYO-BKK NH flight)) on NH using PlusPoints (PP don't get considered for PE on NH). You just need to be in an applicable booking code, which based on the R discounted fare filings pushing into V or lower, you would need to get an A-fare with UA to get put in an M booking code on the NH flight.

Thanks! The TYO-BKK flight on NH metal books into B class when ticketed through ANA. I can try to upgrade using PPs, but there's some risk of course that it may not clear, and I really don't want to spend 6.5 hours in Y. I have to weigh that with the other leading option, which is to fly CX in PE on both segments.

We recently used PP to upgrade an NH coded segment on an NH ticket on NH metal. We did this for two segments. While each showed that the upgrades cleared a couple of days before the flights, we were not able to do any form of electronic check-in. Furthermore, at the ticket c:(unter we were told -- both times -- that there was no upgrade and that this was an economy ticket. After pushback (including showing screenshots of the NH site showing the upgrade) they completed check-in with J seats. So, it works but it was not easy.

Plus Points for ANA codeshare upgrade on UA ticket
 

What's written in the wiki worked today. I have a UA ticket with an NH leg listed as a UA codeshare; the UA agent changed the UA codeshare in the record to an NH flight (this took 10 minutes and some persistence from me for the agent to realize that this was necessary and to do it). After that, when I pulled up the flight record, chose "Upgrade your trip" and chose the NH segment, it showed "no upgrade available". But, when I went to https://www.united.com/loyalty/partn...points/request instead, I WAS able to get the upgrade request.

So, once the UA codeshare flight has been changed to an ANA flight, the specific way that you request the upgrade matters.

If and when you find the upgrade clears be SURE to document it via a screenshot of the UA app and/or the NH web site because you may need this to actually be upgraded on the flight. When you get to the airport you may find that NH disclaims any knowledge :eek:f the upgrade. Please let us know what happens!

that is bizarre.

Indeed. The first time was when we were at checkin at NRT and NH denied the upgrade and insisted we talk to UA. We had already spoken t:o UA about this clearing when we saw "I" space and it hadn't cleared. UA told us that it was all on NH. So, when it did clear and we were denied at checkin NH of course told us it was all on UA. 🙄 We insisted they call UA and after about 10min or so, during which we showed NH the UA app & such showing the upgrade, they suddenly reversed course and produced a J boarding pass. The key was being insistent as we were apologetically denied at least 5 times.

I guess United.com's verbiage to sit back and relax is completely lost during this process. From United.com:

MileagePlus® members can redeem PlusPoints for upgrade awards on select Star AllianceTM partner airlines. Sign in to your MileagePlus account and use the tool below to check for upgrade availability on any upcoming flight. Once you’ve found and confirmed your upgrade, you can arrive at the airport relaxed and ready to enjoy all your benefits, whether it’s priority check-in and lounge access or a more personal level of service onboard. Upgrades are based on the operating carrier’s availability.

-RM

it is indeed on LH and NH ... not much UA can do here. That said, I have never had issues w/ cleared upgrades on either airline

Priority using Plus Points or Miles?
 

Anyone know if there is priority for an upgrade clearing whether using miles or plus points on ANA metal? I put in for an upgrades using plus points on NH7 and NH835 from premium economy/econ on Jan 17th/18th using plus points. Curious to my chances of it clearing. Thanks!

Wondering if gate upgrade with ANA miles require switching to the flight to ANA's mileage program?

Do you have PlusPoints applied? Trying to understand why post here? vs ANA forum.

Some places on the internet say ANA rules out the 777-300 and the 787 from *a upgrades, so pretty much can only upgrade on little domestic routes. I fly HKG<>HND/NRT all the time and have never been successful using plus points or miles to upgrade an ANA leg.

Why not ANA form, it's very specific to partner airline and United, ANA and Lufthansa have a bit of a tighter bond than the other *A carriers. Also, ANA's own website for upgrade requests is filled with broken links or is in really choppy english if at all :)

Not hating on ANA, I love flying them even in economy, wonderful airline, amazing FAs

I concur but will point out that we recently upgraded NH 835 / 836 (NRT-CGK-NRT on a 787) with UA PlusPoints. We could not get the *A mileage upgrade tool to w😧rk. It quoted a number of miles but we could not apply them.

It also looks like I have cleared to Business on NH 835 NRT-CGK with UA PlusPoints. But my segment SFO-NRT is still waitlisted. That would be pretty frustrating if they block upgrades for *A on certain aircraft.

they do not ... it is an urban myth.

Miles and Plus Points have the same priority.

While true for UA, do we know that for ANA operated flights?
That question is probably more appropriate for ANA forum.

I have but some have said even though the PP upgrade doesn't clear the ANA check in counter let's them upgrade with miles?

Seems like that is a question for ANA forum (using ANA miles) and not UA forum.
Don't believe that topic, PP fails but switching to ANA miles, has been mentioned in this thread.

Recent data point: booked NH Asia-HND-JFK / EWR-IAH on UA 016 stock in D fare class. Was able to get native NH numbers by picking first on Google Flights and following hyperlink to UA site. Applied PP - didn’t input ticket number - and was told it was waitlisted. Both NH and UA sites updated to show waitlisted immediately - NH showed J but instead of “OK” status it said upgrade waitlisted; UA had a O segment waitlisted in the record, but weirdly put it first (with a -25hr connection!). Will update if upgrade comes thru.

Was referring to this:

That's normal. Good luck w/ the UG!

Hello, I've been skimming through the forum and I wanted to double check, are ANA upgrades through Plus Points only available if shown on the United awards search? If they show as upgradeable on the ANA, it doesn't have anything to do with Plus Point upgrades right? Looking for economy or premium economy to business upgrades but it seems that it'd be difficult considering the availability. Any suggestions?

upgrades with UA +Ps will waitlist if there is no upgrade available. If an award is available then IME on NH it will clear immediately.

Any recent experiences on waitlisting ANA upgrades? or advice on assessing the probability of an upgrade clearing after being waitlisted?

Yesterday I booked a flight through united.com on ANA. Flight is in about 6 weeks from today. Unfortunately there was not any space and I am currently waitlisted. However, expertflyer shows P9, and the seat map has a ton of empty seats. If this were united I would feel pretty good about my chances, but I have never upgraded on ANA before so would appreciate any advice.

I have a P fare JFK-HND. How do I upfare this to Z so that I can apply PP or a mileage upgrade? Is that going to be a huge upfare cost?

you will need to look up the difference ... not predictable. Lowest difference is $300 r/t. Definitely worth looking into

Plus points aren't being refunded for upgrades that don't clear or reissued tickets
 

For the past month I've confirmed that my uncleared upgrades, flight changes, and even reissued tickets (had a flight where United reissued 3 times and I had to upgrade 3 times) are not being refunded.

The 1K desk hasn't been able to help me and I haven't heard back from mileage plus at all.

From the upgrade redemption receipt the confirmation number is the ANA confirmation and not United. I wonder if this is related to the issue.

If anyone had these situations definitely check your accounts.

It is not related to NH at all. It is a well-known issue with UA MP as a whole. I had multiple on UA and LH that didn't return. Similarly, I had issues getting them back from UA. I complained to the US DOT which of course helped and it is also alerting the DOT that UA is engaging in a significant fraud operation here right now.
If this happens ... send in a DOT complaint. IME this is the only way UA will fix these issues. These should come back automatically and they simply don't ... many customers who are not aware of these issues are currently getting scammed by UA.

I tried upgrading my friend on LAX-HND from J to F in December which he didn't clear and, as you said, the PPs were not refunded. However, I waited until late January to call 1K and immediately got them back. Sorry to hear this is not your experience.

not only is that not the experience ... it should not require a call in the first place. UA knows whether these have cleared or not.

No waitlist for 2nd leg: EWR-HND-SGN
 

I am trying to apply pluspoint on my upcoming trip: EWR-HND-SGN (booked through united.com). Called 1K hotline and got the 2nd leg (HND-SGN) flipped to native NH # from codeshare. I see the option to waitlist the 1st leg but there is no even waitlist option for the 2nd leg. This is my first time ever to upgrade NH flight using pluspoint. Any idea what I did wrong? It's class U for both legs, btw.

For ANA you need t:p follow the instructions on this page. That includes filling out the request form on this page.