May 10, 2017, 11:29 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Upgrading on flights operated by ANA
Each NH/ANA segment requires an unique GPU. A a single GPU can not be used for two ANA segment nor for a connecting UA segment
Summary of Practical Advice from this thread:
* If you have bought a ticket from United (e.g., cause you want PQDs), you likely have UA codeshares of NH-operated flights. However, only NH-ticketed flights can have upgrades requested. When you have these flights, you need to call United (e.g., the 1K desk) and tell them you want to use GPUs on this itinerary. What they will do is modify your ticket so that the codeshares are replaced with the native flight numbers. This takes 10-15 minutes. You will still need to separately request the upgrades using the United GPU request form (link below) for LH/ANA flights.
* The web form will ask for information from your ticket. You will need to enter the NH flight numbers. Also it will ask for your confirmation code and can use the United-issued confirmation code (not the NH confirmation code)
* You should be able to verify in advance whether the upgrade is going to clear based on NH inventory. I class is for Y->J upgrades and O class is for J->F. These are also the business and first 'saver' award buckets, and can be estimated by doing phantom bookings of award travel for the same flights. If saver awards are showing up the classes should be available.Expertflyer and other sites can also show the availability.
* The T&Cs suggest that you cannot request upgrades until 8 weeks before the flight, but various flyertalkers have confirmed upgrades beyond the 8 week window.
* If your upgrade is not confirmed, you can keep trying before the flight. Waitlisting is now an option (for NH/ANA)
* There seems to be mixed opinion on whether O and I class inventory is put back into the system as the flight gets closer, but several have reported finding inventory show up 2-3 weeks before the flight.
* Fare mapping from ANA to UA:
J/C/D/Y/B = J/C/D/Y/B
G/E = O/A
Below are various T&Cs from United relevant to the applicability of fares, etc, copied from the website.
Acrhive: Using PlusPoints on NH / ANA {Archive}
PlusPoints can be used on flights operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA) for one-segment, one-cabin upgrades on any multi-cabin international flight operated by ANA and marketed by ANA or United. Upgrades are subject to availability and valid for paid, published fares only. The following ANA fare classes are eligible for PlusPoints upgrades: B, C, D, E, G, J, M, U, Y and Z. PlusPoints cant be used to upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy on ANA-operated flights. Please see the terms and conditions below for specific eligibility rules.
The PlusPoints upgrade system with NH/LH appears to be a slightly modified version of the star alliance upgrade award system (using PP instead of miles obviously). Given Z is a valid booking code on NH for a SAUA, not really surprising if there was an oversight in adapting the system to work for PlusPoints upgrades and someone forgot to either add Z-fare being allowed in the official T&C, or forgot to take Z-fares out when the upgrade request system validates the booking code.
Each NH/ANA segment requires an unique GPU. A a single GPU can not be used for two ANA segment nor for a connecting UA segment
Summary of Practical Advice from this thread:
* If you have bought a ticket from United (e.g., cause you want PQDs), you likely have UA codeshares of NH-operated flights. However, only NH-ticketed flights can have upgrades requested. When you have these flights, you need to call United (e.g., the 1K desk) and tell them you want to use GPUs on this itinerary. What they will do is modify your ticket so that the codeshares are replaced with the native flight numbers. This takes 10-15 minutes. You will still need to separately request the upgrades using the United GPU request form (link below) for LH/ANA flights.
* The web form will ask for information from your ticket. You will need to enter the NH flight numbers. Also it will ask for your confirmation code and can use the United-issued confirmation code (not the NH confirmation code)
* You should be able to verify in advance whether the upgrade is going to clear based on NH inventory. I class is for Y->J upgrades and O class is for J->F. These are also the business and first 'saver' award buckets, and can be estimated by doing phantom bookings of award travel for the same flights. If saver awards are showing up the classes should be available.
* The T&Cs suggest that you cannot request upgrades until 8 weeks before the flight, but various flyertalkers have confirmed upgrades beyond the 8 week window.
* If your upgrade is not confirmed, you can keep trying before the flight. Waitlisting is now an option (for NH/ANA)
* There seems to be mixed opinion on whether O and I class inventory is put back into the system as the flight gets closer, but several have reported finding inventory show up 2-3 weeks before the flight.
* Fare mapping from ANA to UA:
J/C/D/Y/B = J/C/D/Y/B
G/E = O/A
Below are various T&Cs from United relevant to the applicability of fares, etc, copied from the website.
updated May 2023
- Upgrades are valid only on ANA.
- Requests for upgrades can be made after you have purchased your ticket. Upgrades can be requested until 24 hours prior to departure. Your MileagePlus account number and password are required to complete the request.
- PlusPoints upgrades may not be requested when you travel on industry discount, agency discount, deeply discounted promotional tickets, award tickets using miles, or tickets purchased on websites where you dont know the exact flight itinerary or airline until after youve paid for the ticket.
- ANA may impose blackout periods where upgrades are not permitted.
- You may request PlusPoints upgrades for up to four people traveling on the same reservation. The amount of PlusPoints required is listed per passenger for each itinerary and deducted at time of request; to upgrade additional people, youll need to use additional PlusPoints. (If the reservation has more than four travelers, you will need to call the operating carrier.) You do not need to be traveling with the passengers to request the upgrades and you can request upgrades for travelers with a different last name than yours.
- While you can only request upgrades for one segment at a time, you may upgrade more than one eligible segment on the itinerary.
- Double upgrades from Economy to First are not permitted on three-cabin aircraft.
- Standby is not permitted, but waitlisting is permitted. Waitlisting is now an option (for NH/ANA)
- An upgrade may be confirmed within eight weeks of departure, if a seat is available.
- Mileage accrual is based on the original ticketed booking class, not the upgraded class of service.
- Requests for seat assignments, special meals and amenities should be made directly with the operating carrier.
- If you wish to make changes or cancel your PlusPoints upgrade request, please contact ANA.
- If an ANA segment of your itinerary is canceled, the upgrade request for that segment will also be automatically canceled. Your PlusPoints will be automatically redeposited 24 to 48 hours after the cancellation.
- PlusPoints upgrades are not available through general selling agents.
How to request
Once the ticket has been issued, requests can be made online through the Global Premier Upgrade on ANA or Lufthansa request page. You can make upgrade requests for ANA-operated flights beginning eight weeks before departure until up to 24 hours before departure. You can make upgrade requests for Lufthansa-operated flights beginning 331 days before departure until up to 10 hours before departure.
You may request Global Premier Upgrades for up to four people traveling on the same reservation. You will need one Global Premier Upgrade for each traveler. (If the reservation has more than four travelers, you will need to call ANA or Lufthansa.) You do not need to be traveling with the passengers to request the upgrades and you can request upgrades for travelers with a different last name than yours. While you can only request upgrades for one segment at a time, you may upgrade more than one eligible segment on the itinerary.
If upgrade space is available at the time of the request and the requester chooses to confirm the upgrade, United will automatically deduct Global Premier Upgrades from the requester's MileagePlus account.
How to request for codeshare flights
If you are traveling on an ANA- or Lufthansa-operated codeshare flight with a United flight number, upgrades may be available and can be requested by calling 1-800-UNITED-1 (1-800-864-8331) within the U.S. and Canada, elsewhere call your local United Customer Contact Center.
Once the ticket has been issued, requests can be made online through the Global Premier Upgrade on ANA or Lufthansa request page. You can make upgrade requests for ANA-operated flights beginning eight weeks before departure until up to 24 hours before departure. You can make upgrade requests for Lufthansa-operated flights beginning 331 days before departure until up to 10 hours before departure.
You may request Global Premier Upgrades for up to four people traveling on the same reservation. You will need one Global Premier Upgrade for each traveler. (If the reservation has more than four travelers, you will need to call ANA or Lufthansa.) You do not need to be traveling with the passengers to request the upgrades and you can request upgrades for travelers with a different last name than yours. While you can only request upgrades for one segment at a time, you may upgrade more than one eligible segment on the itinerary.
If upgrade space is available at the time of the request and the requester chooses to confirm the upgrade, United will automatically deduct Global Premier Upgrades from the requester's MileagePlus account.
How to request for codeshare flights
If you are traveling on an ANA- or Lufthansa-operated codeshare flight with a United flight number, upgrades may be available and can be requested by calling 1-800-UNITED-1 (1-800-864-8331) within the U.S. and Canada, elsewhere call your local United Customer Contact Center.
Using PlusPoints on NH / ANA
Feb 12, 2025 | 4:35 pm
#406
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rity.
Feb 12, 2025 | 5:10 pm
#407
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Feb 12, 2025 | 11:10 pm
#408
Join Date: Mar 2018
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Feb 13, 2025 | 9:36 am
#409
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Mar 17, 2025 | 7:49 pm
#410
Join Date: Dec 2019
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Was hopeful for J->F on HND-LHR when it was F5 until it dropped to F2 6 days before departure. It then went back to F3 3 days before departure but didn't clear at T-24 so the waitlist has cancelled (with F3).
Mar 18, 2025 | 1:16 pm
#411
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This stinks. F3 and not clearing ... ugh. I have been lucky with F3 in the past, but it sounds like NH is no longer willing to clear down to F2 or F1
Mar 25, 2025 | 7:46 pm
#412
Join Date: Mar 2018
Programs: United 1K
Posts: 128
My takeaway: UA's site is too "smart" to show unticketed segments so if NH's site still shows the old segment after a UA agent does the exchange, UA still has some cleanup to do.
Mar 26, 2025 | 7:20 am
#413
Flyertalk Evangelist, Moderator: United Airlines MileagePlus
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The ticket (with coupons) is a single document shared between carriers, and the mismatch between coupons and PNR segments is what usually causes checkin issues. UA can remove a segment from its PNR without it affecting the NH PNR, and if the segment was changed without reissue it looks like they tried to apply the same coupon to the new flight (revalidation) which is always a little bit iffy with partner systems. Depending on what backend they use, some combination of carriers do a better job of pushing PNR changes to each other than others.
All in all, not surprising outcome although I'm not familiar with NH in particular.
Mar 26, 2025 | 8:10 am
#414
Join Date: Mar 2018
Programs: United 1K
Posts: 128
Segments are on the PNR, not the ticket, and are local to that carrier's PNR.
The ticket (with coupons) is a single document shared between carriers, and the mismatch between coupons and PNR segments is what usually causes checkin issues. UA can remove a segment from its PNR without it affecting the NH PNR, and if the segment was changed without reissue it looks like they tried to apply the same coupon to the new flight (revalidation) which is always a little bit iffy with partner systems. Depending on what backend they use, some combination of carriers do a better job of pushing PNR changes to each other than others.
All in all, not surprising outcome although I'm not familiar with NH in particular.
The ticket (with coupons) is a single document shared between carriers, and the mismatch between coupons and PNR segments is what usually causes checkin issues. UA can remove a segment from its PNR without it affecting the NH PNR, and if the segment was changed without reissue it looks like they tried to apply the same coupon to the new flight (revalidation) which is always a little bit iffy with partner systems. Depending on what backend they use, some combination of carriers do a better job of pushing PNR changes to each other than others.
All in all, not surprising outcome although I'm not familiar with NH in particular.
Given that PNRs are local to carriers, will phone agents typically be willing to modify their carrier's PNR to match the coupons, even if they aren't the ticket issuer?
Mar 26, 2025 | 8:22 am
#415
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So, here's what happened. At T-7 and F5 my upgrade cleared. Reservation then showed NH8 in O, but still had the old UA7950 segment in C. I was able to select a seat in F, but online check-in wouldn't work. When I got to the airport in BKK, I primed the checkin agent with my expectation of being confirmed in first class. She made a lot of faces at my reservation, but ultimately cleaned it up and issued BPs. I compared the ticket number on the BP and it was unchanged, so I guess the unticketed UA7950 just needed to be dropped before NH's system would check me in. Airport control saves the day.
My takeaway: UA's site is too "smart" to show unticketed segments so if NH's site still shows the old segment after a UA agent does the exchange, UA still has some cleanup to do.
My takeaway: UA's site is too "smart" to show unticketed segments so if NH's site still shows the old segment after a UA agent does the exchange, UA still has some cleanup to do.
Apr 4, 2025 | 2:43 am
#416
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On this topic, do the partner airline PQP rules apply if one buys the 016 stock and then has UAL convert it to the NH flight? UA desk said it would, but I've also heard that is not true. Would be good to know since it's a pretty significant PQP dip if the cap sets in.
Apr 4, 2025 | 2:46 am
#417
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016 stock is 016 stock. It doesn't matter what flights are on it. PQP earnings will be based on base fare+YQ/YR.
Apr 18, 2025 | 1:08 pm
#418
Join Date: Mar 2018
Programs: United 1K
Posts: 128
Bumping this question: Given that PNRs are local to carriers, will phone agents typically be willing to modify their carrier's PNR to match the coupons, even if they aren't the ticket issuer?
As it may have helped hellolaurent too.
As it may have helped hellolaurent too.
Apr 21, 2025 | 2:36 am
#419
Join Date: Mar 2023
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Hello everyone, I recently found out that the new ANA website starts to show waitlist information. This information can be accessed while booking a revenue ticket under fare type selection. I hope this tool provides a more accurate estimate of upgrade chances for anyone who wants to use pluspoints/miles to upgrade on ANA.
Jun 2, 2025 | 7:22 am
#420
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: CLE
Programs: United 1K, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 174
A new error message when trying to apply PP to a UA codeshare flight segment with ANA that has been converted to E fare with a native ANA flight number;
The message makes no sense as I am picking Economy cabin for the Premium Economy seats that I have purchased. The route is NRT to BKK and the flight is not until January of 2026. Not sure what to do other than keep trying...
Request a PlusPoints Upgrade Award
The cabin you selected does not match the cabin indicated in the reservation.
Please check the cabin and try again.The message makes no sense as I am picking Economy cabin for the Premium Economy seats that I have purchased. The route is NRT to BKK and the flight is not until January of 2026. Not sure what to do other than keep trying...