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
Jun 2, 2025 | 8:08 am
#421
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I assume you tried 'business' instead? There have been recent reports that 'PE' is sometimes giving such a problem - it shouldn't
Jun 2, 2025 | 8:40 am
#422
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Jun 2, 2025 | 11:52 am
#423
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. Did you try upgrading with miles? See if that gives the same error?
Jun 2, 2025 | 12:29 pm
#424
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: CLE
Programs: United 1K, Marriott Platinum
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The class of service entered does not match the reservation.
Please verify the class of service.Very frustrating.
Jun 2, 2025 | 1:30 pm
#425
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ANA's Premium Economy seats aren't in the Economy cabin - it's considered it's own cabin. That being said, I don't know what the problem is. ANA's E fare code should be Premium Economy class to Business class upgradable.
Jun 2, 2025 | 4:34 pm
#426
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Silicon wasteland
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UA E is an economy fare. I mean, Occam's razor and all that. You'd have to go out of your way to break the logic, but ... especially since you are seeing an economy seat map and all ...
Jun 2, 2025 | 5:10 pm
#427
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Occams Razor doesnt apply to fare mapping
Jun 2, 2025 | 5:38 pm
#428
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,480
Worked out for me like so in the past couple of months. Bought UA ticket initially in R discounted PE operated by ANA on ORD-NRT. Upfared to A and changed flight # to native ANA whereupon fare code became E. Filled out the form for upgrading with PlusPoints. ANA app showed waitlisted initially, but it changed to Confirmed in Business within less than 2 weeks. This was even for Sakura season traveling on April 2. The ANA biz seat is wider than UAs, which was sweet. Catering and service exponentially better.
Jun 2, 2025 | 5:45 pm
#429
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Jun 8, 2025 | 1:24 pm
#430
Join Date: Jul 2009
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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...
I spoke to an UA agent at the P1K line today. After explaining her the situation, she verified that there were no irregularities with the way the ticket was booked, everything checked out. Next, she put me on hold to discuss the issue with their team leader. When she returned, she let me know that their team leader was also puzzled but one possibility he thought of was that I was trying to apply for the upgrade too early since the flight is still almost 8 months away. They are not sure about this but they think ANA may have a time limit as to how early one can apply for an upgrade. Not sure I believe this explanation because if this was really the case, I should be getting a different error message, not this nonsense about the cabin selection not matching the reservation. They will also report this issue to ANA and see if they take any action on their end.
Jun 8, 2025 | 3:15 pm
#431
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UPDATE
I spoke to an UA agent at the P1K line today. After explaining her the situation, she verified that there were no irregularities with the way the ticket was booked, everything checked out. Next, she put me on hold to discuss the issue with their team leader. When she returned, she let me know that their team leader was also puzzled but one possibility he thought of was that I was trying to apply for the upgrade too early since the flight is still almost 8 months away. They are not sure about this but they think ANA may have a time limit as to how early one can apply for an upgrade. Not sure I believe this explanation because if this was really the case, I should be getting a different error message, not this nonsense about the cabin selection not matching the reservation. They will also report this issue to ANA and see if they take any action on their end.
I spoke to an UA agent at the P1K line today. After explaining her the situation, she verified that there were no irregularities with the way the ticket was booked, everything checked out. Next, she put me on hold to discuss the issue with their team leader. When she returned, she let me know that their team leader was also puzzled but one possibility he thought of was that I was trying to apply for the upgrade too early since the flight is still almost 8 months away. They are not sure about this but they think ANA may have a time limit as to how early one can apply for an upgrade. Not sure I believe this explanation because if this was really the case, I should be getting a different error message, not this nonsense about the cabin selection not matching the reservation. They will also report this issue to ANA and see if they take any action on their end.
Jun 8, 2025 | 11:25 pm
#432
Join Date: Aug 2019
Programs: UA*G
Posts: 241
UPDATE
I spoke to an UA agent at the P1K line today. After explaining her the situation, she verified that there were no irregularities with the way the ticket was booked, everything checked out. Next, she put me on hold to discuss the issue with their team leader. When she returned, she let me know that their team leader was also puzzled but one possibility he thought of was that I was trying to apply for the upgrade too early since the flight is still almost 8 months away. They are not sure about this but they think ANA may have a time limit as to how early one can apply for an upgrade. Not sure I believe this explanation because if this was really the case, I should be getting a different error message, not this nonsense about the cabin selection not matching the reservation. They will also report this issue to ANA and see if they take any action on their end.
I spoke to an UA agent at the P1K line today. After explaining her the situation, she verified that there were no irregularities with the way the ticket was booked, everything checked out. Next, she put me on hold to discuss the issue with their team leader. When she returned, she let me know that their team leader was also puzzled but one possibility he thought of was that I was trying to apply for the upgrade too early since the flight is still almost 8 months away. They are not sure about this but they think ANA may have a time limit as to how early one can apply for an upgrade. Not sure I believe this explanation because if this was really the case, I should be getting a different error message, not this nonsense about the cabin selection not matching the reservation. They will also report this issue to ANA and see if they take any action on their end.
Jun 18, 2025 | 6:12 pm
#433
Join Date: Jun 2025
Posts: 2
UPDATE
I spoke to an UA agent at the P1K line today. After explaining her the situation, she verified that there were no irregularities with the way the ticket was booked, everything checked out. Next, she put me on hold to discuss the issue with their team leader. When she returned, she let me know that their team leader was also puzzled but one possibility he thought of was that I was trying to apply for the upgrade too early since the flight is still almost 8 months away. They are not sure about this but they think ANA may have a time limit as to how early one can apply for an upgrade. Not sure I believe this explanation because if this was really the case, I should be getting a different error message, not this nonsense about the cabin selection not matching the reservation. They will also report this issue to ANA and see if they take any action on their end.
I spoke to an UA agent at the P1K line today. After explaining her the situation, she verified that there were no irregularities with the way the ticket was booked, everything checked out. Next, she put me on hold to discuss the issue with their team leader. When she returned, she let me know that their team leader was also puzzled but one possibility he thought of was that I was trying to apply for the upgrade too early since the flight is still almost 8 months away. They are not sure about this but they think ANA may have a time limit as to how early one can apply for an upgrade. Not sure I believe this explanation because if this was really the case, I should be getting a different error message, not this nonsense about the cabin selection not matching the reservation. They will also report this issue to ANA and see if they take any action on their end.
Jun 19, 2025 | 7:45 am
#434
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: CLE
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Im having the same issue - E fare class, with the same error. Ive talked to the 1k line twice and they had no idea what to do. I emailed 1k this afternoon- will let you know if someone manages to resolve it. My flights October, so I doubt its because its too far out.
Thanks for posting and good luck. I am hopeful that ANA may take action on this if enough of us complain.
Jun 19, 2025 | 7:51 am
#435
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not sure this in an NH problem. This system has broken in the past and between UA and NH there is the *A interface - complex and nobody seems to really own it. UA has been able to solve issues in the past, but it has routinely taken a long time hopefully not this time