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
Aug 12, 2025 | 8:20 pm
#481
Join Date: Aug 2025
Posts: 4
thank you - much appreciated for the insight!
Aug 26, 2025 | 5:55 pm
#482
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: EWR
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 3
i booked into ANA Z class with a UA codeshare and was hoping to call in to switch it to NH. however the 1K agent said there needs to be additional Z availability on the flight on ANA's side to be able to change my reservation from UA flt number to NH. has anyone else found this to be true or should I try again with a different agent?
Aug 26, 2025 | 6:01 pm
#483
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 25,731
i booked into ANA Z class with a UA codeshare and was hoping to call in to switch it to NH. however the 1K agent said there needs to be additional Z availability on the flight on ANA's side to be able to change my reservation from UA flt number to NH. has anyone else found this to be true or should I try again with a different agent?
Aug 26, 2025 | 7:08 pm
#484
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: NYC
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Gold, AA Platinum
Posts: 1,022
The agent is correct. You might be able to convince an agent to force it through, since youre already holding Z space on the flight, but I have no idea how often that succeeds. Youre definitely not the first person to report this problem when attempting to do a conversion.
Aug 26, 2025 | 8:30 pm
#485
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I will echo the above and point out that this is one reason why one should call right away after booking to request the switch -- the matching fare class is much more likely to be 
pen on the NH / LH side at that point.
pen on the NH / LH side at that point.
Nov 5, 2025 | 2:32 pm
#488
Join Date: Mar 2018
Programs: United 1K
Posts: 128
If I have a connecting flight prior to a waitlisted upgrade (AC -> NH), should I hold off checking in with AC until NH T-24, in order to give the waitlisted upgrade as much time as possible to clear? Or does it not matter?
Is it still the case with NH that if it doesn't clear by T-24 then it never will?
Is it still the case with NH that if it doesn't clear by T-24 then it never will?
Nov 5, 2025 | 4:18 pm
#489
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
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If I have a connecting flight prior to a waitlisted upgrade (AC -> NH), should I hold off checking in with AC until NH T-24, in order to give the waitlisted upgrade as much time as possible to clear? Or does it not matter?
Is it still the case with NH that if it doesn't clear by T-24 then it never will?
Is it still the case with NH that if it doesn't clear by T-24 then it never will?
Nov 6, 2025 | 1:09 am
#491
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If I have a connecting flight prior to a waitlisted upgrade (AC -> NH), should I hold off checking in with AC until NH T-24, in order to give the waitlisted upgrade as much time as possible to clear? Or does it not matter?
Is it still the case with NH that if it doesn't clear by T-24 then it never will?
Is it still the case with NH that if it doesn't clear by T-24 then it never will?
Nov 6, 2025 | 9:50 pm
#492
Join Date: Mar 2018
Programs: United 1K
Posts: 128
My F upgrade cleared at F4 and just inside T-48 (Nov 8 ORD-HND)! It won't let me choose a seat which is a little annoying, but expertflyer also won't show seatmaps so I assume it has just been turned over to the airport by now and I can do it at OLCI. (Actually I'm not sure what that'll look like when I check in with AC - can they assign me a seat?)
I was first one on the waitlist (from end of July), and there were 3 people waitlisted as of yesterday. PP on a Z fare with no NH status, so that lends some mild anecdata to the idea that it might just be first come first serve.
I was first one on the waitlist (from end of July), and there were 3 people waitlisted as of yesterday. PP on a Z fare with no NH status, so that lends some mild anecdata to the idea that it might just be first come first serve.
Nov 6, 2025 | 11:23 pm
#493
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My F upgrade cleared at F4 and just inside T-48 (Nov 8 ORD-HND)! It won't let me choose a seat which is a little annoying, but expertflyer also won't show seatmaps so I assume it has just been turned over to the airport by now and I can do it at OLCI. (Actually I'm not sure what that'll look like when I check in with AC - can they assign me a seat?).
Nov 7, 2025 | 7:40 am
#494
Join Date: Mar 2018
Programs: United 1K
Posts: 128
Nov 7, 2025 | 10:21 am
#495
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