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
Jan 9, 2026 | 5:33 am
#541
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In Economy M - 7 seats left for Sale in Business in 5-6 days. Are odds good? On waitlist right now with 40 PPs.
do they clear out waitlisted upgrades if seats are available? I heard its impossible to get off of award waitlists, but am hopefully this Econ M > Biz has higher odds. And it is a Eco to Biz bump, right? Not Prem Econ? Thank you!
do they clear out waitlisted upgrades if seats are available? I heard its impossible to get off of award waitlists, but am hopefully this Econ M > Biz has higher odds. And it is a Eco to Biz bump, right? Not Prem Econ? Thank you!
Jan 9, 2026 | 8:52 am
#542
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Absolutely zero chance. NH will not clear 3 seats out of 8 350 days out. No way. 1 seat? Maybe
It would be Y to J. No PY with NH upgrades. 7 seats is not great, but it is 5-6 days out. NH does usually not clear down to zero. It either clears by T-24 hr, or it won't. M does help, but that is very few seats available right now.
It would be Y to J. No PY with NH upgrades. 7 seats is not great, but it is 5-6 days out. NH does usually not clear down to zero. It either clears by T-24 hr, or it won't. M does help, but that is very few seats available right now.
Jan 9, 2026 | 9:13 am
#543
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Jan 9, 2026 | 10:16 am
#544
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Clearing 1 is possible. I have seen it happen with F8 actually right away or shortly after WLing. NH is weird with J --> F upgrades, some seem super quick and easy and others they keep at F7 until like 2 days prior to departure and then they clear them all
Jan 9, 2026 | 11:53 am
#545
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I will try this, UA will make my flight available in 3-4 weeks time for sale, ANA should have it sooner, Is there any difference in booking directly ANA rather than UA?
Jan 9, 2026 | 2:18 pm
#546
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wrt clearing UGs? No. UA ticket will earn more PQP and miles. NH will be based on distance and with current TPAC fares in Z or higher it will almost always be better via UA from that perspective
Jan 11, 2026 | 1:03 pm
#547
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I will wait for United to sell this flight, and then make the purchase. On this trip there will be three passengers in total in J, I understand that the chances to clear to F for all are very slim.
Does it make sense to book myself on a separate PNR and apply upgrade using PP and then book a ticket for the other 2 passengers inc child and apply upgrade for them separately for 2 seats.
Does it make sense to book myself on a separate PNR and apply upgrade using PP and then book a ticket for the other 2 passengers inc child and apply upgrade for them separately for 2 seats.
Jan 11, 2026 | 1:08 pm
#548
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I will wait for United to sell this flight, and then make the purchase. On this trip there will be three passengers in total in J, I understand that the chances to clear to F for all are very slim.
Does it make sense to book myself on a separate PNR and apply upgrade using PP and then book a ticket for the other 2 passengers inc child and apply upgrade for them separately for 2 seats.
Does it make sense to book myself on a separate PNR and apply upgrade using PP and then book a ticket for the other 2 passengers inc child and apply upgrade for them separately for 2 seats.
Jan 11, 2026 | 7:40 pm
#549
Join Date: Sep 2007
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Jan 16, 2026 | 12:02 pm
#550
Join Date: Apr 2023
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Datapoint & Question:
Datapoint:
Datapoint:
- ORD - HND NH111 3 successfully cleared from M -> I (Eco -> Biz) at D-21 with PP applied exactly 8 weeks in advance and 1 pax on the reservation being SA*G (UA1k).
- I called ANA at D-24 and paid to reserve economy seats to ensure we had 3 seats together (very full cabin). $50 in seat fees now "wasted", but ANA agent made it clear they were non refundable if upgrade cleared. No big deal, I considered that the 'insurance policy'. Agent said there were 14 people on upgrade waitlist but had no visibility into our standing. ~22 seats unreserved at that point
- Was able to immediately assign Biz seats through ANA website at D-21. Seat map has not really changed, inclined to believe the entire 14 person waitlist was not cleared, maybe not more than the 3 on my reservation.
- I noticed the upgrade cleared because my reservation now has a red box "Theres a problem with your reservation. The tickets for your flight need to be updated. If you booked this trip using a travel agency, youll need to contact them to fix this. Otherwise, contact us".
- On ANA I see my status as "Upgraded", but not as "OK" as others have mentioned. I have another ANA leg on the return that shows up on the ANA website in this same itinerary and that leg shows "Status: Confirmed"
- On the LH PP thread the unanimous comment is to ignore the red box and do not let UA or anybody touch the ticket Example from the LH thread.
- I don't see anyone making these comments on this ANA thread - is this a common occurrence and should I ignore it or contact UA? I have a UA connection before NH111 and would like the bags through checked. My plan is to check in through ANA at T-24, but not check in for the UA connection until I reach the airport counter at the origin airport and make sure bags are through checked there.
Jan 16, 2026 | 12:20 pm
#551
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Datapoint & Question:
Datapoint:
Datapoint:
- ORD - HND NH111 3 successfully cleared from M -> I (Eco -> Biz) at D-21 with PP applied exactly 8 weeks in advance and 1 pax on the reservation being SA*G (UA1k).
- I called ANA at D-24 and paid to reserve economy seats to ensure we had 3 seats together (very full cabin). $50 in seat fees now "wasted", but ANA agent made it clear they were non refundable if upgrade cleared. No big deal, I considered that the 'insurance policy'. Agent said there were 14 people on upgrade waitlist but had no visibility into our standing. ~22 seats unreserved at that point
- Was able to immediately assign Biz seats through ANA website at D-21. Seat map has not really changed, inclined to believe the entire 14 person waitlist was not cleared, maybe not more than the 3 on my reservation.
- I noticed the upgrade cleared because my reservation now has a red box "Theres a problem with your reservation. The tickets for your flight need to be updated. If you booked this trip using a travel agency, youll need to contact them to fix this. Otherwise, contact us".
- On ANA I see my status as "Upgraded", but not as "OK" as others have mentioned. I have another ANA leg on the return that shows up on the ANA website in this same itinerary and that leg shows "Status: Confirmed"
- On the LH PP thread the unanimous comment is to ignore the red box and do not let UA or anybody touch the ticket Example from the LH thread.
- I don't see anyone making these comments on this ANA thread - is this a common occurrence and should I ignore it or contact UA? I have a UA connection before NH111 and would like the bags through checked. My plan is to check in through ANA at T-24, but not check in for the UA connection until I reach the airport counter at the origin airport and make sure bags are through checked there.
Jan 16, 2026 | 1:43 pm
#552
Join Date: Oct 2015
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If I wanted to use my PlusPoints to upgrade my parents from business class to first class how many PlusPoints would it be? It was not obvious to me in the Wiki.
The flight is SYD-HND-JFK.
Thank you.
The flight is SYD-HND-JFK.
Thank you.
Jan 16, 2026 | 1:53 pm
#553
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Jan 16, 2026 | 1:59 pm
#554
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Question:
- I noticed the upgrade cleared because my reservation now has a red box "Theres a problem with your reservation. The tickets for your flight need to be updated. If you booked this trip using a travel agency, youll need to contact them to fix this. Otherwise, contact us".
- On ANA I see my status as "Upgraded", but not as "OK" as others have mentioned. I have another ANA leg on the return that shows up on the ANA website in this same itinerary and that leg shows "Status: Confirmed"
- On the LH PP thread the unanimous comment is to ignore the red box and do not let UA or anybody touch the ticket Example from the LH thread.
- I don't see anyone making these comments on this ANA thread - is this a common occurrence and should I ignore it or contact UA? I have a UA connection before NH111 and would like the bags through checked. My plan is to check in through ANA at T-24, but not check in for the UA connection until I reach the airport counter at the origin airport and make sure bags are through checked there.
Don't call UA. If you can select a seat on NH and this is the segment showing in business on allnippon, then you are all set IME.
Jan 30, 2026 | 7:30 pm
#555
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Looking to upgrade from Z to F on a UA booked flight which has been changed to an NH flight number, EF shows as the following for the NH and UA codeshare flights,, I read somewhere available There are already 2 people on waitlist, Does O space means a good chance of clearing, am I reading this correctly?
Last edited by navatwal; Jan 30, 2026 at 7:38 pm