May 10, 2017, 11:29 pm
Last edit by: MBS MillionMiler
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 can’t 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 don’t know the exact flight itinerary or airline until after you’ve 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, you’ll 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
Apr 30, 2023, 12:54 pm
#106
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: BOS<>NYC<>BKK
Programs: UA 4.3MM LT-GS; AA1MM; Amtrak SE; MAR LT TITAN; PC Plat; HIL DIA; HYA GLOB
Posts: 4,387
I recently cleared from E (Premium Economy) to I (Business) on NH from BKK-NRT, for 30 PlusPoints. It cleared right after applying for the upgrade, which was about six weeks out from the flight.
Apr 30, 2023, 1:06 pm
#107
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: ORD, MCO
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 268
Yes for a friend of mine on LAX-HND last December. Unfortunately I can't recall if there empty seats but he was very pleased with "The Room" J product anyway. He could've asked about it at the check-in counter but I assumed it wasn't going to be successful if it didn't happen by T-24. Called 1K afterwards to get PPs back
May 2, 2023, 12:58 pm
#108
Join Date: Oct 2022
Location: NYC/SEA
Programs: UA GS
Posts: 82
Z --> O on NH must be the best use of +P out there 
followed by D --> O on LH
May 2, 2023, 3:14 pm
#109
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: BOS<>NYC<>BKK
Programs: UA 4.3MM LT-GS; AA1MM; Amtrak SE; MAR LT TITAN; PC Plat; HIL DIA; HYA GLOB
Posts: 4,387
My NH success last month was E => I (premium economy to biz, BKK-NRT) for 40 +P.
May 2, 2023, 3:14 pm
#110
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 31,962
it works …
May 2, 2023, 5:30 pm
#111
Join Date: Jul 2022
Programs: United MileagePlus
Posts: 336
May 3, 2023, 4:04 am
#113
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 2,277
Was same person, so likely clarifying their own typo from the previous post. All NH/LH plus point upgrades are 40 PPs.
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.
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.
May 4, 2023, 11:25 am
#114
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: LHR (sometimes CLE, SFO, BOS, LAX, SEA)
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 5,892
Wanted to add a data point here. I had an NH J sector (HND-JFK) on a flight which was F6 O0, and waitlisted an upgrade about 3 weeks in advance with PlusPoints.
After applying the waitlist, the PNR on ANA's web site showed HND-JFK in J, then JFK-RDU in coach, then HND-JFK in O (waitlisted).
The waitlist cleared at about T-5 days and the flight became F5. After that, the NH PNR showed HND-JFK in J, then a JFK-RDU in coach (unchanged), then HND-JFK in O.
Viewing the PNR in this state, the NH web site showed a popup message "Since you have a duplicate reservation, this reservation can only be viewed. Please contact the travel agency through which the reservation was made to change your reservation and register your information. For ANA-operated flights, Online Check-in service is available from 24 hours before the departure time.(W_S01P04_0023)".
Indeed I could not edit the reso (no way to select seats on any sectors anymore once the upgrade had cleared). Maybe I could have called NH and had them delete the J sector and reorder the segments; I didn't try since hold times are 2+ hr.
At OLCI I was offered to check in for my first sector (xxx-HND) but was not offered to check in for HND-JFK.
I think this may explain the stories upthread where people had to insist at checkin that they really had a confirmed upgrade and get desk agents to issue the right boarding pass, etc.
Unfortunately I have had a bad cold this whole week and am unable to fly the trip
so I don't know what would have happened at checkin but assume things would have worked out fine. Ah well, NH F another day.
After applying the waitlist, the PNR on ANA's web site showed HND-JFK in J, then JFK-RDU in coach, then HND-JFK in O (waitlisted).
The waitlist cleared at about T-5 days and the flight became F5. After that, the NH PNR showed HND-JFK in J, then a JFK-RDU in coach (unchanged), then HND-JFK in O.
Viewing the PNR in this state, the NH web site showed a popup message "Since you have a duplicate reservation, this reservation can only be viewed. Please contact the travel agency through which the reservation was made to change your reservation and register your information. For ANA-operated flights, Online Check-in service is available from 24 hours before the departure time.(W_S01P04_0023)".
Indeed I could not edit the reso (no way to select seats on any sectors anymore once the upgrade had cleared). Maybe I could have called NH and had them delete the J sector and reorder the segments; I didn't try since hold times are 2+ hr.
At OLCI I was offered to check in for my first sector (xxx-HND) but was not offered to check in for HND-JFK.
I think this may explain the stories upthread where people had to insist at checkin that they really had a confirmed upgrade and get desk agents to issue the right boarding pass, etc.
Unfortunately I have had a bad cold this whole week and am unable to fly the trip
so I don't know what would have happened at checkin but assume things would have worked out fine. Ah well, NH F another day.
May 4, 2023, 5:25 pm
#115
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 31,962
Wanted to add a data point here. I had an NH J sector (HND-JFK) on a flight which was F6 O0, and waitlisted an upgrade about 3 weeks in advance with PlusPoints.
After applying the waitlist, the PNR on ANA's web site showed HND-JFK in J, then JFK-RDU in coach, then HND-JFK in O (waitlisted).
The waitlist cleared at about T-5 days and the flight became F5. After that, the NH PNR showed HND-JFK in J, then a JFK-RDU in coach (unchanged), then HND-JFK in O.
Viewing the PNR in this state, the NH web site showed a popup message "Since you have a duplicate reservation, this reservation can only be viewed. Please contact the travel agency through which the reservation was made to change your reservation and register your information. For ANA-operated flights, Online Check-in service is available from 24 hours before the departure time.(W_S01P04_0023)".
Indeed I could not edit the reso (no way to select seats on any sectors anymore once the upgrade had cleared). Maybe I could have called NH and had them delete the J sector and reorder the segments; I didn't try since hold times are 2+ hr.
At OLCI I was offered to check in for my first sector (xxx-HND) but was not offered to check in for HND-JFK.
I think this may explain the stories upthread where people had to insist at checkin that they really had a confirmed upgrade and get desk agents to issue the right boarding pass, etc.
Unfortunately I have had a bad cold this whole week and am unable to fly the trip so I don't know what would have happened at checkin but assume things would have worked out fine. Ah well, NH F another day.
After applying the waitlist, the PNR on ANA's web site showed HND-JFK in J, then JFK-RDU in coach, then HND-JFK in O (waitlisted).
The waitlist cleared at about T-5 days and the flight became F5. After that, the NH PNR showed HND-JFK in J, then a JFK-RDU in coach (unchanged), then HND-JFK in O.
Viewing the PNR in this state, the NH web site showed a popup message "Since you have a duplicate reservation, this reservation can only be viewed. Please contact the travel agency through which the reservation was made to change your reservation and register your information. For ANA-operated flights, Online Check-in service is available from 24 hours before the departure time.(W_S01P04_0023)".
Indeed I could not edit the reso (no way to select seats on any sectors anymore once the upgrade had cleared). Maybe I could have called NH and had them delete the J sector and reorder the segments; I didn't try since hold times are 2+ hr.
At OLCI I was offered to check in for my first sector (xxx-HND) but was not offered to check in for HND-JFK.
I think this may explain the stories upthread where people had to insist at checkin that they really had a confirmed upgrade and get desk agents to issue the right boarding pass, etc.
Unfortunately I have had a bad cold this whole week and am unable to fly the trip
so I don't know what would have happened at checkin but assume things would have worked out fine. Ah well, NH F another day.
May 18, 2023, 9:32 pm
#116
Join Date: Dec 2021
Posts: 2
Xyzzy This info is super helpful! Big thanks!
Unfortunately, the request form kept telling me that “We have found more than one reservation that matches the traveler information you provided.”
I left the ticket number field blank as per some of the previous threads suggested. Any idea why I got this error message?
Unfortunately, the request form kept telling me that “We have found more than one reservation that matches the traveler information you provided.”
I left the ticket number field blank as per some of the previous threads suggested. Any idea why I got this error message?
Did you manage to get your upgrade. I have the same issue and nobody is able to address it. Bought in E class on ANA and trying to upgrade but get the same message. In fact in my case its even morr bizarre. asks me to contact LH. Have no clue why. This is not a LH flight. Ticket bought on ANA and entirely operated on ANA metal. Any thoughts??
Request a PlusPoints Upgrade Award
We have found more than one reservation that matches the traveler information you provided.
Please provide more information in your request. If you do not have additional information or have already provided it, please call Lufthansa and request your booking code. Call 1-800-645-3880 within the U.S., elsewhere visit lufthansa.com for local contact information.
Jun 12, 2023, 5:42 pm
#118
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 31,962
Business award (I) available on NH = it will clear immediately. You can waitlist on NH ... works well.
Jun 12, 2023, 10:42 pm
#119
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 3,024
