I've had to reach out to UA twice so far this year for getting PlusPoints refunded after canceling / changing a confirmed itinerary. In your case, since you made a change, I'd leave it alone until after my travel on that ticket was complete, and then I'd write to 1KVoice if they haven't reappeared within a suitable amount of time (say, a week).

It's a pain, but so far I haven't had any issues getting them back upon request. It's just, we shouldn't have to request.

I think that UA made a mistake with what happened (there was agent intervention which could've messed things up):

I had to pay an upcharge to switch flights but remained in R. When I paid for the flight change/upcharge, I was booked in R international and B domestic. So, shouldn't I've gotten the domestic UG for free as a Y/B/M UG because there was PN3 PZ1 showing on the domestic leg? The agent then intervened and applied PPs, which I assume UG'd me based on the PZ1 avail. So, shouldn't I, at this point, have had no PPs deducted because the international leg hasn't cleared and there was PN3 avail?

That seems that should be correct. I bet one has to point out to the agent the difference between upgrades, YBM-up vs instrument, because I bet the default reaction (based on familiarity) is to the latter.

Unfortunately, it's not against the rules to apply PlusPoints pointlessly. :( So, yes, you could have gotten an instant upgrade, but there's nothing in the system that would prevent you (or an agent) from putting PlusPoints on a flight that didn't need them. :(

Quick question, sorry if there’s another place. Flying CRP-IAH-EZE next Saturday. When I booked CRP-Iah was PZ4 and IAH-EZE was PZ1. I applied my 40 plus points at booking (it’s a CRP-IAH-EZE-IAH) round trip and my IAH-EZE cleared at booking. I have called 1K line to try and clear the CRP segment but they tell me I didn’t apply the upgrade to domestic. Anyway, it’s doesn’t matter bc I have the main upgrade, but did I do something wrong to not get the domestic upgraded once the Polaris cleared?

This makes no sense. If both segments were available at booking then both segments should have cleared. Unless of course you elected to not apply +Ps to the CRP-IAH segment; did you include that segment in the UG request? If not, then of course you don't get it. Adding it after the fact is no longer possible with the new system.

Most likely, OP did not select the CRP-IAH segment. A maximum of 40 PPs would be charged if both segments (W fare or above) were selected.

Question for our PlusPoint experts.
Family trip MCO-IAH-SFO (wide bodies on both segments so hopefully family could enjoy the perk). Applied PlusPoints. Confirmed upgrade MCO-IAH, and close to top of wait list for IAH-SFO (but did not end up clearing).

I seem to remember the points were only taken if the longer segment cleared, but after calling the Mileage Plus desk, they said that rule only applies to International "over the water" itineraries.

How are others using their PlusPoints on domestic itineraries which a connection? It's rare these days that you get confirmed on most (or any) segments ahead of time.
IF i knew we weren't going to get upgraded on the longer segment, I would not have upgraded on the shorter one, but you don't know until you get to the gate.

Mileage Plus was nice enough to refund the points, but they said, just this one time.

Thank you.

There is no such rule for PlusPoints, domestic or international (and never has been). You are charged the highest number of PlusPoints of any leg that clears.

You’re thinking of the rule for Miles + Copay awards, which is as the agent said — if your request includes any Polaris-marketed segments, and none of those clear, you get a refund even if the shorter legs clear.

The failed Polaris upgrade policy also applied to GPUs, but never PlusPoints as there is a variable lower rate for a domestic upgrade then a international.

There have been some anecdotal reports in past and recently of agents refunding upgrades when a very short segment cleared but the longer did not, as a customer gesture. However there is no written policy or definition of "very short"

You were extremely lucky to get the points back. Sometimes ignorance of rules pays off :)
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So let's say you apply 40PPs for a SMF-SFO-LHR trip wanting of course Polaris to LHR. They then clear you on SMF - SFO and don't to LHR, they still grab all 40PPs?! I knew about the Domestic use of PPs and have turned upgrades on short segments all the time (ie. EGE-DEN) fearing the longer segment was unlikely to clear. Seems like a ripoff but not surprised with anything any more. Seems like you should be sent a prompt at check-in stating something to the effect of "it appears that the Polaris segment will not clear do you still wish the domestic upgrade" .

Unlike RPU/GPU, Plus Points are never charged until the upgrade clears (for UA metal upgrades).

If SMF-SFO clears, you will be charged 20 points (the cost for that segment). If SFO-LHR clears, you will be charged a total of 40 points (20 additional if SMF-SFO had already cleared).

It's a best-case world in your favor, except for the major caveat that you cannot make your SMF-SFO upgrade request conditional on whether SFO-LHR clears.

Oh, OK I get it. You would NOT be charged 40 points for SMF-SFO using my scenario but "only" 20 points. Seems more reasonable now, I miss understood what was being stated above.

Right. I think the typical flier wouldn't want to spend even 20 points on SMF-SFO, but it's not as bad as 40.

(With GPUs, you could list the whole thing with a GPU and get a freeroll on the SMF-SFO segment since your GPU always got returned if the Polaris segment failed to clear, so in that sense GPUs were better than Plus Points.)