For the cheapest economy fares (not basic!), is it always 20 PP to go from Y to PY?

Yes

My EWR-LAX flight a week from today is down to J4. Four of us on same PNR are waitlisted for PP upgrades. Can/should I split the PNR now to maximize chances of anyone getting an upgrade? (It's fine if we are split between Y and C.)

Yes, it increases your chances. J4 a week away is not a good sign ... I'd make sure you have good seats in Y

We have decent enough E+ seats in Y...

It's back to J6! What's the best way to split the PNR? Just call the "1K line"? Always afraid something will go wrong (in this case, something happening to the waitlisted PP upgrades and priority), and not sure how to split the group (two 1Ks, a silver, and a general member).

Split into two reservations, with one 1K on each. Read the last few pages of this thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...it-pnr-43.html
Good luck with upgrades.

If I buy a ticket through ANA, can I apply plus points on the segments operated by UA?

Yes, just pull up the segment / itin in your account. The needed fare class will be based on UA's rules and UA's fare class. It can be an NH codeshare of the UA flight.

PP to Ecuador (UIO)
 

The Wiki seems to define PP "short haul" as any non-Polaris flight. I'm booked SFO-IAH-UIO, both legs on 737s. Is this really going to be a 20 PP upgrade?? The website seems not explicitly to cover PP requirements on international trips on non-Polaris equipment.

All CPU eligible flights are the same

Sorry, but I've only had one cup of coffee today. The CPU eligible table says South America is not CPU eligible. So what is the PP requirement for Ecuador on a 2 class aircraft? The published PP tables don't seem to cover this case.

"South America" in that case applies to Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Peru - those are not CPU-eligible. If front cabin is sold as Polaris, CPUs not permitted. If front cabin is sold as Business, CPUs permitted. Front cabin to Quito is sold as Business.

The chart appears to be inexact. Northern South America is CPU-eligible. 20 PlusPoints is correct.

maybe I am missing something - but I clearly dont understand UA's 1KVoice response:

recent MSY-DEN-OGG flight - all on 1 ticket
applied PP for UG at the time of booking to both segments
MSY-DEN cleared the day before the flight: 20 PP subtracted
DEN-OGG cleared after I already boarded for OGG: another 20 PP subtracted

I thought it was only supposed to be 20 for the entire trip?

emailed 1KV:Dear Mr. XXXX:

Thank you for being one of our valued Premier 1K members.

This is to confirm that we received your concern about the dedeuctions of pluspoints on your account.

I just want to inform you that in every segments of the flights will deduct pluspoints for the upgrade.



Don't hesitate to contact us again if there’s any other way we can help.



Regards,



Ma Franches Leigh Basanes

MileagePlus® Service Center

I'd reply and request clarification/further explanation because that is not my understanding, experience, nor is it the way PP are explained on UA's website (https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/mil...luspoints.html)

In your case both segments are equally priced but I'd still expect only a single deduction (if both were requested at the same time)