thanks! tremendously helpful--as always FT is the best place for info about this type of stuff

Fortunately that is not true

This is the restriction, not the common run of the mill cancel a booking

No need to, there is no problem for anyone

That is not what the FAQs state, you are reading the "downgrade - cancel an upgrade but not the ticket FAQ, the FAQs also state
This lack of refunding PlusPoints on a fully canceling an upgraded ticket is a false rumor.

sorry to hijack this thread, but hoping to clarify just a bit more--UA insider's response says you can cancel a Standard PointsPlus request. My question is about canceling a confirmed upgrade (i.e., PN>0, so book award, confirm upgrade and then decide a few weeks later to refund the award). The UA website says "You will not be able to cancel PlusPoints requests that have received upgrades" which is what I'm asking about doing

Need to read the entire FAQs and website
You can not cancel a StW upgrade (new feature) nor can you cancel an Upgrade but keep the itinerary intact (you sort of could in the past, but was iffy). But as has been quoted twice in the past ten posts, you can cancel an itinerary and the PlusPoints will be refunded, GS or not.

Not sure I would call it a false rumor; I think UA has just not been very clear on this. For instance, right above the cited passage from the T&C is the following:
PlusPoints T&C

Really don't know what that second sentence means, and in particular whether it's limited to a skip waitlist upgrade; it's ambiguity like this that is causing some uncertainty about refundability. Though I do agree the passage you quoted certainly indicates the Points will be refunded if the itinerary is cancelled.

While UA's ability to explain issues is legendary, and UA has made the cancellation feature more complicated with the new features like StW. But no refund on full cancellations is very inconsistent with other UA practices as affirmed by UA Insider.

Unfortunately, UA has built a reservoir of distrust and expectation that things always change for the worst.

and...what does this mean "PlusPoints upgrade requests that have been upgraded on any flight within the request cannot be canceled or changed." If the wording was clearer english like pluspoints upgrade requests that have been confirmed cannot be canceled or changed, would this group be as confident that they were refundable?

I'm just saying there is an FAQ that says "You will not be able to cancel PlusPoints requests that have received upgrades" - you guys are referencing the Ts and Cs (which are a link off the FAQs) and the first sentence sounds pretty clear that if you cancel a request, the points come back, but the second sentence is poorly written and certainly makes me nervous that if the upgrade clears, it cannot be canceled

again, not trying to be a doomsday guy on this--400 posts up the thread, there was confusion on G fares and it was nice to see united fix that within hours. I'd love to see them fix this one because "upgrade requests that have been upgraded" is a mess of a sentence

Yes, would be nice if they changed to something like, "Once confirmed, a PlusPoints upgrade request cannot be withdrawn; however, if an itinerary containing an upgraded flight is canceled, or the upgraded flight segment(s) changed, the PlusPoints will be refunded to your account."

I love this announcement. It’s a great improvement to the MP program.

They know they need to improve the credit card offering for elites, 10-20 PlusPoints for every $25K spend on top of miles on a $450 annual fee would be worth it for midlevel elites and higher.

One idea would be to allow anyone who holds the whatever the new/relaunched co-branded CC a annual grant of PlusPoints, my guess would be however many would be required to opt for a club membership.

UA could then offer an additional enticement for high tier premier members (e.g. Plats and above) the ability to earn additional PlusPoints based on spend.

Continue to read, and you would see the correction in a later post.

I'd be happy to get a co-branded card if it simply meant "points don't expire!"

Perhaps we should start using P+ and +P, respectively. Or, use Ppts or +pts for the latter?

Digging through the website and all the pages here I am still feeling this is a huge downgrade for me. Hopefully someone can convince me I am wrong in the following scenario:

Today I use GPUs to upgrade various multi segments: I fly AMS-ORD-DEN-DRO frequently. In the past I used one GPU to upgrade this itinerary. Usually as GS I could clear all upgrades upon booking. Rarely did the domestic segments not clear upon booking.
In the new PlusPoints system, am I right that to upgrade the above itinerary I would need 40 points for the AMS-ORD, 20 points for the ORD-DEN and another 20 for the DEN-DRO which total 80 points? If this is true, then this would be the equivalent of using two GPUs?

If this is true, this might just be the last straw.

UA Insider: if true can you please explain how this is an enhancement for me?