How To Use United PlusPoints on Partner Airlines [2025]

Key Takeaways

• You can use United PlusPoints to upgrade flights on the Star Alliance partner airlines Lufthansa, Copa, and ANA.
• You can’t upgrade Discount fares and award flights using PlusPoints.
• You pay for each segment, so using PlusPoints for nonstop, long-haul international flights is the best way to maximize value.

With the 2019 overhaul of its elite status program, United introduced its current PlusPoints system. Before that, travelers used Global and Regional Upgrade Awards, which had to be applied directly to a flight. The new setup replaced those with PlusPoints — a far more flexible currency for MileagePlus elites who want to move up a cabin.

One major perk of the change is that you can now use your PlusPoints for upgrades not only on United flights but also with 3 partner airlines: Lufthansa, Copa Airlines, and ANA. This means you can now pursue creative upgrades, though the process isn’t always smooth. Navigating the upgrade system can be tricky and requires patience.

We’ll cover everything you need to know about using United PlusPoints: who’s eligible, when upgrades are available, and how to make them happen.

What Are PlusPoints?

United Platinum and 1K Premier elite members get PlusPoints after qualifying for status. What United status you earn depends on how many Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) and Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF) you rack up in a year.

Premier Platinum elite members get 40 PlusPoints after reaching this tier. Meanwhile, Premier 1K members get 320 PlusPoints in all. They also can earn 20 more PlusPoints for every 2,000 PQPs they earn.

PlusPoints don’t expire for a year and then some after they’ve been earned — through the end of the following January. For example, in 2026, travelers work to earn elite status that’s valid in 2027. PlusPoints received from status qualification in 2026 (that’s valid throughout 2027) will expire on January 31, 2028.

Along with some nontravel redemptions for PlusPoints, you can use PlusPoints to upgrade United flights at these rates for long-haul international trips:

However, on partner airlines, you need 40 PlusPoints per segment for upgrades — so long as you’re booked on an eligible fare class.

Hot Tip:

Confused about all the different names of the points, miles, and upgrades? Remember that PlusPoints and MileagePlus Upgrades are not the same thing. MilagePlus Upgrades require United miles to upgrade your flight.

Which Flights Can You Upgrade?

Upgrades aren’t possible on every flight; you can only use PlusPoints for upgrades on 3 of United’s Star Alliance partners: ANA, Copa, and Lufthasa.

Upgrade eligibility depends on the fare type you purchased. In most cases, deeply discounted fares don’t qualify. It’s important to pay close attention to the fare class when booking to ensure your ticket can actually be upgraded. Also, keep in mind that award tickets using points and miles cannot be upgraded using PlusPoints.

Whether you’ve booked directly with these airlines, via United codeshare flights, or even through a third-party booking site like Expedia, you can ask for upgrades.

All Nippon Airways (ANA)

ANA is among the rare airlines with a 5-star ranking from Skytrax. Its new business and first class products and legendary service are enticing for even the most discriminating passengers. United travelers can use PlusPoints for upgrades on ANA flights starting 365 days from departure. The window for requesting upgrades closes 24 hours before scheduled departure.

Using PlusPoints on ANA gives you a 1-cabin upgrade. That means you can’t upgrade from economy to first class, but you can upgrade to business — or upgrade to first if you’re already booked in business class. Upgrades to premium economy aren’t possible.

To be eligible for upgrades on ANA flights, you must be booked in one of the following fare classes: B, C, D, E, G, J, M, U, Y and Z.

Hot Tip:

Check out our reviews of flying ANA “The Room” business class and ANA “The Suite” first class to see what they’re like.

Lufthansa

It’s hard to hold a torch next to ANA, but Lufthansa’s business class is still a worthwhile transatlantic product. PlusPoints can upgrade a Lufthansa booking from 331 days in advance to 10 hours before departure. Upgrades with Lufthansa permit you to move from economy to business class or business to first class. Moving into premium economy isn’t possible.

To upgrade with PlusPoints on Lufthansa, you must be booked into fare classes B, C, D, E, G, H, J, M, Q, U, or Y.

Copa Airlines

Panama’s flag carrier has its hub in Panama City (PTY). The airline flies a vast network across the Americas. Copa doesn’t offer first class, so upgrades here are limited to moving from economy to business class. Upgrades are possible up to 331 days before departure.

To upgrade with Copa, you must be booked in one of these fare classes: A, B, E, H, K, L, M, O, Q, S, T, U, V, W, and Y.

When Should You Use PlusPoints To Upgrade?

Premier Platinum members earn just 40 PlusPoints per year. That’s enough to cover a single long-haul upgrade. If you use your PlusPoints on a nonstop flight from New York to Tokyo, for example, your balance is gone. It can be worth it for a flight that long, but you’ll want to weigh that against using the same 40 points for 2 premium economy upgrades on United instead.

Premier 1K members, on the other hand, receive 320 PlusPoints annually. For them, spending 40 points on a single upgrade doesn’t sting nearly as much. That said, it’s not always the smartest move to use them for every upgrade opportunity. Because PlusPoints are charged per flight segment, be strategic about where you apply them.

For instance, imagine you’re flying from California to Dubai on Lufthansa with a stop in Frankfurt. Upgrading both legs would cost 80 PlusPoints, but you could instead upgrade just the long-haul portion from California to Germany and stick with economy on the shorter onward flight — likely the better value.

Hot Tip:

Using PlusPoints on long-haul international flights (preferably nonstop bookings) tends to provide the best value.

Upgrades to Business Class

Since most people aren’t buying fares in business class, the most common use of PlusPoints is moving from economy to business class. Consider this Lufthansa flight from New York-Kennedy (JFK) to Frankfurt (FRA):

Remember that these are the eligible fare codes with Lufthansa to be able to use PlusPoints for upgrades: B, C, D, E, G, H, J, M, Q, U, and Y.

As you can see in the above screenshot, the cheapest fares are in S class, which isn’t eligible for PlusPoints. You’d need to change from a $401 ticket to one costing $846 to get into H fare and be eligible for using PlusPoints. The cost can sometimes be worth it, especially when the price difference is smaller. In this example, you need to think about how much you’re willing to spend to change into an upgrade-eligible fare.

Upgrades to First Class

Upgrading from economy to business class with PlusPoints can offer great value. If you can find a good business-class fare and then use PlusPoints to move into first class, you can really fly in style.

Finding an upgrade-eligible business fare isn’t always cheap. However, it’s definitely cheaper than buying a first-class ticket outright.

In this example, you’d pay nearly $1,200 extra to move into a business fare that’s eligible for PlusPoints upgrades into first class:

However, booking that first-class seat would set you back $15,000:

Moving into first class with ANA and Lufthansa through PlusPoints provides a good opportunity to fly some of the world’s best first class seats — seats that can be difficult to book with points, given how rare award availability can be. Finding an upgrade-eligible fare may give you a simpler option.

Finding Upgrade Availability To Use PointsPlus

Many travelers choose flights based on whether upgrade space is available, so it’s best to check for upgrade availability before buying your ticket — especially if your travel dates are flexible.

If your schedule is fixed, you may need to purchase an eligible fare and add yourself to the waitlist instead of confirming the upgrade up front.

Finding upgrade space isn’t an exact process. Airlines rarely share how many seats are open for upgrades. Generally, if you see award availability in business or first class on United’s website, there’s a good chance upgrade space exists too.

Consider this ANA flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Tokyo Narita (NRT) showing availability to book first class using United miles:

Checking cash fares on that same flight, there is a Z fare available — an upgrade-eligible fare. It costs roughly $1,200 more than a business fare that’s not eligible for using PlusPoints:

Bottom Line:

It’s not perfect and isn’t guaranteed to find you a seat eligible for PlusPoints upgrades, but finding partner award seats available with miles can be an indication that upgrades are also available.

Booking Eligible Fare Classes With PointsPlus

In theory, securing an upgrade should be straightforward. In practice, it rarely is. As mentioned earlier, you first need to make sure your ticket is booked in an eligible fare class. Ideally, you’d also find available upgrade space, though you can always join the waitlist and hope your request clears before departure.

Once you’ve identified flights with potential upgrade space, the next step is learning how to locate the eligible fare classes. Here’s how to do that using 2 different methods.

Method 1: Searching and Booking via United

The United website provides some good tools for searching for flights. However, finding specific fare classes requires a bit more finesse — and the advanced search options. Choose Advanced search on the United home page to begin.

On the next page, scroll down until you see the box for Fare classes. Here, you can type in the eligible fare classes we discussed, ensuring you’ll see ticket options that would let you upgrade with PlusPoints.

These are the ANA fare classes eligible for using PlusPoints:

• Eligible economy or premium economy fares: B, E, G, M, U, Y
  • U is the cheapest eligible fare class
• Eligible business class fares: D, C, J

These are the eligible fares with Lufthansa:

• Eligible economy or premium economy fares: B, E, G, H, M, Q, U, Y
  • Q is the cheapest eligible fare class
• Eligible business class fares: C, D, J

And the same for Copa:

• Eligible economy fares: A, B, E, H, K, L, M, O, Q, S, T, U, V, W, Y
  • A, E, L, and T are the cheapest eligible fare classes,

Let’s take a look at upgrading a Lufthansa economy class flight to business, using the fare codes we’ve identified above.

Once you search, you’ll see a column highlighting options for your requested fare class or classes:

You’ll also see other fare classes, as well, so make sure you check the correct column — and even click on it to sort your results by the cheapest options in the fare classes you care about.

If you’re looking for upgrade eligible fare classes to move from business to first class, remember to click on business/first on the United search tools.

Method 2: Searching and Booking Directly With an Airline

Would you rather book with the partner airline itself than booking a United codeshare flight? That’s also an option.

Lufthansa

It’s easy to see fare classes with Lufthansa. After searching for a flight, click on a fare.

In this example, we chose economy, and the website provided 3 options. In the middle of the page, there’s an option for Compare fares and booking classes.

With Lufthansa, it’s not uncommon for all of the economy options to be listed as the same fare class — T in this example — despite having different prices and inclusions. None of these would be eligible for PlusPoints.

Since T fares aren’t upgrade-eligible, does that mean you’re out of luck on this flight? Not necessarily.

Let’s turn to ITA Matrix. This is one of the most far-reaching flight search engines out there. Choose the Show Advanced Controls option on the home page; this will let you search for particular fare classes.

This will give you an option for Extension Codes. You put in the fare codes you want to use like this: f bc=b, which tells the engine to search only for B fare classes.

What if you want to search for more than a single fare class? Your input looks like this: f bc=b|bc=e. Now, you’re searching for both B and E fare classes.

We can do this for all upgrade-eligible fare classes with Lufthansa: f bc=b|bc=e|bc=g|bc=m|bc=u|bc=y|bc=h|bc=q.

The search results gave us several options, and clicking the details for this $982 flight shows the complete details. It’s an H fare, eligible for upgrades, and costs roughly $470 more than the cheapest economy ticket on this flight. However, it’s significantly cheaper than any of the eligible premium economy and business fares Lufthansa’s own site provided.

With this information, you can call Lufthansa at 800-645-3880 to book your ticket. Provide all of the information from this search result and fare composition to book the ticket.

ANA

Unfortunately, ANA’s website also doesn’t provide an option for searching by fare class. However, once you search for a flight and click on the results, you’ll see the fare codes for each clearly displayed.

The cheapest economy ticket on this flight costs $648 (S fare), but the cheapest option on which you could use PlusPoints is the e fare, which costs $2,422. Ouch.

Again, you can use ITA Matrix with the list of eligible fare codes. Input this string: f bc=b|bc=e|bc=g|bc=m|bc=u|bc=y.

ITA Matrix has a U fare costing $1,951 — still much more expensive than the cheapest economy ticket:

You need to call ANA directly at 800-235-9262 to book.

Copa

Copa’s website doesn’t display fare codes in the results:

Back we go to ITA Matrix, and we’ll put this code into the Extension Codes: f bc=a|bc=b|bc=e|bc=h|bc=k|bc=l|bc=m|bc=o|bc=q|bc=s|bc=t|bc=u|bc=v|bc=w|bc=y.

ITA Matrix found 3 different flights on this date, and all of these are V fares:

Since this price doesn’t match any of those shown on Copa’s website, it’s unlikely booking online would put you into an upgradeable fare class. You’re better off calling calling Copa at 800-359-2672 and having the agent book your flight.

Bottom Line:

Booking directly with ANA, Lufthansa, and Copa Airlines requires searching via ITA Matrix to find eligible fare class and calling the airline to book afterward.

Requesting PointsPlus Upgrades

So why would you even bother to book partner airlines to use your PlusPoints on, given all the extra effort it requires? After all, booking upgrades with United is definitely simpler.

However, if you’d like to get yourself into a premium seat with ANA, Copa, or Lufthansa, it can be worth the effort.

Here’s how to make your PlusPoints request.

Upgrading if You’ve Booked Directly With the Airline

United uses a different method for requesting your upgrade, based on how you booked your flight. For bookings made directly with the partner airline, fill out this online form.

Click on Check Upgrade Availability after you’ve filled out the form. United will check for upgrade availability and confirm upgrades instantly if there’s room.

Upgrading a United Codeshare Flight

If you’ve booked a codeshare flight via United’s website, you must call United’s customer service desk at 1-800-UNITED-1 to request your upgrade.

Notes From Our First-Hand Experience

It wouldn’t be so frustrating to call United if its agents were actually familiar with how PlusPoints upgrades work — especially when partner airlines are involved. Unfortunately, many of them aren’t.

When trying to use PlusPoints on partner flights, it can require numerous phone calls and hours spent on the phone. Agents may even deduct the wrong number of PlusPoints from your account.

If agents don’t confirm the upgrade properly, the partner airline may not see your upgrade — meaning you could run into problems choosing seats or even checking in for your flight.

Bottom Line:

Many of United’s phone agents aren’t familiar with the process of using PlusPoints on partner airlines, and this makes using them more complicated than necessary.

Final Thoughts

You don’t hear much about using PlusPoints on partner airlines, but it’s an incredibly valuable perk for United’s elite members. These upgrade credits can be applied not just on United but on 3 partner carriers — Lufthansa, Copa Airlines, and ANA — giving travelers access to excellent premium cabins.

That said, the process isn’t always easy. You need to navigate limited upgrade availability and ensure your ticket is in the right fare class before you can even request one. But if you manage to pull it off, you could be relaxing in some of the world’s top business and first class seats as you hop across the ocean.