See below for information regarding upgrade availability and eligible fares on flights across our worldwide network. MileagePlus Upgrade Awards can be used on any United-, United Express- or Copa-operated flight, with no fare restrictions.

MileagePlus upgrade regions for United-operated flights	Complimentary Premier Upgrades	Regional Premier Upgrades	Global Premier Upgrades	MileagePlus Upgrade Awards
Continental U.S. (non-p.s.® flights)				**
New York (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO) (p.s.® flights)				**
Hawaii				**
Honolulu (HNL) to Houston (IAH), Newark (EWR) or Washington (IAD)
Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Central America				**
South America			*
Europe, Middle East, Africa			*
Australia, New Zealand			*
Asia, Japan			*
Oceania				**
Honolulu (HNL) to Guam (GUM)			*

Notes:

• For regions with a *, Global Premier Upgrades are not available on flights booked in fare classes Z, P, S, T, K, L, G or N.
• For regions with a **, co-pay is waived for Premier members.
• All multi-cabin flights operated by Copa Airlines are eligible for Complimentary Premier Upgrades, Regional Premier Upgrades and Global Premier Upgrades without fare restrictions.
• Instant upgrades for all Premier members on Y and B full-fare Economy tickets and for Premier® 1K® members on M fares are available on all flights that are eligible for Complimentary Premier Upgrades.
• All Premier members are eligible for instant upgrades on Copa Airlines flights, when traveling on Y, B, or M tickets.

Regions and route exceptions are subject to change at any time. Upgrades are subject to capacity controls, which may limit the number of seats available.

Instant upgrades at time of ticketing
Premier members traveling on full-fare economy Y and discount full-fare economy B fares are eligible for an instant upgrade at time of ticketing on select flights. Premier® 1K® members traveling on M fares are also eligible. Instant upgrades are subject to capacity controls.

Waitlist priority on all flights
If upgrade space is not available when requesting a MileagePlus Upgrade Award, Regional Premier Upgrade or Global Premier Upgrade, travelers may be placed on a waitlist. The waitlist will be processed automatically based on the Premier status of the redeeming account, then fare class*, then time of request. New waitlist requests for MileagePlus Upgrade Awards, Regional Premier Upgrades, and Global Premier Upgrades can be made until 24 hours prior to departure.

Priority within five days on flights eligible for Complimentary Premier Upgrades
On certain flights, automatic processing of upgrades, including Complimentary Premier Upgrades, may begin as early as 120 hours (five days) in advance. The confirmation windows for Complimentary Premier Upgrades, by Premier status, are:

The following is the order of priority, within five days, on flights that are eligible for Complimentary Premier Upgrades:

• Premier members on eligible Y- and B-class fares, as well as Premier 1K members on M-class fares: Instant upgrades that weren't confirmed in advance are sorted by fare class, then Premier status
• All travelers on waitlisted Global Premier Upgrades, Regional Premier Upgrades and MileagePlus Upgrade Awards: Sorted by Premier status of the redeeming account, then fare class and then time of request
• All remaining Premier members using Complimentary Premier Upgrades: Sorted by Premier status, then fare class and then award travel**

Priority within 24 hours
New waitlist requests for MileagePlus Upgrade Awards, Regional Premier Upgrades and Global Premier Upgrades can be made until 24 hours prior to departure. At 24 hours from departure, waitlists will expire and automatic processing of upgrades, per the priority listed above, will continue. As customers check in, they will be placed on an airport upgrade standby list. This standby list will clear after check-in is closed, and is based on Premier status and fare class. Learn more about the upgrade standby list.

*Fare class structure in priority order is J, C, D, Z, P (for upgrades from United Business® to United First®, or United BusinessFirst® to United Global First^SM on three-cabin aircraft) and Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V, W, S, T, L, K, G, N (for upgrades from United Economy® to the next higher class of service on all aircraft).

**Complimentary Premier Upgrades on award tickets will be prioritized after the lowest paid fare class.

A MileagePlus member may request an upgrade for another traveler using a MileagePlus Upgrade Award, a Global Premier Upgrade or a Regional Premier Upgrade, even if they are not traveling on the same reservation. Waitlist confirmation priority is based on the Premier status of the redeeming account.

In addition, one companion traveling on the same reservation as a Premier member is eligible for Complimentary Premier Upgrades on select flights, and may be confirmed with the same priority as the Premier member, even on the day of departure. This benefit does not apply to companions traveling on award tickets.

Premier members who are primary cardholders for certain Chase-issued MileagePlus credit cards are eligible for Complimentary Premier Upgrades when traveling on award tickets on United-operated flights. The following credit cards qualify for this benefit:

• United MileagePlus Explorer Card
• United MileagePlus Explorer Business Card
• United MileagePlus Club Card
• United MileagePlus Club Business Card
• United MileagePlus Presidential Plus^SM Card
• United MileagePlus Presidential Plus Business Card

Complimentary Premier Upgrades on award tickets will be sorted as indicated in the "Upgrade Confirmation Priority" section above, and prioritized after the lowest paid fare class within each Premier level. This benefit does not apply to companions traveling on award tickets.