During the pandemic, United Airlines PlusPoints renew many times (of the airline) currency upgrade). By renewing Earned Points back into 2019, 2020, and 2021, the need for Points upgrades on United flights is higher than ever. In my experience, it’s not uncommon to find upgrade waiting lists with over 30 customers on peak international flights. In turn, some Premier members are having a hard time redeeming their Points before the Extended Points expire on July 31, 2023.
United offers three types of Polaris business class PlusPoint upgrades on long-haul flights:
- Confirmable upgrades (indicated by the PZ fare type).
- Upgrade waiting list (when PZ fare class is not available).
- Skip the waitlist upgrade (only for Premier 1K members on select flights).
So since you usually can’t rely on a upgrade on the waiting list and with the significant shortcomings of the option to skip the waitlistWe recommend redeeming your Points when you have verifiable Polaris upgrade capacity.
As you’d expect, it’s hard to get a verifiable upgrade space these days, but we’ve already started looking at what’s available. On subsequent flights, there are at least four seats in ticket class PZ (meaning you can confirm your upgrade from Economy or Premium Plus to Polaris business class). We’re only looking for routes that work in the Polaris cabin. You may be able to find an upgrade on shorter-haul international flights to destinations in Central America and Canada, but those flights do not operate Polaris’ commercially available cabins.
Also, here are the flights where you can confirm the Polaris upgrade at the time of writing. Upgrade availability changes constantly, so these dates may not be accurate as you read.
Related: My last minute trick to confirm United’s first class upgrade
Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
London Heathrow Airport (LHR)
- Spacious February upgrade space.
- March 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29 March.
- Days 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 24 and 30/4.
- May 1, 7, 8, 23, 28, 30.
- June 5.
- July 3, 11, 16, 17, 24, 25 and 30.
Related: United unveils 3 ‘new’ destinations, 6 more transatlantic flights for summer 2023
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
Lima’s Jorge Chavez International Airport (LIM)
Tokyo’s Narita International Airport (NRT)
Geneva Airport (GVA)
- February 2, 7, 14 and 21.
Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP)
- February 6, 7, 14 and 21.
Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO)
Zurich Airport (ZRH)
Brussels Airport (BRU)
- February 6, 11, 13, 20, 21, 22, 24 and 28.
- March 6, 7, and 28.
London
- Spacious February upgrade space.
- Spacious upgrade space on weekdays of March.
- April 4, 9, 10, and 11
- May 1, 2 and 8.
- July 4, 11, 18, 24, 25 and 31.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)
- February 1, 8, 10, 11, 14, 21, 23, 25 February.
- March 2.
Frankfurt Airport (FRA)
- 5th, 6th, 8th, 19th and 20th February.
- March 1st.
Munich Airport (MUC)
Related: United Airlines orders up to 200 Boeing 787s, paving the way for wide-body fleet renewal
Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
Lagos . Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS)
- Spacious upgrade space.
London
- Spacious February upgrade space.
- Days 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 21, 27, 28, 29/3.
- April 8.
- May 29.
- July 31st.
Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)
Geneva
- February 2, 4 and 25.
- March 28.
Munich
- February 6, 13, 20, 23 and 27.
- March 6 and 13.
frankfurt
- Spacious February upgrade space.
- March 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 20, 26, and 28.
- April 9th.
- 07/05/14.
- July 23.
Brussels
- February 1, 5, 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 27, 28 February.
- March 6, 7, 13, 20, 21 and 28.
- April 9th.
- July 18 and 25.
Related: How to get maximum value from United MileagePlus
Sign up for our daily newsletter
Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (HND)
- February 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 19, and 21 February.
São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport (GRU)
London
- Spacious February upgrade space.
- Days 4, 6, 7, 8, 13, 20, 21, 27, 28, 29/3.
- April 3.
frankfurt
- Spacious February upgrade space.
- Days 1, 2, 6, 21, 27 and 28/3.
- April 9th.
- July 30.
Zurich
- February 20, 23 and 27.
- April 2.
Munich
- February 1, 6, 7, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22 February.
Brussels
- February 7, 12, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28 February.
- March 4, 6, 13 and 28.
Related: The ultimate guide to elite status with the United card
Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
London
Amsterdam
- February 7, 8, 15 and 21.
frankfurt
- February 5, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22.
- July 31st.
Lima
- February 2, 13 and 20.
- March 6.
Related: 6 strategies I’m using to close the gap on United’s top 1K this year
Denver International Airport (DEN)
London
- February 1, 6, 8, 10, 13.
- April 8.
Munich
- February 20, 26 and 27.
- March 6.
frankfurt
- February 20 and 21.
- April 9th.
Related: United’s best-kept elite secret: How to earn PQP faster with partner flights
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
London
- February 2, 7, 11, 14, 15, 20, 21 February.
Related: Why do I consider my United miles worth 5 cents per person
San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
Tahiti’s Faaa International Airport (PPT)
- Spacious upgrade space.
Tokyo (Narita)
- February 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 20 February.
London
frankfurt
- February 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 22 February.
- March 6.
Munich
Related: What is United Airlines elite status worth?
Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)
Toko (Narita)
- February 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, and 11 February.
Related: Red Eye Lasts 16 Hours: Review of United Polaris on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Looking for Upgraded Space
To search for a United space, log in to your MileagePlus account. Then select “advanced search.”
Enter your search criteria in the next space, keeping the cabin in economy class/premium economy. Expand the “Upgrades, certificates and promo codes” menu. Open the “upgrade type” drop-down menu and select “PlusPoints Upgrade”.
On the next page, you’ll see which upgrades have been confirmed and waitlisted, and you can choose your flight accordingly.
Related: The Ultimate Guide to Upgrades on United Airlines
How to order these upgrades
As with most long-haul flights, you may want to book these flights as round-trip (or multi-city flights returning to the same area) to avoid cash increases in one-way fares. United charges the following Points per person for a one-way upgrade to Polaris business class on long-haul flights:
- Savings discounts (S, T, L, K and G fares) to Polaris: 80 plus points.
- Economy to Polaris (fares Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V and W): 40 plus points.
- Premium Economy to Polaris: 30 plus points.
Sometimes you’ll find a special economy class fare that’s the same as a W fare, as in this example from Newark to London.
Here’s another example of this on a flight from SFO to Frankfurt, where the premium economy fare is slightly cheaper than the W fare.
Make sure to check premium economy fare. Sometimes it’s better to book a premium economy class ticket and upgrade to Polaris.
Related: Why Premium Plus and higher fare classes are United’s secret to upgrading
bottom line
As you can see, there are many ways to redeem your Plus Points for Polaris confirmable upgrades before they expire on July 31st.
Call United if you are unable to apply for an online PlusPoints upgrade. In my experience, United Representative phone Premier Platinum and 1K Proficient in PlusPoints and can handle your upgrade quickly.
As a reminder, Premier Platinum members receive 40 PlusPoints per year, while Premier 1K members receive 320 PlusPoints annually (40 when eligible for Platinum and 280 when eligible for Premier 1K). 1K Premier members also receive an additional 20 Plus Points for every 2,000 Premier Eligibility Points earned in addition to the 1K Premier status requirement.
