gnaget

If you are already Platinum then whatever is listed at end of year will count or you won't go up to 1K during the year until you get enough PQD with a US address. If you are new to getting status then I guess that to reach the next level then you need enough PQD for the respective level. A question is whether they will reverse your status; probably not.

TomA

I think you will have to meet the requirements of the program based on your address on file on December 31. Don't update your address unless absolutely necessary.

5khours

This is and always has been simple. If you have legitimate overseas residence you qualify. If you don't, then you don't qualify.

exerda

That would make sense, except for the fact that the way UA has implemented its verification procedures, there are legit overseas residents who will not be able to provide satisfactory documentation, and others who can scrape up two satisfactory documents but who are not legit.

Look back to post #57, where dsquared37, a resident of Thailand, points out he doesn't have documents which will satisfy UA.

astroflyer

Yeah, that was my default plan. I can't imagine them clawing back status…just wondering more about the intermediate case where I'm in between levels when I move…that's much more likely.

dsquared37

If I were an expat based in Thailand that might be easier. As it is I'm in a neighboring country and any form of gov ID is nigh impossible. At least in Thailand a DL can be obtained.

emcampbe

I'm in this same situation. Was in India as an expat from last Sept. to this Sept. Have been using my Canadian address as my primary address because I've found that while mail delivery from within India seems to be ok - I hadn't gotten any of it that was sent from the US/Canada.

I called UA in the summer to ask since I was potentially moving back to the US, and the agent said she found something that said the PQD would be waived because of the time I was outside of the US. Great.

When I arrived back and called to double-check, the agent at that time said that as soon as I changed my address back, I would be subject to PQD for the entire year. She told me not change it until at least Jan. 1, because the system won't be able to distinguish a US address that was changed at the end of the year vs. one that was a US address all along. Of course, UA should be able to tell that I was asia-based most of the year, given all my travel up until last month - aside from one RT back to the US on UA - was all regional asia (one trip to the mideast) on SQ, TG, TK and AI once they joined.

Good for me that I still (and always will) have access to my Canadian address, so at least when my card is sent (I'm gold now, but will be plat by the end of Nov.), I still get it no problem.

Based on my last conversation as above, I agree with this. You'd think they would know that there are expats or other foreigners who might move to the US in the middle of the year and have some method to at least pro-rate PQD or waive it entirely for those living outside of the US for at least X months during the year, due to this. But maybe not.


That could be me, too. When I was in India, my documents should qualify (had a corporate housing agreement and cell phone bill (presumably counts as a utility, but who knows?). For my Canadian address, all I have is bank and CC statements, and technically, those aren't on the list. I doubt they would accept the fact my Aeroplan account (rarely used) and other Canadian loyalty program addresses (Air Miles, Shoppers Drug Mart, HBC, etc.) are there.

For expats, especially depending on the country, it can actually be hard.

I had a post-paid cell phone in India but I almost gave up on trying and did a pre-paid, because they weren't going to accept my corporate housing agreement as proof of address. And even a bank account (which UA doesn't even say they accept) is impossible to get for a true expat - without some sort of ID showing you are tied to India somehow. Because my wife is Indian, I was able to get a kind of equivalent of permanent residence for India which allowed me to get a bank account. But those on work visa's can not get one.

exerda

No way in heck would I put any faith in UA's IT systems that they will get it right for pax moving to the US from abroad.

astroflyer

Thanks for the data point. The point of waiving PQD for those living abroad is that any domestic flights I take in Canada can't be taken with United. I've directed almost all of my European travel through UA, even though it means connecting in the US. That definitely shows a commitment as it means a whole extra set of customs coming and going.

I would just suggest that they waive PQD for anyone who's been abroad more than say 6 months of a year. Definitely simpler than pro-rating.

gnaget

I didn't have a "legitimate" address anywhere for 3 years when I was mostly in Japan. Even if I did then I would not have had a gaijin card, which this thing requires. My significant other had an official visa.

gnaget

Another point is that the address is not important anymore because there is nothing of value that UA mails. You never use the card anymore -- even LH lounges have become sane. And now they have a virtual one on smartphones. And LH GPU vouchers are supposedly going electronic any time now.

I used LH GPUs a lot in Japan. I actually intended to just keep my address with UA as a US PO Box (before PQD reared its ugly head), but then I had to change it to the Japanese address to get the vouchers by Fed Ex. They won't send it to another address upon request.

5khours

I assume you already have TH set as your mailing address, but if not can you ask your landlord for a copy of a utility bill?

dchobo

How fast does UA update the status after accepting the address change?

I have 50K+ eligible miles and they have accept my foreign address, but the status was still silver. Should be eligible for gold.

Anyone?

thanks in advance

Boghopper

If you're a U.S. citizen you pay u.s. income taxes. Doesn't matter where you claim to live (which is why many about to be minted multimillionaires in SV are giving up their citizenship and becoming Singaporean or the like).


http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwo...s-citizenship/

The facebook guy is the most prominent case, but it's happening a lot. Just last year two sisters of a friend who were dual us/swiss citizens gave up us citizenship because of taxes.

dsquared37

My address for UA is the residence I've rented and occupied for the last 3+ years (as mentioned above it's not in Thailand). The only utility we're billed for is electricity and the setup seems to be that the landlord buys electricity in bulk and then, based upon the rate stated to in the lease, charges tenants after reading the building's internal meter. So there's no actual utility bill and the monthly expense shows up as a line item on the rent bill.

Unless renting a house this is a very common scenario in SE Asia.

My point is only that UA's (or DL's) regs might fit in well with a western style of governance but cases like mine easily fall through the cracks.