Originally Posted by
taipeipeter
The bottom line (so to speak) is that it is ridiculous for UA not to take credit cards with a foreign address (and particularly if they are issued by a US bank). Expedia, Pay-pal, etc. might be work-arounds, but in the event of a problem are not as convenient. In my case, I maintain a US address, so this is not a problem, but it is ridiculous all the same. I have found the staff at the TPE ticket offices to be mostly knowledgeable and efficient. The Taiwan website only recently enabled ticket purchases, and I haven't used it yet. Looking at a few random flights, its prices are coming in at USD200 more than using the US website at today's exchange rates.
While it may seem "ridiculous" or "wrong", there is nothing mysterious about United doing whatever market research is required and finding that they can get away with charging a customer $200 more for the same product in one market than another. If you're smart enough to figure this out and don't like it, your choices are simple. Find another airline that doesn't charge differentially, or do the Expedia workaround.
The world is full of protected selling environments, designed to enhance profitability. What keeps things in check is competition. In theory, another carrier should see an opportunity to undercut UA and still make money. In some cases, entire countries go to extraordinary lengths to keep out foreign competition, and even reduce competition within the country. Australia is an example of this, with all manner of laws to "protect" the retailer that would never fly in the US (allowing extra fees for credit card use is one), and tax imports heavily.
United is in the business of making money, and if they can find a way to make more money off you or me by exploiting something unique to our situation, they will. Or they will at least try to.