Originally Posted by
skycrab
I believe most people who are genuinely non-US based, and hold status due to being a frequent flyer will have travel which originates and terminates outside of the USA.
This describes my situation exactly. Obviously I have strong connections with the USA, as, I should imagine, will all UA elites taking advantage of this, but pretty well all my UA (and other *A flights which they will see on my MP Activity) originate outside the USA apart from the occasional domestic hop.