CenterWaters

My MP acct has always had my US home address, since day 1. (starting from 1986 or 1985?)

However, I also has a home in a foreign country where I spend a lot of time.
I have a foreign bank account and driver's license at this same foreign address.

Does moving MP account to a foreign address GUARANTEE exemption
from the new minimum spending?

Or can United email me at the end of 2014 and say something like:
"You moved your mailing address to a foreign address for the sold purpose of
evading our new minimum spending requirement. We will therefore be
unable to grant you gold status because you do not meet the $5000 spending
requirement..."

mduell

Nope.

WineCountryUA

simple answer -- no one knows.
Some airlines have challenged address changes in the past.
Much discussion on this in http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ification.html

CenterWaters

both my US and foreign addresses are legitimate addresses, so I don't see how they can possibly challenge it. Or do they make it a PITA to appeal the denial? I can easily provide them with bank statements, driver's license, local ID, utility bills, tax bills, or even dog tag license receipt, if they want.

come to think of it, UA is not stupid. What if too many MP members switched
to foreign addresses(even if all legitimate addresses) and UA decided to
impose the spending requirement to all MP members worldwide?

J.Edward

That might very well be what they'd wish for, but I suspect the logistics of rolling out the ($US) PQDs will be complex enough for the US member base to both occupy UA for a few years and intimidate them from applying the scheme to the membership basis at large.

Maybe (probably?) one day we'll see it applied to everyone, but I'd guess that date to be sometime off in the future.

<shrug>

CenterWaters

I guess if it makes money for the airline, it can and will be done, one way or another.

Foreign members of MP are probably spend way pretty close to the new spending requirement anyway. (unlike US members who can fly on super cheap fares from SF to LA, for example, and build up status)



15 years ago, I was telling my co-workers that all airlines will start charging baggage fees. They thought I was a crazy old man.

30 years ago(1983? or whenever they sold the Pacific routes), I told my grandpa that Pan Am will NEVER fly to the moon. He almost gave me a good beating(turned out to be a smack on the back of my head) because he actually had Pan Am's crazy tickets to the moon and love Pan Am more than me. I said Pan Am would be out of business long before moon flights became reality. Oh.. I still believe moon flights will happen on another carrier, but probably not in my lifetime.

Both of my predictions came true, unfortunately.

LaserSailor

Of course they can, and I suspect they will.

UA-NYC

That's not reality - it's the inverse actually, shorter trips in the US have higher CPM. I regularly pay $400 for an LGA-ORD round trip - that's about a 30 CPM. However, on my fall trip to HKG, I paid $750 for a one way EWR-HKG...that's a 9 CPM.

Travelomania

Two were apparently sufficient.
It seemingly depends on how convincing the required documentation is to them.

After I tried to change my address online, which was easy enough before the announcement - impossible after.
I do not know when exactly SM implemented the new requirements online - it might have been at the same time when the new MQD-program rules were posted.

It's a major PITA, since I need to change an individual address fairly frequently for all my family members.
And also now get quoted in the currency of the country of registered residence - even for US domestic travel

hobo13

The only things guaranteed in life are Death and Taxes....

And that Mileage Plus will be a worse program in the future than it is today.

dsquared37

As i have a legit foreign residence, hell, most of my paid and award flights begin in SE Asia, I'm actually leaning toward keeping my current, US based address until I see how the program will shake out.

It will be interesting to understand when the address of record really counts. Will it be at the beginning of the year or end? When you reach a particular status? What would keep someone from maintaining their US address through a portion of the year to change it in September?

I'd have trepidation changing it too late in the year in case UA contests it and lags on document verification... whatever that may entail.

coolcoil

I changed my address from the USA to my Colombian address after the announcement with no problem.

My UA.com site preferences are set to the USA, and I still see my pricing in USD. My default credit card is a USA-issued card. That may have something to do with it, but I doubt it.

Travelomania

My prior postings were about my experience with Delta Skymiles after the revenue program changes were announced - as posted here.
Since the revised MP program seems to copy DL's Skymiles program, this might become relevant information

howtofreetravel

I am not really a united flyer but due to some annoying delta changes i am thinking of switching to united or AA. It took one second to change the address and i was asked for no verification? I thought they would ask for something. So am i exempt now? (I study in the states)

craz

If you will be buying US-TLV-US tkts = basically UA will see all your tkts start in the US. It will only be a short time before their computers will run programs to see if a person actually is living Overseas or not, if Not teh wavier will be removed.

eg PMCO used to give its Golds and up a free membership to the PC (CO Club) then they started running programs to see where a person was flying out of and many people had their PC membership CXed out from under them, when CO saw they were starting out from the US and not from the Country they listed as their home address