PQD requirement for foreign members, will it ever happen?
Mar 2, 2019, 6:02 pm
#61
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,359
In addition, UA has already addressed the issue of cheap fares by introducing Economy Basic on domestic and now TATL sectors. I'm counting the months till the other shoe drops on TPAC fares. They've made it so you know have to shell out $100+ roundtrip just to have the luxury of earning the normal stack of PQMs. If anything,
Do I feel guilty having spent $2,500 CAD last year to attain Gold status? Not at all! I was able to find a bunch of great value fares (i.e. YYZ>SIN, YOW>HKG, YYZ>MAN/LHR) that I doubt the average milage runner we would have the opportunity to take advantage of let alone be aware of.
Safe Travels,
James
Mar 2, 2019, 7:49 pm
#62
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: HND, NRT
Programs: UA Gold (1K 2016–2023 by miracle extensions; RIP 1K status), 1MM
Posts: 220
Totally understunderstand the no PQD requirement for nonresidents at the lower levels because as you note there is the CC waiver for US residents. The lack of symmetry (IMO) is at the 1K level where there is no CC waiver for US residents but nonresidents still have no PQD requirement.
As stated am going to join the pool of nonresidents in 2020 where I will choose which airline to fly TPAC/TATL as those TODs (on any airline) look very good when you are not concerned with PQDs.
As stated am going to join the pool of nonresidents in 2020 where I will choose which airline to fly TPAC/TATL as those TODs (on any airline) look very good when you are not concerned with PQDs.
Mar 2, 2019, 7:54 pm
#63
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,359
Keep in mind also that UA isn't really cutting us foreigners much of a "deal" here. Just looking at other *A partners, they offer comparable (and some would argue even better) loyalty programs than UA. For instance, OZ will give you lifetime *Gold once you hit 500,000 miles flying any of the *A airlines not just OZ - this by itself puts the MM program to shame. It's also possible to get up to 4 years of *Gold with them only flying 50,000 miles in a year. Similarly, A3 halves the number of miles required to renew your *Gold membership. The reason I chose UA over the others was in part the PQD waiver and the greater likelihood I'll be using the UA specific benefits over, say, OZ or A3 which don't fly to Canada.
-James
-James
Mar 2, 2019, 8:50 pm
#64
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Rowley, MA / Edgartown, MA / Christiansted, St. Croix (USVI)
Programs: UA LT GS/4.96MM, Marriott LT Titanium, IHG Platinum, Global Entry, TSA Pre✓, Korea SeS, APEC
Posts: 579
A couple of quick questions, just because I’m lazy.
1. Is there a credit card PQD waver for 1K status using the United explorer card? Simply trying to shorten the timeline to getting the GPU’s.
2. Recently purchased a retirement home in the USVI’s, if I make this my address will that allow me to escape the PQD requirement. Once I retire in a couple of years, I will spend half my time there, but I do have a legal address as of now.
Again, my goal is simply to shorten the timeline to receiving GPU’s. I average ~$15K a month on my explore card and I will hit 100K PQM’s in April but I typically don’t hit the PQD threshold until about 150K to 175K PQM’s due to cheap coach fares.
Thanks for the help.
1. Is there a credit card PQD waver for 1K status using the United explorer card? Simply trying to shorten the timeline to getting the GPU’s.
2. Recently purchased a retirement home in the USVI’s, if I make this my address will that allow me to escape the PQD requirement. Once I retire in a couple of years, I will spend half my time there, but I do have a legal address as of now.
Again, my goal is simply to shorten the timeline to receiving GPU’s. I average ~$15K a month on my explore card and I will hit 100K PQM’s in April but I typically don’t hit the PQD threshold until about 150K to 175K PQM’s due to cheap coach fares.
Thanks for the help.
Mar 2, 2019, 9:11 pm
#65
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,359
1. The Premier® qualifying dollars (PQD) requirement only applies to members whose primary MileagePlus account address is in the 50 United States or the District of Columbia. Those who use military or diplomatic addresses (APO, DPO or FPO) are exempt from the PQD requirement.
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Mar 2, 2019, 9:34 pm
#66
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Rowley, MA / Edgartown, MA / Christiansted, St. Croix (USVI)
Programs: UA LT GS/4.96MM, Marriott LT Titanium, IHG Platinum, Global Entry, TSA Pre✓, Korea SeS, APEC
Posts: 579
Per the fine print in UA's PQD FAQ:
Last I checked USVI is not one of the 50 states nor the District of Columbia (albeit I'm Canadian so my geography might be off here)
Last I checked USVI is not one of the 50 states nor the District of Columbia (albeit I'm Canadian so my geography might be off here
)
Mar 2, 2019, 9:46 pm
#67
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,359
But yeah, the PQD certainly takes a load off my mind - I can get those 4 UA segments relatively easily due to conferences stateside and family that live in Eastern Canada. At the end of the day, all that matters is finding a couple of quality TATL/TPAC K fares (i.e. I'm on a $380 USD LHR>LAX return booked this month and a $325 USD LHR>SFO return booked for June).
Safe Travels,
James
Mar 2, 2019, 11:10 pm
#68
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,850
The only significant distinction now is the difficulty of non-residents (those without an SSN or US credit history) to get a Chase card that provides a PQD waiver.
Mar 2, 2019, 11:19 pm
#69
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: CYYC/CYYZ
Programs: UA 1K, IHG Spire, Bonvoy Titanium, Hertz P.C., GE/NEXUS
Posts: 140
As a Canadian based 1K, I hope this doesn't change. Obviously I'm biased, but the truth is that I literally go out of my way to stay loyal to United. Living in YYC, it would be far more convenient and quicker to fly TPAC via YVR, and TATL via YYZ (or even direct with WS). Both options have way more frequency and shorter overall flight times than the UA option, for example, if I misconnect at ORD, I'm waiting a minimum of 6 hours for the next flight, but at YYZ there is a flight every hour to get me home. However, I choose to stay loyal to United because I value the benefits that status confers. As a result, UA gets approx US$10k of spend per year from me that they wouldn't have otherwise.
A lot of FT members say "if UA made xxx change, I would leave and my spend would go to zero", but the reality is that US based fliers have limited options which suit their price and schedule, so UA can afford to impose a dollar requirement on them without sacrificing too much revenue (it may even be a net revenue driver for them). Also to the extent they alienate one of their elites, AA or DL are probably doing the same making it a net zero sum game. In contrast, I can say with certainty that if UA imposed a PQD limit on me, my spend with them would definitely go to zero, because I have no reason to transit via UA hubs when AC hubs are more convenient for me*.
My guess is for residents in other countries with less convenient UA connections than Canada, the choice to defect would be even more compelling if there was a PQD requirement. I'm sure in contrast to US elites, we are a pretty small part of the revenue mix, but we're almost like a windfall gain to UA due to the PQD waiver. Why would they want to give that up?
* Side note: For what it's worth, AC play the same strategy in their domestic market with AQD and extremely stingy PQM on lower fare classes, leaving Canadians with a choice of either suffering with an lackluster program for status, or defecting to one of the US big 3 like I did.
A lot of FT members say "if UA made xxx change, I would leave and my spend would go to zero", but the reality is that US based fliers have limited options which suit their price and schedule, so UA can afford to impose a dollar requirement on them without sacrificing too much revenue (it may even be a net revenue driver for them). Also to the extent they alienate one of their elites, AA or DL are probably doing the same making it a net zero sum game. In contrast, I can say with certainty that if UA imposed a PQD limit on me, my spend with them would definitely go to zero, because I have no reason to transit via UA hubs when AC hubs are more convenient for me*.
My guess is for residents in other countries with less convenient UA connections than Canada, the choice to defect would be even more compelling if there was a PQD requirement. I'm sure in contrast to US elites, we are a pretty small part of the revenue mix, but we're almost like a windfall gain to UA due to the PQD waiver. Why would they want to give that up?
* Side note: For what it's worth, AC play the same strategy in their domestic market with AQD and extremely stingy PQM on lower fare classes, leaving Canadians with a choice of either suffering with an lackluster program for status, or defecting to one of the US big 3 like I did.
Mar 2, 2019, 11:59 pm
#70
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: PIT
Programs: OZ Diamond, UA Gold
Posts: 9,919
While that may have been true 3-4 years ago, there has not been a PQM promo for anyone for a couple of years. Guess UA could resume those again but for now, it is past history and not a US resident advantage.
The only significant distinction now is the difficulty of non-residents (those without an SSN or US credit history) to get a Chase card that provides a PQD waiver.
The only significant distinction now is the difficulty of non-residents (those without an SSN or US credit history) to get a Chase card that provides a PQD waiver.
Mar 3, 2019, 12:06 am
#71
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,850
But the subject here is "earning" status and there have been no PQM promos for some time.
Mar 3, 2019, 5:26 am
#72
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: London & Sonoma CA
Programs: UA 1K, MM *G for life, BAEC Gold
Posts: 10,224
You need more than just a SSN or credit history - you need either to be actually resident, or be willing to lie on your application about your residence.
Mar 3, 2019, 5:36 am
#73
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,359
As for the ability to get US credit cards as a non-resident, while I comment specifically on Chase cards, at least for AE cards you don't need a credit history nor a SSN to get a US card - just a US address to mail it to (which may or may not happen to be the same address as a small US forwarding depot which then forwards your mail on to Canada). Whether or not it's legal or ethical to apply for one if you aren't a resident there is a whole other matter.
In my case, I managed to get a UK AE Gold card as an international Master's student even though I neither have a UK credit file nor do I have the UK's equivalent of a SSN. All I needed to do was to call the Global Transfers number, provide them with a scan of my passport to prove my identity and 2-3 weeks later my Gold card arrived at my UK residence! They used my Canadian credit history and membership with them to establish my UK credit history and extend me credit whilst I am studying here!
Safe Travels,
James
Mar 3, 2019, 12:00 pm
#74
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: UA GS>1K>Nothing; DL DM 2MM; AS 75K>Nothing>MVP
Posts: 9,341
Mar 3, 2019, 12:22 pm
#75
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,359
-James