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United Airlines has a Premier Qualifying Dollar requirement which is summarized on there page here: http://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/mileageplus/premier/qualify/PQD-FAQs.aspx

The question of interest states:

Does the PQD requirement apply to all MileagePlus members?

In 2014 and 2015, the PQD requirement only applies to members whose primary address on their MileagePlus account is in the 50 United States or the District of Columbia. Members who use U.S. military or diplomatic addresses (APO, DPO or FPO) are exempt from the PQD requirement.

Now, suppose I am student from Mexico studying in the US; my primary address can be my (parent's) Mexico address. If they send me something, I would surely know about it and receive it through my parents. That way, I could get around the PQD requirement. Is this a valid get-around?

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Yes, that will work fine in practice. This kind of thing is quite common, eg. many Qantas frequent flyers register addresses overseas to avoid paying membership fees. (To be clear, you do need to be able to receive mail at this address, via a relative/friend/etc.)

Whether this violates the program's terms and conditions is up to the airline and their lawyers, but I've never heard of anybody getting "busted" over this. In your case, in particular, as a student you can quite easily argue that your permanent residence is in Mexico and you're only temporarily in the US.

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    I am not well versed in United's rules, but Delta, which has a similar Qualifying Dollar requirement & waiver for non-US based members, is quite specific in their rules for this. They have the right to audit your address claims, if warranted can require proof of residence (ie bills in your name) and can close your account / revoke elite status if they feel you violated the rules. They also have the right to request this proof up front when you change your address from a US based to a foreign based. And yes people do get caught.
    – user13044
    Commented Apr 11, 2015 at 4:17
  • Presumably the OP will be OK though, as they'd still be getting some bills/post/etc to their parents address?
    – Gagravarr
    Commented Apr 11, 2015 at 7:03
  • Yes one might assume the OP has an ID with the home address or bills sent there. My point was that you can't just use any foreign address to gain the benefits, as they do check, contrary to jpatokal's 2nd paragraph.
    – user13044
    Commented Apr 11, 2015 at 8:00
  • @Tom Of course I mean a foreign address you can receive mail at (relatives, friends, etc). Clarifying.
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Apr 11, 2015 at 10:11

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