Jay Honeck wrote:

One lesser known fact about credit card companies is that they will screw
the VENDOR far more readily than they will their customers.

has American Express or Diners Club done the same to you?
(just curious)

We'll never know -- I threw BOTH of them out right after we opened, after
they tried to charge us 5% for each transaction. (The other cards -- Visa,
Mastercard & Discover -- charge us "only" 4% for the privilege of "working"
with them.)

Here's another credit card mystery: Why the hell does ANYONE use any card
but Discover? Everyone else charges to use their cards, while Discover
actually PAYS you to use their card -- yet they are a distant third or
fourth in the industry.

Marketing is everything to American consumers, I guess..

You might want to shop around for a better merchant bank deal--4% seems awfully
high for a hotel and signed receipts. You may be able to get a little less than
3% for Visa and Mastercard although your negotiating power will be limited by
your volume. Discover Card has historically charged lower merchant rates than
the big 2--they had to do that to gain merchant market share, just as they paid
cash back to gain consumer market share. American Express has always charged
higher merchant fees/rates, because they could.

Today there are numerous cards that pay more cashback than Discover. Discover
only pays 1% after you charge so many thousands per year (before that you get a
lower percentage cash back). Chase, Citi, BaA, and some others have a few cards
that pay a straight 1%. Discover used to let you "double" your rebate with a
bunch of merchant partners, but the doubling merchants have dwindled to a
trickle in the last year.

MBNA appears to eat part of their 5% AOPA rebate, so a lot of people must pay
them interest on these cards to make it worthwhile. Thanks, guys.