AOPA credit card --- WARNING.

"Jay Honeck" wrote the same thing twice:-)

Has anyone noticed that there are a lot of duplicate posts lately, or is it
just my ISP?
--
Jim in NC


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In article ,
"Morgans" wrote:

"Jay Honeck" wrote the same thing twice:-)

Has anyone noticed that there are a lot of duplicate posts lately, or is it
just my ISP?

I think it may be your ISP. I haven't seen even a few duplicate
posts lately.

--
Bob Noel

So what you're saying then, is that you basically don't accept anything BUT
guaranteed reservations. Do you understand that this sounds kind of like a
racket to me? You get guaranteed reservations and HOPE the people don't show
up so you can collect their money without providing anything. You can also
collect double for the room if they don't show up and somebody else comes
along and takes the room. Is this even legal?

I can see getting a night's fee if they don't show up and you keep their
room available for them anyways, but, like I said, if I make a "contingency"
reservation and get there on time, I expect to have a room. If I don't show
up on time, I expect I MAY have a room, but then again I may not. That would
be my fault.

mike regish

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:n3eqd.164904$R05.161886@attbi_s53...
That ain't right. I can see the guarantee thing during a known busy
weekend, but if I make a reservation (contingency) and show up at or
ahead of the reservation time just to find out you don't have a room
because somebody else showed up before me with cash, I'm hauling somebody
into court.

With only 27 suites to rent, we're in no position to play the "will they
show up?" game.

Which is why, if you want a guaranteed reservation, you've got to
guarantee that you're gonna show up. Since wiring money in advance is
pretty awkward, we must do it the credit card way -- even though I
absolutely despise the credit card companies, and it pains me to no end
that I must pay those *******s 4% of everything I take in.

But, if we didn't accept credit cards, our longevity would be measured in
weeks. Sadly, very few guests actually pay with cash.

(P.S. Hey, while I'm bitching, let's talk about the 5% I've got to pay to
the State of Iowa, and the 7% I've got to pay to Johnson County. Yep, a
whopping 16% of everything we bring in, off the top, goes to someone other
than Mary and me. Remember that next time you wonder why it costs so
damned much for a hotel room.)

(P.P.S. Of course, it would be much worse if we were part of a chain, or
used on-line booking agencies like Travelocity. Then we'd be giving away
upwards of 46% of everything we earned.)

(P.P.P.S. Which, by the way, is why we can afford to *include* a
delivered breakfast on a suite for which we only charge $59.95 per night,
while the chains cannot. That same breakfast, delivered to your suite at
the Sheraton, by itself will set you back over $40!)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"mike regish" wrote in message
news:HYlqd.167344$R05.107812@attbi_s53...
So what you're saying then, is that you basically don't accept anything
BUT
guaranteed reservations. Do you understand that this sounds kind of like a
racket to me? You get guaranteed reservations and HOPE the people don't
show
up so you can collect their money without providing anything. You can also
collect double for the room if they don't show up and somebody else comes
along and takes the room. Is this even legal?

I can see getting a night's fee if they don't show up and you keep their
room available for them anyways, but, like I said, if I make a
"contingency"
reservation and get there on time, I expect to have a room. If I don't
show
up on time, I expect I MAY have a room, but then again I may not. That
would
be my fault.

mike regish

You don't travel much do you Mike.

So what you're saying then, is that you basically don't accept anything
BUT guaranteed reservations. Do you understand that this sounds kind of
like a racket to me? You get guaranteed reservations and HOPE the people
don't show up so you can collect their money without providing anything.
You can also collect double for the room if they don't show up and
somebody else comes along and takes the room. Is this even legal?

Mike, the last thing we want is for someone not to show up for a
reservation. We enjoy having pilots and guests come stay with us -- that
is, after all, why we're here -- and the last thing we want is to ****
anyone off.

That said, we simply can't afford to get stiffed by dishonorable or
disorganized people who reserve suites with little intention of showing up.
With only 27 suites, we're just too small to have that happen without
causing us financial hardship. Thus, we "guarantee" their suite in return
for them "guaranteeing" that they will show up.

This is made clear from the very start of the reservation process -- no one
gets caught by surprise, and they have ample opportunity to back out of the
reservation before we get off the phone. Bottom line: If you think there's
a chance that you MIGHT not be able to make it -- don't make a guaranteed
reservation.

If you absolutely want to know that you have a place to stay, and that we
will turn away anyone and everyone who offers us more for the suite (which,
believe it or not, happens on Iowa football weekends. I've had guys offer
me ANY amount of money to "make a suite happen"...) then guarantee that you
will show up by reserving it with your preauthorized credit card.

We are the only hotel (that I know of) that makes an exception to this rule
for pilots. For them we offer our "IFR Cancellation Policy" which allows
them to cancel right up to 6 PM the night of their arrival -- without
penalty -- if conditions drop below VFR minimums along their route of
flight. This is to protect pilots from that unpredicted crappy weather
along their route of flight -- but they STILL have to call us and let us
know by 6PM, or they will be charged for the suite. Again, this is made
completely clear when they make their reservation.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:n3eqd.164904$R05.161886@attbi_s53...
That ain't right. I can see the guarantee thing during a known busy
weekend, but if I make a reservation (contingency) and show up at or ahead
of the reservation time just to find out you don't have a room because
somebody else showed up before me with cash, I'm hauling somebody into
court.

With only 27 suites to rent, we're in no position to play the "will they
show up?" game.

Which is why, if you want a guaranteed reservation, you've got to guarantee
that you're gonna show up. Since wiring money in advance is pretty awkward,
we must do it the credit card way -- even though I absolutely despise the
credit card companies, and it pains me to no end that I must pay those
*******s 4% of everything I take in.

But, if we didn't accept credit cards, our longevity would be measured in
weeks. Sadly, very few guests actually pay with cash.

(P.S. Hey, while I'm bitching, let's talk about the 5% I've got to pay to
the State of Iowa, and the 7% I've got to pay to Johnson County. Yep, a
whopping 16% of everything we bring in, off the top, goes to someone other
than Mary and me. Remember that next time you wonder why it costs so
damned much for a hotel room.)

(P.P.S. Of course, it would be much worse if we were part of a chain, or
used on-line booking agencies like Travelocity. Then we'd be giving away
upwards of 46% of everything we earned.)

(P.P.P.S. Which, by the way, is why we can afford to *include* a delivered
breakfast on a suite for which we only charge $59.95 per night, while the
chains cannot. That same breakfast, delivered to your suite at the
Sheraton, by itself will set you back over $40!)


Just out of curiousity, Jay. If someone were to pay cash, will you
split the 16% with them?

Bryan

Just out of curiousity, Jay. If someone were to pay cash, will you
split the 16% with them?

And risk jail time? Not.

The Gummint takes tax collection *very* seriously, for some reason.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On 30 Nov 2004 05:30:14 -0800, (bryan chaisone)
wrote:

Just out of curiousity, Jay. If someone were to pay cash, will you
split the 16% with them?

In the early days of credit cards, a friend of mine often asked for
his 2 percent off if he paid cash, but he seldom got it.

After all, with cash you have the occasional loss to counterfeit
bills, incorrect change, and employee pilfering.

BCC, you could go around the U.S. renting cars and motel rooms with a
check. Businesses bought check insurance.

There's a cost to every system of taking money in exchange for goods
or services.


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
the blog www.danford.net

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:Srcqd.164139$R05.153882@attbi_s53...

um, does making a reservation at your place require a credit card?


If you want a "guaranteed" reservation, yep.

If you want a "contingency" reservation -- where anyone who walks in the
door with cash can bump you -- nope.


So what's the difference between a "contingency" reservation and no
reservation?

So what's the difference between a "contingency" reservation and no
reservation?

One main difference: We have all of your information, which makes check-in
a breeze. You will also get preference over "contingency" reservations that
are taken after yours -- although, to be honest, we only get a couple of
them a week.

It's very unusual for our guests to not have a credit card, as you can
imagine -- and most people prefer to have guaranteed reservation.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"