AOPA credit card --- WARNING.

Morgans wrote:

"Janet" wrote

snip a bunch of stuff so I can bitch about somethingg

Sometimes a preauthorized hold is put on the card without an actual
transaction
amount known yet just to make sure there will be enough funds available.
Examples are pay-at-the-gas-pump transactions (usually $50 is
preauthorized
before you start pumping),

What is that all about? $50 for gas on a card? That does not even come
close for me. My full size work van has a tank that will hold 31.6 gallons
of gas, and still be running. With gas at times up to $1.89, I have to let
the pump shut off, and then have to start up another charge to finish
filling up. Let's get real here, gas station owners of America!Thanks, I
feel better now.

Increasing that value would mean larger credit/debit preauthorized holds for
everybody, including the vast majority of people that fill up with less than
$50 at time. Why inconvenience everybody? If you need to pump more, just
restart the pump or pay with another method.

Morgans wrote:
saction

amount known yet just to make sure there will be enough funds available.
Examples are pay-at-the-gas-pump transactions (usually $50 is

preauthorized

before you start pumping),

Actually, that's WRONG. What they usually do is put through a $1
preauthorization. The $50 limit they put on the pumping is a number
that the point of sale determines is the max they will do based on that
$1 preauth.

On Tue, 7 Dec 2004 23:39:14 -0500, "Morgans"
wrote:

Sometimes a preauthorized hold is put on the card without an actual
transaction
amount known yet just to make sure there will be enough funds available.
Examples are pay-at-the-gas-pump transactions (usually $50 is
preauthorized
before you start pumping),

What is that all about? $50 for gas on a card? That does not even come
close for me. My full size work van has a tank that will hold 31.6 gallons
of gas, and still be running. With gas at times up to $1.89, I have to let
the pump shut off, and then have to start up another charge to finish
filling up. Let's get real here, gas station owners of America!Thanks, I
feel better now.

Required aviation content: I drove that van up to OSH this year, and it
would have been cheaper to charter a plane, after buying the gas and a new
transmission. (well, almost) :-)

I'll bet it's because of "Drive off's". People who fill their tanks
and split without paying. The higher the gas prices, the more the
occurrences, at least around here.

One gas station told me about an RV that topped off with 70 gallons,
then drove off without paying.

Corky Scott

Another "we'll screw you for paying cash" item is cell phones. Just
try and buy one for cash; i.e. no contract.

You'll find you pay 3-10x per minute for the priviledge of paying
in advance. And of course, the phone is not "free" either..

{In the EU, prepay phones are both common and inexpensive..}
--
A host is a host from coast to
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

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.)

Interesting. I wonder if the 5% plus following their own rules (if they
do!) might end up costing you less in the long run.

Personally, I'm a big believer in not trusting parties that don't follow
even their own rules. I always worry that the next "failure" will be
bigger than any before.

- Andrew

I've wondered that too. We put everything we buy (even my daughter's
college tuition) on our Discover (and pay it off next month, of course)
and get the cashback discount. Keep a Visa and American Express for the
few places that don't take Discover (like Costco).

I always figured that Discover charges the merchant more than Visa...
but your posting suggests otherwise.

Rich

Jay Honeck wrote:

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.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:Fuspd.85361$V41.50473@attbi_s52...

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...


VISA and Mastercard do not charge me for using their cards.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:Fuspd.85361$V41.50473@attbi_s52...
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.


Because there are cards that give more valuable rebates than Discover. I
have an REI card that pays 1% on every purchase starting from the first
dollar.

Mike
MU-2

In article Fuspd.85361$V41.50473@attbi_s52, Jay Honeck
wrote:

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.

If you pay your balance off each month, you wouldn't. But if you're
carrying a balance, that changes things considerably. My Disocver
"pays me back up to" 1%, while at the same time charging me 14.99% in
interest. If I put the same purchase on my MasterCard, I'm paying 6.9%
a.p.r.

Unless I pay the Discover off almost immediately, I come out far ahead
using my lower-interest MasterCard.

Someday, if I ever actually make some money in this business, I won't
need to worry about interest rates. That day's not here yet. :-)

--
Garner R. Miller
ATP/CFII/MEI
Clifton Park, NY =USA=

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.