AOPA credit card --- WARNING.

"RS" wrote in message news:Bvspd.565639$mD.474111@attbi_s02...
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:%9spd.150672$R05.66688@attbi_s53...
If you have an MBNA credit card, look at your statements...if you like
being screwed by the credit card company then ignore this thread and do
nothing.

You talk like MBNA owes you something. If you don't want to use their
damned card -- don't.

If MBNA charges you 20% interest -- and you're dumb enough to use their
card -- who cares? It's not like there aren't 100 other credit card
companies begging for your business, so either pay the bill off each
month, or tell 'em to take a hike.

Ok. So you also support legalized loan sharking. Fine.

Jay mentioned that he hasn't payed card interest since 1985. It
appears that YOU are the one who supports legalized loan sharking.
You support it with cash out your pocket.


But tell me, what will you do when home, auto and commercial proprerty loan
companies hike their rates just because they feel like it? Even if you pay
on time, every time. All they need to do is lobby hard enough to put it into
law and you are totally screwed.

Not likely (unless you live in Delaware or South Dakota). The
legitimate loan business is pretty well regulated by feds and states.
Credit cards are the dark side of the loan business. Lenders know
that a legitimate, knowledgable borrower would never sign a loan
contract that allowed the lender to jack up interest and/or fees at
their whim. That is exactly what you do when you borrow money on a
card.


What then, Mr Clever Guy?

Jay hasn't paid the loansharks since 1985. You're complaining that
MBNA jacked up your rate (which they have every right to do under your
contract). Who's the clever guy?

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

Jay Honeck wrote:

If you have an MBNA credit card, look at your statements...if you like
being screwed by the credit card company then ignore this thread and do
nothing.


You talk like MBNA owes you something. If you don't want to use their
damned card -- don't.

If MBNA charges you 20% interest -- and you're dumb enough to use their
card -- who cares? It's not like there aren't 100 other credit card
companies begging for your business, so either pay the bill off each month,
or tell 'em to take a hike.

We haven't paid a nickel of credit card interest since 1985 -- and that was
to pay for our wedding. (And I've felt stupid about paying *that* ever
since.) The ONLY valid reason to use a credit card is to consolidate all of
your bills into one easily payable check each month.

Actually, there are lots of other valid reasons. One is that in many
places you can't do things like rent a car without plastic. Many car
rental places won't take cash.


Matt

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
Jay Honeck wrote:

If you have an MBNA credit card, look at your statements...if you like
being screwed by the credit card company then ignore this thread and do
nothing.


You talk like MBNA owes you something. If you don't want to use their
damned card -- don't.

If MBNA charges you 20% interest -- and you're dumb enough to use their
card -- who cares? It's not like there aren't 100 other credit card
companies begging for your business, so either pay the bill off each
month,
or tell 'em to take a hike.

We haven't paid a nickel of credit card interest since 1985 -- and that
was
to pay for our wedding. (And I've felt stupid about paying *that* ever
since.) The ONLY valid reason to use a credit card is to consolidate
all of
your bills into one easily payable check each month.

Actually, there are lots of other valid reasons. One is that in many
places you can't do things like rent a car without plastic. Many car
rental places won't take cash.


Matt

So you pay the bill off when you get it. Get it?

Matt Whiting writes:


Actually, there are lots of other valid reasons. One is that in many
places you can't do things like rent a car without plastic. Many car
rental places won't take cash.

Years ago, Hertz wouldn't even allow a _2nd driver_ who didn't have
one. They gave me all kinds of BS reason.

--
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

"RS" wrote in message
news:aGppd.564849$mD.370862@attbi_s02...

Do you work for MBNA? You sound like the person I talked to at MBNA
customer service....I told him that the fed did not raise interest rates
by 3 to 4%, which is what MBNA is doing.

If you have an MBNA credit card, look at your statements...if you like
being screwed by the credit card company then ignore this thread and do
nothing.

I have an MBNA credit card and I hardly feel like I'm being screwed. They
charge me no annual fee and I never carry a balance so I never pay any
interest. I use the card for nearly all of my purchases, since I don't have
to pay for them for 30 to 60 days after purchase I get an effective
interest-free loan on whatever amount I spend. There's not even any postage
cost as I can pay online. The interest rate is irrelevant, any percentage
of zero is still zero.

I have an MBNA credit card and I hardly feel like I'm being screwed.

To feel even less screwed get a rewards card and actually get paid to use
it.

John Harlow wrote:

I have an MBNA credit card and I hardly feel like I'm being screwed.

To feel even less screwed get a rewards card and actually get paid to use
it.

Getting angry on them does not pay off because they do
what is "usual and customary." As a matter of fact in an
impulse one year go months ago I was also angry with them
and thought of asking AOPA as their member to look for
a new partner. Than however I rather informed myself
about the situation of customer rights versus credit
card companies and I discovered that this is how they
run the business.

Here is the punch line:

1) If your spending seem to be larger than usual, or
if they see that you are on vacations (remote billing
pattern) somehow miraculously the due date is shorter
by two-three days than usual. They have a *probability*
that a few hundred thousand payments will come in a few
days too late and yield them (say) in each instance $25
late fee + their interest. Eeeeasy money! Millions flow
in from suckers.

2) They tell you about the percentage on unpaid balance,
but they do not tell you *percentage of what amount*!!
This is even worse than raising percentage alone!


This latter trick took me by surprise. I am around 50,
and yet I have never ever before had unpaid credit card
bill in my entire life. Thus this trick was not obvious
to me. This is how it works:


As we bought a new in Dec car, we made a down payment
using the "rewards card" from MBNA, which you recommend.
How "clever"! We will collect thousands of points toward
that next Hawaii flight!

But than, as it happens, we got around Christmas a few
spending and a medical bill, and I was short by one
single thousand toward my CC bill.

So what! No problem. The next paycheck was only 7 days
later. I even did not sold any stock to pay this bill.
What for? I thought. $1000 for 12.99% annually is approx.
$129.9 per anno, the one week will cost me $2.50 in
interest.

Wrong wrong wrong!

MBNA takes 12.99% all right, but of the largest amount
which occurs on the card at any given time *during the
entire month,* and even than after the payment, a few
dollars will incurs one more fee for the next month!
Suddenly we paid almost $100 total to MBNA for being
late for mere 7 days by $1000. How "clever," but of them.

However, we suckers have now a few thousands more of
these reward points toward our next Hawaii flight :-)

This enraged me so much that I contacted lawyer through
our legal insurance and I demanded from AOPA to take my
demand under vote to ban MBNA from AOPA as a fraudulent
company.

Wrong wrong wrong. All this what they did is in writing,
give to each of us. And, every credit card company do the
same. Such law suits agaisnt banks were attempted thousands
of times and they failed.


Like someone said: Be clever enough to never ever have
any late payment with these hooligans. If you go for
vacations or travel, pay at least the expected minimum
payment in advance, if not the entire expected bill.
Use online services to pay on time, even remotely.

Be clever, earn some money from your money, instead
of feeding these credit card companies with noticeable
part of your income!

Happy Flying!

Thomas
PAO

"RS" wrote in message
news:m3opd.97109$5K2.54232@attbi_s03...
If you have an AOPA/MBNA credit card then you should check the APR on your
last statements. MBNA has been raising the APR on AOPA cardholders, even
if
you pay on time.

Kinda timely since PBS's Frontline had a show on credit cards last Tuesday.
Very eye opening, it seems that a couple of Supreme Court decisions allow
credit card companies to charge whatever interest rate they want and to
raise the interest rate on money already on the balance.
Most of the credit card holders interviewed had never read or didn't
understand the "fine print" in their card contracts.

Kinda timely since PBS's Frontline had a show on credit cards last
Tuesday.
Very eye opening, it seems that a couple of Supreme Court decisions allow
credit card companies to charge whatever interest rate they want and to
raise the interest rate on money already on the balance.
Most of the credit card holders interviewed had never read or didn't
understand the "fine print" in their card contracts.

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

Over the past couple of years we have had a handful of guests with
guaranteed reservations not show up at the inn, who were charged for one
night's stay. Two of them simply called their credit card companies and
disputed the charge -- at which point the credit card company immediately
credited them and charged us back, no questions asked!

It was then up to US to "prove" to VISA that the guest had stayed with us --
which, of course, they had not. Despite the fact that these guests
insisted on "guaranteed reservations", despite the fact that we had
pre-authorized their stay on their credit card, despite the fact that we had
mailed post cards to their home, reminding them of their reservation -- and
despite the fact that we followed VISA's own procedures for no-shows to the
letter -- we were totally helpless, and had to eat the bill. No amount of
documentation or phone calls mattered to VISA.

THAT is the real credit card scandal that is sweeping America right now --
but no one outside of the industry knows (or, quite frankly) cares about it.
But we ALL pay for scumbags like these in the end.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article Nlspd.150701$R05.147436@attbi_s53,
"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)

--
Bob Noel