AOPA credit card --- WARNING.

And, I don't believe retail credit rates were lowered anywhere near
proportionally to the fed rates when they were declining.

RS wrote:
"Daniel L. Lieberman" wrote in message
...

The Fed rates have gone up so so should retail credit rates.


Answer the question: Have fed rates gone up 4%?
No... Not even close. So there is no interest rate based justification for
such a rate hike.

To paraphrase another post:

You talk like [VISA] owes you something. If you don't want to use their
damned [service]-- don't.

If [VISA] charges you 20% interest -- and you're dumb enough to use
their card [services]-- who cares? It's not like there aren't 100
other credit card companies begging for your business, so either [accept
their rules], or tell 'em to take a hike.

;-)

Jay Honeck wrote:

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.

Paul Tomblin wrote:

In a previous article, "Steven P. McNicoll" said:

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...

I got news for you, buddy. I'm the one arguing that people shouldn't
carry credit card balances if they don't want to pay credit card interest
rates, and I'm a conservative's worst nightmare - I'm a Trudeau Liberal.

Which Trudeau?


Pierre.



How is Canada these days? I haven't visited since before 9/11 due to
the hassles at the border. It was bad enough before.

Matt

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...
In a previous article, "Chuck" said:
"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...
Nobody is *forcing* you to buy what you can't currently afford, you
know.
Back before credit cards existed, people actually saved up money ahead
of
time for major purchases, instead of all this "buy now and pay later"
instant gratification stuff.
If I get a new job and have to go to Sears and buy $2,000 worth of tools,
I
will not be able to pay the balance off in one month. But I gotta have
the
tools if I want the job.

And if you get a bank loan instead of carrying it on your credit card, the
interest rates will be *much* lower and won't go up on a banker's whim.

That's what I did when I needed a $5000 computer to set up my computer
consulting business right out of college. Ok, initially I was stupid and
used a credit card, but I changed to a bank loan as soon as I could get
one.



That's fine, but what if my credit is poor and I can't get a bank loan?


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Matt Whiting wrote:




How is Canada these days? I haven't visited since before 9/11 due to
the hassles at the border. It was bad enough before.

We go to Canada a couple times a winter to play hockey. Flash them a
hockey stick and you sail right thru. Getting back takes a little
longer. Now they take your ID and run everyone thru the computer to see
if any of you are wanted.

"Chuck" wrote in message
. com...

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...
In a previous article, "RS" said:
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.

Anybody who carries a balance on any credit card is an idiot or a sucker.

snip

Or isn't as wealthy or well off financially as you are...


You have to be wealthier to carry a balance than not.

Mike
MU-2

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
Chuck wrote:

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...

In a previous article, "Chuck" said:

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...

Anybody who carries a balance on any credit card is an idiot or a

sucker.

Or isn't as wealthy or well off financially as you are...

Nobody is *forcing* you to buy what you can't currently afford, you
know.
Back before credit cards existed, people actually saved up money ahead
of
time for major purchases, instead of all this "buy now and pay later"
instant gratification stuff.




Ya know... I didn't say that paying the balance off was a bad thing. I
guess
what kinda ticked me off about your post was you said that people were
idiots or suckers for not paying the balance. I merely pointed out that
some
people can't do that.

If I get a new job and have to go to Sears and buy $2,000 worth of
tools, I
will not be able to pay the balance off in one month. But I gotta have
the
tools if I want the job.

That is exactly why any financial advisor worth their salt recommends
that you save an amount equal to 3 - 6 months of expenses as an
"emergency" cash fund. Yes, it takes time to do this and a lot of
self-control, which most Americans no longer have, but that eliminates
the need to ever use a credit card for a situation like this ... or a
transmission failure in your car ... or a leak in your roof, etc.

Rather than save, most people use credit as their emergency fund. And,
as Paul said, that is a sucker play.


And some people like me are financially strapped and do not have the money
to save after the bills are paid. In fact, I was putting $20 a paycheck into
the credit union at work trying to save a little bit and had to stop making
that deposit because I needed that $20 per pay period just to make bills. In
the last 3 years, our health insurance at work has gone up 135% and co-pays,
etc have risen also. I have 3 prescriptions, my wife has 5 and our son has
one. That's around $150 per month or a little more. Both vehicles are paid
off, so no car payments. We rent a house and it is actually about $100 below
the going rate for our area. Electric bills are out the roof. Do I need to
keep going? In otherwords, by me living paycheck to paycheck, and my yearly
raises at 3% if I am lucky that don't even cover cost of living, I am doing
everything that I can to stay afloat and will resort to whatever means I
have to to provide for my wife and son. I wish that you people that make
$100,000 a year, own airplanes, drive Lexus and Mercedes and live in half
million dollar houses could understand...

When I got married, my wife got hurt and we ended up getting behind on bills
because she couldn't work for almost a year. Everytime we see daylight,
something happens and we get sucked back into the hole again.

The point that I keep trying to make is that some people are not able to
save because of their financial situation. It seems that most in this NG
don't seem to understand that.

I understand what yall are saying about the 3-6 month cushion, and that is
great if you can afford to do so. I wish that I could. If so, I would have a
cushion in the bank.

I do take offense to being called a sucker and an idiot because I have 1
credit card that I am paying interest on. In my situation, I have no choice.

If you want to call people who have 15 credit cards with balances and they
buy big screen TV's, stereos, jewelry, etc on credit, I will agree with you
then, but think about the persons situation before you call people names...


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"Chuck" wrote in message
om...

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...
In a previous article, "Chuck" said:
"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...
Nobody is *forcing* you to buy what you can't currently afford, you
know.
Back before credit cards existed, people actually saved up money ahead
of
time for major purchases, instead of all this "buy now and pay later"
instant gratification stuff.
If I get a new job and have to go to Sears and buy $2,000 worth of
tools,
I
will not be able to pay the balance off in one month. But I gotta have
the
tools if I want the job.

And if you get a bank loan instead of carrying it on your credit card,
the
interest rates will be *much* lower and won't go up on a banker's whim.

That's what I did when I needed a $5000 computer to set up my computer
consulting business right out of college. Ok, initially I was stupid and
used a credit card, but I changed to a bank loan as soon as I could get
one.



That's fine, but what if my credit is poor and I can't get a bank loan?


Then you pay a high rate because you are a poor risk.

Keep in mind that this discussion was started by someone with an AOPA card.
Presumably he is a pilot and managed to pay $5K for flight training.

Mike
MU-2

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
Chuck wrote:



Maybe I am in the wrong newsgroup to be discussing this. I would imagine
that most people in this newsgroup make damn good money and can afford
to
have a nice chunk of change in the bank.

Unfortunately, I am not in that situation.

Actually, it has little to do with how much you make, at least once
above a truly subsistence income level, which varies by locale. Someone
below this level, truly has no options, but running up credit cards
doesn't help. They need to seek help from a charitable agency, etc.
until they can restore sufficient income to live on.

snip

Remember, each situation is different...

As embarrassing as this is to say, but I will say that it wasn't our fault,
we had our electricity disconnected almost 2 years ago.

It is a long story, but my wife's best friend passed away suddenly and our
thoughts were with her family. We did receive a termination notice, but
again, we were with the family. We realized the notice and paid the bill *in
full* over the internet *before* the due date. We were still terminated
because they didn't *post* it before the termination date. They admitted it
was there but wasn't posted. They refused to re-instates service until we
paid over $800 that we didn't have (including a repayment of the bill that
we had just paid)(Thanks for the loan, Mom).

I am not saying this was 100% the utility companies fault, we never should
have let it get to a termination notice (but we didn't have the money for
the payment at the time), but I feel that they should have worked with us on
this, especially since they did admit their mistake. Also, it was a day that
was below freezing and we had a dog, a cat and a bird along with our young
son (which made no difference to them).

Anyway, they suggested that we call a help agency. OK, I am in a bind, so I
did call all 3 of the agencies they suggested. Not any of them would help
us. Said that we didn't qualify. I try my hardest not to be a prejudice
person, but at times like this, I wonder if I am just the wrong color...
(Sorry if I offended anyone)

So... help agencies aren't always the answer...


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"John Galban" wrote in message
om...
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.


Actually it isn't MBNA that is getting his money...its me! Somebody has to
underwrite my $250 annual rebate and it is people who carry a balance. I
talked to an MBNA manager at AOPA expo and asked him how many cardholders
only used to card to make purchases qualifying for the rebate and not
carrying a balance. He said that it was a "pretty high percentage". The
rate on the card is not just a function of MBNA's cost of funds, it is also
default rate and the cost of paying the cards "perks".

Mike
MU-2