SS255

My payment posted on both Paypal and my credit card without any hiccups (once I figured out what to do).

stimpy

Like I said above, this Paypal issue is a difficult one since the people who use it successfully think we should all be happy with it. But I am not happy with it and I cannot use it successfully. I will never use it. The fact that I say never is due not only to my frustration, but also my own requirement to protect my financial interests. You can see this thread http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...p-service.html which shows how bi-polar this issue is.

Tommy, can you explain to me why you cannot accept a check or wire transfer? I have accounts both in Europe and the US so I can get you the money through any legitimate means.

In my mind if you can only accept Paypal, this Do has now become exclusive only to a subset of Flyertalkers. On the other hand, if I am the only one getting shut out, don't worry. I still don't know at this time if I can get away from work to attend this event.

BSSW

I'm a first time user of Paypal, and it worked ok with me. Took some time before it was charged to my CC,

I hope that everyone are able to use Paypal, but maybe find another way to do it next year.

Looking forward to meet everyone

Renard

Snipp

JC1120

I'm not sure why all of you are afraid of paying for this with your bank account. The issues you hear about paypal, as far as I understand it, is if you're dealing with a shady seller and you've paid for it with a bank transfer.

But if you're sending it to Tommy and Co. and you don't plan on getting a refund anyway, then I don't think there's much of an issue in terms of security. Wanting to get the points/miles/etc. is a whole other issue, but lets not burden the organizers with our personal "like to haves".

stimpy

Let me please clarify that the reasons I cannot and will not use Paypal are not due to any mistrust of the organizers of this event. I realize that a lot of Paypal issues are due to fraudulent and/or incompetent Ebay sellers. That is not the case here. I cannot and will not use PayPal as a service because Paypal operates an less than completely competent service that has extremely poor support and effectively no recourse to solving problems.

I know the organizers put a lot of effort into this event and it seems that this Paypal thing is a last minute problem that was not expected. I'm sorry for the difficulty, but I really think that you need to look at some other method. I know it isn't easy. I once hosted a large Do where I asked people to mail me checks in advance. That mostly worked out, but I think I was out a little bit of cash at the end of the day from latecomers who hadn't sent their checks. It seems that no system is perfect, so you should think about having multiple systems. There are some other very large Do's coming up soon that also have Paypal as their method of payment. BUT they offer the alternative of a wire transfer for those who cannot use Paypal. See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/commu...ut-bounds.html for an example of how this can work.

If I were to use Paypal, Paypal wires the Euros into your account, right? So why can't you accept my direct wire of Euros into your account? Isn't it the same thing? The wire you receive will show it coming from my name so it is easy to associate. And if 80% of your customers use Paypal, then that only leaves a few of these wire transfers to sort out. Yes it is a bit of work, but not more than you have done already.

Xyzzy

Sending a check in the mail with your signature on it reveals a whole lot more information and is far riskier than giving PayPal your bank account number. Wiring money also gives someone else your account number.

Please, don't make this thread a diatribe on PayPal. This thread is for discussion of the exciting events that will happen in November!

RCyyz

The issue on how to pay for the charter is obviously problematic given the chatter on this thread. For the record, PayPal worked fine for me but I also use PayPal with reasonable frequency so that likely makes a difference.

May I suggest then, for those who can't / won't use PayPal, they should be allowed to send (via courier) Euro denominated traveler's cheques? The cheques can be made out to Condor directly if that helps.

Another option which was already raised is to open a EUR bank account and people can wire transfer the funds. While most US banks probably won't do this at the consumer level, most international banks likely will. HSBC is a choice that comes to my mind. (I do not work for HSBC nor am I associated with them in any way.)

Once again I'd like to thank the organizers for this Do. You guys have done and continue to do a fantastic job! Thank you!! ^^

suzy1K

tee hee I'm laughing at the PayPal double click ads that keep popping up on this FT forum.

a suggestion: if there is concern about the low # of charter bookings, perhaps it might be useful for the organizers to send out an e-mail notice to those who have signed up alerting them to the charter flight "now open for bookings". After checking this forum a few times since I signed up and finding 'booking coming soon' notices, I was randomly logging in. Happenstance today was my lucky day. Otherwise I'd still be clueless about the status change. Although I'm probably the only one signed up who doesn't check FT every day (or hour)...

a comment: for those making snarky remarks about the remittance options (people who are having actual problems notwithstanding), keep in mind who is making the seating arrangements. Yes, that's right - the same hard working individuals who arranged for the charter and set this system up. Ahem. This is probably the one flight you book where your ff status, however high (or low) it is, won't help you. Although a really high rating on the snark-o-meter might net you enough status be seated in the last row, middle seat, next to the lavs. Complimentary face masks (hospital or Darth Vader) are not included in the amenity kit btw.

a really long commiseration: I used to do convention, conference and golf tournament planning for 13 years. Mostly thankless work -- pre/during/post-event cocktails & 'yippee it's finally over' dinners at The Palm aside. I can assure you that nobody who does event planning wants to make life more difficult for themselves (the goal always being hosting a great event with as little hassle as possible) so if Tommy, xyzzy & co. have arranged for something I'm sure they've already thought it through and selected the best option to date. To be bugged by a paying client during the planning process is bad enough -- you can suck it up and say curses to them in your head while thinking of your next paycheck -- but these guys are taking a lot of time and effort not only to work their magic to come up with this extra special *MegaDo, but to also implement it -- not for any paycheck mind you. Because they wanted to.

Honestly, who among us would be knocking themselves out on this scale for nothing? Anybody else offering to guarantee a 757 charter flight with their own credit? (is that silence I hear? - I thought so) I didn't even like signing contracts to rent out a 36 hole golf course under my name so I really appreciate their efforts because I "get it". Been there, done that, don't miss those (exhausting) days.

Can everyone please make an effort to keep future comments constructive or positive? As a FTer who used to be on the boards way more, I'll just tell you that for the past few years I've been keeping a low profile. FT used to be fun but certain posters / postings were so negative that I eventually stopped looking at the forums. Who knows how many rock bottom mileage runs I missed out on ... oy. Then Sharon (SkiAdcock) called me all excited about this *Mega Do and I was like "Excellent! I'm in. FT I'm back!!" Hopefully to stay.

As for everyone else working the keyboards here busy posting your happy comments, keep in mind that you haven't hired these guys to plan this event. They aren't your employees to kick around. Nothing makes you want to quit event planning more than constant harping about how you are 'doing it all wrong' especially by people you don't know personally. Crikey - nobody wants to be criticized at home or at work, let alone on a public forum.

So if you want to come to Frankfurt in November - yay! Bring a scarf and plenty of Euros. I'm sure you can use your skills & travel planning know-how to 'work it out' (whatever the payment option is). If you don't like what's being offered -- c'est la vie. Keep it to yourself. Maybe next time (if there is one) will be different. Or else offer to help plan a future mega-do if you think you can do a better job. Just saying.

Ezeiza

All troubles aside, this is going to be an amazing event. Big thanks to the organizers who are indeed working hard!

However, for various reasons, I am reluctant to book until I get news regarding the participation of Eurobonus (15.000 points). Can we expect a definite answer from SK anytime soon?

Ezeiza

Jespersm

Thanks for letting us know.

Someone83

Charter booked and PayPal worked for me, although I had to try a second CC


So you won't go unless you get EB points?

pgur

To the organisers,
I have an Indian passport and have to apply for visas for pretty much everywhere we are going even though I reside in the USA. Is there some formal letter about the event that I could use to apply? Something Lufthansa would provide as FRA is our very first port of entry into the EU.

flyingfkb

Would you be willing to charter a 757-300 and would hope that 300 people send you personal checks to pay their tickets? What happens if a check bounces, get lost in the mail etc. You alone would be the one to solve the mess. So please stop making a fuzz about PayPal and try to see it from the perspective of the organizers. They taking quite some risk besides the time they already invested in this project. Using Paypal as an independet payment service they can lower the financial risks involved in organizing this event.

SkiAdcock

Not sure Tommy et al want to get involved in the wire-transfer bizness (then you've got access to their bank info ), but if by chance they do, please note you'll need to add $15-30 to the amount you're sending them because there are wire transfer fees involved. No reason they should have to pay a fee on their end, and then of course most banks also charge a fee to send, so it's a bit of a double-whammy.

To the organizers: suzy1K brings up one point. She doesn't check FT that regularly anymore, so perhaps there were others who signed up on the list before you opened up the new confirmed thread & thus don't know that it's open. If so, you might want to send an email or PM to them, letting them know booking is now open. If you already have, then disregard this message as the saying goes.

Think we'll hear from UA before end of week, or after the bank holiday?

Cheers.