Glen.......

I had to follow the pre-arranged NYE plans of my fiance, although barring my internet trouble, I did manage to hook up with Red Robin a day earlier by telephone...........wasn't the rain at midnight fantastic !!!

We were standing at the corner of Avenida Atlantica and Rua Figeuiredo de Magalhaes during the fugos (fireworks) swigging from a bottle of cheap bubbly and absolutely soaking wet from the downpour !!! The crowd was estimated at 2.5 - 3 million Cariocas and gringo touristas like me.

I never bring the C/C's to Rio, just dead President's.............there is way too much fraud there..........gee....I guess you know that by now.



[This message has been edited by Carioca Canuck (edited 01-27-2001).]

Oh yes...BoSoxFan?

I was allowed to pay for my season tickets with a credit card last year...i'm in a 5-person "pool" so we split it that way. I got the miles; i just sent a letter in with my renewal.

This was for the Red Sox, of course. *grin*

Carioca .. yes what a night! I've
just posted a very detailed trip report on this fun experience at:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum81/HTML/001514.html

New Year's Eve in RIO is THE spot of your life to be in!

------------------
~ Glen ~

[This message has been edited by ozstamps (edited 01-28-2001).]

>>2.75 to Amex is a lot of money on a $150,000 vehicle....and they also take 90 days to pay.

Carioca, please tell me Canadian law allows you to consider that 2.75% as a business expense for tax purposes.

In that case, the full effect of the merchant fee isn't felt. It reduces the tax on your profits to the extent of the bracket you are in. Maybe the 2.75 becomes, in net effect, 1.75%, or something.

I positioned this approach for the last 2 Chevy's I bought. I was able to charge something like $5 or $6K of the purchase price to my CO Visa.

carioca: you should call amex.. my payments from them here in the us post electronically within 72 hours of closing the batch.. much slower than the next business day paid by chase on my mc/visa transactions but still notwhere near the 90 days you speak of..

Ronin....

Your accounting scenario is quite right for Canada as well....however, it's still an expense at the end of the month.

We allow up to $10,000 in "unannounced" charges per transaction, as the deposit placed at the time of the purchase is usually 5-10K.

Ozstamps.....

You can pay for the CD player at my cost....and I'll throw in a CD from the musician of your choice....do we have a deal ???

juuceman....

That's interesting......I was just regurgitating what our corporate controller had told us.....I will inquire tomorrow.

[This message has been edited by Carioca Canuck (edited 01-28-2001).]

Outoftown,

In general one has negotiating room under those conditions, but not always.

I was ordering a BMW E46 (the current 3-series design) in early summer of 1999. First US deliveries were scheduled for September. The pipeline was already committed for months. Based on discussions with other early buyers, I consider myself fortunate to have gotten an early slot without paying a premium over sticker price. Negotiate a discount? Not on your life! Why should they, when the line of people ordering them is (figuratively) out the door?

(BTW, the car now has 61,000 miles after 2+ years. I'm delighted with it.)

Carioca .. but WHO then pays the shipping and GST's on CD's?? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Re Amex payment to me as a merchant, it is very fast. They would be out of business if it took more than a week - your finance guy might have told you the "90 days" story on April 1 perhaps?

If I as a merchant have an e-terminal money goes into bank account in 24 hours. If I opt for a cheque, it takes about 7 days. Thats not only Amex, but Diners, Visa, M/C etc, and I've had them all for 20 years or so as a merchant.

------------------
~ Glen ~

So true. Want a popular car? Be prepared to pay through the nose. For the really popular items, you can expect to pay an ADMU (Additional Dealer Mark Up). Negotiate? Yes, on how much/little OVER sticker you will pay. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif

If you make a sweet deal (x amount under dealer cost + holdback), you're going to probably have to give something back if you want to charge the full amount on a credit card. However, if you pay close to sticker on a not-too-popular car, then the dealer will probably reluctantly let you charge it. It's all about negotiating and almost everything is negotiable when you go car shopping.

------------------
"Sire, it is not a revolt. It is a Revolution!"

[This message has been edited by Spiff (edited 01-29-2001).]

Absolutely right. I think the $700 I got (the cost of the Lo-Jack) from flashing the AmEx card was, under the circumstances, pretty good.

I just talked the Red Sox into accepting my Amex for my season tickets, over $4000.

They normally take CC's for single game purchases, but not season tickets.

That now marks my single biggest charge.

That's it? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I put a $5,000 computer on my green American Express card when I was a sophomore in college. Despite what I imagine was not a particularly impressive looking prior spending history (but a perfect albeit short [just 18 months] history of making payments on time), American Express approved the purchase after a short conversation on the phone at the computer store. That was when I didn't have any Visa or Mastercard credit cards with a credit limit over $1,000. That was also long before I realized that it was possible to earn rebates, points, etc. It was long ago enough that such programs weren't nearly as widespread as they are now.

This practice is actually illegal in many states, Florida being one of them. I was socked with one of these add-on fees a few years ago and after checking found that this practice is in violation of Florida statute. So I called the CC company (don't recall which one) and they credited my account. I agree that the key is to have the charge itemized. If the merchant wants to balk, I'm taking a walk.