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Elton John AIDS Foundation Credit Card Fees

The EJAF Visa card carries no annual fee, has a variable interest rate, and offers a low introductory rate for balance transfers and cash advances. The card displays one of three Elton John images chosen by the applicant. Each new cardholder receives an Elton John CD after their first purchase using the card, plus the EJAF newsletter.

At the time of this review the web application used for sign-up was down. Applicants are urged to use free tool on this page to compare credit cards now.

Elton John AIDS Foundation WorldPoints®

The WorldPoints reward program allows cardholders to earn one point for every dollar charged to the card. Points are earned regardless of the transaction type; be it for monthly bills, travel, day-to-day shopping, or major expenditures. Points can be redeemed with a minimum of 2,500 earned, for gift certificates, travel rewards, merchandise, or cash.

Elton John AIDS Foundation Visa Card Concierge Service

The most exciting reward of the EJAF Visa card is the 24-hour MyConciergeSM service. Cardholders enjoy the privilege of having their own personal assistant to help them do things like book travel arrangements, purchase tickets to the opera or the big game, reserve a table for two at a favorite restaurant, or arrange a tee time at an exclusive golf club.

Elton John AIDS Foundation Visa Card Airline Reward

Cardholders who meet the requirements for a qualifying use of the EJAF card receive a free companion airline ticket through a partnership with Spirit Incentives. With a qualifying purchase of $25 or more, cardholders can choose either a 2 for 1 airline ticket or a 2 for 1 hotel stay. Only one option is available, and the reward can only be earned once.

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Last week, Joel published a feature article about credit cards and international travel titled “Hong Kong Phooey”, a subject that I have been writing about this summer. Joel concluded his international travel blog post review of the “Hong Kong Phooey” feature article by asking, “Do YOU have any humorous stories or words of advice for those traveling with a credit card, cash, or other type of payment?”

Yes, I Do Have An Interesting Story

It was the summer of 2005, and I was getting married. For over a year, my wife and I had been simultaneously planning a big wedding in Denver, and a subsequent honeymoon in Brazil. With the help of a travel agent, I constructed a fantastic three week trip including such sites as Rio De Janeiro, Iguazu Falls, and the Amazon jungle.

The wedding went without any major hitches, and two days later we were off to Brazil. On one of our first nights there, we decided to splurge on a traditional Brazilian steakhouse. Being on our honeymoon, we naturally went to the finest one in town.

If you have been to a Brazilian steakhouse, or churrascaria, you know that the food is served table side, and it is priced all you can eat. The idea is to sample as many entrees as possible, and we did. We knew the prices ahead of time, and we had taken enough cash to cover the meal, leaving a larger amount and most of our credit cards in our hotel for safekeeping. This strategy worked well for me when I was a student traveling internationally.

The meal was incredible, and we even left enough room to try the desert cart that was brought to our table. Again, not wanting to miss out on any aspects of Brazilian cuisine, we tried to sample as many deserts as our appetite would permit. Everything is going great, until we receive the bill. Imagine our surprise when we realized that the deserts were not included part of the fixed price for the rest of the meal, a fact I am sure must have been clearly explained to us in Portuguese. It turns out that the deserts were quite pricey, nearly doubling the tab! No problem, I thought, that is why we brought a credit card with us.

Now perhaps I had not used that particular credit card on our trip at that point, but that was the moment our bank decided to suspect that our card had been stolen and was being fraudulently used all over Brazil. In the madness surrounding our wedding preparations, I had neglected the first rule of international travel with a credit card; Always call your bank and tell them where and when you are planning to travel. Rule number two might as well be to always carry more than one credit card, in case one of your banks didn’t get that memo. Make sure you at least have an Visa credit card or a MasterCard as they are accepted more internationally.

In a panic, my new wife and I dug through our wallets, eventually finding a hundred dollar bill we had tucked away for just such an emergency. Fortunately, the restaurant was glad to accept American Dollars rather than employ us as dishwashers for the evening. They were even kind enough to give us change in Brazilian currency so that we could pay for a taxi back to our hotel.

Since that time, I have learned so much about credit cards and international travel that I am embarrassed that I was ever foolish enough to be put in such a desperate position. Earlier this month, my wife and I had a second chance to visit Brazil. This time we made sure to bring multiple credit cards and to inform out banks ahead of time of our plans.

On the last evening of our trip, we again decided to splurge on a traditional Brazilian steakhouse. To our delight, the restaurant that was recommended to us was a new location of the same steakhouse that we had visited on our honeymoon. Upon realizing this, our thoughts immediately returned our memorable evening, laughing at the naivete of the young newlyweds who dined there five years earlier.

GOLD

Actual Cost: $1,200/ounce

Annual Fee: $125/year

When credit card marketers want to make you feel classy, this is the standard — the gold standard. There’s nothing like pulling out a shiny card that looks like it was cut straight from Fort Knox. That’s the way rich people charge: Put it on the ol’ gold card!

Probably the most famous gold card is from American Express, but there are others that offer gold cards as well. The great thing about gold cards is that you usually get more perks for your annual fee than other metals.

Strangely enough, gold is actually the most malleable metal there is, which means you can beat it into a pulp if you wish. That’s probably why so many people max out their gold card – it’s flexible!

PLATINUM

Actual Cost: $1,539/ounce

Annual Fee: $175/year

When they decided a gold card wasn’t enough, credit card marketers had to turn to an even more precious metal: Platinum. Setting the standard even higher than gold, platinum cards generally offer customers plush concierge benefits, and a pretty cool-looking card.

In addition to Visa offering their own platinum card, you can guess that the kings of metal marketing, American Express, have one as well.

The periodic element Platinum is actually made up of a group of metals. They include ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, and iridium in addition to platinum; they are known as a silvery white metal which makes them perfect for credit cards. Be on the lookout for the Visa Iridium; it can’t be far behind.

DIAMOND

Actual Cost: $6,600/carat

Annual Fee: FREE

Still rare in the credit card marketing world, the Diamond is a gem highly prized by brides and gangsta rappers. Visa offers a prepaid card known as the Black Diamond RushCard, whereby you can load up the card from your payroll or other source of income. Essentially a debit card, we think the marketing execs at Visa were a little confused when they named this one.

They did name it a Black Diamond, and since diamonds are actually made out of compressed carbon, maybe that’s what they really meant. You’ve got to admit, the “Visa Carbon” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

ZINC

Actual Cost: $.06/ounce

Annual Fee: $25/year

Seeing as how American Express enjoys using metals to market their cards, Zinc would be an obvious choice. But since they are aiming this card toward illiterate teenagers, they misspelled the name of the Amex Zync. R they crzy?

The Zync is a card that you pay in full each month, with only a $25 annual fee—perfect for a new credit card user. And Zinc (the metal) is known to be useful for plating, where thin layers are put onto iron or steel in a process called galvanizing, which protects from corrosion. So, if you are planning on getting a Zync card from American Express, make sure you let them know that you’re only signing up for this card because it’s not going to rust.

Hey, Credit Card Marketers – We’ve Got Some Ideas

Look, if you’re going to use element names for your credit cards, why not be a bit more creative? There are 109 periodic elements, you know! One hundred and nine. You’re not nearly maximizing your potential here. We’ve put together a short list of future credit cards that we imagine will soon be coming to a wallet near you.

BORON

Actual Cost: $100,000/pure ounce

Annual Fee: $5,000/year

Who doesn’t like a little Boron? This is known as a borderline metal non-metal. We think it’s borderline awesome. Although the price of a boron cleaner like Borax is very cheap, the price of pure boron is ridiculously expensive, letting the credit card marketers charge an outrageous annual fee. The perk is, it would come with its own live-in housekeeper. What’s more of a non boring credit card than a boron credit card?

KRYPTON

Actual Cost: $.90/ounce

Annual Fee: $100,000/year

Who doesn’t want their own Krypton Kard? Krypton is a cheap, colorless, odorless gas that is present in our air at one part per million, but nobody knows that. Everyone thinks if you come from the planet Krypton, you have superpowers. Such as the power to spend massive amounts of dough on your card, which is pretty powerful. Who wouldn’t want to be able to show off their super spending powers with a superpowered Krypton credit card?

UNUNOCTIUM

Actual Cost: UNOBTAINABLE

Annual Fee: $1,000,000,000/year

Scientists working in nuclear reactors have produced just one atom of this exceedingly rare element in the spring of 2002, and two more atoms in the spring of 2005. At that rate, this element is priceless — and not the MasterCard kind of priceless, but actually priceless. This card should reflect that, with an annual fee of one billion dollars, which earns you command of a small country each year.

Ununoctium is the new black (credit card). Who would ever be impressed by a Black Card again once they have seen someone slap down an “Unobtainable” Ununoctium credit card to pay for a meal?

Don’t Hold Your Breath for These Future Credit Cards

If you are planning on waiting for a Krypton credit card offer to come down the pike before you apply for a credit card then you may be waiting quite a while. Read through our credit card reviews and then check out our free tool to compare credit cards that are available NOW!

The current state of the economy has put Americans in a new frame of mind – one that says it isn’t fun anymore to be in debt. Some folks are even trying to go “all cash” to get away from the danger of checking overdrafts and/or identity theft.

But, you never know when you might actually need to use credit, whether you want to or not. There are times when the car engine blows up, or the furnace goes out in 10 degree weather – and you don’t have enough savings to cover repairs or replacement.

Owning and using a credit card will help keep you in a position to access credit quickly in that kind of emergency.

First, it will give you instant access to funds up to your credit limit. That might be all you need to cover the cost of a furnace repair man or a rental car to use while yours is in the shop.

But just as importantly, wise use of your credit card will help you keep your credit scores high – so if that car is beyond repair and you need a new one, you’ll not only be able to get a car loan, you’ll pay a lower interest rate.

The way you pay bills accounts for 35% of your credit score. So using your credit and paying your bills on time helps build higher credit scores.

You do have to be careful. Use the card sparingly, and pay it off when the bill arrives. Be careful never to charge over 30% of your credit limit – less than 25% is even better. Do use the card every 2- 4 months, so that you continually demonstrate your bill paying abilities – and so that you don’t get hit with an inactivity fee.

If you have to charge a higher percentage of your limit because of an emergency, and have to carry a balance, pay it down as quickly as possible.

Another big factor in your credit report is the length of time that you’ve had and used credit. So don’t wait to get a credit card until you think you might need it. Get it now. And don’t just take the first card that is offered to you. Do some research and choose the card that has the lowest fees and interest rate.

No matter how determined you are to be debt free, don’t cancel any old cards. Keep them, and use them just often enough for them to remain active.

The first step in building and maintaining your credit is to know your scores. So get your free online credit report with scores and see where you stand. Be sure to check for errors, and get them corrected if you find them. Then read the suggestions for improving your scores.

It’s very wise to stay out of debt – but it’s vital to have credit available when you actually need it.

The title of the study is, “Who Gains and Who Loses from Credit Card Payments? – Theory and Calibrations” by Scott Schuh, Oz Shy, and Joanna Stavins. Here is the abstract:

“Merchant fees and reward programs generate an implicit monetary transfer to credit card users from non-card (or “cash”) users because merchants generally do not set differential prices for card users to recoup the costs of fees and rewards. On average, each cash-using household pays $151 to card-using households and each card-using household receives $1,482 from cash users every year. Because credit card spending and rewards are positively correlated with household income, the payment instrument transfer also induces a regressive transfer from low-income to high-income households in general. On average, and after accounting for rewards paid to households by banks, the lowest-income household ($20,000 or less annually) pays $23 and the highest-income household ($150,000 or more annually) receives $756 every year. We build and calibrate a model of consumer payment choice to compute the effects of merchant fees and card rewards on consumer welfare. Reducing merchant fees and card rewards would likely increase consumer welfare.”

Should We Believe the Study’s Conclusions Blindly?

Much has been said about this study but it seems that most writers are blindly accepting the conclusions of this study simply because, well, it’s called a “study” and Schuh, Shy, and Stavins must know what they are talking about, right? Well, not so much.

What the Study Gets Right

The study is right on the mark when they point out that credit card users typically end up paying less for a given item (after credit card rewards are taken into account) than someone who is paying cash. The study is also right on the mark when it points out the fact that most merchants (aside from gas stations) do not set different prices for items based on the payment method (meaning that the credit card processing fee is already built into the cost of the item).

What the Study Gets Horribly Wrong

There are a number of different issues that I take with the study and it’s conclusions but here are two major things that the study gets horribly wrong: the “Give and Take” issue and the “Rich vs Poor” issue. Let’s take a look at each in turn.

“Give and Take”

Is it even proper to frame the issue like “give and take”? Every different type of cost that a store has is priced into the purchase price of the products it sells. Why should the convenience of credit cards be treated any differently?

What about bathrooms? Bathrooms are convenient yet some people choose (probably wisely) to never ever use a gas station bathroom. However, whether they use the bathroom or not then the cost of having a bathroom available to customers of the gas station is a part of the price of every single item in the gas station convenience store. Does this mean that gas station bathroom users “take” from those who choose to not use the gas station bathroom? Of course not. The convenience of using the gas station bathroom is available to all and the cost borne by all just like the convenience of using credit cards is available to all and the cost borne by all.

Pretty simple stuff right? We could go on and on with all kinds of other examples of things that are available for everyone to use at a given store but only used by some and yet still not free because they are baked into the price of every item but I hope that the bathroom example gets this simple point across clearly enough. Let’s take a look at the second major error with the study’s conclusions.

“Rich vs Poor”

The second area where the study goes horribly wrong is when they insinuate a poor to rich transfer via credit cards. Let’s take a look at the thought process used:

The price of an item is the same for both cash buyers and credit card buyers.
For cash buyers the price of the item is likely higher than it would be if there were no credit card processing costs built into the item’s price.
Credit card use is highly correlated with being rich.
Therefore, credit cards take from the poor and give to the rich.

See anything wrong with the above reasoning process used in the study?

If you guessed “Lurking Variable/Confounding/Correlation Does Not Imply Causation” then you are right! The higher someone’s income is then the more likely that they are to use their credit cards more BUT that does not mean that credit cards take from the poor and give to the rich it simply means that credit cards “take” (see the above “Give and Take” section to see why I chose to use quotation marks) from the cash users and give to the credit card users (and in fact – credit cards also GIVE even to cash users via economies of scale through easy efficient payment processing, especially online, that lets more stuff get sold at an overall cheaper price to everyone but that is a discussion for another day).

If someone makes $6 an hour or $600 an hour then the price that they pay for an item is exactly the same AND if they have the same rewards credit card then the credit card rewards that they receive are exactly the same too. Income is not a causal factor in the equation. Choosing to use or not use a credit card is the causal factor. Those who use credit cards are rewarded via credit card rewards and those who use cash are “penalized” (in a sense) because of the passing up – the foregone benefit of credit card rewards that they are neglecting to receive by virtue of them paying with cash instead BUT-

BUT, BUT, BUT

It’s very important to understand that the people who are choosing to pay with cash rather than a credit card are presumably paying with cash because of some other real or perceived benefit to them (i.e. they are a hard line believer of the Dave Ramsey view of credit cards and are able to be more responsible with their money by only using cash or some other reason that makes sense to them). Assuming that pretty much everyone can get a decent credit card (and yes, there are even student credit cards and bad credit credit cards that offer rewards of some kind) then isn’t it just as ridiculous to demand separate pricing for cash payers as it would be to demand separate pricing for non bathroom users?

Imagine this scenario:

You walk into a gas station convenience store and say, “Hi, I would like the no-credit-card-convenience, the no-bathroom-convenience, and no-trash-can-convenience special pricing for my gallon of milk, please. Is that possible? Oh, and one other thing, can you please reduce the price a little more and give me the no-customer-service-for-asking-stupid-questions pricing as well?”

To which the reply is: “I am sorry sir, but the pricing is the same for everyone – and you would not qualify for the no-customer-service-for-asking-stupid-questions pricing even if such a thing existed, my friend.”

What do YOU Think?

Do you agree with the conclusions of the study?

What do you think about the “Give and Take” framing of the argument?

Why do you suppose the authors of the study chose to imply this “robbing of the poor to give to the rich” type of effect?

Imagine trying to figure out how to pay with this guy staring at you...

It’s time to publicly display some of these awful card readers, and demand that credit card companies come up with an easy-to-use standard. No one should have to live through technological horrors like these.

#10 The Card-O-Matica

Does a credit card machine really need to look this complicated?

The “Stripe Side” method of describing where to place the magnetic strip has one problem: should the strip be up or down? When faced with this techno-monstrosity, you might just forget.

#9 One Keyboard Too Many

The tiny credit card diagram tells me which way to swipe my card, but I’m distracted by the ENORMOUS KEYBOARD THAT SERVES NO PURPOSE IMAGINABLE. And what about the four useless purple buttons? Were they having a sale at the purple button factory?

#8 Headrest From… Hell

Since the screen is actually flush with the seat, you actually have to ROTATE the screen upward in order to purchase something on this airline flight. No instructions here for frazzled fliers on that key step.

You’ll likely have to figure it out at some point, since otherwise you won’t get to eat during your trip.

#7 Sonically Shady

Maybe you’re supposed to just SLAM YOUR CARD into this one, since there is no diagram explaining how to insert your card. And aren’t you curious what the blue “?” button does? It probably shuts the entire machine down. NO TOTS FOR YOU!

#6 The Farecatcher

I can’t even believe this screen has a cash option. Like you’re going to pull out your cash with the driver giving you that creepy backseat glare.

How do you make the taxi payment experience more complicated than it already is? Make sure the diagram is impossible to tell whether it’s referring to the FRONT or the BACK of the card.

#5 A Reader with a Mouth

This may be the only card reader I’ve seen with a speaker. Great, a machine that talks back. “YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG, FOOLISH HUMAN!”

Showing me the backside of the card doesn’t really explain what I need to do here, although I’m glad the downward arrow is there – I’d be lost without it.

#4 The Card Destroyer 2000

This military-grade space reader suggests that the machine will give me a green “yes” or yellow “no” answer on my purchase of interplanetary rations. Did I mention this will let me survive in a wasteland-type future where the only currency is credit cards?

Regardless, this machine offers the best arrow I’ve seen in the business! Except for, you know, any arrowlike features at all.

#3 Double Trouble

Whizzat?! The custom-made sign suggests that many people have problems with this apparatus, and no wonder: not only do you have to slide your card, you have to navigate two different screens via this incredibly complicated grocery self-checkout machine.

By the way, I count NINE arrows on this device telling me what to do. Credit card companies should be allowed a maximum of one.

#2 The Ol’ Switcheroo

The problem with this one is that unlike MOST card readers, you have to swipe this one the COMPLETE OPPOSITE way. The diagram does show you the back of the card, but so do other machines that require you to swipe your card ON ITS SIDE.

And Finally…

#1 The Key to This Problem

The image below this KeyBank reader suggests that you’re supposed to face the card the same way as shown. Seems pretty logical, doesn’t it? I think we should give KeyBank an award for this helpful credit card diagram, as well as a letter of congratulations:

August 2, 2010

Dear KeyBank:

I’d like to thank you for your pioneering work on advancing the progress of credit card diagrams. It appears that other credit card readers were put together by some slappy who has never used a credit card before.

Regardless, we would like to present an award for your accomplishments. It’s really a thing of beauty to use a card reader from your company, as the process is as smooth as a milkshake on a sunny day. Yes, it really is that smooth, I’m serious.

Here is the award. We’re also going to mail you a hard copy that you can frame, as soon as we get some of that shiny paper that awards go on.

All the Best,
NSOFCCU

National Society of Frustrated Credit Card Users

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This policy exceeds the federal law that allows for no more than $50 being covered by the customer. This policy is in response to the growth in identity theft and fraud.

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If someone has zero balance, they may or may not still be able to use their card, depending on the company’s guidelines. If the card is used, an over-limit fee will probably be charged.

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0.012 (working capital / total assets) + 0.014 (retained earnings / total assets) + 0.033 (earnings before interest and taxes / total assets) + 0.006 (market value of equity/ total of liabilities) + .999(sales / total assets)

Z scores of 3 or more are sound companies, unlikely to go into bankruptcy. Scores that are lower than 3 but above 2.7 should be considered low risk, but still should be approached with caution. Scores lower than 2.7 are considered at high risk in the next two years for bankruptcy, while those lower than 1.8 are considered to be in immediate risk.

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