Personal credit card on the road?

[SocialD]

The entire GTC program is bullshit.  I've had people purchase stuff while activated that if they had just pulled cash off their card (per diem) and bought it with that cash, it wouldn't have been a problem.  But since they put it on the card, it's suddenly a "big deal."  Insane hypocrisy in their own rules.  Another incident the dude realize it, called himself out and paid it off asap...still had to do GTC misuse paperwork because big AF want's the some butts (the misuse form).  I generally scoffed the form until one day the OG texts me and says someone way up the chain isn't happy with me and wants the paperwork.  So in the comments I put in that the time spent filling out this form amounts to fraud, waste and abuse.  Also mentioned that this is simply the cost of doing business when you force people to have/use a GTC.

Brabus is right, the SQ/CC mostly holds the hammer here, but it certainly helps to have some good top cover from the OG/CC.  

[ClearedHot]

2 hours ago, brabus said:

And the discipline is up to your SQ/CC, so unless someone has an absolute douche bag of a SQ/CC, they’ll be fine. I remember some admin person telling me I had to use a GTC for something, I said “don’t care,” and that’s when they threw out your sq/cc could punish you…I think I LOL’d and just walked away. I was pretty confident I could slap that thing down at Palominos (for dinner obviously!) and he wouldn’t give a fuck. 

I know a dude who many years ago MISTAKENLY used his GTC to purchase gas for his personal vehicle, it happened to look very similar to his personal Visa and he pulled the wrong card out of his wallet.  He immediately notified his chain of command and sent a payment but they decided to punish him for his egregious mistake.  His commander was a complete douche and was looking for a reason to end this guys career, which he did.  The dude kept a good sense of humor and actually dressed up as a credit card at a squadron Halloween party. 

[uhhello]

1 hour ago, SocialD said:

The entire GTC program is bullshit.  I've had people purchase stuff while activated that if they had just pulled cash off their card (per diem) and bought it with that cash, it wouldn't have been a problem.  But since they put it on the card, it's suddenly a "big deal."  Insane hypocrisy in their own rules.  Another incident the dude realize it, called himself out and paid it off asap...still had to do GTC misuse paperwork because big AF want's the some butts (the misuse form).  I generally scoffed the form until one day the OG texts me and says someone way up the chain isn't happy with me and wants the paperwork.  So in the comments I put in that the time spent filling out this form amounts to fraud, waste and abuse.  Also mentioned that this is simply the cost of doing business when you force people to have/use a GTC.

Brabus is right, the SQ/CC mostly holds the hammer here, but it certainly helps to have some good top cover from the OG/CC.  

Yup, but it will never go away.  It kicks back a shit ton of money to the bases.  Damn the time/drama/waste associated with it.  

[FLEA]

1 hour ago, ClearedHot said:

I know a dude who many years ago MISTAKENLY used his GTC to purchase gas for his personal vehicle, it happened to look very similar to his personal Visa and he pulled the wrong card out of his wallet.  He immediately notified his chain of command and sent a payment but they decided to punish him for his egregious mistake.  His commander was a complete douche and was looking for a reason to end this guys career, which he did.  The dude kept a good sense of humor and actually dressed up as a credit card at a squadron Halloween party. 

This exact thing happened to me. I received an LOC over it. I freaked out at the time. I actually reached out to Toro on this forum to talk about it because we tend to instill this fear of god into officers that any sort of paperwork is a career ender. Toro was great an shared some of his experiences, got me to think with a whole lot more perspective. Long story short it wasn't a career ender, and had very little effect on me. But it was still any annoying experience to go through. Turning in my GTC when I separated was one of the happiest days of my life. Its one of the dumbest programs on the planet and in so many manners I find it completely unethical. The member is the only person who bears any accountability for negative impacts of using a GTC. The government in no was assumes any of the risk. Example: Its a credit card, but its tied to your personal credit. Or, you have to pay it on time, but we don't have to pay you on time. 

Edited March 31, 2023 by FLEA

[LiquidSky]

5 minutes ago, uhhello said:

Yup, but it will never go away.  It kicks back a shit ton of money to the bases.  Damn the time/drama/waste associated with it.  

It kicks back 1% to the units. 

But guess what? We have the only travel card in the modern day that charges you foreign transaction fees. So for every crew on the road you get a net 0 back (1% extra cost for foreign transaction VS 1% back).

Their conversion rates are also trash. They randomly close cards and don't notify members as well.

The only good thing is they give people that can't get cards (and shouldn't have then tbh) something to use. And then when these people screw up and go months overdue, there's no insane interest.

[uhhello]

1 hour ago, LiquidSky said:

It kicks back 1% to the units. 

But guess what? We have the only travel card in the modern day that charges you foreign transaction fees. So for every crew on the road you get a net 0 back (1% extra cost for foreign transaction VS 1% back).

Their conversion rates are also trash. They randomly close cards and don't notify members as well.

The only good thing is they give people that can't get cards (and shouldn't have then tbh) something to use. And then when these people screw up and go months overdue, there's no insane interest.

Never said it was a good card or deal for the govt.  It is for the govt though so not sure you expect anything but garbage.  

[SocialD]

1 hour ago, uhhello said:

Yup, but it will never go away.  It kicks back a shit ton of money to the bases.  Damn the time/drama/waste associated with it.  

 

 

I sit in on the meetings where they brief what we get...it isn't in a realm I would call "shit ton of money," at least at my little Guard base.  But agree with the rest, so unless it's a ridiculously clear cut case of fraud, my care o meter is pretty low when finance freaks out over "GTC misuse." 

 

 

1 hour ago, FLEA said:

Its one of the dumbest programs on the planet and in so many manners I find it completely unethical. The member is the only person who bears any accountability for negative impacts of using a GTC. The government in no was assumes any of the risk. Example: Its a credit card, but its tied to your personal credit. Or, you have to pay it on time, but we don't have to pay you on time. 

 

This!  I get you're in the military and some freedoms are given up, but being forced to use a GTC AND having it count against your credit is insane.  On the flip side, I've let my card go WAY overdue because I never put anything on it that isn't reimbursable (airline, rental/gas, hotel), and I've never once had it hit my credit.  If they don't want late fees, then they need to pay it on time.  I was also threatened with the "your credit will take a hit," to which I said my credit is >800, but if I do take a hit, I'll pay cash like I did for my last house.     

[skibum]

39 minutes ago, SocialD said:

I sit in on the meetings where they brief what we get...it isn't in a realm I would call "shit ton of money," at least at my little Guard base. 

I actually asked if I could decline the funds for my base and eliminate the GTC mandate for my wing (also tried to close the BX...another story). I got a call from my 2-star boss who said "Really?! Are we going to have a conversation like this every week?" Got no traction.

[herkbum]

Yup, but it will never go away.  It kicks back a shit ton of money to the bases.  Damn the time/drama/waste associated with it.  

When I was a SQ/CC, the WG/CC pressured us to put members who were overdue on their cards in a deployed status so the wing wouldn’t lose its cash from the cc company.


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[uhhello]

29 minutes ago, herkbum said:

 

When I was a SQ/CC, the WG/CC pressured us to put members who were overdue on their cards in a deployed status so the wing wouldn’t lose its cash from the cc company.


Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

 

Always.  In my experience, the ops world is MUCH better at rationally working GTC/Voucher issues.  Ops world approving officials are more likely to have acutally been on same trip or have at least been TDY before.  MX world, it's some crusty civilian who follows the letter of the law with no exceptions and the leadership support him/her everytime.  

[Smokin]

9 hours ago, LiquidSky said:

It kicks back 1% to the units.

Sure it's 1%?  When I looked it up (it was close to two decades ago so may have changed) it was 1/4 of 1%.  As in 1/12 of the money I get back using my good travel card.

[uhhello]

5 minutes ago, Smokin said:

Sure it's 1%?  When I looked it up (it was close to two decades ago so may have changed) it was 1/4 of 1%.  As in 1/12 of the money I get back using my good travel card.

You would think they could get a smoking deal.  Probably a million total users all controlled mandatory payers with pretty much guaranteed payments.  

[disgruntledemployee]

Just sell the GTC card number on the dark web, wait for the fraud, then cancel it.  Repeat as necessary.

[FLEA]

2 hours ago, uhhello said:

You would think they could get a smoking deal.  Probably a million total users all controlled mandatory payers with pretty much guaranteed payments.  

Well.... credit card companies dont actually make money off the good payers.....

[guineapigfury]

3 hours ago, FLEA said:

Well.... credit card companies dont actually make money off the good payers.....

They don't make as much, but transaction fees charged to merchants every time you swipe add up.

[FourFans]

20 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

I know a dude who many years ago MISTAKENLY used his GTC to purchase gas for his personal vehicle, it happened to look very similar to his personal Visa and he pulled the wrong card out of his wallet.  He immediately notified his chain of command and sent a payment but they decided to punish him for his egregious mistake.  His commander was a complete douche and was looking for a reason to end this guys career, which he did.  The dude kept a good sense of humor and actually dressed up as a credit card at a squadron Halloween party. 

So...ops normal for an airlift unit commanded by a crossflow turd snorkeling tanker clown?

Edited April 1, 2023 by FourFans

[brabus]

22 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

I know a dude who many years ago MISTAKENLY used his GTC

I have a friend who accidentally used his GTC at a strip club. But he didn’t say shit and paid it off like normal. Zero questions asked. Two entities you never confide to: finance about mistaken GTC use and game wardens about mistaken game issues. Both will burn you at the stake for a 100% unintentional mistaken identity problem that’s sometimes easy to make. 

[Scooter14]

So...ops normal for an airlift unit commanded by a crossflow turd snorkeling tanker clown?

I think the “crossflow” part is probably the root cause of the problem…



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[SocialD]

29 minutes ago, brabus said:

I have a friend who accidentally used his GTC at a strip club. But he didn’t say shit and paid it off like normal. Zero questions asked. Two entities you never confide to: finance about mistaken GTC use and game wardens about mistaken game issues. Both will burn you at the stake for a 100% unintentional mistaken identity problem that’s sometimes easy to make. 

 

 

The borg actually flags purchases based on location ID.  At least that's how it was explained to me by our GTC Ninja warrior.  Maybe your GTC ninja just took pity as he followed the all to familiar trail...purchases at the Nells class-6, flamingo, Nugget then strip joint.  Dude probably thought back to all the times he did the same and was like, story checks out...approved!  

[brabus]

1 minute ago, SocialD said:

The borg actually flags purchases based on location ID.

“Sir, I went there for the high quality steak dinner, that’s all I paid for, I swear!”

”Why are there 3x ATM withdrawals for $300 each spread across a 4 hr period”

”uhhhh….”

[uhhello]

I also know from a friends experience that the card will be denied at flagged locations like liquor stores and what not.  

[HuggyU2]

13 hours ago, brabus said:

I have a friend who accidentally used his GTC at a strip club. 

Let me guess... he also tripped and fell, and his penis fell into one of the strippers, right?  

"Accidentally"?  Your friend needs some mentoring. 

Edited April 2, 2023 by HuggyU2

[SocialD]

59 minutes ago, HuggyU2 said:

Let me guess... he also tripped and fell, and his penis fell into one of the strippers, right?  

 

 

You too?!?!

[FLEA]

Good tip I picked up after my incident was to put scotch take over the magnetic strip (and now the chip) of the card to prevent accidental swiping. I don't know if they are going touchless yet but that might be a bit harder to prevent so hopefully they dont go there.

[Pooter]

Yet another horseshit aspect of the GTC, a tale as old as time:

-get home from a deployment

-fill out voucher at finance day after with over the shoulder guidance from finance

-finance kicks back the voucher they helped me create

-9 grand in airline/rental car fees just sitting there overdue

-now I'm on the naughty list

-pay the 9 grand out of my personal account to get off the naughty list

-voucher approved 2 days later

-get on Citi website to get refunded 

-I have to wait 10 effing business days for a refund because of transaction timing limits