So how does charging your meal on your credit card work onboard?

[neroden]

Cash is by far the most secure form of payment in this day and age. No worries about your card number being lifted by electronic thievery.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

My usual go to form of payment is check, actually.

 

[JoeBas]

Bet you're popular at the grocery store.

 

[neroden]

I like checks too, but it turns out that bank security on electronic transfers is awful, so the fact that checks contain your bank account number makes them less secure than cash. :-(

 

[andersone]

i have only recently begun using a credit card for daily stuff. I told She Who Must Be Obeyed the other evening how strange it seemed for the change cup in the Tahoe to be almost empty - I would always just dump my change there after going to the store. I will also admit to enjoying the convenience but for the Glacier trip I will still pay for almost everything but gas in cash,,, as mentioned it's tough to tip the SCA with a Visa,,,,,, and I really don't ever think I will go cashless, stopping once a week at the bank for cash lets me mingle with the charming young ladies employed there,,,,

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Heh, I eat out like 5 days a week minimum probably, and eat leftovers the other days. Retails a lifestyle.

And most of my spending is merchandise related. I always pay suppliers with checks. I want the paper trail so I won't use cash and they don't want me to use credit cards on a wholesale transaction.

 

[BCL]

Well if the airlines can charge your credit card at 35000 feet for those crap 8 dollar snack packs I'm sure Amtrak could do it much easier on the ground. It just sounds like just another tick on things Amtrak could improve on but isn't.

Airplanes use satellite phones to connect to the bank and charge your credit card. Perhaps down the road Amtrak will do the same for areas where cell phone service is non existent. Satellite phone calls are expensive, like ships at seas.

Bruce-SSR

Why would they want to use satellite? I've paid for in-flight internet service before, and the FAQs mention that they're connected to ground-based cellular towers.

 

[BCL]

I remember MasterCharge before it became MasterCard but not Bank Americard...

It was originally a service of Bank of America. They're actually using the BankAmericard name again on their credit cards, but of course they're really just Visa or MC. The history was crazy. They just sent unsolicited credit cards to their customers and they were absolutely swamped with delinquent accounts. It was the brainchild of a guy in their marketing department, but one without a whole lot of financial experience.

It was actually a nonprofit bankers cooperative when BofA spun it off. Of course the name had to change, since it was basically attached to the name of the bank that started it. The history says 1975 was when they came up with the name Visa, but back then I recall it didn't reach the retailers until maybe 1977 or 1978. The cooperative used different names, including Chargex, Barclaycard, Carte Bleue, and other names associated with the issuing banks. The common thing was the color scheme of the card.

 

[jis]

Why would they want to use satellite? I've paid for in-flight internet service before, and the FAQs mention that they're connected to ground-based cellular towers.

Depends on the airline and the specific system that they use. Only purely domestic carriers who do not provide internet service on trans-oceanic flights could do so using terrestrial networks. Intercontinental flights that fly across oceans would have a certain level of difficulty if they were using terrestrial cellular network. For example United's inflight Wi-Fi is satellite based and is available worldwide.

 

[fairviewroad]

people had left their cards with him

Wow, really? Not sure I'd be comfortable doing that. I mean, I assume he kept the cards under lock and key, but still...

 

[Silver Star rider]

people had left their cards with him

Wow, really? Not sure I'd be comfortable doing that. I mean, I assume he kept the cards under lock and key, but still...

neither would I. When I was at a retail business working on their internet connection that wasn't working, the sales person would take down the appropriate information to enter later. It the customer didn't like that, well... which is why the salesperson was yelling at me.. he was losing business.

All you need is the 16 digit account number, the security code on the back, exp date, and that's it. You don't need to scan the card. It is just allot simpler to swipe then enter the account number by hand.

Bruce-SSR

 

[Green Maned Lion]

You also get charged more for a manual capture than a swipe capture.

 

[BCL]

Why would they want to use satellite? I've paid for in-flight internet service before, and the FAQs mention that they're connected to ground-based cellular towers.

Depends on the airline and the specific system that they use. Only purely domestic carriers who do not provide internet service on trans-oceanic flights could do so using terrestrial networks. Intercontinental flights that fly across oceans would have a certain level of difficulty if they were using terrestrial cellular network. For example United's inflight Wi-Fi is satellite based and is available worldwide.

It was a United where I used the service. It was Gogo and the flight was JFK-SFO. They only serve United between JFK and SFO or LAX. They use different services on other routes. Gogo mentions that they about to launch a Ku-band satellite service soon and a Ka-band service in the future. However, I think they're goal is to choose what's the most practical for the route.

http://www.gogoair.com/gogo/cms/united.do

 

[Ryan]

Intercontinental flights that fly across oceans would have a certain level of difficulty if they were using terrestrial cellular network.

That's certainly one way of putting it!

 

[seat38a]

You also get charged more for a manual capture than a swipe capture.

Not always true. That maybe the general case for small merchants but its something that cam be negotiated based on volume of sales that you have. But then again this being Amtrak, It would not surprise me they pay more per transaction than they should even on the swipes.

 

[jis]

Why would they want to use satellite? I've paid for in-flight internet service before, and the FAQs mention that they're connected to ground-based cellular towers.

Depends on the airline and the specific system that they use. Only purely domestic carriers who do not provide internet service on trans-oceanic flights could do so using terrestrial networks. Intercontinental flights that fly across oceans would have a certain level of difficulty if they were using terrestrial cellular network. For example United's inflight Wi-Fi is satellite based and is available worldwide.

It was a United where I used the service. It was Gogo and the flight was JFK-SFO. They only serve United between JFK and SFO or LAX. They use different services on other routes. Gogo mentions that they about to launch a Ku-band satellite service soon and a Ka-band service in the future. However, I think they're goal is to choose what's the most practical for the route.

http://www.gogoair.com/gogo/cms/united.do

My understanding is that United eventually plans to abandon terrestrial and standardize on satellite. But that could be wrong. I think what happened is pre merger United decided to go with Gogo for the PS service aircraft using terrestrial link and then the merger happened and everything changed. All the post merger WiFi conversions of 737s 3xxs, 747s, 767s, 777s and ETOPS 757s are getting the satellite variety. Eventually the 787s will too, but currently there are no 787s with WiFi. United's FAQ on WiFi says it is based on satellite link.

 

[lstone19]

Well if the airlines can charge your credit card at 35000 feet for those crap 8 dollar snack packs I'm sure Amtrak could do it much easier on the ground. It just sounds like just another tick on things Amtrak could improve on but isn't.

Airplanes use satellite phones to connect to the bank and charge your credit card. Perhaps down the road Amtrak will do the same for areas where cell phone service is non existent. Satellite phone calls are expensive, like ships at seas.

Bruce-SSR

Couple of the flight attendants have mentioned in the aviation forum that I frequent that those machines do NOT connect to the bank. It takes your info and it gets processed when on the ground. Unless something has changed, but $1.00 headsets don't seem worth getting a satellite system to process your card.

On the airline I work for, they record the data in the device the FAs carry and then it's uploaded once the plane is on the ground. Nothing real time.

 

[GG-1]

. Unless something has changed, but $1.00 headsets don't seem worth getting a satellite system to process your card.

Aloha

Last week headsets were $4.00. So now satellites may be used