RV park requirements

[NY_Dutch]

I cannot imagine life today without a credit card! I haven’t paid for anything other than fast food with cash or a check for years. Some of the bills in my wallet have been in there for months, maybe years.

And if a credit card goes against the OP's credo, then perhaps a debit card would be a reasonable compromise. Most are accepted everywhere credit cards are accepted and the charges are deducted directly from the associated checking or savings account the same checks. Most issuing banks, etc, provide the same fraud protections as they do for their credit cards.

 

[DonTom]

I cannot imagine life today without a credit card! I haven’t paid for anything other than fast food with cash or a check for years. Some of the bills in my wallet have been in there for months, maybe years.

I even use credit cards for fast food and $2.00 charges. These days, using credit is usually faster than cash.

What is a check?

-Don- St. Cloud, FL

 

[DonTom]

Most issuing banks, etc, provide the same fraud protections as they do for their credit cards.

"The bad news is that using a debit card is just not as safe as using a credit card — even after new rules went into effect to restrict overdraft charges caused by debit purchases."

See here.

-Don- St. Cloud, FL.

 

[Lou Schneider]

I even use credit cards for fast food and $2.00 charges. These days, using credit is usually faster than cash.

What is a check?

-Don- St. Cloud, FL

Not only is it faster, but even at 1 - 2% the rebates quickly add up. My card rebates 3% for fuel purchases, which at $3+ a gallon is enough to bridge the difference between the cash and credit prices.

 

[DonTom]

My card rebates 3% for fuel purchases, which at $3+ a gallon is enough to bridge the difference between the cash and credit prices.

Yep. I normally use my Harley Visa for fuel and my Smith's Visa for random stuff. This means I get synthetic oils and filters for free, with other stuff, by the time my Harley needs an oil change. I also get checks to get my groceries for free at Smith's, by using that card. Both are from US Bank.

What I don't understand is I see more people use debit cards than credit cards, Debit cards normally give nothing and are not as safe to use. I normally only use debit cards at Arco gas stations because they do not accept credit cards.

-Don- St. Cloud, Fl

 

[ziplock]

at Smith's

What kind of store is that? Never heard of it. Is it a west coast store?

 

[NY_Dutch]

"The bad news is that using a debit card is just not as safe as using a credit card — even after new rules went into effect to restrict overdraft charges caused by debit purchases."

See here.

-Don- St. Cloud, FL.

I suggested a debit card as a compromise since the the OP doesn't want a credit card. A debit card still offers better protections than paying with cash even if it's not quite as safe as a credit card.

Nothing really new in your link beyond the mention of the new overdraft regulations. I don't have the overdraft feature turned on for the limited account we use for our debit cards, so that's never an issue. The account we use typically only has enough funds in it to support our short term spending like grocery shopping, meals out, etc. Money is transferred to it from other accounts as needed. Our fuel purchases are made with a 5% cash rebate Pentagon Federal Credit Union Visa card, not a debit card.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

1. Do I have to have trailer insurance to stay at an RV park?

The short answer is No, but what sort of insurance are you asking about? The RV park doesn't care if your trailer is insured for damage - that's your worry. They might be concerned about liability for harm you personally might cause to the park or other campers, but I've never heard of a requirement for campers to have personal liability insurance. Trailers don't have vehicle liability insurance anyway - they are covered under the tow vehicle's liability policy while under tow.

 

[Lou Schneider]

What kind of store is that? Never heard of it. Is it a west coast store?

Smith's is one of the Kroger supermarket chains. 132 locations in Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.

 

[Larry N.]

What kind of store is that? Never heard of it. Is it a west coast store?

Smiths is one of many Kroger brands of grocery store. I've encountered them in Arizona. It's like King Soopers in Colorado, or many others they have. There's even a Fry's, which has sometimes been confused with an electronics store.

Later- I see Lou beat me to the punch.

 

[DonTom]

What kind of store is that? Never heard of it. Is it a west coast store?

Perhaps mostly. It's a large grocery store chain. But they are even here in Fl.

-Don- St. Cloud, FL

 

[ziplock]

like King Soopers in Colorado,

I've been to one of those in Colorado.

On the east coast, they are like Safeway or Giant.

I have a very funny story about King Soopers and our visit there with my Father in law back on Xmas week in 1998, but till I was done typing the story, I still would not be able to tell it right.

Do you have a story that you just can't describe good enough for anyone to enjoy it like you could?

 

[Trivet]

What I don't understand is I see more people use debit cards than credit cards, Debit cards normally give nothing and are not as safe to use.

A lot of people have problems handling credit and know it, so they choose to use debit cards (good for them!), or maybe they can't even get a credit card.

Others have credit cards with low limits and they want to leave a cushion on the card. I ran into this on a work trip once, where the employees would be reimbursed for their plane tickets but one of them didn't want to put that much on her credit card even if she was going to have the money to pay it off when due.

Then again, I have a friend who I know has plenty of money and I was surprised to see her use a debit card at Trader Joe's one day. Maybe she likes the security of using a PIN.

My credit card had 64 Uber charges on it, totaling about $2,000, even though I don't even have an Uber account. Yes, they were removed, but it took several hours of work on my part, including finally making a spreadsheet of them to match the deletions to the charges because things weren't adding up. It turned out USAA removed only some of the Uber charges for some unknown reason, and then charged interest on the ones they failed to remove! It was an ungodly mess, and I don't think this sort of thing happens with a debit card.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

I can see where the OP is coming from, overall credit is a construct to facilitate the more efficient reduction of your wealth. Most of what we see as consumers is "convenience", retailers as "opportunity" but in the end the credit companies are making mad profits moving money around. Behind the scenes they're using and selling your personal data and good luck getting a house or car loan without a good credit score, which you can only build by buying things. So it's a mad race to the bottom and if you don't want to play, then your life becomes difficult. Throw in the credit bureau data breach of a few years ago and now you have a perfect storm of of your financial life being compromised totally beyond your control. Practically speaking though I'm not sure credit is the sole path of risk, there are plenty more in this modern day of automated transfers, transactions and accounts with your personal information scattered about. Does that mean you shouldn't attempt a credit-free lifestyle? Not sure it's worth it balanced with all the other risks but I do understand it.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[DonTom]

My credit card had 64 Uber charges on it, totaling about $2,000, even though I don't even have an Uber account.

Over how much time? I have had fraud on my credit cards as well, but I normally notice it on the same day or day after. I check my accounts often (every few days) and pay them all as I go through them.

A much bigger problem is credit cards not being approved because fraud is expected, when it was really me.

-Don- St. Cloud, FL

 

[SeilerBird]

What I don't understand is I see more people use debit cards than credit cards, Debit cards normally give nothing and are not as safe to use. I normally only use debit cards at Arco gas stations because they do not accept credit cards.

-Don- St. Cloud, Fl

I have discovered that my BofA debit card offers the same level of protection as a credit card. I have found them to be perfectly safe.

 

[Trivet]

Over how much time? I have had fraud on my credit cards as well, but I normally notice it on the same day or day after.

The 64 Uber charges were over three weeks, and stopped only because I noticed them and reported it. I almost never look at my account until I'm paying my bill.

A much bigger problem is credit cards not being approved because fraud is expected, when it was really me.

That's what's so annoying. I've had that happen even though I'm designated as "traveling" because I'm a fulltimer, and have been for almost 20 years.

I think it's resulted in a declined card only once, but several times the card has been put on hold until I call them and verify the charges.

And yet a sudden and prolonged very heavy Uber usage warranted no attention by their robots.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

And different companies use different fraud detection. A few years ago I went to England and I attempted to contact my credit companies to allow charges during that period. The result ranged from "doesn't matter, our system knows it's you", to, "we have no way to enable that". So it became an easy choice to know which ones to take which saves greatly on the need to acquire cash and have to deal with currency conversion and rates. I can remember a day I would take trips with traveler's checks and by that comparison, credit wins hands down. The next way to conveniently spend your money now is through your phone, which technically is just an extension of a credit card but I don't care who makes the phone, I just see that as a huge security risk. Same with online banking with a phone, seems that's just walking through a room full of fans with your pants down.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[DonTom]

I almost never look at my account until I'm paying my bill.

I usually pay mine the day the charge is posted, so it's all done at the same time.

The CC I use that has NEVER rejected me no matter where I am, is my Good Sam Visa. A credit card designed for RV travel will know better than to ask where everybody is on every charge made out of state.

In Payson, AZ, I somehow left that card in the RV and tried to pay with my US Bank card at an RV Park. It was rejected. I have countless such stories with other credit cards being rejected. I also went to Tractor Supply and Harbor Freight Tools on this trip. My HFT card worked fine, I never told them I was in FL. My TS card was rejected, so I gave them my Good Sam Visa card. But as soon as I checked my E-mail, I had an email from TS asking if it was me. I replied with a "yes" and got a reply that the hold on my card was lifted. That was the first time I ever got an email about a CC problem from anybody. Normally, there is nothing about it anywhere, not even on their own website from other CCs.

I find US Bank to be one of the worse to deal with. During this trip, I tried to pay a guy $3,500.00 for building a level shed pad at my Auburn, CA house. It not only got rejected, but it also locked all my US Bank accounts (many!!!), even my on-line access. A phone number to call flashes for a 10th of a second. But then I discovered if I use the IE mode of Windows 11, the phone number stays so I can then read it. I call the number and it's many recordings and transfers, each time I have to enter my info. and at the end it transferred me to a closed office telling me what their hours are. Even after all that, I still could not send the money, after I got a real person, the next day saying all should be fine. I finally gave up with US Bank, went inside of a Chase bank to do it from my Chase account, and I got it all done in seconds.

If you want to get your accounts locked, just try to use Zelle for $3,500.00 while out of state. Or waste your time with Venmo and still get nothing accomplished. What I learned from this is the only reliable way to send money to another person or small business is by going inside of the bank to get it all done. Fortunately, there is a Chase Bank about a mile from here.

-Don- St. Cloud, FL

 

[DonTom]

I have discovered that my BofA debit card offers the same level of protection as a credit card. I have found them to be perfectly safe.

Nothing is "perfectly safe".

"From a legal perspective, credit cards generally provide more protection against fraudulent activity. "

See here.

-Don- St. Cloud, FL