AOPA Dues going up again

aggie06 said:
Generally depends on what the "tax home" is for the employee. If he has an office near his home, that may be enough to call the trip to Texas a business expense to the company and not commuting for the employee. If not, the value of the flight becomes taxable income to the employee.
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Baker uses the jet for commutes to/from ANE in the Mpls/St. Paul area. There is no AOPA office there.
 
airdale said:
Baker uses the jet for commutes to/from ANE in the Mpls/St. Paul area. There is no AOPA office there.
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Different situation. The original question related to an executive who lived one place and commuted to the office in Texas. Baker's tax home is likely Maryland and that would make trips up to Minnesota a normal business trip.
 
I received an email stating for $49 I can get a hat and a tshirt if I reup.... is that the best offer or can I get a fanny pack added?
 
OkieAviator said:
I received an email stating for $49 I can get a hat and a tshirt if I reup.... is that the best offer or can I get a fanny pack added?
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A 17 year member, I'm on auto-renewal, I've never gotten any swag.
 
I quit AOPA after being a member for 36 years primarily because of this latest dues increase. What incensed me, and I know I'll get flamed for failing to carefully read all their junk mail, was that I would have taken a "lifetime" membership when it came out, which I'm told by them was sometime around the turn of the century -- but I never knew it happened. I figure I got a few mailings mixed in with the 2 dozen life insurance mailings, and the 3 dozen credit card offers that they mail every year, but trashed them all the same. If it was ever shown in the mag, I missed the 1/8 page blurb. When I called to complain about the LAST dues increase, which wasn't that long ago, in what I personally consider a brutally tone-deaf stance by them, I was informed that the "lifetime membership" fee was not graduated at all against one's age. So, a kid 20 years old (my age when I joined!) gets the same rate (I think about $1600) that I'd get at age 57....sorry, but that's insane given my 36 year history of paying dues. Then, upon deciding to quit, I started reading this forum and read more about what I consider insane salaries, which reinforced my decision.

BUT, NOW the footnote that's causing this post....I have now "unsubscribed" THREE TIMES, yes THREE TIMES, to their random e-mails begging me to re-join, and they keep showing up. So, my decision is certainly reinforced further by this onerous level of abuse. They will NOT give up.

To those who are still members, I suggest serious rumination on what value you're receiving -- the 3rd class medical reform was entirely due to Senator Jim Inhofe (it encompassed light twins because that's what he flies), they're consumed with Santa Monica, they let right seat requirements get out of control because of a few jerks in Buffalo, they won't advocate truly low-cost ADS-B equipage, I think they're flapping in the breeze on the privatization (fee-based usage) pending disaster, etc. They just seem like empty suits to me, vacuuming up money with little or no results. And to be totally petty, if I want to buy lottery tickets, I'll buy them myself, and I've grown weary of seeing strangers win airplanes, when it's OBVIOUS that the winners are vetted before being chosen. Just think about this -- probably 2/3 of the AOPA membership is like me -- inactive for long periods, never a hope of ownership, etc. How can it statistically be possible that EVERY SINGLE WINNER seems to have some natural fit for the use of their newfound lottery win -- I've not seen one profile ever for a winner where the happy winner said, "This baby's going straight to Trade-a-Plane, I got no more use for this damn thing than tits on a bull." I just wonder what's really going on with those "random" winner selections.

OK, FLAME AWAY!!!
 
I want to add a bit more to my own post to make my position about the sweepstakes clear -- some years ago, I actually read the rules about the winner selection, and the "independent company" used to select the winner was clearly stated to have some freedom and nothing about the write-up indicated that it had to be random. This angers me because the 70 year-old former pilot who lost his medical and has no hope of ever flying again, who happens to stay in AOPA to support the cause (kinda like I did, but not because of a lost medical) has as much right to get that prize as anyone else; in fact he might well have greater needs, and would LOVE to flip the plane on T-A-P and enjoy the $150,000 cash. Yet, we always see some small business owner who's relieved to upgrade on his weekly flights from Minneapolis to Detroit, etc. I think they pick winners out of a hat and then vet them for suitability and photo-ops, and then keep pulling until they get someone who properly fits the winner profile they'd like to exhibit. Tell me I'm wrong and that some entirely hopelessly flightless winner claimed a plane in that sweepstakes....EVER! I'd like to be wrong on this, but I've pretty much always read those winner profiles and I just don't remember that ever happening.
 
I've been debating keeping my membership lately. My auto renew is next month, and $69 is $69. I don't usually read the magazine when it does come, just goes on the stack until my wife recycles it. After hearing about the salaries and the sheer amount of reserve funds the AOPA is sitting on, I can't help but think I could find a better use for the $69, avgas perhaps.
 
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