Is AOPA that hard up?

timwinters

timwinters

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I have received two, maybe three, email that scream "renew early, get $10 off and a free ball cap."

I'm due in January or February.

No thanks.

Things that make you go "hmmmmmmmmmmmm."
 
Baker must reeeealy want that new TMB....ya know, for those short hauls where taking the jet is just too much.
 
Seems proportional to their relevance.

I dropped them a few years ago. Haven't felt compelled to re-up. Am I missing anything? They stiffed me on a ballcap promise a few years ago, once bitten and all that.

I was going to enlist in their Legal program but man, they seem to have taken the stuffing WAY out of that program. It used to be like 10 or 20 hours of free consult, now it's a Groupon discount that I can purchase. Pfft.
 
Heck, I canceled my membership over two years ago and I still get the ‘LAST CHANCE!’ emails.

If I had a dollar for every time they’ve given me the last chance to restart my subscription....
 
timwinters said:
I have received two, maybe three, email that scream "renew early, get $10 off and a free ball cap."

I'm due in January or February.

No thanks.

Things that make you go "hmmmmmmmmmmmm."
Click to expand...

Just got my 2019 hat. I think they're hard up.

No more nice cloth, thick brimmed hats with the metal adjustment buckle on the back.

Cheap mesh with the cheesy plastic snap adjusters. While the cost on the web site went up from last year's $19 to $21 this year.

AOPA-MBHGR-2.jpg
 
Ryanb said:
Heck, I canceled my membership over two years ago and I still get the ‘LAST CHANCE!’ emails.

If I had a dollar for every time they’ve given me the last chance to restart my subscription....
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I cancelled back in like 2004 and get a weekly email that it's my last chance before I'm permanently deleted from their system

I would honestly be more inclined to join and re-up if it wasn't for their aggressive sales tactics
 
Those tactics work. I think they suck; and I find them annoying.
But they have been proven to be tried and true. Pretty much all large non-profits that have last for decades do the same thing; especially now that email and phone is effectively free.

Tim
 
I still get offers to renew my membership, which has lapsed about fifteen years.
 
I just cancelled my renewal over the red board fiasco.
 
The only reason that I joined AOPA in the first place was to access online resources for WX and planning that did not exist yet on the general Internet. The advent of better free alternatives made it obsolete for me.
 
AOPA in general is an obsolete venture at this point. They're too busy stroking their own egos and taking credit for general aviation initiatives that were already at play or in the works anyway.. EAA, and their whole community, do a lot more for GA in general just by accident.

Just looking at their website front page shows you that they have no real identity... are they a club? Are they a magazine? Are they an advocate group?

And of all things it seems they took up pitchforks against FBOs.. odd fight to pick.. which, when they initially picked that fight.. bordered on slander and libel insinuating that someone stopping at an FBO in a 182 would face up to $1,660 in fee alone before even buying gas.. mind you, I've never been at an FBO that charged anywhere near $8.31 a gallon

https://www.aopa.org/advocacy/airports-and-airspace/airport-advocacy/egregious-fbo-pricing
upload_2019-9-11_10-27-45.png

It's insanity. But yes, keep sending me a weekly threatening email telling me you're ABOUT to delete me from your records unless I renew today
 
Tantalum said:
AOPA in general is an obsolete venture at this point. They're too busy stroking their own egos and taking credit for general aviation initiatives that were already at play or in the works anyway.. EAA, and their whole community, do a lot more for GA in general just by accident.

Just looking at their website front page shows you that they have no real identity... are they a club? Are they a magazine? Are they an advocate group?

And of all things it seems they took up pitchforks against FBOs.. odd fight to pick.. which, when they initially picked that fight.. bordered on slander and libel insinuating that someone stopping at an FBO in a 182 would face up to $1,660 in fee alone before even buying gas.. mind you, I've never been at an FBO that charged anywhere near $8.31 a gallon

https://www.aopa.org/advocacy/airports-and-airspace/airport-advocacy/egregious-fbo-pricing
View attachment 77706

It's insanity. But yes, keep sending me a weekly threatening email telling me you're ABOUT to delete me from your records unless I renew today
Click to expand...

These guys are pretty close.... Signature, Bedford MA

upload_2019-9-11_10-35-22.png
 
PaulS said:
These guys are pretty close.... Signature, Bedford MA

View attachment 77707
Click to expand...
I've paid in the high $7 range.. never over $8. I've also never been charged $1,660 to park the plane for 6 hours.. many (most) of these fees are likely levied against the Gulfstreams and other jets that come in.. any single engine piston I've been in there are typically no extra fees charged as long as I buy some gas

Not necessarily defending FBOs, I just didn't get what AOPA's angle was there.. but I digress.
 
Tantalum said:
AOPA in general is an obsolete venture at this point. They're too busy stroking their own egos and taking credit for general aviation initiatives that were already at play or in the works anyway.. EAA, and their whole community, do a lot more for GA in general just by accident.

Just looking at their website front page shows you that they have no real identity... are they a club? Are they a magazine? Are they an advocate group?

And of all things it seems they took up pitchforks against FBOs.. odd fight to pick.. which, when they initially picked that fight.. bordered on slander and libel insinuating that someone stopping at an FBO in a 182 would face up to $1,660 in fee alone before even buying gas.. mind you, I've never been at an FBO that charged anywhere near $8.31 a gallon

https://www.aopa.org/advocacy/airports-and-airspace/airport-advocacy/egregious-fbo-pricing
View attachment 77706

It's insanity. But yes, keep sending me a weekly threatening email telling me you're ABOUT to delete me from your records unless I renew today
Click to expand...

Yet they are OK with owners being shaken down by the FAA to be forced to buy and install ADSB surveillance stuff in their planes?

Or the FAA dumbing down training while cracking down on pointless stuff not like adults that were signed up on the ADD bandwagon back in the 90s?
Or their dick measuring contest with that one adsb company a year or so back?

Frankly we don’t need AOPA to fight private companies, the free market will sort them out, we need to AOPA to lobby and fight the FAA.
 
Tantalum said:
I've paid in the high $7 range.. never over $8. I've also never been charged $1,660 to park the plane for 6 hours.. many (most) of these fees are likely levied against the Gulfstreams and other jets that come in.. any single engine piston I've been in there are typically no extra fees charged as long as I buy some gas

Not necessarily defending FBOs, I just didn't get what AOPA's angle was there.. but I digress.
Click to expand...

I get it and you are right.
 
I let my membership lapse in February. I've been saving final notices. I dropped number 9 on the stack yesterday.
 
timwinters said:
I let my membership lapse in February. I've been saving final notices. I dropped number 9 on the stack yesterday.
Click to expand...

Must use the same company that calls me a gazillion times to tell me my car warranty has expired and I need to act soon to buy their worthless warranty.

I’m still a member of AOPA though.

Cheers
 
Not sure what other organization is doing anything for general aviation advocacy, so I keep my membership to the AOPA active, along with the EAA, and via my employer, the NBAA. I did cancel my AOPA legal services plan a few years ago.
 
James331 said:
AOPA is the NRA of aviation

We support GA....buuut we also wont fight against ADSB
Click to expand...

Spot on. They are both too willing to compromise. They believe that is what politics has to be. Give up something to prevent having everything taken away. Never get anything or advance your cause because it is the right thing to do.

Think about the fact that if they ever really solved the problem they were created for they would be out of business. The more drama, the bigger the threat the more money they make.
 
My insurance gives me an AOPA discount that is more than the cost of the membership. I also use the airport guides when looking for somewhere to go.
 
When they painted the Cessna orange and announced the NEW revolution in tired old iron, I was done.
That and it took 18 months and dozens of emails to get my "free" hat one year.
I just don't think they gave a crap about little airplanes and the people who flew them.
 
GaryM said:
I did the same, and joined EAA instead. I think I'm up to 20 'final notices' for AOPA renewal now.
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EAA is no better when it comes to renewal badgering. I’ve been lazy about renewing with the medical stuff, and have the same mountain of paper and electronic garbage from EAA as AOPA.

You know, because I’ll suddenly forget they exist or something. LOL.
 
jet.jpg
wrbix said:
AOPA has hats?
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and a jet..... ;)

...and a bunch of other aircraft....

google... ""Owner" "AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION" flightaware.com" and you'll see.

f79502d212eabd018e05445905a2e97c1c0d7b76
 
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