Best Value and Customer Support in Credit Card Processors?

[cmonahan]

This is David at iloveinns.com not Chris, I should get my own account but I wanted to chime in here first since we just went thru all this.
aieechihuahua is right! Do your math based on the TOTAL amount paid to the card processor.

We just changed processors here and learned a lot in the process. First, don't put too much weight the rate that they quote you 1.7%, 2.19%, whatever it is, yes its relevant but not as much as you may think.
Both MC and Visa charge an additional amount on every transaction that could be as much as double the quoted rate because each card type has an additional backend processing rate. This extra rate is where the processor does the real mark up and makes their money. By card type I mean ATM, rewards card, business account. This was our case with HSBC, they were charging up to an additional 2%+ on top of the quoted rate, plus transaction fees for certain card types. We went to several vendors and looked at what they had to offer. First we went to our current bank, they had a nice low rate under 2%, but still had the extra rates around 1.5% - net was a savings of about 20% from our current position. Another company was geared for small retail merchants who have low volume, they of course had to rent you the terminal, I'm not sure how they ended up in our office in the first place - next. The company we ended up with charged a quoted rate similar to what we were currently paying but the back end rates were a fraction of HSBC's. Some of our card type rates went from 2.5% to .5%. Our net savings is about 40% even though we are paying a similar quoted rate.
When you look at it in total dollars AmEx at 3.5% is probably only .2% - .7% more then MC or Visa.

 

[MTLLodge]

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that .

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that

We use him too and he's great. He is having trouble with his website so I would call or fax.
518-963-7272 phone518-963-8608 fax[email protected][email protected]
RIki
.

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that

We use him too and he's great. He is having trouble with his website so I would call or fax.
518-963-7272 phone518-963-8608 fax[email protected][email protected]
RIki

I wouldn't do business with him. I called him and got him right away. Then sent all info he wanted including Social security # . I still haven't heard back from him. So I won't be doing business with him! Glad I found this out before I stated my business.

 

[JBloggs]

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that .

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that

We use him too and he's great. He is having trouble with his website so I would call or fax.
518-963-7272 phone518-963-8608 fax[email protected][email protected]
RIki
.

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that

We use him too and he's great. He is having trouble with his website so I would call or fax.
518-963-7272 phone518-963-8608 fax[email protected][email protected]
RIki

I wouldn't do business with him. I called him and got him right away. Then sent all info he wanted including Social security # . I still haven't heard back from him. So I won't be doing business with him! Glad I found this out before I stated my business.
.

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that

We use him too and he's great. He is having trouble with his website so I would call or fax.
518-963-7272 phone518-963-8608 fax[email protected][email protected]
RIki

I wouldn't do business with him. I called him and got him right away. Then sent all info he wanted including Social security # . I still haven't heard back from him. So I won't be doing business with him! Glad I found this out before I stated my business.

I have only heard the same thing time and time again from innkeepers and wonder why everyone keeps recommending him when he is unavailable the majority of the time? This is why I am with a regular bank, with a call center and no hassles and am not even considering changing (even though we get calls all the time to get a better rate)
SERVICE is worth something, if he never returns calls or emails?

 

[MTLLodge]

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that .

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that

We use him too and he's great. He is having trouble with his website so I would call or fax.
518-963-7272 phone518-963-8608 fax[email protected][email protected]
RIki
.

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that

We use him too and he's great. He is having trouble with his website so I would call or fax.
518-963-7272 phone518-963-8608 fax[email protected][email protected]
RIki

I wouldn't do business with him. I called him and got him right away. Then sent all info he wanted including Social security # . I still haven't heard back from him. So I won't be doing business with him! Glad I found this out before I stated my business.
.

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that

We use him too and he's great. He is having trouble with his website so I would call or fax.
518-963-7272 phone518-963-8608 fax[email protected][email protected]
RIki

I wouldn't do business with him. I called him and got him right away. Then sent all info he wanted including Social security # . I still haven't heard back from him. So I won't be doing business with him! Glad I found this out before I stated my business.

I have only heard the same thing time and time again from innkeepers and wonder why everyone keeps recommending him when he is unavailable the majority of the time? This is why I am with a regular bank, with a call center and no hassles and am not even considering changing (even though we get calls all the time to get a better rate)
SERVICE is worth something, if he never returns calls or emails?
.

SERVICE is everything! The less hassle we have the easier it is for us to put on our happy face for the guest.

 

[Samster]

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that .

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that

We use him too and he's great. He is having trouble with his website so I would call or fax.
518-963-7272 phone518-963-8608 fax[email protected][email protected]
RIki
.

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that

We use him too and he's great. He is having trouble with his website so I would call or fax.
518-963-7272 phone518-963-8608 fax[email protected][email protected]
RIki

I wouldn't do business with him. I called him and got him right away. Then sent all info he wanted including Social security # . I still haven't heard back from him. So I won't be doing business with him! Glad I found this out before I stated my business.
.

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that

We use him too and he's great. He is having trouble with his website so I would call or fax.
518-963-7272 phone518-963-8608 fax[email protected][email protected]
RIki

I wouldn't do business with him. I called him and got him right away. Then sent all info he wanted including Social security # . I still haven't heard back from him. So I won't be doing business with him! Glad I found this out before I stated my business.

I have only heard the same thing time and time again from innkeepers and wonder why everyone keeps recommending him when he is unavailable the majority of the time? This is why I am with a regular bank, with a call center and no hassles and am not even considering changing (even though we get calls all the time to get a better rate)
SERVICE is worth something, if he never returns calls or emails?
.

I have never had a problem getting customer service from Tom. There's an 800 number for processing issues and they've been extremely helpful the few times that I've needed to use them. There has been some issue recently with his website and perhaps that is also affecting his email? Rates are more reasonable than many other processors but you have to do what you're comfortable with.

 

[Samster]

This is David at iloveinns.com not Chris, I should get my own account but I wanted to chime in here first since we just went thru all this.
aieechihuahua is right! Do your math based on the TOTAL amount paid to the card processor.

We just changed processors here and learned a lot in the process. First, don't put too much weight the rate that they quote you 1.7%, 2.19%, whatever it is, yes its relevant but not as much as you may think.
Both MC and Visa charge an additional amount on every transaction that could be as much as double the quoted rate because each card type has an additional backend processing rate. This extra rate is where the processor does the real mark up and makes their money. By card type I mean ATM, rewards card, business account. This was our case with HSBC, they were charging up to an additional 2%+ on top of the quoted rate, plus transaction fees for certain card types. We went to several vendors and looked at what they had to offer. First we went to our current bank, they had a nice low rate under 2%, but still had the extra rates around 1.5% - net was a savings of about 20% from our current position. Another company was geared for small retail merchants who have low volume, they of course had to rent you the terminal, I'm not sure how they ended up in our office in the first place - next. The company we ended up with charged a quoted rate similar to what we were currently paying but the back end rates were a fraction of HSBC's. Some of our card type rates went from 2.5% to .5%. Our net savings is about 40% even though we are paying a similar quoted rate.
When you look at it in total dollars AmEx at 3.5% is probably only .2% - .7% more then MC or Visa..

Thank you, David, for chiming in. Yes! The extra fees for the different types of cards can be a surprise to some merchants.

This was explained to me very well before I signed up. We all love OUR various rewards cards though. ;-)

 

[egoodell]

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that .

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that

We use him too and he's great. He is having trouble with his website so I would call or fax.
518-963-7272 phone518-963-8608 fax[email protected][email protected]
RIki
.

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that

We use him too and he's great. He is having trouble with his website so I would call or fax.
518-963-7272 phone518-963-8608 fax[email protected][email protected]
RIki

I wouldn't do business with him. I called him and got him right away. Then sent all info he wanted including Social security # . I still haven't heard back from him. So I won't be doing business with him! Glad I found this out before I stated my business.
.

I think you can find Tom Weiskotten. in the resources section. Many of us are using his services through Payment Alliance. The email I have is: [email protected]
ETA: I found the link to his contact info here on the forum was broken. I have a letter from him recently that he was updating his web site. I will look for that after cleaning a guest room. Otherwise, maybe someone will chime in here with that

We use him too and he's great. He is having trouble with his website so I would call or fax.
518-963-7272 phone518-963-8608 fax[email protected][email protected]
RIki

I wouldn't do business with him. I called him and got him right away. Then sent all info he wanted including Social security # . I still haven't heard back from him. So I won't be doing business with him! Glad I found this out before I stated my business.

I have only heard the same thing time and time again from innkeepers and wonder why everyone keeps recommending him when he is unavailable the majority of the time? This is why I am with a regular bank, with a call center and no hassles and am not even considering changing (even though we get calls all the time to get a better rate)
SERVICE is worth something, if he never returns calls or emails?
.

I have never had a problem getting customer service from Tom. There's an 800 number for processing issues and they've been extremely helpful the few times that I've needed to use them. There has been some issue recently with his website and perhaps that is also affecting his email? Rates are more reasonable than many other processors but you have to do what you're comfortable with.
.

We have never had problems getting in touch with Tom either
RIki

 

[JBloggs]

So it was just the initial set up that was the problem for many with Tom? I have heard it on the forum many times, not easy to reach or never returns calls. Just wanting clarification.

 

[muirford]

So it was just the initial set up that was the problem for many with Tom? I have heard it on the forum many times, not easy to reach or never returns calls. Just wanting clarification..

We did not have problems with our initial setup and we have not had any problems with Tom or anyone we've called at the service number. We haven't had to call more than once or twice, and we signed up with Tom about four years ago just as he was becoming well-known in the B&B industry.

 

[egoodell]

So it was just the initial set up that was the problem for many with Tom? I have heard it on the forum many times, not easy to reach or never returns calls. Just wanting clarification..

We did not have problems with our initial setup and we have not had any problems with Tom or anyone we've called at the service number. We haven't had to call more than once or twice, and we signed up with Tom about four years ago just as he was becoming well-known in the B&B industry.
.

We never had trouble with our setup or calls either. But he did mention, when we apologized for calling him on a Sunday morning while he was on vacation, he did mention not to worry he gets calls calls all the time from innkeepers not knowing how to run their machines. So maybe he was swamped at the time you called. I would at least call him a couple of times to catch him rather than just call once an give up. Beats trying to figure out which other processor is not going to gyp you.
RIki

 

[wendydk]

I still like Cellcharge. No setup fees, no statement fees, no per-transaction fees, no equipment (or equipment leasing fees), no monthly minimums. No extra phone line, no guessing what the discount rate will be (swiped, vs keyed), no contract, no account cancellation fees. Just a flat discount fee and a $9.99 monthly gateway charge. Simple to figure what my deposits will be and to keep track of. Batches are settled automatically, and I can check my activity for any time period, and easily look at prior settled batches online.
Their discount rate is higher, but every single processor that tries to get me to switch fails to match the deal I get with cellcharge when all is said and done. I use my spreadsheet to show them the results of every comparison. Even my brother in law, who works for Huntington Bank couldn't beat them, and he assured me over the phone that he would prove that he could do it!
I get auths either over the phone or through an online virtual terminal, have never had a service problem, they've never made a mistake and I get paid quickly.

 

[swirt]

So it was just the initial set up that was the problem for many with Tom? I have heard it on the forum many times, not easy to reach or never returns calls. Just wanting clarification..

So it was just the initial set up that was the problem for many with Tom? I have heard it on the forum many times, not easy to reach or never returns calls. Just wanting clarification.

I was with him for a few years and never had a problem reaching him. I think 2 things happened.

1. He was loyal to his current customers and would call back current customers before he would call back people inquiring about becoming customers.
2. Once he started getting known (from his appearances at various conferences, people recommending him on forums...) he was overwhelmed with people wanting to sign up.

He should have scaled up, not sure if he eventually did or not. It is hard when you want to control the quality of the interactions with your clients and don't want risk it all on hired help...That is what set him apart at first. He is an honest and nice guy...who probably never wanted to be a manager.
I recognise the problem as it is similar to mine....I will not farm out my work because I have no interest in being a manager or employer.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

So it was just the initial set up that was the problem for many with Tom? I have heard it on the forum many times, not easy to reach or never returns calls. Just wanting clarification..

So it was just the initial set up that was the problem for many with Tom? I have heard it on the forum many times, not easy to reach or never returns calls. Just wanting clarification.

For us, only the initial setup...it just longer than I anticipated.

 

[happykeeper]

If I were had any hope of getting business guests, I would do Amex. Since I have no business clients at all, I dropped it years ago. Every time I've taken a phone reservation and they want to give me an Amex, they have always given me a different credit card with no problem. Never once has someone then declined to stay..

Same with us, but we have had several folks say that AMEX is important if you are going to work with business groups or firms that arrange things for businesses. So, although we haven't lost business directly, we are wondering if adding the AMEX logo on our site would open a potential market that might be passing us by after checking to see if we take AMEX. We're thinking of it as a new market and not as an enhancement for our currrent market.

 

[happykeeper]

This is David at iloveinns.com not Chris, I should get my own account but I wanted to chime in here first since we just went thru all this.
aieechihuahua is right! Do your math based on the TOTAL amount paid to the card processor.

We just changed processors here and learned a lot in the process. First, don't put too much weight the rate that they quote you 1.7%, 2.19%, whatever it is, yes its relevant but not as much as you may think.
Both MC and Visa charge an additional amount on every transaction that could be as much as double the quoted rate because each card type has an additional backend processing rate. This extra rate is where the processor does the real mark up and makes their money. By card type I mean ATM, rewards card, business account. This was our case with HSBC, they were charging up to an additional 2%+ on top of the quoted rate, plus transaction fees for certain card types. We went to several vendors and looked at what they had to offer. First we went to our current bank, they had a nice low rate under 2%, but still had the extra rates around 1.5% - net was a savings of about 20% from our current position. Another company was geared for small retail merchants who have low volume, they of course had to rent you the terminal, I'm not sure how they ended up in our office in the first place - next. The company we ended up with charged a quoted rate similar to what we were currently paying but the back end rates were a fraction of HSBC's. Some of our card type rates went from 2.5% to .5%. Our net savings is about 40% even though we are paying a similar quoted rate.
When you look at it in total dollars AmEx at 3.5% is probably only .2% - .7% more then MC or Visa..

This was very helpful. Did you guys look at COSTCO at all?

 

[Breakfast Diva]

If I were had any hope of getting business guests, I would do Amex. Since I have no business clients at all, I dropped it years ago. Every time I've taken a phone reservation and they want to give me an Amex, they have always given me a different credit card with no problem. Never once has someone then declined to stay..

Same with us, but we have had several folks say that AMEX is important if you are going to work with business groups or firms that arrange things for businesses. So, although we haven't lost business directly, we are wondering if adding the AMEX logo on our site would open a potential market that might be passing us by after checking to see if we take AMEX. We're thinking of it as a new market and not as an enhancement for our currrent market.
.

Same with us, but we have had several folks say that AMEX is important if you are going to work with business groups or firms that arrange things for businesses. So, although we haven't lost business directly, we are wondering if adding the AMEX logo on our site would open a potential market that might be passing us by after checking to see if we take AMEX. We're thinking of it as a new market and not as an enhancement for our currrent market.

Do you know of any other B&B on the island that gets business groups? It seems to me that with all the hotels that offer meeting rooms, it might be a difficult sell to get them to a B&B. If you add information on your site about offering to do business stays, you might then see if you get any action. I believe it would be a very simple & quick process to add Amex to your processing capabilities if you were able to entice a business retreat. As far as far as adding Amex and then hope they come, I doubt it. But hey, if you want to give it a try maybe we'll all learn from your forward thinking!

 

[Samster]

I just had a business guest stay here who ALWAYS stays at B&Bs, if he can. He is the President/CEO of a 50+ employee company, with 2 offices. His client met him here and they chatted in our living room before going to dinner. He said he'd be back as it looks like they'll be doing business here.
He pulled out his AMEX card to pay. Don't rule it out!

 

[happykeeper]

If I were had any hope of getting business guests, I would do Amex. Since I have no business clients at all, I dropped it years ago. Every time I've taken a phone reservation and they want to give me an Amex, they have always given me a different credit card with no problem. Never once has someone then declined to stay..

Same with us, but we have had several folks say that AMEX is important if you are going to work with business groups or firms that arrange things for businesses. So, although we haven't lost business directly, we are wondering if adding the AMEX logo on our site would open a potential market that might be passing us by after checking to see if we take AMEX. We're thinking of it as a new market and not as an enhancement for our currrent market.
.

Same with us, but we have had several folks say that AMEX is important if you are going to work with business groups or firms that arrange things for businesses. So, although we haven't lost business directly, we are wondering if adding the AMEX logo on our site would open a potential market that might be passing us by after checking to see if we take AMEX. We're thinking of it as a new market and not as an enhancement for our currrent market.

Do you know of any other B&B on the island that gets business groups? It seems to me that with all the hotels that offer meeting rooms, it might be a difficult sell to get them to a B&B. If you add information on your site about offering to do business stays, you might then see if you get any action. I believe it would be a very simple & quick process to add Amex to your processing capabilities if you were able to entice a business retreat. As far as far as adding Amex and then hope they come, I doubt it. But hey, if you want to give it a try maybe we'll all learn from your forward thinking!
.

Those are good questions BD, with just a tinge of "Don't be such a know it all" thrown in

I think you would be surprised at how often business people take a look at what is available in an area where there are no resorts or hotels. We have had a series of business related stays. You would also be surprised to learn that we have a daily use fee for meetings and that we have had several because we are central to HILO and KONA.
The idea of adding AMEX isn't a stand alone idea, but part of a larger strategy to enter a new market. It's not like we're going to throw an AMEX logo on our site and wait for the business clients to come rolling in, but it is one part of what we're looking at. What I have learned so far is that it may not be as expensive as we think.

 

[JBloggs]

EVERY one of our business guests uses Amex, or the company will give me the corp card (Amex). Of course this year the business guests are few and far between...boo hoo

 

[Breakfast Diva]

If I were had any hope of getting business guests, I would do Amex. Since I have no business clients at all, I dropped it years ago. Every time I've taken a phone reservation and they want to give me an Amex, they have always given me a different credit card with no problem. Never once has someone then declined to stay..

Same with us, but we have had several folks say that AMEX is important if you are going to work with business groups or firms that arrange things for businesses. So, although we haven't lost business directly, we are wondering if adding the AMEX logo on our site would open a potential market that might be passing us by after checking to see if we take AMEX. We're thinking of it as a new market and not as an enhancement for our currrent market.
.

Same with us, but we have had several folks say that AMEX is important if you are going to work with business groups or firms that arrange things for businesses. So, although we haven't lost business directly, we are wondering if adding the AMEX logo on our site would open a potential market that might be passing us by after checking to see if we take AMEX. We're thinking of it as a new market and not as an enhancement for our currrent market.

Do you know of any other B&B on the island that gets business groups? It seems to me that with all the hotels that offer meeting rooms, it might be a difficult sell to get them to a B&B. If you add information on your site about offering to do business stays, you might then see if you get any action. I believe it would be a very simple & quick process to add Amex to your processing capabilities if you were able to entice a business retreat. As far as far as adding Amex and then hope they come, I doubt it. But hey, if you want to give it a try maybe we'll all learn from your forward thinking!
.

Those are good questions BD, with just a tinge of "Don't be such a know it all" thrown in

I think you would be surprised at how often business people take a look at what is available in an area where there are no resorts or hotels. We have had a series of business related stays. You would also be surprised to learn that we have a daily use fee for meetings and that we have had several because we are central to HILO and KONA.
The idea of adding AMEX isn't a stand alone idea, but part of a larger strategy to enter a new market. It's not like we're going to throw an AMEX logo on our site and wait for the business clients to come rolling in, but it is one part of what we're looking at. What I have learned so far is that it may not be as expensive as we think.
.

Those are good questions BD, with just a tinge of "Don't be such a know it all" thrown in

I think you would be surprised at how often business people take a look at what is available in an area where there are no resorts or hotels. We have had a series of business related stays. You would also be surprised to learn that we have a daily use fee for meetings and that we have had several because we are central to HILO and KONA.
The idea of adding AMEX isn't a stand alone idea, but part of a larger strategy to enter a new market. It's not like we're going to throw an AMEX logo on our site and wait for the business clients to come rolling in, but it is one part of what we're looking at. What I have learned so far is that it may not be as expensive as we think.

If anybody can do it, I know you can! I've always admired your forward thinking and how you incorporate your marketing strategies to keep expanding your areas (specifically the "circle" you make each year).