Govt Travel Card and the IRR

[MasterBates]

I went out to my mailbox last week, and lo and behold, I have a Government Travel Card.

I'm IRR.

I'm probably not going to be anything other than IRR anytime soon.

It still has VAW-121 with it's UIC for a unit.

I email the squadron Admin JO and ask how to get out of the system. He does some research, and has to have some unit to release me to, for me to get out of their system.

As far as I know, I don't have any boss in the IRR, I just have my address with BUPERS in case of WW3.

Hookers, Blow and Big Screen binge in my future?

 

[Harrier Dude]

There is only one thing for you to do as a Naval Aviator: go to the nearest titty bar and make it rain.

 

[BusyBee604]

Hookers, Blow and Big Screen binge in my future?

Aarrrgh Matey, sounds like a 'free' one-way tickee to tour Ft. Leavenworth!

 

[Uncle Fester]

Aarrrgh Matey, sounds like a 'free' one-way tickee to tour Ft. Leavenworth!

Well, they'd have to recall him to AD in order to court-martial him. Then he'd have to get put into a gov't CC heriarchy, and he can get the card cancelled. See? Simple.

Casey - shred it and forget it. It'll be inactivated after a period of non-use (a year, I think?) anyway. Or call Citi directly and see if they'll suspend it, if you'd rather have positive control.

The ironic thing is, I had to jump through all kinds of hoops to get a new card when I started drilling, after being in a zero-travel shore job for three years.

 

[Spekkio]

The CC is your card, in your name, under your credit (which is why I hate it so much). Just call CitiBank and cancel it.

 

[Renegade One]

I admit to not knowing the possible "downside" of your old command/UIC being on the card, but is it possible to just hang onto it against the day when RESRON XX gives you a shout and says "we need you in Norfolk next Monday"?

Once you get affiliated/adopted/co-opted by another unit, then a 'transfer' of the card to that UIC would seem to be easier than a cold-start (as Fester described above). Just another thought...

 

[scoolbubba]

Shred it and call citi and cancel it.

Those cards are about as useful as syphillis.

 

[phrogpilot73]

Those cards are less useful than syphillis.

FIFY...

 

[Uncle Fester]

I admit to not knowing the possible "downside" of your old command/UIC being on the card, but is it possible to just hang onto it against the day when RESRON XX gives you a shout and says "we need you in Norfolk next Monday"?

Once you get affiliated/adopted/co-opted by another unit, then a 'transfer' of the card to that UIC would seem to be easier than a cold-start (as Fester described above). Just another thought...

You'd think so, but not really.

Problem is that you have to find someone in your card hierarchy in order to do anything with it. In an AD unit, that's usually no problem. When you leave a unit, the administrator (usually perso/AO) will 'push' you to your new hierarchy, and the administrator at your new command is supposed to pull you in. Again, normal active duty pcs, no problem.

In a Reserve unit - not a ResRon, but one where everything admin is handled by the NOSC - it's very easy to get lost. Mrs Fester has been trying to get a new CC for six months now, but due to her complex Reserve drilling arrangements, no one knows where to "find" her in the hierarchy. Citi may or may not be able to help, depending on your particular problem and what the DoD contract says.

That's a long way of saying, it's almost always easier to just get a new card than try to revive an inactivated one.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Renegade One]

You'd think so, but not really....

Rog...thanks.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Aarrrgh Matey, sounds like a 'free' one-way tickee to tour Ft. Leavenworth!

I (unfortunately) have seen a few cases of gov CC misuse, none even went to mast, they were told to pay the credit card off and given a LOI, it was all stupid stuff, and the kicker is a few of the people if they had called the CDO would have been given the OK to use it because they were in a bind on the road. The best was we had one guy that said he though he was helping the economy by using it because he the interest would go to the CC company, the problem is gov CC don't get charged interest.

 

[PropAddict]

gov CC don't get charged interest.

Wait, what? Is this true?

I definitely have a few things I'd buy with the "free money" if this were true.

As specified earlier, the account's in my name, reported on my credit. Might as well reap the bennies of that arrangement.


Maybe they'll "penalize" me by taking it away and forcing me to use my Hawaiian Airlines Visa to buy all my Navy plane tix, and reap all the miles associated.

 

[Brett327]

It's because you're not supposed to carry a balance.

 

[Uncle Fester]

Wait, what? Is this true?

I definitely have a few things I'd buy with the "free money" if this were true.

As specified earlier, the account's in my name, reported on my credit. Might as well reap the bennies of that arrangement.

Maybe they'll "penalize" me by taking it away and forcing me to use my Hawaiian Airlines Visa to buy all my Navy plane tix, and reap all the miles associated.

There's no interest per se, but they do slap you with fees if you carry a balance past 60 days. Even if it's a $1 balance due to a math error when you did your travel claim, you're going to get hit with about $50 in fees. After 90 days your card is suspended, and it takes a signed note from the President to get it back.

'Suspect' charges get automatically reported to your command, who will probably pull your card immediately, or at least they're supposed to. I had a case where a 3rd class went to the NEX and bought a bunch of stuff for deployment - towels and sheets and that kind of stuff - and used her government card. Holy shit, you would've thought someone broke into a bunker at King's Bay, all the alerts and bells and whistles that came flying into my computer. Naiive but basically innocent mistake, took me a month to get all the computers to calm down.

In theory, Gov't CCs are good so that Airman Timmy can charge a Q room or rental car when on a monthlong TAD without maxing out his starter personal charge card. My opinion, having been a squadron card admin for two years, is that they're more trouble than they're worth. They have all the disadvantages of a 'real card,' with lots of pitfalls for the kids who've never had one and no advantages for the grownups who know how to use them responsibly.

 

[Flash]

I (unfortunately) have seen a few cases of gov CC misuse, none even went to mast, they were told to pay the credit card off and given a LOI, it was all stupid stuff, and the kicker is a few of the people if they had called the CDO would have been given the OK to use it because they were in a bind on the road. The best was we had one guy that said he though he was helping the economy by using it because he the interest would go to the CC company, the problem is gov CC don't get charged interest.

We had a few go to mast, apparently some folks didn't get the brief not to use your government CC at a casino or other 'fine establishments'.