New Membership Card

[Paul Chandler]

I renewed my EAA membership at Airventure this year and it arrived yesterday. I was very disappointed to note the rather bland design rather than the B17 image that has been on there for a number of years. Is there a reason for this ?

I am not too sure that the plastic card will last the 5 years between renewals especially if kept in a wallet.

[FlyingRon]

Why on earth do you carry an EAA membership card. I carried my Vintage card for a while (it had both my Vintage and EAA numbers on it). I've never needed to ever take it out of my wallet. Every place that extended some benefit to me for being a member either took my word for it or had a way to look it up (I do know my EAA number off the top of my head). My wallet has too much other crap in it that I do need to carry.

[rwanttaja]

Why on earth do you carry an EAA membership card.
Scraping frost off the windshield in the morning. :-)

Ron Wanttaja

[CarlOrton]

Concur with the two Ron's above.

I love the B-17 - don't get me wrong. Have volunteered on it several times when our chapter hosted it.

However - I've always been curious as to why the membership card never changed. It's been the same since - ? - who knows when. Most other organizations with as diverse a fan base regularly change the pic.

[Eric Cernjar]

I renewed my EAA membership at Airventure this year and it arrived yesterday. I was very disappointed to note the rather bland design rather than the B17 image that has been on there for a number of years. Is there a reason for this ?

I am not too sure that the plastic card will last the 5 years between renewals especially if kept in a wallet.

Hi Paul,

Truthfully we ended up with the B-17 because it's a fan favorite and most people like that airplane, but it wasn't necessarily representative of all that EAA has to offer and could be misleading regarding what EAA is all about. When we start thinking about what plane could be on there, you can imagine that no matter which plane we picked, some would love it and others wouldn't! The basic design we put on now is a bit cleaner. What I'd really love to get to someday, although we have to do quite a bit of math to figure out if we can make the costs work, is allow members to put their own image on their card. Now THAT would be neat!

The reason we're going with 5 year intervals is we're looking to shave some costs that we can invest in other areas that will be more impactful for members. However, if you lose your card or it doesn't hold up, you can certainly give us a call and we can send you a replacement.

Thanks,
Eric

[Paul Chandler]

Hi Eric,

thanks for the reply - The B17 design was colourful and stood out. I have had people ask was it was when using credit cards etc. Unfortunately I doubt that will happen with the new design as it is very dull / bland / uninteresting.

Were the members consulted on this proposal as I am sure many would have preferred to keep the B17 design ?

[MNWORD]

Hi Eric,

thanks for the reply - The B17 design was colourful and stood out. I have had people ask was it was when using credit cards etc. Unfortunately I doubt that will happen with the new design as it is very dull / bland / uninteresting.

Were the members consulted on this proposal as I am sure many would have preferred to keep the B17 design ?

Paul, I am beginning to believe it does NOT matter what members think anymore! I have had some extensive correspondence with Eric Cernjar the EAA Marketing Manager on Lifetime Members issues and I believe they want us to just attend an Air Show and not worry about OUR lifetime commitments to aviation and vintage aircraft as it is implied in his statement to you. I will tell you until things start to change at EAA, I am not coming up to just see the same old airshow. If I come up it would be to fellowship with fellow aviators and reminisce about our experiences in aviation. The way things are implied now EAA appears to just want to make very dull/bland/ uninteresting changes.

Mike Wordell
779745
Lifetime Member

[skyfixer8]

Paul, Hopefully they don t go the way of the AOPA card... No pictures.

Bill l

[FlyingRon]

They can save money by not sending me the cards at all. I've got enough other important stuff in my wallet.

[rwanttaja]

Paul, I am beginning to believe it does NOT matter what members think anymore!
Well... we have to consider what level of membership involvement is necessary. Massive changes to the YE program...well, membership involvement SHOULD have been a priority. Whether to order Danish or Bagels for the Friday morning staff meeting....ummm, probably don't need to involve the membership.

Graphics on the membership card is probably not in the first category. I suppose they could have set up an online survey, etc., but otherwise don't think most of us care much. Yes, it's a great B-17 image, but most of us keep the cards buried in our wallet and it really doesn't matter that much.

Ideally, they'd set up the renewal process so that we could select from a set of images, or even use our own images. Would it be a nice program? Yes. Would it be worth cutting the AirVenture urinal cake budget in half in order to implement it? I dunno.....

Ron Wanttaja

[CHICAGORANDY]

Sweet bejeezus man! NOT the urinal cake budget!!!!!

[Mayhemxpc]

They can save money by not sending me the cards at all. I've got enough other important stuff in my wallet.

I keep a separate wallet for my flying stuff cards: AOPA, EAA Warbirds, CAP etc., also my CFI and Radio Operator card and the key card for the airport. That last one makes sure I have all that stuff when I attempt to commit aviation. It stays in my flight bag. (My Pilot Certificate stays with me at all times.) THAT SAID…not sending cards is an idea. United Airlines no longer sends a physical card. The mileage membership card is "virtual" as a page on their smartphone app. I think that other organizations I associate with could adopt that idea, too.

[rwanttaja]

Sweet bejeezus man! NOT the urinal cake budget!!!!!
Sometimes, sacrifices must be made.

This would lend itself to a member poll, though. All those who WANT fancy pictures on their cards can aim away from the cake, thus reducing, ummm, "erosion" and saving EAA the money to add the pictures. Those who don't care can boresight the cake.

Coming up with a way for female EAA members to participate in the poll is an exercise for the student.

Ron Wanttaja

[Jim Hann]

Ideally, they'd set up the renewal process so that we could select from a set of images, or even use our own images. Would it be a nice program? Yes. Would it be worth cutting the AirVenture urinal cake budget in half in order to implement it? I dunno.....

Ron Wanttaja

I'm with Ron, I like the idea but not at the expense of the urinal cake budget! [emoji33]

Seriously, I would love to have my Pacer or Fly Baby project on my Lifetime member card, or the option of no card at all. Many possibilities.

Jim

[FlyingRon]

My little wallet has my driver's license, my pilot certificate, medical, carry permit, health insurance card and one credit card (and usually a folded up $100 bill).

My larger wallet has my folding money, an assortment of credit cards and all the ID cards I can't really do without.

My AARP card, my EAA card, my AOPA card, and any frequent whatever cards just go in the drawer. I've never had to show them. The reservation/boarding passes these days get tagged with your FF# and priority and my PreChek status. My flight bag also has my TWIC card which I use with security just so I don't risk compromise of any of my valuable ID info. The TWIC card really only legibly has my name on it. I guess it has a number on the back but it's way tiny.

[mazdaP5]

Really outside of Oshkosh, I've never really needed to show my EAA card.

[gbrasch]

Good points here, so why have I been carrying around my EAA, AOPA, HAI cards and others for years? In the drawer now, I feel lighter already.

[FlyingRon]

I've never shown my EAA card even at Oshkosh. Registration knows I'm a member (it's in the computer). So do the gift shops. About the only time I needed to convince someone was to get my special "member lunch" deal at one of the brat stands. Even then I just showed them my volunteer badge.

[mazdaP5]

I've never shown my EAA card even at Oshkosh. Registration knows I'm a member (it's in the computer). So do the gift shops. About the only time I needed to convince someone was to get my special "member lunch" deal at one of the brat stands. Even then I just showed them my volunteer badge.

Yeah, but to speed things up for everybody else in line at registration, and the gift shops, I'll sacrifice and carry the card for a week.

[JimRice85]

The only time I carry my EAA card is for Oshkosh. Even then don't carry my Vintage card. Don't carry my AOPA or NRA or any other membership cards other than Costco.


Jim R
Collierville, TN

N7155H--1946 Piper J-3 Cub
N3368K--1946 Globe GC-1B Swift
N4WJ--1994 Van's RV-4

[FlyingRon]

I don't carry an NRA membership card. Not even sure I have one. Same deal as with the EAA, the one time I needed to show membership (to get access to the range), they looked it up for me. I do carry the range card (cuts down on the discussion as to whether I've done there silly range safety test).

I used to carry my Vintage card so that I could get my plaque/mug but now they have that online as well (and besides the woman who runs the plaque operation knows who I am).

[Mayhemxpc]

We are getting a little off track here, but what do I really carry use on a somewhat more than exceptional basis (or must carry by law)? Similar to flyingron: Military ID, debit card, drivers license, Pilot certificate, CC permit, range card (my range swipes the range card at check-in.) Also a spare train ticket and, of course, some folding money. Everything else is just a number that could be looked up otherwise.

Like Vintage, Warbirds already knows my number. I have been asked to produce my EAA card at Oshkosh, but as I wrote above, such things could be digitized and carried on an app on a smartphone (like a boarding pass on an airline.) The Pilot certificate could be carried in my flying wallet and never leave my flight bag, but, hey -- I am a pilot. (Also, I have used it as back up ID when I was required to show a second document with my address on it.)

I think I will go upstairs and take all of those other things out of my wallet and put into ready storage.

[Byron J. Covey]

Hi Paul,

Truthfully we ended up with the B-17 because it's a fan favorite and most people like that airplane, but it wasn't necessarily representative of all that EAA has to offer and could be misleading regarding what EAA is all about. When we start thinking about what plane could be on there, you can imagine that no matter which plane we picked, some would love it and others wouldn't! The basic design we put on now is a bit cleaner. What I'd really love to get to someday, although we have to do quite a bit of math to figure out if we can make the costs work, is allow members to put their own image on their card. Now THAT would be neat!

The reason we're going with 5 year intervals is we're looking to shave some costs that we can invest in other areas that will be more impactful for members. However, if you lose your card or it doesn't hold up, you can certainly give us a call and we can send you a replacement.

Thanks,
Eric

Use the first homebuilt; all airplanes descended from it.


BJC

[Byron J. Covey]

At Oshkosh, a few years ago, I left my EAA membership card in the car. The person at registration insisted that I was not a member, because the computer said so. The problem was solved by inserting leading zeroes into my EAA membership number. That programming glitch has since been corrected.


BJC