Hi Everyone;

Sunday is our Aloha Party. In the past, this has been a really big deal. The last few years, it has been a REALLY REALLY big deal. This is because we have moved our signups for our western trips to the Aloha Party.

This note is mostly a heads up to remind you that the big day is Sunday. All the information you will require has been loaded onto our website. This includes: Time, location, signup procedure, trip contracts and links to trip descriptions. Start HERE and everything you require should be available as a link from that page.

Just a couple of important points that bear repeating:

· All required information for traveling will be pulled from your member profile. Please get this up-to-date ASAP. Pay special attention to your legal name, date of birth and gender. If you are going to Canada, you may need to enter passport information as well.
· While deposits will be accepted as cash, check, ACH or credit card, future payments will only be accepted electronically.
· The party is a pot luck, please bring a dish to pass. The club is supplying the main course.

You can stop reading now if you like.

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FAQ:

Why the switch to Aloha, I thought we signed up at the Corn Roast?
There are several reasons to pull ahead our signups. The world is moving faster than before and we need to nail down our locations earlier than ever. When a desired destination becomes available, we need to move fast and secure it. This requires cash outlays for deposits to secure our spot, so the pull ahead helps us align revenue and expenses.   Additionally, people want to buy IKON or Epic passes and need to know where we are going earlier than ever.

Why are we required to enter our data on line?
This is for accuracy and is a significant labor savings. You enter your data once. You review it. You buy off on it.   In the past, paper forms were filled out and transcribed by hand several times. Additionally, the verification process was insecure and a lot of work for the trip leaders. Our new process eliminates 95% of the work here. Ultimately it is less work for both participants and trip leaders as the information is only entered one time and it will cover all this year’s trips and all future western trips.

How do I Update My Profile Information?
To get started, log in to your account. Click Here to login to your profile. https://a2skiclub.org/Sys/Profile

· Use the email address and password provided when you joined the club.
· If you forgot your password, click “Forgot password” and a password reset email will be sent to your email address.

Once logged in follow these steps:

· Click the large red box “Edit Profile”.
· Correct any inaccuracies and enter any missing information.
· Return to the top of the page and click the large red box “Save”.
· To log out click the person icon in the upper right corner and select “Log Out”.

What is ACH?
Automated Clearing House, better know as electronic checks. This is how many of us pay our DTE bill, our city taxes, and our water bill among other things.

Why the switch to electronic payments?
Again, for accuracy, security and to benefit the trip leaders. ACH payments are made directly to our provider at zero cost to you and the club. This portal is more secure than sending checks in the US mail. We piloted the process for our Steamboat trip last year and had no issues at all. We cannot say this about the payments that were made by check.

Why do we have one EPIC and two IKON locations? I wish they were all either IKON or EPIC.
We did a poll on this recently, and most people didn’t care. Even at that, the EPIC/IKON cost benefit is not as clear as it was in the past. If you are going on our two IKON trips this year, it is still cheaper to buy the tickets through our trips than to get the IKON pass. With current pricing, you would need to go on three trips to make it worthwhile to buy the IKON pass. Additionally, the Vail trip and the condo location are so good, it was hard to pass up. We considered going to three EPIC resorts, but for a number of reasons, this just didn’t work out.

Why do we have to buy Vail tickets through EPIC and not through the trip?
Vail’s rules, not ours. We don’t like it either. The good news is that if you buy the tickets through the Encompasse (our tour operator) website you will get a discount on your trip. Note that if you do opt for an IKON pass you will get a discount going through Encompasse as well.

Why can’t we use (Venmo/PayPal/something else) to pay for the trip instead of ACH?
We researched a lot of options. Everything is costly. We are an organization, not an individual, so we pay business rates for all that and it isn’t cheap.

Can we make future payments with a credit card?
This is a possibility. It is a certainty that you will pay the associated fee to process the payment. Most people don’t like the 3-4% upcharge we have to pass along.

Todd Newman

President

Ann Arbor Ski Club