

Is FoundersCard Worth It? - Aloisius
http://goodsharer.com/post/4729560685/is-founderscard-worth-it

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eli
In a similar vein, the Freelancers Union offers discounts on various business
services and is free: <http://www.freelancersunion.org>

They also offer health insurance and 401(k) plans for the self-employed.

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chrishaum
Thanks for the tip - just signed up!

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dotBen
I took a look at the FoundersCard during it's beta, I guess.

Seems to make sense if you have AT&T and don't have another corporate discount
applied to your account.

However, I'm not on AT&T and when I have to fly one of the 'big carriers' for,
say, international travel back home I don't fly American as they don't fly
into LHR.

So for me, it didn't seem worth while. 15% discount on Uber is interesting and
new since I looked, but if you can afford to take Uber cab enough then you're
probably not an early stage startup :)

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samstokes
American does fly to LHR, unless my trips home have been to some alternate
reality... They don't fly directly there from SFO, though, you have to
transfer.

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dotBen
My bad - that's what it is. American doesn't fly to LHR directly from SFO.

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thelicx
I tried to book a Virgin Atlatic flight through the Founders Card channel and
it was more expensive than the same fight on the Virgin Atlantic Website. Very
disappointing...

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daveman692
Think it depends on the cost. Got mine for $99 which it is certainly worth!
The 15% Uber discount makes up for that by itself. Would be harder to justify
at $500.

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mikeleeorg
Wow, $99 sure seems worth it. Is that price no longer in effect? From what
I've read, the cheapest one could get a membership now is $200 with a
referral.

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charlesdm
I requested some additional information and was sent a 200$ offer by one of
their staff. I presume they just check whether you're a founder or not?

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samstokes
I'm not sure if they still offer these, but at one point they were offering a
free bump to the first elite tier on the frequent flier programs for American
Airlines and Virgin Atlantic (and thus also their respective alliances), which
normally each require 25k miles flown. For an expat like me that's extremely
valuable.

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danielrhodes
If you read the fine print, that "bump" to first class was for the airport
shuttle train between Heathrow and Gatwick. Very misleading.

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samstokes
Not so when I exercised the offer. I'm Gold status on American and whatever
the equivalent is on Virgin, despite not having had the requisite number of
air miles to qualify through normal means.

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LisaG
Agree that the 15% Uber discount makes up for it. That and the AT&T discount
are about the only discounts I notice, what other FC discounts do people use?

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zbowling
Apple b2b. Threadless 25% off. Stubhub 50% off fees. American Airlines 10% off
with free wifi.

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erohead
How much is the Fedex discount?

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Aloisius
Up to 50% off of FedEx Express shipping Up to 25% off of FedEx Ground shipping

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limedaring
Trying to decide whether it's worth it — a lot of postings mention that the
hotel discounts are great, but it seems like the hotels that are discounted
are already very expensive and posh and therefore the discount brings it down
to a "normal" hotel cost. Am I making a bad assumption? Anyone else use it for
traveling?

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Kitco
the hotel discounts on FoundersCard are ho-hum. i get better deals through
AMEX and even Hotels.com rewards plan.

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consti2k
I've FoundersCard and am happy with it - I've used quite some deals and
discounts. <strike>Email me if you want an invite + promotion code (email is
in the 'about' part of my profile).</strike> No more invites, sorry!

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frisco
I have a few invites left... email's in my profile if you want them (and will
actually use it). Totally worth it in my opinion. AT&T + airlines + hotels +
random other things you discover all the time.

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derrida
This is yet another example of a trend in culture of what was once a thing
associated with production (founding a startup) becoming a type of consumption
(this card).

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thegoleffect
For me, the AT&T discount paid for the annual membership cost. I may have a
few invites still available - hit up my profile email.

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keeptrying
Do you need to have been incorporated to get the discount?

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justinchen
So is the best way to get one though a referral/invite?

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consti2k
Sure. It might make it easier for you to be accepted + the referral will get
FCPoints which he/she can spend on gift certificates and such.

<strike>Let me know if you need an invite (email in about part of
profile)</strike> No more invites!

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consti2k
I've new invites - let me know if you need one!

