IMTX18 - 3 payment plan

Jun 27, 17 5:41

Post #1 of 46 (5080 views)

I bought in to IMTX yesterday. While I was prepared to drop the 700 tier 2 price (There was a "Tier 1" price of 650.00, I was refreshing at noon EST and hit register as soon as it was available, tier 1 was already sold out....shocker...), I noticed they offered a "new 3 month payment plan" but you had to take tier 3 pricing. So what the hell, went for it and made a 250.00 payment. I owe another in July, last one in August.

Triathlon is an expensive sport, I'm at peace with that, and I am throwing them 50 more than I would have if I just dropped my credit card down and opted for tier 2.. But this was nice, far easier to budget what my household would consider a one go big spend - buying in is practically an extra mortgage payment for a month.

Just curious ST thoughts on this option of buying in to a race since it seems to be brand new.

Regards,
J. Smith

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [jsmith82] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 5:48

Post #2 of 46 (5051 views)

$50 is a lot to pay just to put off $500 in payments for 12 weeks, no??

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [jsmith82] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 5:49

Post #3 of 46 (5048 views)

Did the same for Boulder. Not what I would call a sweet deal, but at least I can ride my bike in comfort today.

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [jsmith82] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 5:53

Post #4 of 46 (5031 views)

I did the same thing for the exact same reasons. Yes I could have easily just spent the $700 yesterday, but it would have drained my "fun" money for the next month. I'd rather have 3 months of modest spending then 1 month of penny pinching, easier on the mind.

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [jsmith82] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 6:24

Post #5 of 46 (4969 views)

You guys think you have it rough, imagine being a student in college racking up debt and trying to compete in this sport. Whenever I want to race I have to ask one person for a bike/helmet another for wetsuit and luckily I'm a track runner so I have running sneakers. Registration isn't just taking away from my fun money it's basically freezing my ability to leave my house lol. To make things better, when picking up my last race packet I backed into a car worth about $5000 and the dent I put in the bumper was quoted at 1000$ so now I have to go through insurance and screw myself for the next 5years or so.

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [SBRcoffee] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 6:25

Post #6 of 46 (4967 views)

SBRcoffee wrote:

$50 is a lot to pay just to put off $500 in payments for 12 weeks, no??

I agree, but you will see from the respondents already, more to come, and many more that we won't know about that individual discount rates are quite steep; many multiples of the going treasury rate for the same time period.

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [Kylek42] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 8:00

Post #7 of 46 (4858 views)

Kylek42 wrote:

You guys think you have it rough, imagine being a student in college racking up debt and trying to compete in this sport. Whenever I want to race I have to ask one person for a bike/helmet another for wetsuit and luckily I'm a track runner so I have running sneakers. Registration isn't just taking away from my fun money it's basically freezing my ability to leave my house lol. To make things better, when picking up my last race packet I backed into a car worth about $5000 and the dent I put in the bumper was quoted at 1000$ so now I have to go through insurance and screw myself for the next 5years or so.

Dude, we've all been there.

Wait till you get into the Real World.

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [Kylek42] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 8:05

Post #8 of 46 (4847 views)

No one is forcing you to race Ironman branded stuff... I'm a grad student too on a limited budget and I raced a bunch the past few years 99% local stuff and I can still enjoy life

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [Frenchietries] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 8:10

Post #9 of 46 (4827 views)

You guys clearly didn't get the sense of humor in my post lol. No shit no one is forcing me to do it, I'm sure no one here would dispute the fact that triathlons are expensive. I wasn't comparing myself to the whole world I know for sure I do not have it the worst nor close to it. My joke was towards the guy saying he'd rather do the payments because he wants to keep his play money rather than spend it at all at one time.

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [walie] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 8:11

Post #10 of 46 (4821 views)

walie wrote:

Kylek42 wrote:

You guys think you have it rough, imagine being a student in college racking up debt and trying to compete in this sport. Whenever I want to race I have to ask one person for a bike/helmet another for wetsuit and luckily I'm a track runner so I have running sneakers. Registration isn't just taking away from my fun money it's basically freezing my ability to leave my house lol. To make things better, when picking up my last race packet I backed into a car worth about $5000 and the dent I put in the bumper was quoted at 1000$ so now I have to go through insurance and screw myself for the next 5years or so.

Dude, we've all been there.

Wait till you get into the Real World.

Hate when people say stuff like that "Wait till you get into the Real World" you don't know my life old man :)

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [Kylek42] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 8:14

Post #11 of 46 (4812 views)

Your post was more: ohhh look at poor me than humoristic TBH

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [walie] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 8:15

Post #12 of 46 (4809 views)

walie wrote:

Kylek42 wrote:

You guys think you have it rough, imagine being a student in college racking up debt and trying to compete in this sport. Whenever I want to race I have to ask one person for a bike/helmet another for wetsuit and luckily I'm a track runner so I have running sneakers. Registration isn't just taking away from my fun money it's basically freezing my ability to leave my house lol. To make things better, when picking up my last race packet I backed into a car worth about $5000 and the dent I put in the bumper was quoted at 1000$ so now I have to go through insurance and screw myself for the next 5years or so.

Dude, we've all been there.

Wait till you get into the Real World.

Agree dude. Cry me a river... At least you have a car being a college student. I didn't (nor did I complain either).

Now back on topic. I am a critic of many things that IM does (glad I didn't get the now infamous Mdot tatt), including women's field at Kona, terrible race coverage, no 20m draft zone, etc.... yet at the same I'm what you could say a somewhat loyal customer (I sign up for one of their races every year).

Yet this new structure i think overall is good. Let's you manage your finances for race registration in a better way or at least have more flexibility. I always keep getting the tier 2-3 price anyways because I hate to pay the bill of 700+ in one shot. Plus the very good thing about this new program is that you can defer which allows you to adjust in case you hit a bump in the road (injury for example).

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [jsmith82] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 8:18

Post #13 of 46 (4799 views)

Are you obliged to keep making payments if you decide not to race?
If you injure, this may be a way only lose $250 (or 500) instead of the full $700.

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [dfroelich] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 8:22

Post #14 of 46 (4790 views)

dfroelich wrote:

Are you obliged to keep making payments if you decide not to race?
If you injure, this may be a way only lose $250 (or 500) instead of the full $700.

No. But you can obviously only race if you've paid in full.

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [dfroelich] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 8:26

Post #15 of 46 (4779 views)

dfroelich wrote:

Are you obliged to keep making payments if you decide not to race?
If you injure, this may be a way only lose $250 (or 500) instead of the full $700.

No, but if you stop or miss a payment you forfeit whatever money you have already paid, they won't refund you 500 bucks if you fail to make the 3rd installment of 250.

One other perk I thought was great however, the deferral program of this race. I'd have to go back and look at the exact date but I believe I have the right to defer my entry to 2019 for any reason I see fit provided I do so before or by mid March. From an injury standpoint, I find this very appealing. They won't give you your money back, but it's better than nothing or the past "tough shit, take the hit" scenario.

Regards,
J. Smith

Last edited by: jsmith82: Jun 27, 17 8:32

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [jsmith82] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 8:31

Post #16 of 46 (4762 views)

Here you go:

Deferral Program:
Athletes who register on or before September 24, 2017 are eligible to defer their entry into the 2019 IRONMAN Texas free of charge. All deferral requests will be honored until March 14, 2018 regardless of the reason for deferral. The deferral may only be used once. Athletes who elect to defer their entries forfeit any partial refund or insurance refund. Deferrals are only available for individual entries and not for relay teams.

Payment Plan:
Athletes who register on or before September 24, 2017 may elect to pay via a three-part payment plan. Athletes will be charged the Tier 3 price in three equal installments. To elect the payment plan, an athlete needs to register under the “Payment Plan” category during the first 90 days of general entries being available and make the initial $250 (USD) payment. All three payments must be completed for an athlete to race – partial payments will not be refunded or honored as race entries. Athletes electing the payment plan may also utilize the deferral option listed above once all three payments have been completed.

Regards,
J. Smith

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [jsmith82] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 8:58

Post #17 of 46 (4687 views)

How many people are going to show up to athlete check-in and forget they didn't pay all 3 installments?

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [jsmith82] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 9:30

Post #18 of 46 (4629 views)

jsmith82 wrote:

Here you go:

Deferral Program:
Athletes who register on or before September 24, 2017 are eligible to defer their entry into the 2019 IRONMAN Texas free of charge. All deferral requests will be honored until March 14, 2018 regardless of the reason for deferral. The deferral may only be used once. Athletes who elect to defer their entries forfeit any partial refund or insurance refund. Deferrals are only available for individual entries and not for relay teams.

Payment Plan:
Athletes who register on or before September 24, 2017 may elect to pay via a three-part payment plan. Athletes will be charged the Tier 3 price in three equal installments. To elect the payment plan, an athlete needs to register under the “Payment Plan” category during the first 90 days of general entries being available and make the initial $250 (USD) payment. All three payments must be completed for an athlete to race – partial payments will not be refunded or honored as race entries. Athletes electing the payment plan may also utilize the deferral option listed above once all three payments have been completed.

I love this new policy. I'm always skeptical to give WTC credit for anything, but it's almost as if they actually listened to the complaints people had. I always hated having to make a $750 commitment a year in advance with no recourse if life happens, I definitely like this better than the partial refund option.

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [HoustonAg] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 9:35

Post #19 of 46 (4623 views)

Exactly. The deferral program is a vast improvement over the partial refund.

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [jsmith82] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 10:53

Post #20 of 46 (4522 views)

I have yet to figure out how to go about making the next payment. My active account shows no due / past due amount or balance, the email confirmation of my enrollment has no link or information to the program and nowhere within the program does it actually explain or define how to make your follow up payments.

I went ahead and emailed support for information but have not heard back yet, but when I do I will share it here.

If anyone else has it figured out, can you please share?

Maybe I stumbled across WTC's secret plan?

Regards,
J. Smith

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [jsmith82] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 10:55

Post #21 of 46 (4517 views)

Auto charge to your credit card?

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [Kylek42] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 11:16

Post #22 of 46 (4477 views)

Kylek42 wrote:

walie wrote:

Kylek42 wrote:

You guys think you have it rough, imagine being a student in college racking up debt and trying to compete in this sport. Whenever I want to race I have to ask one person for a bike/helmet another for wetsuit and luckily I'm a track runner so I have running sneakers. Registration isn't just taking away from my fun money it's basically freezing my ability to leave my house lol. To make things better, when picking up my last race packet I backed into a car worth about $5000 and the dent I put in the bumper was quoted at 1000$ so now I have to go through insurance and screw myself for the next 5years or so.

Dude, we've all been there.

Wait till you get into the Real World.

Hate when people say stuff like that "Wait till you get into the Real World" you don't know my life old man :)

We do know your life; and stay the hell off my lawn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I believe my local reality has been violated.
____________________________________________
Happiness = Results / (Expectations)^2

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [jsmith82] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 12:48

Post #23 of 46 (4381 views)

A little sanity check here..

You are loaning $450 ($700 total - $250 paid today). For 90 days. At a cost of $50.

For the period of the loan you are paying $50/$450 = 11% (oversimplified, but it works. In reality 11% is a little lower than reality, as you don't get the $450 for the full term of the loan... And on second look it might only be a 60 day loan)

90 days is about 1/4 of a year.. So, you are paying an APR of over 44% to "live a little more comfortably" over the next 90 days. (or 66% if rest of money is due in 60 days)

I don't know if payday loan shops even charge 40%! If this makes sense from a "budgeting perspective", I would suggest you take a new perspective on budgeting and long term financial management.

Austin Hardy -

Last edited by: Aust1227: Jun 27, 17 12:50

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [Aust1227] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 13:03

Post #24 of 46 (4348 views)

Aust1227 wrote:

A little sanity check here..

You are loaning $450 ($700 total - $250 paid today). For 90 days. At a cost of $50.

For the period of the loan you are paying $50/$450 = 11% (oversimplified, but it works. In reality 11% is a little lower than reality, as you don't get the $450 for the full term of the loan... And on second look it might only be a 60 day loan)

90 days is about 1/4 of a year.. So, you are paying an APR of over 44% to "live a little more comfortably" over the next 90 days. (or 66% if rest of money is due in 60 days)

I don't know if payday loan shops even charge 40%! If this makes sense from a "budgeting perspective", I would suggest you take a new perspective on budgeting and long term financial management.

Funny I had this same conversation earlier today with a buddy of mine, he had me at 28%.

Then ANOTHER buddy chimed in and assuming bank convention, put it at ((107/100)^4)-1=31.08%

You hit 44% (think because you used 700 total and not 750).

As for me... I paid tier 3 instead of tier 2, or at least that's how I sold myself. It cost me an extra 50 bucks to race, but I don't have to take a 700 dollar hit on the July credit card bill. I'd rather be down 250 bucks a month for the next 2 months than 700 in July with the (US) holiday and a family vacation on the calendar.

One day I'll get to drop 700 instead of 750 so I can flaunt my superior financial management, but today isn't that day :)

Edit: **** I hate math. Maybe that's why this seems like a workable deal to me :)

Regards,
J. Smith

Last edited by: jsmith82: Jun 27, 17 13:11

Re: IMTX18 - 3 payment plan [Aust1227] [ In reply to ]

Jun 27, 17 13:08

Post #25 of 46 (4336 views)

Good thing triathletes in general have quite a bit of disposable income.

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