FOLLOWING letters in these columns about the International Airline Passengers Association, I feel other potential members might be interested in our own experiences. Following a 'junk mailing' blitz, my wife and I were induced to enroll earlier this year because the discounted price and the 90 days cancellation seemed to make the risk worthwhile. We soon discovered the IAPA discounts were not as good as those obtainable under our North West Airlines 'WordPerks' membership when hiring a vehicle in Canada. Nor was it an organisation which had much airline recognition, for when we went to claim compensation for one of our suitcases which had its handle ripped off on an inter-city flight in Canada, the NW Airlines customer agent asked: 'What is IAPA?' Finding that the IAPA had failed to secure us any benefits, I cancelled our membership by fax and hand-delivered all their cards and documentation to their Wan Chai office, carefully getting them to chop a copy of the itemised listing to confirm receipt. These items they promptly lost in their office and claimed I had not returned them. I then faxed the IAPA the receipt and demanded they meet the terms of their guarantee of a full refund within 90 days if a member was dissatisfied. The IAPA has since sold my name and address to other junk mailers, as evidenced by the way the junk has been addressed to me. With such experiences behind me, I feel membership is just a waste of money, and in my case, a lot of time was expended in getting my money refunded and yet another source of unwanted junk mail. ANTHONY R C GREEN Happy Valley
