sam007

guys

I got the Costco true earnings card with my executive membership. I thought this is only a cash back card but logged on today into amex.com and found that i have earned a substantial number of membership rewards points

Does anybody know if i earn both cash and MR pts with this card?

Thx

BigDaddy18

Wait what? I didn't know you could get points? Wait a minute I've had a Costco card for about two years now but just received my Platinum Card are you saying that you think I might be able to get points on my Platinum Card now from my Costco card spending? I have never received points before on just my Costco card just money back in the form of a check that I can spend at Costco every year? Intrested on hearing the answers on this one!

LIH Prem

You aren't getting membership rewards points from the Costco/Amex True Earnings card. If you have any membership rewards points, they are from a different Amex card.

BigDaddy18: If you want to earn Amex membership rewards cards for Costco spend, just use an Amex that gives you membership rewards points when you check out. They take any Amex card. You don't have to use the Costco Amex card at Costco when checking out. And since it's easy to beat the 1% rebate you get at Costco on that card, you are probably better off using a different card.

-David

BigDaddy18

Thank you for the clarification, that's what I was thinking I guess I just read the other post wrong almost made it sound like they were getting points for their Costco card.

jandersinc

I think that's what the OP was asking. Whether his Costco credit card earned MR points AND 1% cash back.

sam007

alright and that brings me to my next question. I have an executive membership that gives me 2% on most costco products. I'm wondering if the extra annual fee is worth it

Do most credit cards like citi or amex treat costco as a supermarket and give 5% at least during their promotion periods?

Thx

satman40

We check out with SPG, the only thing and Costco Amex card is good for is gas 4 or 5 X

mia

No. Every supermarket or grocery category bonus I have ever read specifically excluded club stores and all of their departments.

sam007

do the cards that say 1% for everything else at least give you 1% or nothing at all?

mia

You will earn the standard mile/point/cash reward when spending at BJ's, Costco, Sam's, or other club stores.

LIH Prem

That 2% is the annual rebate for your total costco spend, just for the Costco Exec membership. It has nothing to do with the Costco/True Earnings Amex card or spend on that card. You get that rebate from costco, if you are an exec member.

"Is exec membership worth it" is not that difficult to calculate. Your break even point is the difference between normal membership and exec membership pricing. I think the current difference is $55, isn't it? So that's your break even point. You take the annual rebate check from costco and if that's $55 or more, you have already broken even. They can do this calculation for you at any Costco membership desk.

You can add the value you get from your no-fee Costco/Amex card rebate to your costco exec rebate check and include that in the "is exec membership worth it" calculation. The rebate from the Amex/Costco card is a separate rebate, calculated separately on eligible spend on the Amex card: 4% for gas with an annual cap, if you have exec version; 2% for dining/travel; 1% elsewhere. You can also get some OPEN savings from the exec version of the card, but I don't think I would include them in this calculation since you can get them on any of the Amex/OPEN cards. (ie, SPG Biz Amex, and so on.)

As mentioned above, gas stations (any charge at a gas station works, costco gas stations excluded of course) are the winning category for this card*, plus it's a no-fee Amex/OPEN card, so it doesn't cost anything to get it/keep it.

-David

sam007

great post for clarifying everything. So with premium membership i get 2% back from costco (nothing to do with amex) but amex also gives me 1% back for shopping at costco for a total of 3% right?

jandersinc

The 2% executive member reward is capped at $750. So if you're planning on spending lots of money to build up the 2% executive reward that one is capped. Spending anything over $37,500 a year will only add to the 1% credit card reward, which is not capped.

LIH Prem

subject to the caps, yes, if you do it that way.

Though it's easy to get more than 1% value on spend, so few of us actually use the Costco/Amex credit card at the Costco checkout.

-David

sam007

so next time i get my hand on a better amex card (i think costco only allows amex), i can submit my costco exec membership card and another amex. Right? This way, I'll get 2% for costco cash back and hopefully a nice newer card that gives me 5%

I can potentially do 7% here!!!