American Express Membership Rewards - Costco true earnings card

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

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

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!

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

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.

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

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

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

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


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

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

... or nothing at all?

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

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


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

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?

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.

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?

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

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!!!

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!!!

Well, we like the way you're thinking, and there are some advanced techniques you can use to get ~ 5% earnings at Costco (Use Chase Ink Bold charge card at Office Depot, purchasing Amex Prepaid refills -> Amex Prepaid Credit Card; see Frequent Milers blog for more info), but for the most part you can pay with any Amex at the checkout counter at Costco. I tend to use my SPG Amex @ Costco, but I am going to do the Amex Prepaid thing for all my Costco purchases as long as that play lasts. I'm just waiting for the Ink Bold card to arrive and then I have to get off this island of Maui to find an Office Depot, but I digress :)


-David

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A couple points of clarification:

The Costco branded AMEX does yield 3 or 4 percent cash back at most gas stations including Costco. Fuel does not count towards the Executive rebate.

Also its a reasonable card at 1% cash back as there is no annual fee- so if you have a paid rewards card there is a 'breakeven' point to where it makes sense to have a free vs. paid card.

Will need to look into this Office Depot thing a bit more ;)

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

A few notes:

Costco will "guarantee your satisfaction" on the Executive membership. Basically that means if you don't get a minimum of $55 back (the buy-up from Gold to Exec) off your exec membership, they will refund you the difference. You will have to bug customer service on this.

The consumer TrueEarnings only gets 3% off gas. Business trueearnings gets 4%. It's also the *only* card that has a gas bonus at costco, as every other amex excludes warehouse clubs from bonuses. No 2% MR with your PRG unfortunately.

Personally, I carry the trueearnings card as my membership card and use it to buy gas, and SPG for actual in-warehouse purchases.

I too carry it as a membership card, it simply pays for itself and that alone is worth having the card!

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The Costco branded AMEX does yield 3 or 4 percent cash back at most gas stations including Costco.

Thanks for the clarification on that. For some reason I thought they excluded Costco gas stations but that was just from the exec club rebate not the credit card rebate.

They are finally building a costco gas station here on Maui. It can't get here soon enough.

-David

Thanks for the clarification on that. For some reason I thought they excluded Costco gas stations but that was just from the exec club rebate not the credit card rebate.

They are finally building a costco gas station here on Maui. It can't get here soon enough.

-David

I agree- that one has been needed for quite some time ^^

I can't wait until they start selling Diesel myself!

:)

The Costco branded AMEX does yield 3 or 4 percent cash back at most gas stations including Costco. Fuel does not count towards the Executive rebate.

Does anyone know if you need to pay at the pump in order to get the 3% or 4% rebate? There are standalone gas stations near me, but I prefer to pay inside since I can use other coupons to further reduce the cost of the gas.

Does anyone know if you need to pay at the pump in order to get the 3% or 4% rebate? There are standalone gas stations near me, but I prefer to pay inside since I can use other coupons to further reduce the cost of the gas.

Depends on how the transaction is encoded. If its a fuel purchase it *should* count towards the higher percentage, but if encoded as a misc purchase it drops down to a 1% rebate. Purchases at places such as Fred Meyers or Safeway for fuel are only 1%.

I think you have a running total at the bottom of each monthly statement that shows your rebate. One should be able to determine if it works definitively a month later.