relangford

The ONLY reason I have had an AmEx card was to be able to charge at Costco - I no longer have that need. I also hope for MC since I once had a Visa (back then in the dark ages, it was BankAmeriCard) for exactly one year and never again.

AllieKat

What happened that puts you off Visa? They are merely a processing network, and Bank of America - not Visa - owns the relationship with you. Bank of America issues Mastercards too now.

relangford

A number of fraudulent charges at retail merchants in the U.S. which occurred while I was in Japan and Korea (provable by entry/departure stamps in my passport, back in the early 1970s). Even after I proved I was not even in the USA and could not have made the in-store purchases, BoA insisted that I still had to pay - with threatening letters. Oh, and one of these charges was listed as being in a specific department of a chain store which was not even present in my local store. Being young and naive, and not wanting to hurt my credit rating, I paid the fraudulent charges and cut up my card, vowing to never use anything even associated with BoA again. Of course, this was before some of the consumer protections now available.

AllieKat

Correct, and Visa today has no real relation with Bank of America beyond Bank of America issuing Visa cards (they issue MasterCards as well). I'm all for boycotting companies that treat you wrong, but this is so long that the people involved are surely retired or in different careers by now!

And I'm surprised you're willing to dump Amex so readily with how much consumer protections matter to you. Between fraud handling and purchase protection, Amex is well worth keeping. They're so much better than other banks.

I'd put my money, if I was a betting girl (which I'm not), on Mastercard at Costco. Discover and no-credit or store-credit-only being distant second possibilities.

kulflyer

I severed ties with BoA as well. Took almost a year to get the "30 day" late payment off my credit report. Cost me a bit too in interest rates for a loan I was applying for at that time. This was back when they were buying out MBNA. I had scheduled auto pay through their website and went overseas for a couple of months. Received emails showing confirmation of scheduling auto pay and on the day of, I received an email saying payment received. Came back 2 months later and saw a CC bill for the same card from BoA instead of MBNA stating I have not paid. Back and forth with them and they refused to fix it. The 3 credit agencies were no help either. Even with the 2 emails and my bank statement showing the amount was deducted and went to MBNA's routing number via ACH it still took close a year to remove that late payment entry on my credit report.

aSiAnRiCk

I've had my Amex Costco card since 2001. I hope if Amex transferred my account to a different Amex card, it'll keep the 2001 Member Since date since it helps boost my credit score.

mia

It will, it is standard American Express procedure that every account you open will show the same Member Since year as your oldest account. If this does not occur automatically, they will graciously fix it.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...ber-since.html

bigbuy

I used to charge about $350,000 per year split between Sams and Costco just buying cigarettes to sell in my retail store (since sold). I suggested this to a friend who now has 3 stores. He called me in a panic last week after he heard the news and told me he was charging over ONE MILLION DOLLARS a year at Costco buying cigs for his stores using an Amex MR card and transferring most miles to Delta during bonus periods. Since we are in the Atlanta area, he asked me to help him find a Master Card if Costco goes that route. I suggested the BOA Virgin Atlantic Master Card that pays 1.5 miles per dollar and has Delta as a code share partner. Is there something I am missing or does anyone know a better alternative for my friend. He uses the miles mostly for international travel and Virgin Atlantic now has a flight out of ATL.

NDN

Take a look at the Citi Prestige and AA Executive cards

mia

Diners Club MasterCard earns Club Rewards points which are transferable to SkyMiles as well as to Virgin Atlantic. They are not currently accepting applications, but I expect this will be resolved by the time Costco announces their new partnership.

https://www.dinersclubus.com/home/consumer-cards

jamesteroh

If he is charging that much at Costco and if he does much domestic flying at all on Delta he should get a Delta card(s) that will give him the MQM boost as well.

mspreh

I have access through our company. I was just informed that we will be dropping our membership if they don't accept Amex anymore, and switching to Sams. Sams Club is more convenient in the MSP Metro, but the Corp Amex benefits we have made it worth while to use Costco.

The letter from our controller says that the exclusivity agreement is done, so Costco may still accept Amex past that date as that is yet to be determined.

wesheltonj

Well lets see. 1st Costco Canada, 2nd Costco USA and now 3rd Jet Blue. Along with a Federal Judge ruling against AMEX for anti-trust violations, just wonder would long before they have any cards left at the rate they can't make deals.

mia

MasterCard and VISA settled the same anti-trust allegations, but American Express chose to go to trial. All of the networks had similar policies.

American Express passed MasterCard and became the #2 USA credit processing network in 2012. If they are shut out of Costco USA entirely, and if that contract goes to MasterCard, they could well slip back into third place, but MasterCard will have spent a very substantial amount to regain the #2 position.

Antonio8069

Very doubtful. In Canada, as soon as Costco made this announcement, they began accepting M/C and that ended entirely effective December 31, 2014.

I (for one) have the Capital One Plat M/C and its a pretty slick product:
- CDW & baggage delay/travel assistance;
- price protection if the same item is offered for a lower price within 660 days;
- insurance (for up to 120 days) against loss, theft or damage of an item charged to the card;
- extended warranty protection for up to 2 years.

Are all of these benefits currently offered on Costco AMEX?

Those who suggested the transition from AMEX to Capital One was "smooth" are dreaming in technicolor. It took Capital One 5-6 weeks to deliver the new cards, during which buying gas required using another M/C!