Gig103

@OP, if you have a Costco near you and like the idea of Citi for this 24-month warranty, consider becoming a Costco member for $60 and adding a no annual fee Citi "Anywhere" Visa card. It has the 24 month extended warranty that mia mentioned, no annual fee, trip insurance ($5000/trip/person), and tiered cash back (redeemable once per year at a Costco location). In fact my only complaint after a few years is that there is a foreign currency fee.

CarefulBuilder14

I wonder why they emphasize the 4% back on gas is "worldwide" but still charge a FTF.

I use mine for price rewinds and extended warranties (and if there is no base warranty I use Amex). I've had a smooth ~$200 appliance warranty claim with Citi and dozens of (not always smooth) price rewind claims.

mia

Does Costco sell gasoline at locations outside the USA? The 3% foreign transaction fee does not apply to purchases at Costco, and in any event is less than the 4% reward.

vh_bu98

Yes you can purchase gasoline outside of the US. The Costco store locator has a filter for gas stations if you want to do a search.

CarefulBuilder14

It's not just 4% on Costco gas. 4% at Mobil, Shell, etc. Up to $7k gas spend a year.

Gas from non-Costco warehouse clubs (Sam's, BJ's), convenience stores, superstores, non-automobile fuel, etc. is excluded.

mia

Understood, but your question was why would Citi tout rewards on gasoline purchases worldwide when there is a 3% foreign transaction fee. My answer is that (a) if the gasoline is purchased at Costco the 3% fee is waived, and (b) if you buy gasoline at another brand you are still 1% ahead. Why shouldn't they mention it?

CarefulBuilder14

Oh, I see. I didn't realize the FTF was waived at international Costcos. I thought it was no better there than a basic 1% no-FTF card.

So I do see the usefulness of international gas as a bonus category.

I guess if I went to a warehouse in Canada, though, I'd need to use a MC? I'm not sure what the situation in the UK is.

Gig103

I think they advertise it that way because the old American Express Costco card only provided the fuel bonus at US-based gas stations. There also might be some people who pay the fee rather than get a separate card, you never know.

vh_bu98

When I was in Canada this past summer, I tried to use my Citi Costco Visa and was told only MasterCard was accepted. Lucky for me, I had my IHG MC on me which has no FTF. And apparently the UK Costcos only accept American Express, so good thing I have one of those as well. LOL

HawkeyeFlyer

I don't even own a MasterCard.

mhdena

Make this your New Years Resolution!

Barclays and Citi to name a few.

Morpheus4356

Comparing AMEX platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve is basically comparing apples to oranges. AMEX platinum is has the best perks like hotel status, Fine hotel and resort collection, best airline lounge access, etc. Unfortunately AMEX platinum has very weak bonus categories aside from airfare booked directly from the airlines. Also AMEX travel insurance is woefully inadequate and downright embarrassing for a card with such a high annual fee.

CSR is the card that rewards when you actually charge things to it. The 3x Travel & Restaurant Category combined with the UR point system makes the CSR one of the most lucrative, if not the most lucrative travel cards out there. Having Hyatt as a transfer partner along with the Chase travel portal, makes the CSR vastly superior to the AMEX Platinum for hotel bookings. AMEX still has a slight edge though when it comes to airline transfer partners.

The fact that CSR only costs $450 a year and has a $300 travel credit which can be used for virtually anything makes it a more cost effective card than the AMEX platinum which costs $550 a year and comes with $200 worth of restrictive airline incidental credits and $200 worth of Uber credits over the course of the year. Some might argue that the AMEX platinum has AMEX offers which can save you a lot of money, but these offers are usually available on other AMEX cards you can get they don't have an annual fee.

i personally see value in having both cards and will continue to hold both for the foreseeable future.

shoelessj

I have had the CSR for a year now and could not be happier with it. I also have Platinum Corporate (15 years) and cancelled my Gold Card of 35 years. Personally, I saw (see) AMEX slipping in every area over the last years- the final straw being when I reviewed the 'new' Plat benefits which took over 1/2 hour with a misinformed agent.They told me I would get 5x air credit in error and I charged an expensive flight because of this only to have to go back and fight for some bonus points. Essentially Corporate Plat members get nothing (no hard card -mine used to crack once a year), no 5x airline reward, no Uber, etc.) This was a hard pill for me to swallow since I had patiently relished all of the highly touted Platinum benefits which they decided to exempt for Corp Card holders.
The points for gift cards (my primary previous use) had been devalued and gift card options reduced (I saw CSR had a wide range of cards available at the 'old' Amex levels (5,000 pts. 50 dollars).
Today I only use my Platinum for gas purchases and would not keep it if I had to pay 100 bucks for it.

In my first year I have used what I feel are very valuable transfers to United and Hyatt and the 100k bonus certainly was a great incentive.

I certainly understand that one size does not always fit all and don't discount your needs, but I have to think for the vast majority of users the CSR is a superior card based on every measure. Amex had their long days (decades) in the sun as the premium business traveler card but they have been slow to evolve . JMHO

747FC

If you pay for international business class seats, the biggest benefit of the Plat is the IAP, offering substantial discounts on flight costs. They just added the Lufthansa/Swiss/Austrian group to the suite of airlines participating.

Morpheus4356