My Strategy for the Costco Card
Written: Feb 05 '00 (Updated Feb 07 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Who can argue with a 1.5% rebate?
Cons: Extra rebate encourages credit card debt.
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| Nuge's Full Review: Costco Card (American Express) |
If you are a Costco member and you don't have a problem with credit, you must get and use this card. First of all, as of March 13, 2000, Costco will no longer accept the Discover Card at their warehouses. They will only accept American Express.
Assuming that you are not the type to carry credit card debt, and you spend more than $5000 per year on chargeable items, you will get a 1.5% rebate if you use this card. Lower annual charges yield a lower rebate percentage, varying from .25% to .5%. The rebate applies on purchases at Costco and anywhere else the American Express Card is accepted.
The rebate is issued annually, and is sent as an in-store credit certificate which can be redeemed for merchandise or credit at any Costco warehouse.
There is no annual fee for the card, but your annual Costco membership fee is automatically charged to the card each year.
My strategy for using the card will be in conjunction with my other favorite credit card, the Sunoco Mastercard. I will continue to use the Sunoco card for gas because it rebates 4% on gas. I will also use the Sunoco card where American Express is not accepted because Sunoco rebates 1% on non-Sunoco purchases. For everything else there's American Express, because it will rebate 1.5%, since I easily charge more than $5000 per year.
The only thing that I dislike about the Costco American Express Card is the fact that they give you a financial incentive to carry credit card debt. The rebate is an extra .5% if you carry a balance. I am surprised that Costco, which is so customer-focused would encourage irresponsibility in this way. I would have thought that if they were offering an extra rebate, it would be for items purchased at Costco.
By the way, if you're not a Costco member, you should be. They have wonderful quality, prices, and return policies. You can get everything from tires, hearing aids, food, shampoo, paper towels, and everything in between. Their generic brand "Kirkland Signature" is always top, top, quality.
Recommended:
Yes
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Nuge
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Reviews written: 182
Trusted by: 135 members
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