Received further info in the mail yesterday and am pleased to see the Costco Citi Visa “cash back” as compared to the current Costco Amex card
Gas:
CITI 4% up to $7000 purchases a year vs. 3% up to $4000/year on Amex
Restaurant and Travel
CITI 3% restaurant and “eligible” travel vs. 2% Amex
Costco purchases:
2% either card.
The CITI also shows that all Amex rewards until June 19 will transfer for next year and a cash back check will be disbursed in February as before.
Extended Warranty with purchases (not sure how extended) and travel benefits including car rental insurance, accident insurance, etc. also available on the CITI card.
Amex card good through June 19. CITI Costco Visa card will start working June 20.
At this point I think I will probably get rid of one of my other “store” VISA cards and keep this CITI card. I’ll hang onto the Amex card and see if I put it to any use - if not, I’ll discontinue it.
abasket, I believe the Costco Amex will stop working on June 20, so you will need a backup Amex. Amex is curreny offering us their own card, not affiliated with any store or business, with the same cashback benefit as the current Costco Amex (of course, minus the extra 2% on Costco purchases because that is offered through Costco Business membership and is sent as a separate check on our Costco mbership anniversary in August, in addition to the Amex 1% on Costco buys, which is included in the Feb. Amex check).
Also, in case you haven’t been in your Costco store lately, they have been sending home a slip of paper with each purchase explaining that these will be the accepted methods of payment beginning June 20:
Visa cards
Cash
Checks
Debit/ATM cards
EBT
Costco Cash Cards
While I certainly don’t need three VISA cards, I don’t have a problem dropping one of my other cards - no great cash back on them - for the Costco VISA. Time for a wallet CC cleanout!
I received the email and thought – “Costco did it again!” They are giving us even better cash back and making it so easy. No application for the new card, no pulling of a credit report, even our awards from our Amex will be added to the new card. Couldn’t be easier. I’m happy.
Just need to decide whether I want to get a new Amex. I probably will. Only question I have, is if I take the offer for the new (non-Costco) Amex, will this be considered a new credit card or a continuing account as far as my credit report is concerned.
(I’m assuming the Citi Visa will be a new credit card on my credit report — that’s the only downside, I’ll have a “new” account instead of a long lasting one)
I haven’t received any info from Citi yet but I did get something from Amex yesterday.
The cards will still work after June (not at Costco though), but only for the primary cardholder. It seems that ALL the extra benefits - travel insurance, collision on rental cars, purchase protection, etc. - will be disappearing.
I can’t remember about % cash back bonuses but with all those extras disappearing, we’ll be getting rid of the card. It’s sad because I already have two Visa cards and don’t need another. Our Amex cards led a charmed life too with no fraud exposures. We had 3 in two months with our primary Visa card last fall!
I hadn’t realized only the primary Costco Amex cardholder will continue. I love being able to get text notifications when a charge is posted to my Amex without the card physically present or an unusually large charge is made. Hope their Visa will offer that feature.
I already have two affinity cards through VISA (Marriott and United Club Card). I don’t need another VISA, but I did love the cash rewards feature and used the AMEX for practically everything (except hotel and airline). AMEX keeps sending an offer for a new card with a $300 statement credit (after spending a certain amount). I keep deleting the emails, I guess I’ll look closer at the next one.
I like the spending text notifications also, Chase Bank, which is the issuer of our VISA cards also offers this and it helped us end the fraudulent use of one of our cards after only one charge.
Got the Citi info today. The cash back looks good but they don’t list nearly as many side benefits as Amex. Maybe when we get the full booklet there will be more.
Looks like we il have three Visa cards. We get lots of miles on one, USAA just ended their Master Cards and replaced them with VIsa – USAA cards are better for DH’s overseas travel expenses and car rental insurance, and then the Costco card gets us goodies. Sigh.
Huh? I must of missed that email or mailing (or simply ignored it–shame on me). I’m a USAA MasterCard holder and was completely unaware. I guess I’ll be going from no Visa cards to suddenly having two in just a short time.
Ours must be later in the year, because ours still works and I haven’t gotten anything. Their website says they are phasing it in throughout 2016 (and even some after that).
My son’s Costco Amex was just lost/stolen and they are sending a replacement. For some reason, they never sent one for my wife (whose card expired in February).
I have had great experiences with Amex when there are problems with purchases or car rentals. I use an Amex Plat for large product purchases and use their car insurance. Sad to give the former up at Costco. I don’t have the sense that either Visa or MC are nearly as good with the product insurance. Costco, however, is also terrific.
We haven’t gotten any notifications that I know of about the switch in cards. I assume we’ll get new cards without asking.
AmEx does have excellent customer service and extended warranty service. Any time we’ve had any dealings with them and the extended warranty folks, they were FABULOUS! We did get the $300 credit for getting a plain AmEx card (not affiliated with Costco). So far, we’ve been happy enough with it. You can choose a category to have 3% cash back–we chose restaurants, tho many don’t accept AmEx for restaurants.
I am pretty annoyed about Costco dropping their AMEX as that has really become my primary card to use. I thought that after June it will still work just that Costco will no longer accept it. Both DH and I have the Costco AMEX and I only go to Costco about 1x or 2x a year as DH does the COSTCO shopping maybe once a month. Costco in NYS does not have gas or a liquor license. We alrady have Visa cards and MC which I mostly use for places that don’t take AMEX.