DH just told me that he thinks we will still be able to use the AMEX or we will apply for new ones but we will likely keep the new Costco Visa and whatever we have until that one expires perhaps. Someone from CC had given me a tip about Costco travel and I have used them 2x to book cruises and we have used the car rental both on vacation and I have used when I have rented cars for business travel
I got the free fidelity amex card. I thought I could use that at Costco, as I rarely use my City American Advantage card any more, which I’ve had for 30 years, I can’t figure out how my credit rating will be effected.
Seems we need the Costco Citi card. If so, I think I’ll just use that at Costco.
Our Costco has been sending home a small flyer every time I visit - on it it says that starting June 20 you can pay using: any VISA, cash, check, debit, EBT, or Costco cash cards.
My current Costco Amex has two features which I love.
- For an additional $17.95 per car rental (whether you rent for a day or 45 days) Amex will assume the primary insurance position. The other cards will only kick in the auto insurance coverage after you've done battle with you own carrier.
- We have been paying $18/month for a $100,000 medical travel policy. Used it once and they covered 3K without so much as a second phone call.
As per my conversations with Amex, they will transfer both of these features to any new card for which we apply. I’m going to take one of their recent offers.
Don’t really needed another Visa so will have to cancel one of the 3 we carry.
We got our USAA Visa cards last week.
Thanks for checking on that ClaremontMom. I thought that might be the case, we had a similar issue when REI switched their credit card from Visa to MC last year. My REI card is my oldest account and I had been thinking I would drop it at the switch since I don’t use it much anymore, but it did continue with our old account history, so we kept it.
Like dietz, I use AmEx’s premium car rental protection (ours is $19.99 per rental) which is primary insurance. I have the AmEx card which gives extra back on groceries so I will try to switch it to that.
We tend to churn our credit cards a bit, getting bonus miles or hotel points and then dropping them, so I like to have a few that we keep long-term.
Ugh, just realized…Costco Amex becoming Visa, USAA MasterCard becoming Visa…That’s a lot of automatic payments I have to update!
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/costcos-credit-card-best-rewards-204921854.html
Still no info in my mailbox. I am irritated that we have not personally received any notification/info from Costco. Way to treat your loyal customers who have had membership for 25 years!
Did anyone sign up for lifetime shoprunner with their Costco AmEx when it was offered? I did and I’d really like to keep it. Not sure if there’s any way to do that. I may have to contact shoprunner to find out.
@dietz199 thanks for mentioning those travel benefits. We’re taking a big trip in June and those would be handy to have. Maybe I’ll switch over soon so I can sign up for them prior to our trip.
Just read an article on Yahoo that the Costco Visa has some of the best benefits.
Don’t worry too much about a ding to your credit for switching cards. It is usually only a few points and springs back in a month or two. Unless you are planning to buy a house, it’s unlikely to hurt anything or for you to even notice.
I have gotten nothing from Costco or Amex. Did it come via email or snail mail? Can you post a link?
I received a letter saying the new card will arrive by 6/30. It will give 4% for Costco gas, etc, like current card.
I have heard that the new VISA from Costco will have no overseas service charges
I got a letter a long time ago-- nothing recent. I looked up the info on their website butt am concerned that I have not received anything directly
Mine came snail mail. A glossy tri-fold type open up piece of mail with a few pages of inserts. Not a regular white envelope piece of mail.
Just received the update info for my mom’s card (I manage all her financial stuffage). According to the Amex letter, the Travel Medical Protection plan will not roll forward to a new card, it looks like it will simply be discontinued. This is counter to what I was told by Amex customer service.
It does say that the premium auto rental insurance coverage option will continue to be available on a new card.
Going to be making another call this morning.
We have a Costco American Express Business branded card. H received information yesterday with his American Express bill. It outlined the details of the changeover. It did not give details of what the Citibank Visa offered. It said we will get something from Citi in the mail. H called American Express and asked about the Membership Rewards points. If you do not have another Membership rewards linked card they will be good for 90 days and after that point they will be lost. I had recently used most of our points for 2 plane tickets. Last night I preserved gift cards with the remaining balance. We will not get another American Express since we only used ours at Costco.
If you go to CitbNk you can find out details of the new card. No credit check will be run. I don’t know if we will cancel. We already have several Visa cards. I need to research how the Coatco card will compare to our Chase.
Will it be much more beneficial to use the Costco Visa than a regular visa card? We do have one that accumulates miles and I use that as my primary card - wondering if I should switch or use that card at Costco.
Here is some info posted on another forum (just google slickdeals, hotdeals and search Costco for a ~40 page discussion on comparing the new citi card to other cards and which cards give the best rewards, lots of good info):
"It will be called “Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi” .For those who already have Costco Amex, they will automatically mail out the replacement Visa cards starting in May 2016, but you cannot use it until June 20, 2016.
benefits:
4% cash back on eligible gas worldwide, including gas at Costco, for the first $7,000 per year and then 1% thereafter (Costco Amex is 3%)
3% cash back on restaurant and eligible travel purchases worldwide (Costco Amex is 2%)
2% cash back on all other purchases from Costco and Costco.com (Costco Amex is 1%)
1% cash back on all other purchases
Current Amex rewards will transfer to the new Citi card and in Feb, you will get the check just like we do now. This card will carry all your old credit info, history and limits, no hard pull just automatic.
American Express is NOT going to send you a replacement Amex card for your existing costco card unless you contact them. They have been sending out mailings but I guess I overlooked mine and thought that they would just automatically send me a new card after being a member since 1989, before Costco even had Amex, wrong! Your current Costco Amex card will be disabled on June 20th, ie. your Costco Amex card will be no good anywhere.
If you want to keep an American Express card (with your history and credit limits), you should log into your amex account and do a product addition. Once there, you will pick a new card to add to your account. There are several choices of Amex, a no annual fee Blue Cash Everyday® Card with $100 bonus and an annual fee one Blue Cash Preferred® Card with a $300 bonus plus a bunch of others with varying rewards so compare them all to find what’s best for you. Some people reported getting different bonus amounts when they signed into their online account and offers popped up and some said their mailings offered a better bonus that their pop up offer.
Choosing a new card would really depend on what other cards you have now and how you use cash backs and bonus points. It would be different if you travel a lot, for example. This is a good time to review all your cards and decide which ones make you the most money. If you already have other visa cards, compare the rewards but for some it makes sense to keep both your old card and new citi card but keep track of what to use when for the most rewards. If you have the visa freedom card that gives 5% on rotating categories or the new blue cash preferred that gives 6% on groceries, it would make sense to keep track and use the ones that give you “the most bang for your buck.” If you are tech smart, there is an app that tells you what card to use when and where that was discussed in the slickdeals post. Starting June 20th, you can use ANY visa at Costco.
You add the new Amex card to your account and it will ship asap. When June 20th hits, the Costco Amex will be no good but you will have your new Amex card that keeps your history and credit limit with no hard pull. The new Costco Visa has some good rewards but a lot of us want to keep an Amex if just for shoprunner, preferred seating and other amex offers.
I hope this long posts helps!
So we used to just have one Visa (Disney) and one Amex (Costco). We now have two Amex: Costco and Delta, and one Visa (Disney). Since we don’t go to WDW much anymore, we had been trying to figure out who to switch to. Thanks Costco, problem solved :D.
The only downside is we have our credit frozen at the three credit agencies and it is a TOTAL PITA (as it should be) to unfreeze them so we can get the Costco Visa card. *Just read the post ahead of mine and it looks like I may not have to do that. Yay!
Last week I had to replace two Michelin Pilot AS/20 tires because they had failed halfway through their warranty (I may or may not drive like a bat out of hell). Costco tires-they said, no problem, gave me 50% off the replacement tires (same kind). That’s why I keep the card-not for the giant mayo, but for the customer service that didn’t give me a hard time about how worn the tires are and if I did the rotation at 5k or 6k miles.