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Costco stopping its partnership with AMEX in 2016- what other card has a great cash back reward?

momee

By momee,
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gardenmom5

gardenmom5

Posted
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it'll be interesting to see what happens.  amex stock DROPPED $10 per share when the announcement was made.  I know I'm one of many who only has it because of Costco.

 

we have some citi mastercards with similar cash-back. (which we use everywhere else.)

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EmseB

EmseB

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I only shop with my credit card (we just pay it off every month), my amex has great cash back benefits, and I do a lot of costco shopping. This is a bummer, but since amex isn't taken a lot of other places it's a good excuse to switch.

 

Is costco going to pick up a credit card deal with anyone else?

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Happy

Happy

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Why is this a big deal? Costco takes cash, checks, and debit cards.

But with my Costco Amex, I get major cash back. We put a lot of dental and medical stuff on ours last year. Just cashed a $600 cash back check from Costco today. Love the cash back.

 

I'll be bummed if this goes through. I have another Amex card, but I will be searching for a good cash back card to use in my business.

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Carol in Cal.

Carol in Cal.

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REI has a significant merchandise credit, as does Nordstrom.  Both are VISA cards, so they can be used in more places than Am Ex, and that is a significant benefit.  I have both because those are two places that I like to shop, and of the two the customer service for the Nordstrom one is much, much better.  Plus the REI one keeps getting replaced early, which can be a pain if, for instance, they send you a new card that you MUST switch to for security reasons, but it arrives while you're out of town, rendering your existing one useless.  Gotta love those merch credits, though.

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cintinative

cintinative

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Try the Blue Cash American Express card. When we stopped our Costco membership a year or so ago (switched to SAm's Club), we switched over to the Blue Card and have been quite satisfied.

 

I could be wrong, but I think once this contract is over, Costco will no longer accept American Express. So getting a different Amex won't work. Of course, all of us need to ask Costco what they will accept--if it will be Visa or Mastercard or what. I can only assume they will pick up another exclusive contract. 

 

Like many of you we have had really good customer service with Amex. I am going to be sad to move on from them but there is no reason to pay a fee for us to have a credit card especially if we can't use it at Costco.

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gardenmom5

gardenmom5

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Arctic Mama, on 24 Feb 2015 - 11:12 AM, said:

That's awesome news! We always hated that we couldn't use any of our cards there and always had to move cash around to either the checking or debit.

 

I'm confused why you think this is awesome news when you were annoyed at having to move cash around when you shopped there.  they won't be opening it up to every tom, dick, and harry credit card merchant.

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gardenmom5

gardenmom5

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cintinative, on 24 Feb 2015 - 3:54 PM, said:

I could be wrong, but I think once this contract is over, Costco will no longer accept American Express. So getting a different Amex won't work. Of course, all of us need to ask Costco what they will accept--if it will be Visa or Mastercard or what. I can only assume they will pick up another exclusive contract. 

 

Like many of you we have had really good customer service with Amex. I am going to be sad to move on from them but there is no reason to pay a fee for us to have a credit card especially if we can't use it at Costco.

I really wonder what is going on.  there is currently an amex promo going on at Costco.  they're got people standing around trying to get you to sign up for an amex card. 

 

dh has had issues with amex - and is ecstatic at the thought they will drop it and he can ditch the card.  (which we will do as we only use it at Costco.)

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marbel

marbel

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I am bummed about this too.  We look forward to our cash back every year.  I suspect we will drop the AMEX unless they give us a reason to stay with them.  I don't see us getting another credit card when Costco comes up with their new partner, though I prefer to use a credit card rather than cash or a debit card.

 

We also joined Sam's club last year for buying gas - it is much closer to home than Costco.  But overall I much prefer Costco to Sam's.  They don't compare in terms of customer service, store cleanliness, etc.  So we will likely continue to have both.   (The cheaper gas easily pays our yearly fee to Sam's.)

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momee

momee

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Called Costco cust service today and they will send something out later to their customers but will be cancelling all of the AMEX cards through US Costco.

 

This could result in a potential "ding" on our credit scores right?  I mean, I've heard cancelling a credit card ends up actually hurting your score rather than improving it.

 

Thoughts?

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momee

momee

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I saw this card earlier in my searching today.

"Try the Blue Cash American Express card. When we stopped our Costco membership a year or so ago (switched to SAm's Club), we switched over to the Blue Card and have been quite satisfied."

 

The preferred Blue Cash says it has 6% on groceries.  Downside they have a $75 annual fee.

But if Costco stops taking AMEX this won't help me much as I easily spend 600 - 800 there every two months.

 

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gardenmom5

gardenmom5

Posted
Posted
momee, on 24 Feb 2015 - 6:23 PM, said:

 

 

The preferred Blue Cash says it has 6% on groceries.  Downside they have a $75 annual fee.

But if Costco stops taking AMEX this won't help me much as I easily spend 600 - 800 there every two months.

 

yes.  Costco is "our favorite store".  =D

 

we spend more there than anywhere else.

 

if they switch to mastercard - I wonder if it will be any mastercard, or an exclusive mastercard . . . .(they currently will accept any amex.)

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Happy

Happy

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I will be totally bummed if Costco stops taking Amex. I use my Amex for all my business expenses, plus other things. The fact that Costco takes Amex and Sam's doesn't is one of the reasons I've shifted from Sam's to Costco.

 

And a pp is correct--there was a 'sign up for the Amex card' guy at my local Costco today. Odd.

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poppy

poppy

Posted
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Fidelity Investments has an AMEX with good rewards deposited into an account there. They rate the best on many of those lists:

https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/american-express-cards

I've had this card for many years and love it. I buy everything with it , pay in full each month, and get 2% back that goes into my kids' 529s.

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Suzanne in ABQ

Suzanne in ABQ

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I dropped my Costco membership primarily BECAUSE of their relationship with AMEX.  I don't like the way they (AMEX) does business.  I would like to shop at Costco and use my Discover card, but I wasn't allowed to do that.  If they give me that option in the future, I might rejoin.

 

I much prefer my Discover Card Cashback Bonus.  There is no fee for the card, and I get up to 10% cash back on my purchases (10% with specific retailers, 5% with others, 5% for certain types of purchases each quarter, 1% on everything else).  I can spend the bonus any way I want, even pay with it directly at Amazon.  

 

I have bought two brand new Apple computers with just my bonus, in addition to many other smaller items.  I have enough to get another free computer, but I haven't picked one yet.  

 

Discover also offers gift cards to many major retailers at discounted rates.  You can get Lands End gift cards for 20% off.  Then, if you access landsend.com through the discover.com website, you will receive 10% cash back.  Do both to buy sale items, and you save big!

 

I like that I can see my FICO credit score on my Discover bill every month.

 

An added bonus with Discover card is that you can pick your card design.  They have over 150 cards to choose from.  Every retailer I hand my card to says, "Cool card!"  It brightens everyone's day.   :)

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vonfirmath

vonfirmath

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I could be wrong, but I think once this contract is over, Costco will no longer accept American Express. So getting a different Amex won't work. Of course, all of us need to ask Costco what they will accept--if it will be Visa or Mastercard or what. I can only assume they will pick up another exclusive contract. 

 

Like many of you we have had really good customer service with Amex. I am going to be sad to move on from them but there is no reason to pay a fee for us to have a credit card especially if we can't use it at Costco.

 

As. We aren't at Costco anymore so being able to use it at Costco was not a requirement.

 

The Blue Cash American Express has no annual fee, and still has rewards for using it various places.

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KatieJ

KatieJ

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It doesn't sound as if we will any options if we want to get their rewards. From what I read today, Costco will be canceling our current Amex cards and sending out their new card to us.

 

They did not say what the new reward program will be.

 

That frustrates me on a lot of levels, however, I am not happy about not having an Amex card. We used it for everything for two,reasons. The reward check once a year has been quite nice , but also Amex has helped out out with purchases that have gone bad. One item for sure was not a Costco purchase but they refunded our money after we had jumped thru hoops to get it fixed and it was just not working.

 

I truly hope the new card will be as good for us.

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Happy

Happy

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It doesn't sound as if we will any options if we want to get their rewards. From what I read today, Costco will be canceling our current Amex cards and sending out their new card to us.

 

They did not say what the new reward program will be.

 

That frustrates me on a lot of levels, however, I am not happy about not having an Amex card. We used it for everything for two,reasons. The reward check once a year has been quite nice , but also Amex has helped out out with purchases that have gone bad. One item for sure was not a Costco purchase but they refunded our money after we had jumped thru hoops to get it fixed and it was just not working.

 

I truly hope the new card will be as good for us.

Amex has really good fraud protection--it's one of the reasons I use it.

 

I'm going to fuss at Costco about this change. I don't like it at all.

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raptor_dad

raptor_dad

Posted
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I'm lazy... but I like Amazon's card. Standard 1% cash back as a amazon credit. It might be cashable as a check but I've never had an opportunity to check... 1% to use for books or a statement credit is good enough for me. Maybe I could optimize more but free books is good enough for me.

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MBM

MBM

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I much prefer my Discover Card Cashback Bonus.  There is no fee for the card, and I get up to 10% cash back on my purchases (10% with specific retailers, 5% with others, 5% for certain types of purchases each quarter, 1% on everything else).  I can spend the bonus any way I want, even pay with it directly at Amazon.  

 

I have bought two brand new Apple computers with just my bonus, in addition to many other smaller items.  I have enough to get another free computer, but I haven't picked one yet.  

 

Discover also offers gift cards to many major retailers at discounted rates.  You can get Lands End gift cards for 20% off.  Then, if you access landsend.com through the discover.com website, you will receive 10% cash back.  Do both to buy sale items, and you save big!

 

I like that I can see my FICO credit score on my Discover bill every month.

 

An added bonus with Discover card is that you can pick your card design.  They have over 150 cards to choose from.  Every retailer I hand my card to says, "Cool card!"  It brightens everyone's day.   :)

 

I'm going to have to look into the Discover Card Cashback Program you mentioned. That looks good.

 

We have several cash back credit cards. I'm using one now that gives 5% cash back on groceries but it's only through this March. We have others that give 3% and 2% for specific purchases: dining/gas and everything. If you do some searches on Google, you can find out about these deals.

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BrittanyM

BrittanyM

Posted
Posted

I am looking forward to this change, it means I can consolidate to one credit card (because AMEX isn't accepted other places we have had two and the new card is a Visa). And while I'm curious what the new rewards program and I would normally be irritated Costco is one of the few companies I trust.

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KatieJ

KatieJ

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I'm excited............ we don't care to have a card for just one store so we'll join Costco as soon as Visa is accepted. Been wanting to shop there for awhile!

The Costco,Amex card is accepted anywhere Amex is accepted. We use it for everything we can, everywhere we can. Dining, medical bills, household bills, Amazonand other online shopping. It is way more than a one store card.

We do have card connected to our checkbook that we use as a backup. We will have that card no matter what Costco decides to go,with. I think it makes sense to have more than one card in case there is a problem with one.

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EmseB

EmseB

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The Costco,Amex card is accepted anywhere Amex is accepted. We use it for everything we can, everywhere we can. Dining, medical bills, household bills, Amazonand other online shopping. It is way more than a one store card.

We do have card connected to our checkbook that we use as a backup. We will have that card no matter what Costco decides to go,with. I think it makes sense to have more than one card in case there is a problem with one.

 

I think she was saying that AMEX as a card, in general, isn't as accepted in as many places as MC or Visa.  So, yeah, Costco AMEX is accepted anywhere any other AMEX is, but there's so many more places that won't take it because (I think) of its high merchant fees.

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QueenCat

QueenCat

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The Costco,Amex card is accepted anywhere Amex is accepted. We use it for everything we can, everywhere we can. Dining, medical bills, household bills, Amazonand other online shopping. It is way more than a one store card.

We do have card connected to our checkbook that we use as a backup. We will have that card no matter what Costco decides to go,with. I think it makes sense to have more than one card in case there is a problem with one.

 

I know that. We already have a card we use for everything that we can possibly use it for, and love it's rewards. And we certainly have a back up; it'd be stupid not to. Just not a fan of AmEx....

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vonfirmath

vonfirmath

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It doesn't sound as if we will any options if we want to get their rewards. From what I read today, Costco will be canceling our current Amex cards and sending out their new card to us.

 

They did not say what the new reward program will be.

 

That frustrates me on a lot of levels, however, I am not happy about not having an Amex card. We used it for everything for two,reasons. The reward check once a year has been quite nice , but also Amex has helped out out with purchases that have gone bad. One item for sure was not a Costco purchase but they refunded our money after we had jumped thru hoops to get it fixed and it was just not working.

 

I truly hope the new card will be as good for us.

 

See if you can get a Blue Cash American Express card before they cancel the Costco one. I called to ask what I could do when we were leaving Costco because I didn't want to pay the Costco fee if we weren't able to use the warehouse and this is what they recommended.

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KatieJ

KatieJ

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See if you can get a Blue Cash American Express card before they cancel the Costco one. I called to ask what I could do when we were leaving Costco because I didn't want to pay the Costco fee if we weren't able to use the warehouse and this is what they recommended.

but if Costco won't accept any Amexcard in the future, then I loose reward points . So it's a trade off and I am not happy they are messing with us.

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