Monday, August 18, 2008

Membership has its privileges: how to make the most of your membership

Let's do a quick primer on how to maximize your membership and cash-back at Costco:

There are 3 types of membership at Costco:

Executive ($100/yr) - The highest level of membership, Executive Members receive an annual 2% reward on most Costco purchases. This can, in essence, pay for your membership. This year we got ~$75 for our reward, which brings our membership fee down to $25, which you will get back with all of the savings. If you spent $5000 or more in a year at Costco (don't laugh, it's entirely possible), the 2% reward would fully pay for your membership. There are some other benefits for executive members, primarily with the services that Costco provides, i.e. mortgages, check printing, loans, etc. You can have one additional card per household.

Business ($50/yr) - This is for licensed businesses, non-profit organizations, government agencies, farmers, and ranchers (random). Additional business membership cards are $40/each.

Gold Star ($50/yr) - For individuals who don't qualify as a business, this includes one additional card per household. Basically this gets you in the door.


Costco TrueEarnings AMEX card - This card is co-branded with Costco & American Express. A simple, unlimited cash-back card, this will give back:
  • 3% for gas purchases

  • 3% for restaurant purchases

  • 2% for travel-related purchases

  • 1% for everything else, including Costco purchases
There is no annual fee for this card if you have Costco membership and serves as both your credit card AND your membership card. I just flash my wallet with my Costco AMEX when walking in the door.


IMO: combine the above executive membership with the Costco TrueEarnings AMEX card to maximize your cash back. Costco only takes AMEX for credit card payment (cash, check, debit), and you're really double-dipping when you have both executive membership and the Costco AMEX. It will pay for your membership and then some. A few years back, we got about $550 cash-back from our AMEX usage. So it can be a very nice bonus. We use it exclusively for any fast food, restaurant, airfare, rental cars, priceline, and of course Costco purchases, and the cash-back adds up.

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