Amex Costco True Earnings BUSINESS ONLY- now 5% rebate on gas purchases incl Costco

I was thumbing through my May 2007 Costco Magazine and noticed on page 82 that it said there is a new exclusive benefit for Costco AMEX True Earnings business members. You now get a 5% credit card rebate on gas purchases including gas purchased at Costco and stand along gas stations, but not at OTHER warehouse clubs, superstores or supermarkets. The other rebate structure is the same as the consumer line AMEX Costco true earnings card which gives 3% for eating out, 2% for travel, and 1% for everything else incl Costco.

This was great news to me since I buy most of the fuel for our vehicles at Costco. When I called the number on the back of my Costco AMEX TrueEarnings Business card to confirm that I would be getting 5% the rep said yes but this only applies to Costco Business and Business executive memberships which I have so I would be fine. I asked if it would apply to regular gold star memberships or executive non business members who have the Costco AMEX True earning card because I have some friends who have this card, but not the business line of credit and she said no. This rebate bonus is ONLY for Costco Business members who have an AMEX True Earnings Business account. She said if you don't have Costco business membership and don't have the business line of True Earnings credit card you won't get this added new benefit for the personal line of True Earnings card. I asked if they could convert their personal lines to the business line of credit card. She said no, in order to process your application you have to have a Costco Business membership (which requires proof of a business at the membership counter), after you get your business memebership card, she needs the card to process your application to very your membership. Then she will need to do a new application for a business line of credit, she said the system and AMEX policy does not allow a conversion from personal to business.

Since I fuel up our vehicles mostly at Costco and have previously been getting only 1% on gas at Costco I thought this was a great new feature for Business memebers w/ the Business True earnings card. I could buy gas at outside stations and get 5% back from Citi cards or my AMEX Simply cash, but they cost more than Costco so I was still saving buying at Costco and only getting 1% previoously. Now with the 5% back on gas at Costco and their low gas prices I save even more. The Costco stations here in So Cal are usually 20 cents less than outside 76, chevron, shell, mobil stations in the area. Since you have to be both a Costco Business member (where you have to provide proof of having a business) and have the AMEX Costco True Earnings business CC, this is not like other business cards where you can say your name is your business name and just apply. When I applied for my Costco Business exec membership they asked for proof such as my business license/EIN #, I also brought my tax forms, and such.

I couldn't link the catalog specific page.. but if you go to this addy:
http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/200705/?b=0&u1=texterity

use the >| button to go to the last page, then go backwards to find page 82, you will see the ad on page 82 listing the new built in benefit for TrueEarnings Business Cardmembers only.

this must be a brand new added benefit because even at Costco.com when I click on credit cards and select the "business" True Earnings, they have not updated their website to reflect this new 5% on gas benefit in the reward structure. I asked if it was promotional and she said it looks like a new feature of the card and not a limited time promotion. They put me on hold a lot for just about every question I had on this new benefit so it seems like the reps don't know too much about this new 5% on gas card benefit.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Productgroup.aspx?Prodid=11172037&whse=&topnav=&browse=

I posted about this in the "which credit card should I get" thread yesterday. You seem to have had much better luck with CSRs than I did. Mine were completely clueless!

Saw this on the link you posted:

Get an automatic 5% savings on Costco Gasoline between December 1, 2006 – April 30, 2007*

* 5% savings applies to gas purchases at Costco Gasoline locations made between December 1, 2006 – April 30, 2007 and will appear as statement credits on the Cardmember's monthly billing statement. This promotional offer is available only in connection with the TrueEarnings Business Card from Costco and American Express. Additional terms and conditions apply.

Edit **

Did the website reflect the terms I posted above when you could not link to it earlier?

This would be an amazing deal if it works out to be 5% for all Costco Stations, It will be time to put SimplyCash in the back of the wallet.

Minoritydan said: Saw this on the link you posted:

Get an automatic 5% savings on Costco Gasoline between December 1, 2006 – April 30, 2007*

* 5% savings applies to gas purchases at Costco Gasoline locations made between December 1, 2006 – April 30, 2007 and will appear as statement credits on the Cardmember's monthly billing statement. This promotional offer is available only in connection with the TrueEarnings Business Card from Costco and American Express. Additional terms and conditions apply.

Edit **

Did the website reflect the terms I posted above when you could not link to it earlier?

This would be an amazing deal if it works out to be 5% for all Costco Stations, It will be time to put SimplyCash in the back of the wallet.

I am pasting the post I wrote the other day -- it contains a link for the actual ad, and explains why I think it's different from the offer you refer to.

5% Cash Back for gas w/Costco TrueEarnings AMEX business card!?!

In the May Costco Connection (see page 82), there is an ad announcing a new built-in benefit for TrueEarnings business cardmembers -- 5% off gas at Costco and standalone stations except for gas purchased at warehouse clubs other than Costco. This is in addition to the 3% for dining out, 2% for traveling, and 1% for everywhere else including Costco. Anyone know about this? It's not showing up in the description of the card on the Costco site yet. When I click the button to apply, I see a limited time offer for 5% for gas from Dec 2006 through April 2007 only -- the new benefit isn't listed yet. When I was at Costco last week, they had a table set up for a card, but I'm not sure which one it was (I pretty much just ignored it). Makes me wonder whether they are giving out bonuses for signing up.

The number given in the ad is (800) 816-1042 if anyone wants to call and check it out. I'm planning to call later today, after lunch. I will post an update if no one else has posted anything by then.

ETA: So I called, and the CSR didn't know anything about the new gas rebate so she gave another number to call. Called that number and that CSR was also unaware of the new benefit so she put me on hold. That's when I gave up. I have a feeling that they just don't have the info on the new benefit yet -- either online or at their call centers. The magazine has a May publication date, so I may try again in a few days. The main advantage I see with the TrueEarnings over other 5% gas cards is that Costco gas counts toward the rebate. (It doesn't count as a gas purchase for my AMEX Blue Cash; I'm not sure about other cards.) The 3% for restaurants is nice too.

BlkBimM3r said: madscribe: I searched before posting and didn't see your post.

No biggie. I copied the text from the other post because I thought it might help answer Dan's questions.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Discover Open Road card also gets 5% back for Costco gas -- need to verify that. Probably won't bother applying for a TE if that's the case, since I only get Costco gas about once a month.

Question about the 3% restaurant rebate -- does it work for fast food, coffee houses, etc. too?

ETA: To answer my own question, it appears that restaurants do include fast food and even delivery. This sure makes it more attractive than other cards that are more restricted in the type of eateries that qualify.

scholar10 said: I think the standard Costco AMEX platinum Cash Back card (the silver one, as opposed to this multi-colored one) offers upto 2% on all purchases and flat 2% on Costco purchases (except gas) CashBack. Wouldn't that be better than getting higher rate but only on restricted categories? Just thinking out loud...

You reminded me of something... I noticed that the Cash Back card is no longer showing up on the Costco site, although it is on the AMEX site. What that means, I don't know. Maybe they're phasing it out and pushing the TE card instead.

daregan said: scholar10 typed:I think the standard Costco AMEX platinum Cash Back card (the silver one, as opposed to this multi-colored one) offers upto 2% on all purchases and flat 2% on Costco purchases (except gas) CashBack. Wouldn't that be better than getting higher rate but only on restricted categories? Just thinking out loud...Doesn't this card have an annual fee?

Yes, to get the 2% costco CashBack one has to be an exec member but from what i can see this new card has the same requirement.

Just noticed that 2 descriptions of the TE business card (on the AMEX site; not the Costco site) now reflect the new 5% gas rebate, although the application itself still shows an almost-expired, limited time (12/06 to 04/07) offer for 5% back on Costco gas.

To expand on something I mentioned earlier, not only is the Cash Rebate card no longer showing up on the Costco site at all, but the business version seems to have disappeared from the AMEX site as well. The personal version is still showing up, but I wouldn't be surprised if it disappeared soon.

just to put my 2 cents on the topics discussed.

madscribe: I've had my AMEX True Earnings card since around 2003 when it was a newly introduced card. In terms of restaurants I have charged a large variety of food/eating out places including fancy sit down type restaurants in West LA/Beverly Hills, to fast food type restaurants like jack in the box. I got my 3% Cash Back for all of them.

Also on top of the current 1% the AMEX card gives me at Costco, I also get 2% from the Costco Executive membership. So I get 2 reward checks each year to spend at Costco. One from my AMEX True Earnings CC, and one from Costco Executive business membership. Combined the rewards I get cover the $100 membership and then some, so I actually net a good amount of $$$.

scholar10: You don't have to be a Business executive member to have the Costco True Earnings Business card, but you do have to be a Costco Business member. The card also comes in a personal/non business line where you have to be either a Gold Star member, or a executive member, but the 5% gas rebate does not apply to the personal line.

Costco memberships go like this, there are 4 different types. Gold Star & Business - $50. Executive & Business Executive - $100.

just to make sure we are both referring to the same card, this is the one your thinking about right?
American Express Costco Cash Rebate Card

I don't see this card on the business American Express link, so this is the personal version.

The American Express Costco Cash rebate card appears to be tiered with a max of 1.5% unless you carry a balance (which a lot of FW'ers including myself will not do unless its 0% APR or something) then you get an extra .5% making it 2% but how much are you paying in interest to carry a balance to get that extra half a percent?

here are the tier/terms form their website:

*The rebate is an annual rebate equal to the following percentages of your annual level of purchases: 0.25% for the first $2,000, 0.5% for the next $3,000, and 1.5% for purchases in excess of $5,000. If your account is carrying a balance, you will receive an additional 0.5% rebate for the billing period. The rebate applies to purchases but not to cash advances, returned purchases, balance transfers, the purchase of American Express Travelers Cheques or American Express Gift Cheques. The rebate is issued annually in your Cardmember billing statement as a coupon redeemable at Costco. See your Cardmember Agreement for eligibility requirements and complete terms and conditions.

I did a calculation of an estimated $1,000/month in spending w/o carrying a balance. Their calculator estimated I'd get $125 Cash Back for $1,000/month spending ($12,000/yr) w/ the tiered structure of the American Express Costco Cash Rebate card. With my AMEX True earnings flat 1% at Costco (not including the new 5% gas benefit) I would have gotten $120 rebate on $1,000/mo in spending or $12K annually @1%. $5 Not a huge difference at the 1% level. Now if I factored in the extra 4% (previously it was 1%, now its 5%) on gas that the True Earnings card now gives I think the rebate would be more in favor of the True Earnings card at least based on my spending. We buy 90% of our gas at Costco since we shop there weekly for groceries and such also, there is one not too far from my work, and its cheaper than the outside gas stations.

I'm the type of person who will place a charge on whichever card gives the most reward for what I'm buying and where. Costco I use the AMEX True Earnings Business. Office Store, my verizon bill, and gas at outside stations I use the AMEX Simply Cash Business over my Citi Dividend because you get statement credits of the reward instead of having to wait to have accumulated $50 w/ Citi. Grocery and drug store I'll use Citi Dividend because my ATT universal conversion still gives 5%. I have a Citi Professional that I used to use at Office Stores (3%) but not use the AMEX Simply Cash Business. So if it was not tiered, I'd probably have both cards and use the True Earnings for Gas to get 5% and the Cash Rebate card for my spending in the store if it was non tiered and 2%. But since its tiered, based on my spending I don't see it yielding me much more.

mpkb: thanks for linking the specific page.

I think my statement will close around the 26th of each month. So we will have to wait until I receive my bill after that and I'll see if I am indeed getting 5% back on gas, since the CSR's don't seem to have a lot of info on this new card benefit.

BlkBimM3r said: When I called the number on the back of my Costco AMEX TrueEarnings Business card to confirm that I would be getting 5% the rep said yes but this only applies to Costco Business and Business executive memberships which I have so I would be fine. I asked if it would apply to regular gold star memberships or executive non business members who have the Costco AMEX True earning card because I have some friends who have this card, but not the business line of credit and she said no. This rebate bonus is ONLY for Costco Business members who have an AMEX True Earnings Business account. She said if you don't have Costco business membership and don't have the business line of True Earnings credit card you won't get this added new benefit for the personal line of True Earnings card. I asked if they could convert their personal lines to the business line of credit card. She said no, in order to process your application you have to have a Costco Business membership (which requires proof of a business at the membership counter), after you get your business memebership card, she needs the card to process your application to very your membership. Then she will need to do a new application for a business line of credit, she said the system and AMEX policy does not allow a conversion from personal to business.

This conflicts with what a CSR told me. (Big surprise, huh?) She said I could apply with a Gold Star membership, no problem. Not sure whether or not I should have believed her, but I looked again at the online application and couldn't find anything in the terms that says that a business membership is required, so I went ahead and applied. I was surprised that I wasn't instantly approved, but have since found out that they can't give an instant decision for that card since the application has to be reviewed by both AMEX and Costco. I should hear within 8 days. If they don't give it to me because of the membership type, I'm hoping they'll let us switch from Gold Star to Business in order to get the card. (My husband is self-employed so that should qualify us, right? The Gold Star membership was a gift from my parents a few years back so we never had to personally apply.)

mpkb said: madscribe said: This conflicts with what a CSR told me. (Big surprise, huh?) She said I could apply with a Gold Star membershipI called three times, and got three different answers. Also, there is some confusion about how long this promotion lasts. According to the website, this promo only applies to gas bought up to 4/30/07. CSR 2 told me the same thing. CSR 3 told me that the promo has been extended to 12/31/07. CSR 1 didn't really say much...

Yesterday, when I looked at the online application (which still had the limited time offer), I clicked on the terms, and the 5% was in there, with no time limits. The ad also implied that it was a permanent benefit.

BlkBimM3r said: madscribe: If your husband is self employed like I am just bring the documents (business license, EIN#, and I think I brought my tax return) to the membership desk. I'm not sure exactly what they looked at to qualify me since I signed up in 1999 or so I don't remember. If you want the non executive business membership it is the same price ($50) as your gold star membership, so just tell them you own a business and want to switch.

Well, he doesn't have a business license or EIN, but we do have tax returns showing him as a sole proprietor. I emailed Costco yesterday asking whether that was good enough, but haven't heard back yet. Hopefully it'll be a moot issue, and I won't have to worry about switching.

ETA: Got response from Costco -- need either a business license or 3 pieces of business ID; tax return only counts as 1 ID. Hopefully it won't matter, but I thought I'd add that info.

Press release.

Well this is weird. My online application appears to have floated off into the netherworld. I applied two days ago and AMEX is not showing it in their system by either SSN or name. (I got a "thank you, you'll hear from us within 8 days page," so it seemed like it went through okay.) CSR recommended I just do another application since the system (supposedly) won't accept duplicate submissions.

Has anyone else had similar problems applying for a new card?

I have the AMEX Costco True Earnings Business Card since last October but now it shows the Gas promotion has expired 04/30/2007. Is that promo now only for new sign ups or do they extend that to existing members too?

I canceled my Platinum American Express Card since they raised the fee now to $450 a year. The AMEX Costco card is much better since there is no fee and Cash Rebate. They even called several times to reconsider the cancelation of the Platinum card.

BD

madscribe: when I applied for my AMEX Simply Cash Business card a couple months ago. It took maybe 3-4 business days before it showed up and I could check the application status at: www.AmericanExpress.com/applicationstatus

after it appears it will say something like "in progress" for a few days, then just move to "approved" assuming your approved. I think the whole turn around time for my Simply Cash business card was almost 3 weeks between applying and getting the card physically in my hand to use.

The application on the AMEX site has been updated to show the new 5% gas rebate (they finally took away the expired offer). Separately, I confirmed with Costco customer service (not AMEX) that you can get this card with a Gold Star membership.

Update: I have been approved, so just having a Gold Star membership is definitely okay. Hurray for 5% back on Costco gas!

BuonaDomenica said: in my AMEX account online the 5% on Costco Gas purchases still show as expired on 4/30/2007. It is no longer listed as the current ongoing Open Savings.

BD

I wouldn't worry about it since the press release and ad clearly state that it's a new benefit.

Didn't even realize this was happening until I got an email today that basically states the same thing as discussed in this thread over the past two weeks:

We are pleased to announce the addition of a permanent new feature to your TrueEarnings Business Card from Costco and American Express: 5% Cash Back on just about all of your gas purchases.

No enrollment is necessary. This valuable, ongoing benefit is our way of showing our TrueEarnings Business Cardmembers how appreciated they are.

Watch your rebate grow quickly. Earn 5% Cash Back on automobile gas at any stand-alone gas station, as well as any Costco Gasoline station.

BuonaDomenica said: well I got my AMEX Costco True Earning Statement today and I did not get any 5% savings on Costco Gas purchased in May. All it shows on the statement that the 5% Gas promotion expired 4/30/07

hope the savings will show up later in the month?

BD

That is so bogus. You have the business version of the card, right?

slappycakes said: Has anyone received a letter stating that AMEX is lowering the 5% fuel rebate?

(I haven't yet, but I'm expecting it due to the other AMEX 5% cards being lowered)

was wondering the same thing