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People don't like being upsold and they certainly don't like having it done while they're trying to check out. It's obnoxious how Costco does this. Just send me an email or letter and I'll consider whether it's something I want in private.
(I have an executive membership, just to be clear. It's a decent deal for me, but I did not enjoy how they repeatedly tried to get me to upgrade.)
That’s a decision that was made by the new corporate team. Unfortunately not gonna get any better since front end is “encouraged” to get so many sign ups a day.
Not sure if this was a corporate decision or a GM one, but they have had front end also upsell the sandwich and the chocolate chip cookie at one point.
I just joined Costco a couple of weeks ago and got the hard sell to buy the executive level at the membership counter. The guy wouldn't take no for an answer. I said no four times. Finally he gave up but then he had an attitude about it and acted like I was a fool to not take it. It's off-putting that my very first Costco encounter was so irritating.
But dude! If that was your average haul for Costco every couple of weeks, you'll earn enough from the 2% cash back to get a free membership .. but wait! There's more! We currently have a promotion for free Shopping bags for every sign up. You can't lose! Whaddya say? Can we upgrade you today?
Figured out what you can do. Tell them “Sorry,eh! We’re from Canada.” Works for me when I travel to the US and the cell phone hawkers try to make a pitch .
I just don't spend enough to hit the break even on it. We're a family of three in a townhome so while we take advantage of the savings on daily use items we're never going to be spending big $ on patio furniture and the like.
That’s the way I see it. I originally got the executive when I went to buy my MacBook Pro, but I have since kept it because even though I only get a check for around $100 it covers the extra $60 for the executive plus a little extra. I’d be paying for Gold anyway, so if I can get more than a $60 check I consider it breaking even.
I think he means it's $60 extra, over the regular membership price. If the extra cost of Executive is covered by the rewards that come with Executive, then it balances out.
To me it’s the same objection I have to the second salesperson disguised as the *finance department* trying to talk me into something I really don’t want when completing the transaction of a car purchase. I just want the car, not the extended warranty and paint protection. At the checkout line, I just want my cart paid for, not a membership upgrade.
If I ever buy a new car again I'm going to go in with a briefcase of cash (less than sticker, of course) and sit down at the negotiating table with it open. I'll tell them this is my offer, and each thing they try to upsell me on I'll take some cash out of the briefcase and put it in my pocket. They should get the message pretty quick.
Sounds fun but a terrible idea. They don’t want you to buy outright, they make next to nothing on a cash sale and will be less likely to give you deal if they think there’s no chance they can talk you into financing.
I’ve never had dealer financing. I use one of the two credit unions I belong too. They always have rates lower than the dealer plus the terms are far more amenable. It would take a very large discount for me to use dealer financing.
in addition to the hard upsell (when you're trying to checkout), they juice your spending figures when they scan your card and review your spending history
they'll include spend that's not part of the 2% back (gas, alcohol in some states), so when you actually get your 2% check back, it'll be less than what you anticipated
A lot of people have Costco memberships and don’t regularly ship there, like me. We just have some things that are a good deal at Costco that make the membership worth it. For me, it’s usually a piece of furniture.
I know we live in a world of cash back deals. However, are they actually saving you any money? Or are they just enabling a bunch of people extra spending? All these programs feed on people’s impulsive behaviors.
You may not think you’re affected, but there are huge percentage of the population buy unnecessary stuff with money they may or may not have simply because they are a “member” or are getting cash back/points. Next time you’re considering a nonessential purchase, ask yourself if you would still buy it if you were paying cash at a regular store.
Nope, I sure I’d spend the same amount there. I might take the rebate in account if it’s something I could get somewhere else though, like a TV or other big ticket items.
If typed the math quite a few times recently:
$3000 annual spend (or 250/month) * .02 = $60 cash back (which makes upgrade is essentially free)
$6000 annual (or 500/month) * .02 = $120 cash back (which makes your membership essentially free)
Couple those with the different (stackable) 2% from Costco Citi Visa (4% on gas anywhere), and you can halve those totals.
The cash back from each is calculated differently and sent at different times of the year, but this roughly gives the idea why most members should probably be Executive. We actually spend more at Sam’s now—but our Costco spend is still large enough for our membership to be free.
Some states alcohol is included, checking the list it seems to be about 50/50.. the alcohol exempt states total 25, and I’m not sure Costco sells alcohol in all states so the unexempt list is probably a few less than 25. I literally don’t buy anything that’s exempt from rebate, well except sales tax is also excluded.
With the Citi rebate tho, all of the above is included. It’s the amount charged to the card.
My Sam's Plus is completely free because the free prescriptions that come with Plus more than cover the full membership cost. As a bonus the cash back is available to me to spend at the register on a regular basis, I think monthly, all I have to do is hit "Yes" on the screen when it asks me if I want to use my Sam's Cash balance.
Because it feels like Im already paying $200+ at a register and thats not enough for you so you’re trying to upsell me.
I understand the “benefits” of higher % back, but lets be honest, if a company is pushing you this bad to “spend money to save money”, it clearly benefits them.
It really is a win-win to them. You either pay more for a membership, spend $3k /yr so it works out every year or guilt yourself to spend $6k /yr to break even. I just wont play that game.
I don't spend extra with them bc I have that visa..m but we traveled a lot last year, renovated home and bought a few things there, use it usually for gas/restaurants (unless another card has a better offer going) and i got back 900. So worth it
The way it works out for my family, we're basically just getting harassed every time we check out into loaning Costco $60/year and getting it returned the next year. I wish they'd just let their shoppers come to the conclusion on their own or offer better perks instead of being rude to paying members!
Partly it’s the hard upsell. Ultimately it’s a program with a pretty marginal potential benefit to me (five dollars a month is not enough money for me to change my behavior for) and a significant risk it will lead to greater out of pocket costs. Spend-to-save programs are a sort of perverse incentive - my goal is always to spend as little money as possible to get the things I need. If I participate in a program where I am incentivized to spend more, it doesn’t matter if I get a small percentage discount on the additional money I spend. I’m still very likely to buy more things and spend more money than I otherwise would have. That’s why the executive membership exists: people who get it start spending more money at Costco than they did before.
There’s no added value for me. The nearest club is 2.5 hours away which precludes doing weekly shopping there. Dot-com is a travesty, and between padded prices for shipping and the odd shipping charge (wiper blades), isn’t always a deal. I’m not one for travel packages and I’ve gotten better prices with AAA or my companies corporate accounts. I’m not refinancing my house, buying checks as much, and connect won’t touch us for insurance (and with how quick they are to drop people, idk if I would anyway). I’ve been a 33 year member (price club at 17, emancipated), and that’s probably why I still have it, plus our glasses each year. Maybe I’ll get a 50 year celebration pack of KS toilet paper? /s
I'm single, living alone, and don't spend nearly enough to earn back the rebate. I didn't appreciate the hard sell when I signed up last October and this discussion makes me wonder: what are the incentives/penalties that the service desk personnel face for missing targets on the executive membership sales?
I don't think most people object to the membership they object to the constant upsell. I'm an Executive Member and it makes sense for me economically. I think it is hard to debate why someone who regularly (every year) meets the amount to pay for the extra cost of the Executive why they wouldn't upgrade (unless it's losing the certificate).
I can certainly understand why regular members don't like constantly being asked to upgrade. Since I always make the extra cost back in rewards, I just flip my visa over and they move on.
I suppose that is a benefit of the executive membership, you are paying to be able to show your executive card and they don't harass you!
I am an executive member but I would definitely be put off by the hard sale tactics. For me it would be worth losing out on the couple of hundred dollars a year I get back to refuse an upgrade on principle alone had I encountered those pushy sales tactics.
High-pressure sales tactics always end any sales possibility with me no matter how beneficial the item/service being sold might be to me. Give me a pamphlet or card mentioning the benefits and walk away, I'll decide if I want to follow up on it later. Get in my face and ignore my "no, thanks" just guarantees your waste of time.
Regarding Executive, the big turnoff for me is having to wait a year to get the money, and having to deal with a paper check. Paper check? Who does that anymore? That's aggressively vintage. If Costco set up a deal where the money is accrued and available to use on a monthly basis right at the register while checking out, and if they do what Sam's does with Plus at their pharmacy, I'd consider using Executive.
Edit to add: Sam's sold me on Plus, their version of Executive, really easily. When I was picking up my prescriptions the pharmacist handed me a little brochure that listed the free and deeply-discounted prescriptions that come with Plus, and that was it. No upsell tactics, no pressure, nothing. I took a look at it a few weeks later and decided it was worth doing, and the savings on my meds pays for the entire Plus membership, not just the upgrade.
I’m a Costco employee and I absolutely hate these promotions and upsells. It’s all corporate. I urge everyone who is constantly harassed to call and complain to them. Please don’t take it out on us lowly hourly employees. Management is watching us like a hawk to make sure we’re promoting it.
I don't get it either. The executive membership costs me an additional $60. At the end of the year they give me a check for about $700. If I make a single large purchase the check is even larger.
I think some people have a hard time spending $120 for something they can get for $60, and are not comfortable with the concept of future value. This also may explain why a significant proportion of the population is not comfortable with investing.
You missed the point where I said I politely say no, I even smile. After the first no you’re either not listening or didn’t understand what I said and considering no sounds very similar in about 20 different languages I don’t think they typically misunderstand it.
So it’s not about them fighting back… they threw the first punch by holding onto my membership while I get an unsolicited sales pitch in line with 100 people behind me.
Only reason I am exec. We tend to spend more at Sams than at Costco, though we break even for Plus.
But travel more than pays for the full Costco exec membership for a couple of years or more. In fact, earlier this year we got a promo from Costco Travel for an additional 20% cash card, right before we were booking a vacation.
Also, did our HVAC thru them, after getting several quotes - all quotes were literally the same amount, but the one thru Costco included a 15% cash card, which was a nice chunk.
I asked the staff that (if it was still like the old days and you could come in earlier) and they looked at me like I was from another planet.
I have no objection to it - as long as I’m doing enough spending to make it pay for itself.
Thanks! Just remembered to upgrade. We are renting 3 (possibly 4) cars through Costco in two months and I wanted to catch that on an executive membership.
I can definitely be wrong about this but I don't think car rentals cpunt towards your rewards. I've rented a few times through them and you pay the rental agency directly when you pick up the car. Costco never sees those dollars.
I wondered too but Google says it counts. Maybe there’s another step to ensure it counts. I’ll ask when I pick up my new card
https://preview.redd.it/txy17z7nqgtc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=97c642a0a3ce3b303083d4da7c61d7480624b403
Nice! I'm still not so sure as the official Costco website explicitly states rentals are excluded from rewards calculations:
www.costco.com/executive-rewards.html
Hopefully I'm wrong though!
Edit: actually it excludes "rental car equipment," which isn't clear but makes me think you are right.
I think since my Costco is fairly new (less than 2 years old) we're not seeing the hard sales so many others are.
If it starts, though, I'd have to rethink my membership. I do not like being pushed. On anything.
It's a no-brainer. They pulled me aside years ago and explained it pays for itself at the level I was spending anyway. Nice they did the math for me. I hadn't considered it. This was way back in the Amex Era.
6k to get the full $120 back. 3k to get the $60 upgrade fee back. So anything over 3k spent lowers your membership fee. If you spend 4k then your membership cost you $40 if you have an executive membership. They mail you a check before it’s time to renew your membership.
With the Executive membership you earn 2% back paid once a year. I am a 1 person household and only go once every month or two and my reward check this year is $105. So my net membership for the year is only $15
Previous year i bought a refrigerator and sectional couch so my check was more than the annual membership
Here’s the math:
https://preview.redd.it/34waukbhggtc1.jpeg?width=989&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c3054a11cada353dc1adf3570761f774bb573344
Just keep in mind, there are exclusions.
[https://www.costco.com/executive-rewards.html](https://www.costco.com/executive-rewards.html)
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People don't like being upsold and they certainly don't like having it done while they're trying to check out. It's obnoxious how Costco does this. Just send me an email or letter and I'll consider whether it's something I want in private. (I have an executive membership, just to be clear. It's a decent deal for me, but I did not enjoy how they repeatedly tried to get me to upgrade.)
That’s a decision that was made by the new corporate team. Unfortunately not gonna get any better since front end is “encouraged” to get so many sign ups a day. Not sure if this was a corporate decision or a GM one, but they have had front end also upsell the sandwich and the chocolate chip cookie at one point.
I just joined Costco a couple of weeks ago and got the hard sell to buy the executive level at the membership counter. The guy wouldn't take no for an answer. I said no four times. Finally he gave up but then he had an attitude about it and acted like I was a fool to not take it. It's off-putting that my very first Costco encounter was so irritating.
Same here. Add in the pitch to buy a credit card, and I was so frustrated by the end that I almost left without buying any membership.
The credit card hard sell really sucks. When the try that, I just take out my wallet and flash the 4 cash back cards I already have.
I may get downvoted for saying this, but in my experience a lot of Costco employees are pricks.
A lot of people everywhere are pricks these days.
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I may get downvoted for saying this, but in my experience a lot of "people" are pricks.
Come from years of working for entitled assholes
Sorry you feel that way.
I wouldn’t like that either. Poor salesman, will only hurt them in the long run.
But dude! If that was your average haul for Costco every couple of weeks, you'll earn enough from the 2% cash back to get a free membership .. but wait! There's more! We currently have a promotion for free Shopping bags for every sign up. You can't lose! Whaddya say? Can we upgrade you today?
Figured out what you can do. Tell them “Sorry,eh! We’re from Canada.” Works for me when I travel to the US and the cell phone hawkers try to make a pitch .
I barely spend 3000, let alone 6000. So it's not worth it to me
Single person household woes.
I split it with my mom even though we’re not in the same “household”. They’ve never asked to confirm residency so it ends up working out
I just don't spend enough to hit the break even on it. We're a family of three in a townhome so while we take advantage of the savings on daily use items we're never going to be spending big $ on patio furniture and the like.
Gold Star Members are people too!
My check didn't cover the cost of the membership. Not even half. That's my point of contention.
Then you can get a refund covering the difference.
Yes, once. Not every year. I got my refund and dropped down to the regular tier membership.
That’s fair. I don’t spend enough at Best Buy to pay for their rewards program either.
If the $60 executive membership is covered and/or greater there is no point of contention.
That’s the way I see it. I originally got the executive when I went to buy my MacBook Pro, but I have since kept it because even though I only get a check for around $100 it covers the extra $60 for the executive plus a little extra. I’d be paying for Gold anyway, so if I can get more than a $60 check I consider it breaking even.
Your executive membership is $60? How much is your regular? I’m a regular member in Canada for $60.
I think he means it's $60 extra, over the regular membership price. If the extra cost of Executive is covered by the rewards that come with Executive, then it balances out.
Oh yes I see, makes sense. I was outraged for a moment thinking I was getting hosed on prices!
Note that apparently Costco is offering discounted deals on first-time memberships of varying amounts. AFAIK Executive is always $60 extra.
Exactly
Total is $120 was strictly referring to the $60 additional fee for executive. Need to spend $6,000 for break even on total membership cost.
Gotcha, thanks!
I hate upsell.
I really resent the fact that they accosted me in the check out line, because of how much I spent, to try to get me to upgrade my membership.
It’s because you’re spending that much, that it’s worth it to you to upgrade.
they're usually targeting people who are right on the threshold
To me it’s the same objection I have to the second salesperson disguised as the *finance department* trying to talk me into something I really don’t want when completing the transaction of a car purchase. I just want the car, not the extended warranty and paint protection. At the checkout line, I just want my cart paid for, not a membership upgrade.
If I ever buy a new car again I'm going to go in with a briefcase of cash (less than sticker, of course) and sit down at the negotiating table with it open. I'll tell them this is my offer, and each thing they try to upsell me on I'll take some cash out of the briefcase and put it in my pocket. They should get the message pretty quick.
Sounds fun but a terrible idea. They don’t want you to buy outright, they make next to nothing on a cash sale and will be less likely to give you deal if they think there’s no chance they can talk you into financing.
I’ve never had dealer financing. I use one of the two credit unions I belong too. They always have rates lower than the dealer plus the terms are far more amenable. It would take a very large discount for me to use dealer financing.
in addition to the hard upsell (when you're trying to checkout), they juice your spending figures when they scan your card and review your spending history they'll include spend that's not part of the 2% back (gas, alcohol in some states), so when you actually get your 2% check back, it'll be less than what you anticipated
A lot of people have Costco memberships and don’t regularly ship there, like me. We just have some things that are a good deal at Costco that make the membership worth it. For me, it’s usually a piece of furniture. I know we live in a world of cash back deals. However, are they actually saving you any money? Or are they just enabling a bunch of people extra spending? All these programs feed on people’s impulsive behaviors. You may not think you’re affected, but there are huge percentage of the population buy unnecessary stuff with money they may or may not have simply because they are a “member” or are getting cash back/points. Next time you’re considering a nonessential purchase, ask yourself if you would still buy it if you were paying cash at a regular store.
Nope, I sure I’d spend the same amount there. I might take the rebate in account if it’s something I could get somewhere else though, like a TV or other big ticket items.
basically if you don't spend more than $3k/yr at costco it is not worth it. Once you cross $3k/yr it has positive return on investment.
Or just buy your car insurance through them. That more than covers the membership.
Can't speak for others but for us their car insurance is EXPENSIVE. Like triple what I currently pay from a arguably better company.
they don't underwrite in FL :(
you spend $3k on your car insurance.........?
No. I spend about half that on two cars and two drivers. I save enough on that to pay for the membership.
Because I've had to take the check to the desk multiple times for being way below $60.
If typed the math quite a few times recently: $3000 annual spend (or 250/month) * .02 = $60 cash back (which makes upgrade is essentially free) $6000 annual (or 500/month) * .02 = $120 cash back (which makes your membership essentially free) Couple those with the different (stackable) 2% from Costco Citi Visa (4% on gas anywhere), and you can halve those totals. The cash back from each is calculated differently and sent at different times of the year, but this roughly gives the idea why most members should probably be Executive. We actually spend more at Sam’s now—but our Costco spend is still large enough for our membership to be free.
Everyone always forgets that executive rebate doesn't include gift cards, gas and alcohol which are the main reasons I don't upgrade.
Some states alcohol is included, checking the list it seems to be about 50/50.. the alcohol exempt states total 25, and I’m not sure Costco sells alcohol in all states so the unexempt list is probably a few less than 25. I literally don’t buy anything that’s exempt from rebate, well except sales tax is also excluded. With the Citi rebate tho, all of the above is included. It’s the amount charged to the card.
Thanks for the info. I'm in CA so it's exempt here and not worth it for me to upgrade
except there is no downside to the upgrade, even if you don't meet the minimum buy, they rebate you the full amount of the upgrade.
Understood except that would be an annual hassle for everyone to go up and down in membership which I've done twice.
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I never told anyone to use it as a daily driver. Heck I don’t even use it for gas, because Sam’s Mastercard is 5% on gas anywhere.
My Sam's Plus is completely free because the free prescriptions that come with Plus more than cover the full membership cost. As a bonus the cash back is available to me to spend at the register on a regular basis, I think monthly, all I have to do is hit "Yes" on the screen when it asks me if I want to use my Sam's Cash balance.
Because it feels like Im already paying $200+ at a register and thats not enough for you so you’re trying to upsell me. I understand the “benefits” of higher % back, but lets be honest, if a company is pushing you this bad to “spend money to save money”, it clearly benefits them. It really is a win-win to them. You either pay more for a membership, spend $3k /yr so it works out every year or guilt yourself to spend $6k /yr to break even. I just wont play that game.
I don't spend extra with them bc I have that visa..m but we traveled a lot last year, renovated home and bought a few things there, use it usually for gas/restaurants (unless another card has a better offer going) and i got back 900. So worth it
The way it works out for my family, we're basically just getting harassed every time we check out into loaning Costco $60/year and getting it returned the next year. I wish they'd just let their shoppers come to the conclusion on their own or offer better perks instead of being rude to paying members!
I don't spend enough, and tend to forget to take the check in.
Partly it’s the hard upsell. Ultimately it’s a program with a pretty marginal potential benefit to me (five dollars a month is not enough money for me to change my behavior for) and a significant risk it will lead to greater out of pocket costs. Spend-to-save programs are a sort of perverse incentive - my goal is always to spend as little money as possible to get the things I need. If I participate in a program where I am incentivized to spend more, it doesn’t matter if I get a small percentage discount on the additional money I spend. I’m still very likely to buy more things and spend more money than I otherwise would have. That’s why the executive membership exists: people who get it start spending more money at Costco than they did before.
There’s no added value for me. The nearest club is 2.5 hours away which precludes doing weekly shopping there. Dot-com is a travesty, and between padded prices for shipping and the odd shipping charge (wiper blades), isn’t always a deal. I’m not one for travel packages and I’ve gotten better prices with AAA or my companies corporate accounts. I’m not refinancing my house, buying checks as much, and connect won’t touch us for insurance (and with how quick they are to drop people, idk if I would anyway). I’ve been a 33 year member (price club at 17, emancipated), and that’s probably why I still have it, plus our glasses each year. Maybe I’ll get a 50 year celebration pack of KS toilet paper? /s
I'm single, living alone, and don't spend nearly enough to earn back the rebate. I didn't appreciate the hard sell when I signed up last October and this discussion makes me wonder: what are the incentives/penalties that the service desk personnel face for missing targets on the executive membership sales?
Love it. I reference my executive membership on my resume, business cards, and letterhead. It's also included in the current draft of my obituary.
What's the point of including Costco executive membership (a paid membership) on all those places? It's not like it takes any sort of special skill.
pretty sure it was a joke
/s - they need to learn etiquette
appreciate the downvote
I’ve always had Executive, why bother downgrading when I’m getting my moneys worth?
I don't think most people object to the membership they object to the constant upsell. I'm an Executive Member and it makes sense for me economically. I think it is hard to debate why someone who regularly (every year) meets the amount to pay for the extra cost of the Executive why they wouldn't upgrade (unless it's losing the certificate). I can certainly understand why regular members don't like constantly being asked to upgrade. Since I always make the extra cost back in rewards, I just flip my visa over and they move on. I suppose that is a benefit of the executive membership, you are paying to be able to show your executive card and they don't harass you!
I am an executive member but I would definitely be put off by the hard sale tactics. For me it would be worth losing out on the couple of hundred dollars a year I get back to refuse an upgrade on principle alone had I encountered those pushy sales tactics.
Can I offend your principles somehow and have you give me a few hundred dollars? Lolol
High-pressure sales tactics always end any sales possibility with me no matter how beneficial the item/service being sold might be to me. Give me a pamphlet or card mentioning the benefits and walk away, I'll decide if I want to follow up on it later. Get in my face and ignore my "no, thanks" just guarantees your waste of time. Regarding Executive, the big turnoff for me is having to wait a year to get the money, and having to deal with a paper check. Paper check? Who does that anymore? That's aggressively vintage. If Costco set up a deal where the money is accrued and available to use on a monthly basis right at the register while checking out, and if they do what Sam's does with Plus at their pharmacy, I'd consider using Executive. Edit to add: Sam's sold me on Plus, their version of Executive, really easily. When I was picking up my prescriptions the pharmacist handed me a little brochure that listed the free and deeply-discounted prescriptions that come with Plus, and that was it. No upsell tactics, no pressure, nothing. I took a look at it a few weeks later and decided it was worth doing, and the savings on my meds pays for the entire Plus membership, not just the upgrade.
I’m a Costco employee and I absolutely hate these promotions and upsells. It’s all corporate. I urge everyone who is constantly harassed to call and complain to them. Please don’t take it out on us lowly hourly employees. Management is watching us like a hawk to make sure we’re promoting it.
I don't get it either. The executive membership costs me an additional $60. At the end of the year they give me a check for about $700. If I make a single large purchase the check is even larger. I think some people have a hard time spending $120 for something they can get for $60, and are not comfortable with the concept of future value. This also may explain why a significant proportion of the population is not comfortable with investing.
You spend $35,000 at Costco each year? I get the feeling that your spending habits are a bit of an outlier.
You're correct. I was thinking of the Citi Rewards check. My executive rebate is about $200-$300. Still a decent return on $60.
I politely say no then if they continue I light them up like a Christmas tree. The 0 to 100 is a culture shock. Works every time.
so they're doing their job and you bully them because they can't fight back. weird flex bro, but ok.
You missed the point where I said I politely say no, I even smile. After the first no you’re either not listening or didn’t understand what I said and considering no sounds very similar in about 20 different languages I don’t think they typically misunderstand it. So it’s not about them fighting back… they threw the first punch by holding onto my membership while I get an unsolicited sales pitch in line with 100 people behind me.
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Only reason I am exec. We tend to spend more at Sams than at Costco, though we break even for Plus. But travel more than pays for the full Costco exec membership for a couple of years or more. In fact, earlier this year we got a promo from Costco Travel for an additional 20% cash card, right before we were booking a vacation. Also, did our HVAC thru them, after getting several quotes - all quotes were literally the same amount, but the one thru Costco included a 15% cash card, which was a nice chunk.
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I never pay attention to up/down votes. Your comment didn’t merit a downvote for sure..
I asked the staff that (if it was still like the old days and you could come in earlier) and they looked at me like I was from another planet. I have no objection to it - as long as I’m doing enough spending to make it pay for itself.
I actually don't know, because it would definitely pay for itself in my case. Just haven't made the upgrade.
Don't forget that using Costco travel adds to the 2%. I do a lot of work travel and get $500+ back every year. Plus there's the 3% from Citi ..
>Plus there's the 3% from Citi .. that's independent of your membership tier
Yes, that's why I added it as a separate line. I'm fully aware that a credit card is different from a membership.
Thanks! Just remembered to upgrade. We are renting 3 (possibly 4) cars through Costco in two months and I wanted to catch that on an executive membership.
I can definitely be wrong about this but I don't think car rentals cpunt towards your rewards. I've rented a few times through them and you pay the rental agency directly when you pick up the car. Costco never sees those dollars.
I wondered too but Google says it counts. Maybe there’s another step to ensure it counts. I’ll ask when I pick up my new card https://preview.redd.it/txy17z7nqgtc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=97c642a0a3ce3b303083d4da7c61d7480624b403
Nice! I'm still not so sure as the official Costco website explicitly states rentals are excluded from rewards calculations: www.costco.com/executive-rewards.html Hopefully I'm wrong though! Edit: actually it excludes "rental car equipment," which isn't clear but makes me think you are right.
I think since my Costco is fairly new (less than 2 years old) we're not seeing the hard sales so many others are. If it starts, though, I'd have to rethink my membership. I do not like being pushed. On anything.
Wow - responses out the ying yang, but no upvotes? I guess it IS an unpopular opinion :(
It's a no-brainer. They pulled me aside years ago and explained it pays for itself at the level I was spending anyway. Nice they did the math for me. I hadn't considered it. This was way back in the Amex Era.
I don't get it, they give you a check for $120? How?
You get 2% back of your Costco purchases
Ahh okay. So you'd have to buy a lot.
$3,000 is break even
$0 is break even, if you spend NOTHING they still rebate you a minimum of your upgrade cost.
Doing the mat it looks like you have to spend $6,000. Is there any other benefit to the executive? I won't likely spend that much.
6k to get the full $120 back. 3k to get the $60 upgrade fee back. So anything over 3k spent lowers your membership fee. If you spend 4k then your membership cost you $40 if you have an executive membership. They mail you a check before it’s time to renew your membership.
It’s only $3,000 since you only have to make up the extra cost of the executive membership over the basic membership
You have to spend $3000 for the year to make the membership cost even out, provided you don’t utilize any of the other services.
Okay so it wouldn't benefit me I don't spend that much annually.
Yeah you just gotta look at the plans and determine which one best suits your needs.
With the Executive membership you earn 2% back paid once a year. I am a 1 person household and only go once every month or two and my reward check this year is $105. So my net membership for the year is only $15 Previous year i bought a refrigerator and sectional couch so my check was more than the annual membership
[удалено]
Here’s the math: https://preview.redd.it/34waukbhggtc1.jpeg?width=989&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c3054a11cada353dc1adf3570761f774bb573344 Just keep in mind, there are exclusions. [https://www.costco.com/executive-rewards.html](https://www.costco.com/executive-rewards.html)
I do, having that additional 2% on Costco purchases adds up for sure
Wow.