cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Costco True Earnings from American Express

tag
PrimeRate
Frequent Contributor

Costco True Earnings from American Express

Here's the deal: My wife gets a courtesy Costco membership through her employer. They've provided her the account # to receive her card in store. She would rather get the True Earnings Amex/Membership card. Before going forward, I had a few concerns.

 

Questions

1) Does anyone know if Amex will review the membership, see it is under a company name, not her name and close the card?

2) Can she add me as an Authorized user(for those times I have to run there by myself), or will they want additional member fees?

3) Should I have her explain the situation to a rep and apply by phone or hope an online app gets auto approved and skips review?

 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

☮ & ❤
Message 1 of 13
12 REPLIES 12
PrimeRate
Frequent Contributor

Re: Costco True Earnings from American Express

Bump Smiley Frustrated

☮ & ❤
Message 2 of 13
dilettante
Established Contributor

Re: Costco True Earnings from American Express


@TheOptimusMan wrote:

Here's the deal: My wife gets a courtesy Costco membership through her employer. They've provided her the account # to receive her card in store. She would rather get the True Earnings Amex/Membership card. Before going forward, I had a few concerns.

 

Questions

1) Does anyone know if Amex will review the membership, see it is under a company name, not her name and close the card?

2) Can she add me as an Authorized user(for those times I have to run there by myself), or will they want additional member fees?

3) Should I have her explain the situation to a rep and apply by phone or hope an online app gets auto approved and skips review?

 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.


This is a rather unusual situation so hopefully someone out there may have experience with this.

 

But I can tell you a few things about Costco membership and Amex and help you bump up the topicSmiley Happy

 

Amex TE Costco cards allow free AU's but the AU has to have their own Costco membership #.

 

Costco allows the primary member to have one complimentary Household Membership card as long as that person lives at the same address. I believe the membership # will be different for each card.

 

My Costco membership is automatically billed to my Amex TE but was told you can opt-out of that so if your wife gets the Amex, make sure they don't auto bill for the annual Costco membership fee.

 

I think your best bet would be to go to Costco together and ask if you could be added as a Household member since it is a company paid membership and since you being added to Amex is dependent on you having a Costco Membership #.  You can apply for the Amex card at Costco, the rep there will phone in the app. That's how I obtained it and it can be an instant approval.

Message 3 of 13
asulaw
Established Member

Re: Costco True Earnings from American Express

1. When I applied for mine they just wanted the memership number so they could verify it.

 

2. I'm pretty sure AU's have to have a membership, but maybe someone else has experience with that. I don't have one on that card.

 

3. I'm sure the online application should do fine if she has all the correct information.

 

From what I know the account numbers are all different and are individual. You can add people onto your Costco account but they are seperate from you. I am not sure how it works from companies though. The worst thing could be that you have to give them a call. GL

Wells Fargo Student - $2,300 / Discover It - $2,000 / Chase Slate - $1,500 / Marriott Premier Rewards - $5,000 / Citi ThankYou Preferred - $2,000 / AMEX TrueEarnings - $1,200 / Target RedCard - $300

Total CL: $14,300
Util: 28%
Message 4 of 13
takeshi74
Senior Contributor

Re: Costco True Earnings from American Express


@asulaw wrote:

I'm pretty sure AU's have to have a membership, but maybe someone else has experience with that. I don't have one on that card. 


If you click on the link to add an AU to your TE you'll see that they require the AU's Costco membership number.

 

No idea on the other items as our Costco membership is our own.  You might not find anyone that is in the same situation.  Since a Costco membership # is a prequisite for a TE AU I'd suggest going to Costco and seeing if they can add you to her employer-provided membership.

Message 5 of 13
09Lexie
Moderator Emerita

Re: Costco True Earnings from American Express


@TheOptimusMan wrote:

Here's the deal: My wife gets a courtesy Costco membership through her employer. They've provided her the account # to receive her card in store. She would rather get the True Earnings Amex/Membership card. Before going forward, I had a few concerns.

 

Questions

1) Does anyone know if Amex will review the membership, see it is under a company name, not her name and close the card?

2) Can she add me as an Authorized user(for those times I have to run there by myself), or will they want additional member fees?

3) Should I have her explain the situation to a rep and apply by phone or hope an online app gets auto approved and skips review?

 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.


So the Costco membership is a company membership or is it a personal membership?

Message 6 of 13
PrimeRate
Frequent Contributor

Re: Costco True Earnings from American Express

Thank you everyone for chiming in. This is definitely a unique situation and I want to be sure to cover all variables before wasting an HP.

 

Lexie, it is a company membership. They've provided her with their membership # so she can be added as an authorized user to the company acct.

☮ & ❤
Message 7 of 13
asulaw
Established Member

Re: Costco True Earnings from American Express


@TheOptimusMan wrote:

Thank you everyone for chiming in. This is definitely a unique situation and I want to be sure to cover all variables before wasting an HP.

 

Lexie, it is a company membership. They've provided her with their membership # so she can be added as an authorized user to the company acct.


Might be worth the phone call then. I have a personal Costco and would honestly have no clue how that company membership works. Best of luck.

Wells Fargo Student - $2,300 / Discover It - $2,000 / Chase Slate - $1,500 / Marriott Premier Rewards - $5,000 / Citi ThankYou Preferred - $2,000 / AMEX TrueEarnings - $1,200 / Target RedCard - $300

Total CL: $14,300
Util: 28%
Message 8 of 13
09Lexie
Moderator Emerita

Re: Costco True Earnings from American Express


@TheOptimusMan wrote:

Thank you everyone for chiming in. This is definitely a unique situation and I want to be sure to cover all variables before wasting an HP.

 

Lexie, it is a company membership. They've provided her with their membership # so she can be added as an authorized user to the company acct.


My guess would be no because the requirement is a billable Costco membership (AF is billed to TE) but it is worth asking

Message 9 of 13
dilettante
Established Contributor

Re: Costco True Earnings from American Express


@09Lexie wrote:

@TheOptimusMan wrote:

Thank you everyone for chiming in. This is definitely a unique situation and I want to be sure to cover all variables before wasting an HP.

 

Lexie, it is a company membership. They've provided her with their membership # so she can be added as an authorized user to the company acct.


My guess would be no because the requirement is a billable Costco membership (AF is billed to TE) but it is worth asking


Okay, curiosity got the best of me because I'm procrastinating packing for my trip. I called Costco Amex and asked if the membership is paid by an employer, can that person apply for a personal TE card. The CSR answered that yes, you are eligible to apply for the card even though the membership is being payed by your employer but when setting up the account, opt-out of being auto billed for the membership fee. But as everyone knows, you may get another answer from a different CSR since so many things are YMMV.

 

You should definitely call and see what answer you get.  Though the ability to being added to that corporate membership may cause another obstactle for you being added as an AU on the Amex.

Message 10 of 13
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.