Costco gas VISA strategy for April, 2016

[thelethargicage]

The Costco Amex is the same way--you earn more outside of Costco (except for Costco gas) at restaurants and on travel than shopping at Costco, which gets you only 1%.

[Anonymous]

There are many older forums out there that show you only get 1% using the AMEX BCP card at Costco gas stations.

[Imperfectfuture]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

There are many older forums out there that show you only get 1% using the AMEX BCP card at Costco gas stations.

---

This is correct.

[Anonymous]

I sent an email to Costco asking them if the VISA MCC(merchant category code) for their gas stations was 5542(automated gas dispensers), so I could get 5% cash back using my Penfed Cash Back card after April 1,2016, and they answered that I would not receive the 5% cash back using that card. I can only hope their new CITI co-branded Visa will give at least the 3% the current co-branded AMEX gives on gas, as it appears all other Visa rewards cards will only get 1%.

[Anonymous]

I know this was a question on here on how this was coded with Visa...wasn't sure if it was answered.  I use my PNC Visa Debit at our Costco gas station and it definitely codes as gas on my account.  

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I know this was a question on here on how this was coded with Visa...wasn't sure if it was answered.  I use my PNC Visa Debit at our Costco gas station and it definitely codes as gas on my account.  

---

To get the full % benefits of your Visa rewards card, the Visa MCC for the merchant has to be 5542, which Costco gas stations are not. The MCC does not show up on your receipts, you have to ask the merchant what theirs is, and that is what I did in an email to Costco. Even if your receipts indicate a "gas purchase", if the Visa MCC for the merchant is not 5542, you will not get your full % of rewards, only 1%. The 5542 MCC(automated fuel dispensers) is what Visa uses to indicate the purchase was made at the pump of a stand alone gas station.

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I know this was a question on here on how this was coded with Visa...wasn't sure if it was answered.  I use my PNC Visa Debit at our Costco gas station and it definitely codes as gas on my account.  

---

To get the full % benefits of your Visa rewards card, the Visa MCC for the merchant has to be 5542, which Costco gas stations are not. The MCC does not show up on your receipts, you have to ask the merchant what theirs is, and that is what I did in an email to Costco. Even if your receipts indicate a "gas purchase", if the Visa MCC for the merchant is not 5542, you will not get your full % of rewards, only 1%. The 5542 MCC(automated fuel dispensers) is what Visa uses to indicate the purchase was made at the pump of a stand alone gas station.

---

So the Costco gas stations are coding as 5541 ( Service Stations ( with or without ancillary services) ) or are they coding as groceries or general merchandise for others?

My purchases are automatically bucketed when I view my Visa (debit) purchases online and in-store Costco purchases for me code as Groceries and Costco gas purchases code as Gas. 

Sorry if I sound confused...LOL...I am.  Just want to make sure I understand the best way to maximize benefits at the Costco pumps!!!

[DieGo2SHAE]

As we learned from the Chase Freedom grocery category, it is also entirely possible to just ignore merchant codes and filter out specific retailers entirely. Walmarts that are coded as grocery stores and receive the grocery store bonus on other cards still do not receive the bonus for the Freedom. So everyone could just filter out Costco gas entirely.

[MASTERNC]

---

@DieGo2SHAE wrote:

As we learned from the Chase Freedom grocery category, it is also entirely possible to just ignore merchant codes and filter out specific retailers entirely. Walmarts that are coded as grocery stores and receive the grocery store bonus on other cards still do not receive the bonus for the Freedom. So everyone could just filter out Costco gas entirely.

---

I think that is the case with AMEX currently.  According to their website, only Costco TE cardholders receive bonus rewards for Costco gasoline, even if another AMEX with bonus gasoline rewards is used.

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/rewards-info/retail.html

[Kostya1992]

BCP codes Costco Gas as "Transportation - Fuel."

Does Usbank Cash+ have a transportation category?