Closing my Costco Account

[adelpit]

I've let my Costco membership lapse. It's not worth it to me, as a single person, even for gas.

As a result of non-membership, my Costco credit card soon will be cancelled by the issuer as well.

Should I cancel the card myself? Which looks better on my credit report, that I cancelled the card or the issuer? (I would guess it's better if I cancel.)

[FinStar]

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@adelpit wrote:

I've let my Costco membership lapse. It's not worth it to me, as a single person, even for gas.

As a result of non-membership, my Costco credit card soon will be cancelled by the issuer as well.

Should I cancel the card myself? Which looks better on my credit report, that I cancelled the card or the issuer? (I would guess it's better if I cancel.)

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There really is no negative effect whether you decide to close it or whether the issuer closes it as a result of ending your Costco relationship. It's up to you on which route you decide to take as there is no such thing as what looks better on a credit report (lender notation-wise) -- it's simply a matter of personal preference.

[805orbust]

Personally I would close it myself. Everyone has pointed out to me 100x that the remark "Closed by credit grantor" has no effect, but I just don't like it.  I even closed my Marvel card 2 weeks before it was nerfed by Sync to avoid it.  Strictly a personal preference tho. Do you.

[hdporter]

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@adelpit wrote:

As a result of non-membership, my Costco credit card soon will be cancelled by the issuer as well.

Should I cancel the card myself? Which looks better on my credit report, that I cancelled the card or the issuer? (I would guess it's better if I cancel.)

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The better option is to call Citi and check whether your card is eligible for a product change to another card you desire, extending the card history.

Choose carefully:  If the card has a hefty SUB, you may want to apply for that card directly since you won't be eligible for it on a product change.

[adelpit]

Thanks for that helpful suggestions. I will look into a product change. However, I've read that product changes are not usually available for co-branded cards. We'll see.

[Jeffster1]

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@805orbust wrote:

Personally I would close it myself. Everyone has pointed out to me 100x that the remark "Closed by credit grantor" has no effect, but I just don't like it.  I even closed my Marvel card 2 weeks before it was nerfed by Sync to avoid it.  Strictly a personal preference tho. Do you.

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@805orbust  I'm wirh you, 👍🏼

[Jeffster1]

I closed my Costco membership years ago. As a single person, I felt it no longer made sense to me. It was Amex at the time, and IIRC I just closed the card. My local Costco is a zoo anyway. The parking lot alone is pure anarchy. 

[805orbust]

@Jeffster1 ... dude, SAME!!!!  I started wondering about my life choices when I went there at 11am on a Tuesday and the lot was packed!  I don't need a deal that bad. 😂

Fortunately it doesn't seem anywhere as insane in the South as it did in NJ.

[Jeffster1]

My local Costco (Marina del Rey) is insane. It shares a parking lot with a big supermarket and an In and Out. I don't miss it. I had a upgraded membership for years which enables you to enter an hour prior to the regular opening. This particular Costco always had a large crowd of entitled people wirh regular memberships standing there, blocking the entrance and loudly whining, "Why can't they just let us In?" Ughhh...

[adelpit]

I'm required to have a Costco account to keep the 'no annual fee' credit card account open. But if I'm not using the card, I'm effectively paying a de-facto annual fee of $60, or a whopping $120 with an Executive Costco account--for nothing. This is bait-and-switch and feels like a scam to me! An additional 4% off on their discount gas is good, but the drive to get there is long, the lines are ridiculous and I'll never buy enough gas to recoup my investment in the membership. The goal of the cheap gas is to get me in the store. I think this is called "vulturism". I call it SCAM!