Shopping at Costco

In Unite State, they have Sam’s Club, BJ’s wholesale and Costco. However, in Canada, Costco is almost the only choice. Costco is one of the places I like to shop. Mainly, it is because they carry quality products, very good price and awesome refund policy.  Seasonal products and store special events always keep me attractive when I visit Costco. The down side of Costco: easily overspend, only accept American Express credit card, products in large quantities and long line up. Overall, Costco is good especially for family. You will find you can save a lot.

Here is the question. Which type of membership should you join? Executive? Gold Star?

Gold Star membership annual fee is $55; a free spouse card is the almost only feature.

Executive member annual fee is $110 (last year was only $100)

Here is the list of executive member feature:

-       2% Cash back (up to $750) pre tax purchase, not include alcohol cigarettes or other tobacco-related products

-       Exclusive discount booklet for executive member

-       Residential Telecommunications

-       Residential Real Estate Program

-       Mortgages

-       Emergency Roadside Assistance

-       Express Courier shipping

-       Car rentals

-       Life and Health Plans

-       Custom Logo Merchandise

Is it worth to have Costco executive membership?

To answer this question is really depends on how much you spend yearly. The table shown below will give you some idea.

		Executive	Gold Star
Before Tax	Annual Fee	$110.00	$55.00
	Min Annual Spend to cover the Annual Fee	$5,500.00
	Min Annual Spend to match Gold Star Annual Fee	$2,750.00

If you spend at least $2,750 (pre-tax purchase) per year, it’s a good idea go with executive membership.

Since we need to pay the tax to government, I also made another table include tax.

		Executive	Gold Star
After Tax	BC - Annual Fee	$123.20	$61.60
	BC - Min Annual Spend to cover the Annual Fee	$6,160.00
	BC - Min Annual Spend to match Gold Star Annual Fee	$3,080.00
	AB - Annual Fee	$115.50	$57.75
	AB - Min Annual Spend to cover the Annual Fee	$5,775.00
	AB - Min Annual Spend to match Gold Star Annual Fee	$2,887.50

As you see above, if you live in BC, you need to spend $3,080 (pre-tax) yearly to cover extra money you spend on upgrading to executive membership.

Affiliated Credit Card

As I mention above, American Express is the only credit card accept in Costco. Costco offer a True earning American Express card. To be honest, this is not a bad credit card. 

-       Earn up to 1% cash back on everyday purchase

·      0.25% first $1000

·      0.5% from $1001 to $3000

·      1% any amount after passing $3000 purchase

-       Earn 2% cash back on eligible gas purchase, but only up to $3000 annually, 1% after

-       Earn 3% cash back on eligible restaurant 

-       No annual fee

-       Free supplement card

Even though there are many stores or restaurants not accepting AE, I still recommend getting this AE card. First, it has no annual fee. Second, it’s more convenience paying in Costco if you run out of cash. Third, it’s a good cash back credit card.

If you use AE card with your executive membership, you actually spend less in order to make your executive fee free or equal to Gold Star.  Below tables show the combination of using AE card

		Executive	Gold Star
After Tax	BC - Annual Fee	$123.20	$61.60
	BC - Min Annual Spend to cover the Annual Fee	$4,775.00	$7,910.00
	BC - Min Annual Spend to match Gold Star Annual Fee	$2,805.00

		Executive	Gold Star
After Tax	AB - Annual Fee	$115.50	$57.75
	AB - Min Annual Spend to cover the Annual Fee	$4,580.00	$7,500.00
	AB - Min Annual Spend to match Gold Star Annual Fee	$2,505.00

In BC, if you pay all your Costco purchase with TrueEarning AE card, you will spend $1,385 less in order to make your executive membership free. To equal Gold star annual fee, you spend $275 less.

In AB, if you pay all your Costco purchase with TrueEarning AE card, you will spend $1,195 less in order to make your executive membership free. To equal Gold star annual fee, you spend $382.5 less.

In conclusion, if you join Costco, I highly recommend to apply TrueEarning AE card either you are executive or gold star member. Executive member has some very nice features, and I believe if you use it you can save some money. Also, you can always downgrade to Gold star and get the refund if you are not happy with executive membership.