So, I know MMM loves Costco and is a credit card guru. Any thoughts out there on the American Express from Costco? I've heard some good things about it
I just signed up for the Costco Amex and was approved over the phone.
So far so good. I have a fraud alert on my credit records, which they noted. Their
"Bob" from Bangalore customer service staff called me and checked with my credit union to verify my ID, and then approved the card. It should be here next week.
The reason I'm signing up (and the reason I have a fraud alert) is because FIA Card Services has made my life miserable with my Fidelity Rewards Amex. That card was cloned three months ago and they didn't take action for nearly a week after I notified them of the problem. Then I had to fill out the paperwork (even though I notified
them) and I had to put the fraud alert on my credit report. Since then they've been incompetently attempting to keep an eye on the card by randomly suspending it, claiming that their query phone calls received "out of service" messages, and then sending alarmingly-worded boilerplate snail-mail notifications to call their customer service staff. When I asked the supervisor how he was going to cheer up a very unhappy customer, he said "Well, sir, you have to understand that what we need you to do is..." and I decided that I understood I'd had enough. I was working way too hard for 2% rewards.
So the FIA card is going in a locked drawer for a few years, my USAA rewards card is back in action (1.25% rewards), and the new Costco Amex will fill in the gap. The new Amex has a 25% higher credit limit than the FIA Amex, even though I'm retired.
I don't think that we spend enough at Costco to make the Exec membership worth the fee. I'll have to track that.