Costco Executive 2% Rebate and Rental Cars

[audreyh1]

We had a discussion last year around mid year about renting cars via Costco, and whether you would earn It was clear that travel purchased through CostcoTravel.com would get the 2% executive rebate. But the language was unclear in terms of rental cars booked through Costco Travel but paid directly to the rental car company would get a rebate. Some posters reported that Costco Travel agents told them rental car reservations would qualify even if not purchased through Costco Travel.

I don't see any easy way to determine whether such a rebate was received. They just send a rebate check with no details at all as to what you spent at Costco or might have booked through Costco Travel.

We rented several cars via Costco Travel last year. These were paid for directly with the rental car company.

Calculation of 2% Reward

Reward is approximately 2% of pre-tax purchases (less refunds) of most merchandise purchased through: front-end registers, most ancillary business registers at Costco warehouses and Costco websites in both the U.S. and Canada by U.S. and Canadian residents and qualifying purchases made directly from Costco Travel once travel is completed. In the U.S., Rewards are not calculated: (i) on purchases of cigarettes or tobacco-related products, gasoline, Costco Cash Cards, postage stamps, alcoholic beverages in certain states (including Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee), and at food courts; (ii) on membership fees; (iii) on purchases not recorded through Costco’s front-end registers and transactions done on or through websites not hosted by Costco even if accessed through Costco.com, including all business, consumer, and insurance services, the Online Photo Center, and the My Publisher website; (iv) on miscellaneous fees, deposits and taxes, including sales tax and shipping; (v) where prohibited by law or regulation; (vi) on purchases made by anyone other than the account’s Primary or Primary Household Cardholder; (vii) on travel purchases: surcharges, gratuities, trip protection, travel purchased through a third party, upgrades, rental car equipment, resort charges and port charges; and (viii) on certain other categories as determined at Costco’s discretion, which may change without notice.

 

[COcheesehead]

The 2% for rental cars is advertised on the front page of the car rental section. See screen capture.

 

[audreyh1]

The 2% for rental cars is advertised on the front page of the car rental section. See screen capture.

That image always told me "Executive Members earn an annual 2% reward on Travel Purchases". The word purchase is pretty clear, and I'm sure people pay for car rental through Costco Travel as part of a full travel package, so it would definitely apply in that case.

Anyway - unfortunately unlike reward programs with credit cards, there is no transparent accounting for the Executive Rebate.

 

[Sunset]

We just got a costco executive membership.

We were shopping for a cruise, and borrowed a membership number to see the costs and benefits of doing it via Costco.
The price was the same as everyone else, but the OBC and costco card were quite higher than any travel agent deal including cruisecompete.
So we got our own membership to buy the cruise, which is even better as we will get an additional 2% back on the price.

Also used a $20 off coupon to buy the membership, and signed up for the costco CC which came with a $60 rebate.

My frugal ways are just hard to break..

 

[RunningBum]

Also used a $20 off coupon to buy the membership, and signed up for the costco CC which came with a $60 rebate.

Are the $60 rebates common? I've been thinking about getting one. It wouldn't be a new card to carry since I could replace the membership card in my wallet.

 

[footenote]

Rebate this month will be $325. Friend with a (mostly unused Costcocard) was impressed but puzzled by how we could spend that much at Costco. Explained we put *everything we can pay for using a credit card* on it.

 

[audreyh1]

We just got a costco executive membership.

We were shopping for a cruise, and borrowed a membership number to see the costs and benefits of doing it via Costco.
The price was the same as everyone else, but the OBC and costco card were quite higher than any travel agent deal including cruisecompete.
So we got our own membership to buy the cruise, which is even better as we will get an additional 2% back on the price.

Also used a $20 off coupon to buy the membership, and signed up for the costco CC which came with a $60 rebate.

My frugal ways are just hard to break..

Hey, we always go for the better deals even though we are usually underspending our budget. It just makes sense! No reason to pay more for something than you have to.

 

[audreyh1]

Rebate this month will be $325. Friend with a (mostly unused Costcocard) was impressed but puzzled by how we could spend that much at Costco. Explained we put *everything we can pay for using a credit card* on it.

The Costco Executive Rebate is completely separate from the Costco VISA cash rewards. The 2% rebate is only on your qualified Costco purchases.

 

[gerntz]

Rebate this month will be $325. Friend with a (mostly unused Costcocard) was impressed but puzzled by how we could spend that much at Costco. Explained we put *everything we can pay for using a credit card* on it.

That's still a lot of spending to me.

 

[zinger1457]

Are the $60 rebates common? I've been thinking about getting one. It wouldn't be a new card to carry since I could replace the membership card in my wallet.

I received the $60 rebate when I signed up for a Costco membership in December but thought it was offered for upgrading to the Executive membership, not the CC.

 

[COcheesehead]

I received the $60 rebate when I signed up for a Costco membership in December but thought it was offered for upgrading to the Executive membership, not the CC.

I was offered an incentive to move up to the Executive membership, but I think it was only $40. It still made the move worth it.

 

[audreyh1]

That's still a lot of spending to me.

Well ours would make you faint dead away.

 

[gerntz]

Well ours would make you faint dead away.

$325 is 2% of $16250 of rebateable spending in one month. Doesn't including non-rebate spending. So yes, yours would make me faint dead away. That 3-4 months worth for us.

 

[cathy63]

We had a discussion last year around mid year about renting cars via Costco, and whether you would earn It was clear that travel purchased through CostcoTravel.com would get the 2% executive rebate. But the language was unclear in terms of rental cars booked through Costco Travel but paid directly to the rental car company would get a rebate. Some posters reported that Costco Travel agents told them rental car reservations would qualify even if not purchased through Costco Travel.

I don't see any easy way to determine whether such a rebate was received. They just send a rebate check with no details at all as to what you spent at Costco or might have booked through Costco Travel.

We rented several cars via Costco Travel last year. These were paid for directly with the rental car company.

They exclude so many things from the executive rebate, and it's not even clear what date ranges are included in each payment, so I think you'd have to save every Costco receipt and build a spreadsheet to even attempt to calculate it yourself. Also, my personal experience is that you should definitely not believe a Costco employee as to whether a specific charge counts towards the rebate or not. They mean well but are clueless about details. I got sucked in when they told me a cruise we were planning to book would count and only found out when we got the rebate that it didn't (it would count now, but this was years ago). It was my fault for not reading the terms myself, but they were so certain and it was at the register so my frozen food was thawing and I wanted to get home. Lesson learned, but at least it only cost me about $20.

In any case, section vii of the terms you posted seems to exclude all travel payments that are not processed through Costco's merchant account, so I do not believe rental car charges paid directly to the rental agency would count. If they did want to include it, they'd have to reconcile with commission reports from each rental car agency in order to account for no-shows, downgrades and other changes made outside their system. I guess they could do that, but I don't know any way to tell if they have done it.

 

[cathy63]

$325 is 2% of $16250 of rebateable spending in one month. Doesn't including non-rebate spending. So yes, yours would make me faint dead away. That 3-4 months worth for us.

I think we are talking about two different types of rebates in this thread.

If I'm reading it right, the $325 rebate that's coming is the one for the Costco Visa card, which footenote talked about using for everything he can charge. All Costco Visa holders are getting their rebate for last year's spending soon. For us, it amounts to about 1.75% of our annual spending. A $325 rebate would mean he has less than $20K of expenses on groceries, travel, gasoline, clothing, restaurants, etc. for the entire year. We are not that frugal and are actually getting back more than that.

The Executive Rebate is a 2% rebate on amounts paid directly to Costco and Costco Travel with some exclusions. It has nothing to do with the Costco Visa rebate. The Executive Membership costs an extra $60, so it is only worth it if you spend $3K or more at Costco and Costco Travel in a year.

 

[audreyh1]

$325 is 2% of $16250 of rebateable spending in one month. Doesn't including non-rebate spending. So yes, yours would make me faint dead away. That 3-4 months worth for us.

I read it as from one year of spending since executive member rebates as well as Costco VISA cash rewards are each paid annually. He just happened to get it this month? As did I.