Summary of the TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express

Last Reviewed: 8/27/2010

If you are looking for a credit card to use at Costco, you need look no further. As you may know, Costco only accepts American Express, and the TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express is definitely a solid cashback card.Additionally, this card offers some unusually high bonuses in specific categories, which make it an excellent niche play as well. More on that below.

TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express Rewards

Here’s some of the key information on this card:

There are several things worth calling out here. Firstly, the 3% cashback on gasoline purchases is solid. If this credit card is just for your own spending needs, then you’d be able to earn the full 3% on about 1,000 gallons of gasoline (assuming a price of $4.00 per gallon). That’s equivalent to 20 gallons of gas per week. Put another way, assuming you get 20 MPG on your car, you’d have to be driving more than 20K miles per year to exceed the $4,000 cap. That’s by no means beyond the realm of possibility, but most people should be at or under this cap. All that said, if you are looking for the ultimate killer gas card, also check out the PenFed Visa Platinum, with its whopping 5% cashback on gas purchases and no caps.

The second call-out is the 2% cashback at restaurants. It is actually quite rare to find any card offering more than 1% cashback at restaurants, and 2% is very respectable. The TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express deserves a home in your wallet if for no other reason than this. Note, this isn’t an exhaustive list, but rather just the ones we deemed most valuable.

Finally, the 2% cashback on travel purchases is also very respectable, and adds to the overall performance of this credit card.

Other Benefits of the TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express

While GetDebit focuses mostly on assessing the value of rewards, in an effort to be thorough, we also discuss some of the harder-to-quantify benefits of holding this particular piece of plastic.

Fraud Protection: American Express protects you against unauthorized or fraudulent charges to your TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express.

Extended Warranty: Mirrors and extends for up to 1 additional year the manufacturer’s warranty for covered products purchased with your card.

Purchase Protection: Protects covered items for up to 90 days from the date of purchase in case of accidental damage or theft.

Travel Accident Insurance: TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express provides up to $100,000 in accidental death and dismemberment insurance.

Global Assist Hotline: In cases where you travel more than 100 miles from your home, American Express will provide you with emergency assistance 24/7 round-the-clock, including medical and legal referrals, visa/passport help, cash access, lost luggage and more.

GetDebit’s Final Assessment of the TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express

The TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express is indeed exceptional, and merits its place amongst the stronger credit cards.  You can also check out our review of the all-star Blue Cash Preferred® Card From American Express as a potential alternative Amex Card.  We also recommend you try out the GetDebit Ranking Engine to figure out which of these cards performs best for your specific spending profile.

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.

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