Costco upgrades Top Tier Fuel

[John105]

I'm a Costco gas enthusiast...good news for more of a DI-focused add pack. Run my cars off of it almost exclusively due to the price of premium being at times a dollar less than most other stations in our area. My tuned VW has been run on it on track with of course...no drama. Bonus slice of pizza/Pepsi for less than $3. All the credit car stuff in this post, no clue, don't use their car/care about points/cash back games.

Interesting perspective.

Here’s me yesterday, costco premium

That’s $2.66 left at the pump without rewards. My thinking is why leave it, and how is it a game? With PenFed it’s simply deducted from the monthly due.

Heck I take the $18/mo bridge discount to work. 5% gas well exceeds $18/mo, more like $25-$30. It’s not a game, it’s treating personal finances the way the treasurer of a corp treats corp finances. Jmoymmv

 

[TiGeo]

I've been using the same cards for years. I get simple cash back that I just use against my balance. No annual fees.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Must have been a looong time ago. Our local BMWCCA chapter had our own forum for members (in Seattle area) and one member was the head buyer for Costco automotive dept nationwide. He offered a lot of info about Costco automotive products and helped us out on stuff. For example, all Costco tire depts have a torque testing machine and he used to offer free testing (no calibration though) service to anyone that asked. Just had to PM him and he would ask which store was closet to you and he would call and tell the tire manager to accommodate you. Costco has the torque testing machines as they test and log every torque wrench in their inventory on a monthly basis.

We also asked why (at that time) Costco was not Top Tier to meet BMWs recommendations and he said Costco did meet Top Tier standards, but due to the cost for licensing and marketing, they chose not to sign on to the program (he claimed they were significant). They felt that passing on those costs was not as beneficial to the customer as being able to market the Top Tier standards. Obviously they changed and realized customers are demanding it. I've used Costco gas off and on for 20+ years and never had an issue with any of my cars, including my 2001 BMW 540 M-Sport with 363,000 miles.

Nice story! I was talking about 2007 and prior. I don't even know of TT existed back then. Although I prefer Shell because my 335d ran the quietest on their diesel we've been using Costco gas for over a decade now (Mercedes and BMW) and no issues.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

I'm a Costco gas enthusiast...good news for more of a DI-focused add pack. Run my cars off of it almost exclusively due to the price of premium being at times a dollar less than most other stations in our area. My tuned VW has been run on it on track with of course...no drama. Bonus slice of pizza/Pepsi for less than $3. All the credit car stuff in this post, no clue, don't use their car/care about points/cash back games.

We'll after dinner sometimes run out to Costco for gas and share a chocolate sundae.

 

[loneryder]

One of the gas attendants told me that when that system breaks down. They have to hand pump the additive in. He said it’s thick stuff and hard to pump.
They also check all the pump card readers every hour for fraudulent card readers.

 

[loneryder]

Again the reason I never use it is the 5% PenFed gas, cash, no redemption automatically subtracted every month.

The downside of costco citi is 1). 4%—the other 1% matters. 2). Technically the reward is awarded 1x per year. Another policy change, not cash, used towards a purchase. How many accept that and now say their $300 certificate didn’t earn 2% towards a purchase? The trick is to buy Hawaiian bread at $6.79, and then $300 - $6.79 paid cash.

My understanding is if you’re no longer a costco member when the cert is awarded, you don’t get it.

Fair is fair. Terms should be called out when they are clearly in the favor of the house. And I’m a Costco fanboy.

I have BAC Visa that is also 2% warehouse clubs. I’m always after the 5% which is hard to achieve without rotating categories. PenFed took care of it. Even works overseas and no foreign transaction fees.

they told me no, but buy an inexpensive item and get cash as change. if you have done it then the store is wrong. I don’t like to argue when there are huge lines…years ago, yes go to courtesy desk and cash out. Now get in line…

I always go to the managers stand and they cash it. They have a safe there that they can get cash from. Maybe it depends on the store. The Executive member rebate cannot be cashed anymore.

 

[CKN]

Again the reason I never use it is the 5% PenFed gas, cash, no redemption automatically subtracted every month.

The downside of costco citi is 1). 4%—the other 1% matters. 2). Technically the reward is awarded 1x per year. Another policy change, not cash, used towards a purchase. How many accept that and now say their $300 certificate didn’t earn 2% towards a purchase? The trick is to buy Hawaiian bread at $6.79, and then $300 - $6.79 paid cash.

My understanding is if you’re no longer a costco member when the cert is awarded, you don’t get it.

Fair is fair. Terms should be called out when they are clearly in the favor of the house. And I’m a Costco fanboy.

I have BAC Visa that is also 2% warehouse clubs. I’m always after the 5% which is hard to achieve without rotating categories. PenFed took care of it. Even works overseas and no foreign transaction fees.

That is clearly stated in the agreement. Should not be a surprise to anyone. My wife has booked airfare to Venice, a Mediterranean cruise, and a Transatlantic cruise for our return using the CostCo credit card. The 3% to 4% rebate will be substantial next year. Not to mention our usual purchase of fuel and what not in the warehouse. It's free money....

 

[cmarshall78]

We don't buy gas at costco that often usually The lines are ten cars deep.

 

[ukmastermind]

In addition to adding a detergent that is specific to GDI engines, this new additive package adds lubricity & corrosion protection according to a Costco fuel rep.