Costco Connection - July 2005

That’s the tick et COSTCO HAS STARTED a test of exceed policy limits or need an online entertainment-ticket- services not covered by their ing service for events in New policy, such as dental care or

Update SERVICES UPDATE

Current news for Costco members York. This service will save mem- vision correction.

bers up to 40 percent on theatri- Costco members will save cal and family events. up to 40 percent on many

Bundling value in online training

HOW CAN COSTCO bring more value to a catalog of 3,000 online training courses spread over nine major categories? The answer ^PHOTODISCis simple: bundle.

All it took to reach that conclusion was to review how members have used these courses. “In the three years since it’s been available,

very few members have opted to take just one individual course,” says Gayle Brask, a Costco business service manager responsible for the online training program. “The majority of members using this service have responded to the course bundles we’ve offered in special promotions. Given that response, the course catalog is being restructured into bundles of the most popular courses in a given category.”

Costco’s large membership base provides the leverage necessary for bringing down the price of courses for members. A good example is the Home and Office Bundle, which includes 25 of the most frequently requested courses for business and personal use, including:

■ Microsoft 2003 Office products, both fundamental and proficient versions of Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Project and Access

■ Four Microsoft Works 2003 courses

■ WordPerfect Office 11

■ Secure e-mail course

■ PC preventive maintenance course

■ Two network building courses

■ Project leadership course

■ Three project management courses

There are more than 120 hours of course training included in this bundle, with one full year of online access from the date of purchase. If taken individually, prices of these courses would range from $13.50 to $19.99 each. But when bundled, the total tuition is $41.99 for Executive Members, $47.99 for Business and Gold Star Members.

For more information, or to enroll in these or other courses, visit costco.com, click on “Services,” then on “Online Training.”

The first offering in this test health-care services. Executive program was the Broadway Members pay lower monthly show Brooklyn The Musical at program fees and no enroll-the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. ment fee.

For new events and For additional information ticket availability, visit about this program, visit costco. com, click on costco.com, click on “Services,” “Services,” then click on then click on “Medical Savings “Online Entertainment Card,” or call 1-800-869-5494. Ticketing.” Costco sells other event tickets on Quickly access costco.com (see “sports, recreation & tickets”) and ^{line-of-credit} ^fundsin the warehouses. COSTCO MEMBERS USING the Business Capital Line through California, Hawaii OPEN: The Small Business _get _MedicalNetwork^SMfrom American Express will appreciate the new Savings Card Direct Draw feature, a very easy _IN _THE _LATEST _EXPANSIONway to quickly access funds. for the Medical Savings Card ^Instead ^of ^waiting ^five ^to_{program, Costco} _members _inseven days for a funds trans-California and Hawaii can now ^{fer, Direct} ^Draw ^allows ^the_take _advantage _of _the _savingsonline transfer of money from built into this service. The pro- ^a ^Business ^Capital ^Line ^to ^agram is now available in most ^designated ^bank ^{account, with}_states _where _there _are _Costcofunds being available in that locations, except Alaska, Florida, ^account ^as ^soon ^as ^the ^nextIdaho, Montana and Vermont. ^business ^day.

The Medical Savings Card is ^For ^more ^information ^or ^tonot an insurance plan but does ^open ^an ^{account, call} ^1-800-provide substantial health-care ^{276-2219, or} ^visit ^costco.com^,savings, particularly for members ^click ^on “^Services,” ^then ^click_who _don’t _have _{insurance, may}on “Small-Business Loans and have preexisting-condition exclu- ^Lines ^of ^Credit.”

sions in their policy or go to Transactions processed by 3 p.m. EST will _doctors _outside _their _health-planbe available the next business day, while requests after that time will be available network. The pro- within two business days. The designated _gram _will _also _ben-bank account must have been used for two or more successful payments to the Business efit members who Capital Line in the past 15 to 360 days.

Costco’s Passport
to Savings
The annual summer Passport has
10 member-service coupons offering big
savings. Details are available in the
Passport and on costco.com. From the
home page, click on “Services,” then
click on“Passport Offers.”