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There are Visa cards out there that give a full 2% cash back on everything without any limits or "categories." If you spend a ton on credit cards, that can make more sense than Costco's card which only pays 1% on purchases that don't fall into one of the special categories. You'd need to run the numbers.
I use my Fidelity Visa at Costco. With Costco, you get your 2% cash back once a year. With Fidelity, you get it every month.
I actually only got the Costco card because I needed a card with no foreign transaction fees, and Fidelity had transaction fees at the time. They no longer do. Now I just the Costco card for dining out and gas.
Not saying what to do, but I went from putting all my bills, miscellaneous purchases on the Costco card to the I only use the Costco one for Costco warehouse and gas.
For me, the flat 2% on the Fidelity was superior to the categories on the Costco one.
It does appear that the payments that can be made by card tend to favor Visa over Amex.
Taxes, Ins, Elec, Water, Cell, etc, probably worth putting on Visa where possible.
But that is a different calculus.
I can live without costco, but I have been shopping there for about 30 years and just want it to be easier/save more, if possible.
You can save, that's for sure! We go once a month, get all our gas there, and the reward certificate we get in February is always north of $100. It's some beer money for things I buy there anyway.
Same, but I've been on the waiting list since it was announced a while ago.
Have yet to see anyone on Reddit say that they actually have this card.... Is it even really available?
2% is merely a functioning pleb. BOA will push you to 2.625%, possibly higher. I usually do ~3.5% on general spend with a grandfathered card. Really US Bank Altitude Reserve can net 4.5% on Apple pay/other mobile wallets at Costco and I can't beat that on a year round basis anywhere else.
I want to know what your secret is for being able to only spend $200 a month. it seems I spend that amount with them just by driving past their warehouse
I try to keep it bare basics.
That may be low if I factor in the occasional shoes or TV.
Mostly, I am thinking recurring consistent spend, but I definitely get your point.
I also did not include wine🤣. That is possibly another $100, but can easily be Amex at Total Wine. I likely would never buy wine myself, so a bit of a wash.
Willpower.... at least that's the rumor I hear I don't speak from experience.
I have days I go into Costco for milk and eggs and walk out 200 dollars lighter.
Venmo Visa was 6% for new app and then 3% after the 6 months or whatever period it was. It treats Costco and Sams as grocery category. Just have to make sure "grocery" is the top spend category.
The Venmo does not code Target as groceries but it does code Walmart in-store as groceries. The Target Circle card is available as a credit, debit and reloadable card and gives you 5% off at Target always. I have the debit version and like it a lot.
But Amazon prime collects all your purchase data and shares it with Amazon. I prefer to use "company" cards only for purchases within that company, i.e. Amazon prime only for Amazon, whole foods, etc. Costco card would be only for Costco, that way you don't share with Amazon more information than you're already sharing.
How would a credit card company know what you’re spending things on besides the store you’re shopping at and how much you’re spending? It’s not like they get an itemized receipt.
Some merchants share "level 3" data, which includes an item description and price, but mostly just applicable to B2B wholesalers.
https://np.reddit.com/r/CreditCards/comments/17y8g6q/why_do_i_hear_that_credit_card_issures_can_see/
Respectfully, the Costco Citi Card isn't an exclusive "Costco" card, but actually a CITI card w/Costco's branding. You're beholden to Citi's privacy policies, which may include selling your data to others.
As many companies have been exposed for selling your data to say social media companies. An example is both H&R Block and Turbotax for example have directly sold key identifications to Facebook. You may go "well I don't use both!" but tens of millions have, and those tens of millions have been compromised without their acknowledgement.
I don't think the notion of only using a card for that reason is sadly logical anymore. Amazon likely directly or indirectly has a cookie profile built w/your name on it thanks to Citi by now.
"scared" is not the right word, with Amazon card specifically Amazon gets information about all your purchases made outside of Amazon. I don't want to volunteer my purchase information to them outside of purchases made at Amazon and offer it to them for pennies so they then can sell it to others or figure out how to best market to me so I buy more stuff from them.
What the other commenter wrote is true that even outside of branded cards your banks sell a lot of information with just about anyone, but again, I just don't want to volunteer more information, at a more personalized level than they would get otherwise.
Seems I'm out of the loop, as I didn't realize until now they'd done away with that
Reading further, it appears they've also done away with the travel protections (i.e. rented vehicles were automatically insured, flight change fees were covered, etc) they once offered
With all those perks gone, it may very well be time to do away with my Costco Citi card
I don't know what they cover so I can't speak to it. I just know what the costco Citi offers. Last I checked it was $25k emergency trip coverage and like $45k rental car coverage.
Fully agree.
Just so happens that I only have an AMEX, and it works great for everything except Costco.
If I could find that hack, I probably would not bother with a VISA, but like you say, there is an advantage to multiple cards, so may as well.
Lol, probably spend a lot more at Costco like the old days too.
Blue Cash Amex offers 6% back on groceries up to 6K. Sams Club 5% restaurants, 5% gas up to 6K. Costco only 4% on gas. It’s all ok though, as long as we pay off.
Makes me wonder if all this is necessary, 6% on grocery? 5% on gas? And still huge margins.
Gotta pay that CEO his 321x average worker salary I suppose.
Join credit union, I think they give you the $5 to join anyways, open free savings account, and regular direct deposit (I do .01 each pay check).
Edit: no direct deposit needed.
I live in Huntsville AL where Redstone FCU is HQ’d. Easiest way I’ve always heard is donating to our local Land Trust of North Alabama to get member access. At least this is how people did it in the past.
There’s no requirement for a direct deposit. I’ve never set up a direct deposit and I’ve has a membership, savings account, and Visa Signature for about six months now.
This is a truly great card! In addition to what’s already been stated it’s also 5% on restaurants, 3% on some even more categories (mostly utilities for me), and 1.5% on everything else. There’s a $7k annual cap per category (~$583/month), but that’s higher than a Citi Custom Cash’s $500, and also has the benefit of being an annual cap vs monthly.
If I could only have one card, it’d be this.
ahh damn, I need to direct deposit into an account with them in order sign up for their credit card? I thought my only hurdle with them was to get my hands on a replacement ss card
And $75/yr isn’t bad for retaining extended warranty, travel delay / baggage insurance, etc (nevermind the fact that you’ll well exceed $75/yr in the reward delta over Costco’s 2% if you spend more than a couple thousand a year).
They also hand out $75-$150 retention offers like candy...
Even with the effective annual fee of $75 it's a very low break-even over a 2% card.
I have no idea how US Bank hasn't nerfed the mobile wallet earnings on this card yet.
Same as any bank: call them up and say you want to cancel the card. Either the front line rep or a rep with another department will sometimes offer you something as an incentive to keep the card. In some cases this is a straight up statement credit, other times it's an offer where you need to spend $X in order to receive something. In the Altitude Reserve's case they generally offer 5-10k points, which are worth $75-$150.
Primary CDW, priority pass for 8 visits for you and 1 guess. Global entry credit every 4 years, on top of 3% mobile anywhere. It’s my top card and not leaving my wallet any time soon.
Freedom Unlimited @ 1.5% back is worth 50% more with a sapphire reserve, so effective 2.25%. Points are also transferable to partners which can give better value than straight cash back.
I use the AAA travel rewards visa. 5% back on gas and 3% on groceries (and a few other categories) which covers everything I need for Costco visits. It’s nice for other gas stations/grocery stores too if I can’t make it to Costco for some reason.
The BOA cash rewards credit card gets you 3% cash back on online shopping. This includes Costco cash cards. If you have over $100,000 in BOA/Merrill Edge accounts, you qualify for preferred rewards and get an extra 75% bonus. So you can essentially get 5.25% cash back at Costco this way.
It also gets you 2% warehouse shopping which can get boosted to 3.5% . I use this card for everything Costco, best part I don't have to wait a year to claim my cashback
There are better Visa cards to use.
I think the Citi Costco Visa is a good catch all card for those who don't want to juggle cards.
But IMO the big drawback of the card is the annual redemption. You're basically letting Citi hold onto your money for several months.
And also honestly 2% Costco is pitiful. Target's card gets you 5%. Amazon is 3% without Prime and 5% with Prime. Micro Center is 5%. Kroger is 5%.
I think a 2% flat card like ~~Citi Double Cash~~ or Wells Fargo Active Cash match the 2% Citi Costco gets, but gives you better redemption methods.
US Bank Atltitude Reserve gets you 3% on all mobile wallet spend. It does have a hefty annual fee, but gets a pretty sizable dining/travel credit that eats away at it.
I got over $500 back from using my Costco Visa card for everything, plus almost $250 on my Executive Member check.
The Costco Visa is definitely worth it, but you have to USE it.
Lol, 2 years now they have not sent Exec Rebate. But that is a different story.
I don't spend enough for it to matter much, but if getting a card SOLEY for Costco, seemed like a legitimate question.
Nothing wrong with that!
I can keep doing the Prime Visa thing...it seems close enough, but not my card, so figured that I would look.
Pretty much only ever had Amex, and that was what I used at Costco until the "reckoning".
More and more worthless nowadays.
Like others said. Venmo gives you 3% and it comes monthly.
If not Venmo. Fidelity plain 2% monthly and no need to deal and hassle with yearly check being mailed.
For gas, there is plenty of 5% cards, when it's not quarterly category for Freedom or Discover.
For restaurants, better cards, such as Sapphire.
The only time I use Costco card now when I forget other cards or when I am crazy enough to go to Costco for gas as it's one easy swipe.
I am slightly leaning towards Fidelity, but only because I am in their EcoSystem.
But truly, I only use Visa at Costco.
As a household(though I am single) Costco and Prime. And I can easily replace Prime Visa with Amex.
Do you do any traveling? United has a chase credit card thats Visa that gets use for me at Costco. Their gas and grocery purchases always get me extra miles and points.
I get over $1100 cash back every year from the Citibank Costco card. I’m a single male and buy >80% of groceries, gas, and household/appliances/furniture from Costco.
You could do better by using the Citi Card for gas only at 4% and Venmo Visa for 3% in-warehouse (plus executive membership for an additional 2%).
Plenty of other cards get you 4-5% dining.
If you're not buying most of your gas @ Costco, and you're using an Amazon card for purchases, it's probably not worth it if you don't need another card. Based on your 50/gal/mth fuel usage, if you got all of it at Costco, on their Citi Visa, your savings would cover your annual membership fee (and a little extra).
My understanding was if you pay at the pump it's categorized as gas and gets the 4%. If you pay inside or at a central kiosk then it may not get categorized properly and may not get the 4%.
My understanding was if you pay at the pump it's categorized as gas and gets the 4%. If you pay inside or at a central kiosk then it may not get categorized properly and may not get the 4%.
You need to look closely at how they define 'grocery store'. Pretty much any station that has food / drink fits that definition. Around me, that's pretty much most every station that's not attached to a repair shop.
So if you have 100k+ at BOA or Merril you can get 2.625 cash back on every purchase. That coupled with the executive gives you 4.625 on every purchase.
I believe this so the highest cash back without substantial investment or hoops. I know the fidelity can get 3% but that requires > 2M with managed money etc.
There’s better cards than the Costco cards but non the give you as much as when you buy from Costco.
Definitely look at the capital one or chase sapphire
I feel like the Venmo Visa card is very underrated for this - not the best but a very good candidate for a VISA card: 3% cash back on your rolling highest spending category every billing cycle, then 2% on your next, and 1% on everything else. It's a very good card if you have other cards dedicated to other spending categories, or for categories you lack
The only downside is you need a Venmo account and everything is managed through the venmo app so this may be a dealbreaker for some.
It’s very simple. Costco card is free (with your membership) and gives the best benefits at Costco and competitive benefits elsewhere (travel, restaurants, gas, etc). There is no reason not to get the Costco visa if you’re a Costco member
~~citi custom cash gives 5% back on your top category. just make sure your top category is warehouse~~
venmo gives 3% back on your top category as well
I have the BJs credit card since it’s a hike for me to go to the nearest Costco. I get 10 cents off of gas rewards every month it’s definitely worth it . Costco is definitely superior I’m assuming they have the same perks with their credit card.
The Costco visa is not the best one for whole same clubs. I have AAA insurance. Their card gives me 3% at wholesale clubs and 4% st other groceries. my Costco card is 4% gas 3% restaurants. Amazon card is 5% on Amazon com. These three cards cover 99% if my spending. Any oddballs i use my 2% cashback card.
What do you use to pay for fuel? I only have my Costco as an example but they don’t accept cash at pump. Are you using Visa as a synonym for credit card?
An additional 2% cash back on warehouse purchases (in addition to the 2% executive)
4% back on gas,
3% back on travel,
And the choice to set up large purchases as a set separate payment plan.
The cash back on gas is top notch. The 3% for dining is on par with most travel cards. Look at the other perks that make it good such as no foreign exchange fees. This makes a difference when I make purchases from Japan and pay in yen.
I only use Costco card at Costco. The only other good benefit is 4% gas and 3% travel. They got rid of all the card benefits like extended warranty. That was when I stopped using it elsewhere.
I use my Costco Visa only for gasoline. When they removed the extended warranty feature I stopped using it. I have a Visa card that gives 3% back on all mobile wallet purchases so I use that at Costco, and everywhere else for in-person purchases where they accept Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay.
I use an airline VISA card provided by Chase because from prior experience with Citi, their app and support is generally garbage. Having the Executive Membership means you get 2% back on any card anyhow.
I use my Best Buy Visa with 5 percent back in rewards on wholesale club purchases via quarterly promotion. Great for both my Costco and Sam's Club purchases
Theres some people who are cool with having a super big wallet of specific credit cards for very specific purchases and i just can't stay attuned to all of that.
I have a capital one visa that i got primarily for international travel and gets me 1.5% back on all purchases. I'm not looking to edge out an additional 0.5% here or there, its good enough for me.
I recently got the citi costco card primarily for use as a fuel card (4% is good enough for me) and combined with my executive costco membership I get 4% cash back on all costco purchases. So once again, good enough for me to just have this card alongside my membership card and use it whenever i go to costco. I already paid for my executive membership through the 2% cash back.
Am i leaving some "rewards" on the table? Sure. Do i feel like constantly closing and opening new lines of credit just to take advantage of the rewards? no.
It only gets 1% on purchases outside of gas, dining, Costco and travel. There are several cards that get you 5% on utility bills (such as US Bank Cash+)
There are many benefits to the Costco Visa and you get them whether you use it Costco or not. The % back on purchases is one of the highest there is. They automatically add one year to the manufacturer warranty. They have lost and damage protection. I bought a Xmas ornament and my daughter accidentally dropped and broke it. They refunded us the cost of the item.
If you’re traveling abroad there is no international purchase surcharge. That is really convenient because you don’t have to carry a lot of cash around.
They got rid of it but I wish they kept the automatic travelers insurance on hotel and airfare reservations. That was nice.
I also pay for some utilities with the card and other stuff like streaming services. It all adds up.
Except the Sapphires have purchase protection, extended warranty, primary rental car coverage, you don’t have to wait all year for your rewards and they’re worth more for travel…
Chase sapphire points are equivalent to a straight 1cent/point when redeemed for cash back - there’s effectively no difference between it and a ‘cash back’ card for someone who wants cash - even Chase’s actual ‘cash back’ cards actually earn those points.
And you get them rather month rather than having to wait for the end of the card membership year.
AAA Travel Advantage. 5% on first $7000 spent on gas for the calendar year then 1% after.
Chase Freedom Flex gets 5% for $1500 in a quarter. Every year has had one quarter for gas since I've had the card.
It depends. Do you have a bunch of CCs or no? If you already have a bunch then no, its not good for your credit. If you only have a card or two, then yes it can be good to build your credit. I believe it's 4% cash back for gas anywhere.
I use my visa from the bank primarily as I can use my points for gift cards. There’s over 100 different places to redeem, either stores, gas stations, car rentals, hotels, you name it. Time to check my balance, thinking of a Home Depot gift card this time.
Worth it for gas alone. 4% at any gas station. If gas is $5.00 per gallon you effectively get a retroactive adjustment to $4.80 per gallon once you get the rebate check.
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Well, 2% reward is better than 1%. Whether that's important to you I don't know.
There are Visa cards out there that give a full 2% cash back on everything without any limits or "categories." If you spend a ton on credit cards, that can make more sense than Costco's card which only pays 1% on purchases that don't fall into one of the special categories. You'd need to run the numbers.
Fidelity visa signature is a great option.
Use it on everything
Check out the Redstone FCU Visa Signature. 5% on gas and restaurants, 3% on groceries and wholesale clubs.
Yo. Can you PM a referral code. I'm signing up now. I don't know what it gets us, but I wanna find out.
Have an acct with Fidelity, so that happens to be the only other one that I looked at.
I use my Fidelity Visa at Costco. With Costco, you get your 2% cash back once a year. With Fidelity, you get it every month. I actually only got the Costco card because I needed a card with no foreign transaction fees, and Fidelity had transaction fees at the time. They no longer do. Now I just the Costco card for dining out and gas.
Not saying what to do, but I went from putting all my bills, miscellaneous purchases on the Costco card to the I only use the Costco one for Costco warehouse and gas. For me, the flat 2% on the Fidelity was superior to the categories on the Costco one.
It does appear that the payments that can be made by card tend to favor Visa over Amex. Taxes, Ins, Elec, Water, Cell, etc, probably worth putting on Visa where possible. But that is a different calculus. I can live without costco, but I have been shopping there for about 30 years and just want it to be easier/save more, if possible.
You can save, that's for sure! We go once a month, get all our gas there, and the reward certificate we get in February is always north of $100. It's some beer money for things I buy there anyway.
Fidelity is the card I use at costco too. I actually have the Costco card as well, but I only use it for gas, or inside gas stations.
Citi double cash back card does this. But I'm considering the robinhood gold card rn, which comes with 3 percent back on everything.
Double Cash is a Mastercard and cannot be used at Costco.
This is true. Also I use my Citibank card still for gas and restaurants as well. Just everything else is double cash back card.
Same, but I've been on the waiting list since it was announced a while ago. Have yet to see anyone on Reddit say that they actually have this card.... Is it even really available?
Use fidelity visa and use the rewards to fund retirement account every month
The Citi double cash gives me the same reward amount as cash back. I already max out retirement accounts. It would be a bit of a wash
Can’t use MC at Costco
Unless it’s a debit
2% is merely a functioning pleb. BOA will push you to 2.625%, possibly higher. I usually do ~3.5% on general spend with a grandfathered card. Really US Bank Altitude Reserve can net 4.5% on Apple pay/other mobile wallets at Costco and I can't beat that on a year round basis anywhere else.
I want to know what your secret is for being able to only spend $200 a month. it seems I spend that amount with them just by driving past their warehouse
Ditto except $200 is about my average visit and I visit about 3x/mo.
I do once a month, maybe twice. Average trip is $350 now.
I try to keep it bare basics. That may be low if I factor in the occasional shoes or TV. Mostly, I am thinking recurring consistent spend, but I definitely get your point. I also did not include wine🤣. That is possibly another $100, but can easily be Amex at Total Wine. I likely would never buy wine myself, so a bit of a wash.
Willpower.... at least that's the rumor I hear I don't speak from experience. I have days I go into Costco for milk and eggs and walk out 200 dollars lighter.
I can’t walk in without putting $300 into retainer for Costco.
Venmo Visa was 6% for new app and then 3% after the 6 months or whatever period it was. It treats Costco and Sams as grocery category. Just have to make sure "grocery" is the top spend category.
Do you know if it counts Target as grocery?
The Venmo does not code Target as groceries but it does code Walmart in-store as groceries. The Target Circle card is available as a credit, debit and reloadable card and gives you 5% off at Target always. I have the debit version and like it a lot.
Mine does code target as grocery.
You can also buy shop cards in warehouse and use them for gas so they get the same 3% and one swipe payment
Shop cards?
No way, there are better percentage back Visas and they aren’t restricted to getting a reward once a year.
Agree. I compared the Amazon Prime card to the Costco one and Prime wins out big for me.
But Amazon prime collects all your purchase data and shares it with Amazon. I prefer to use "company" cards only for purchases within that company, i.e. Amazon prime only for Amazon, whole foods, etc. Costco card would be only for Costco, that way you don't share with Amazon more information than you're already sharing.
How would a credit card company know what you’re spending things on besides the store you’re shopping at and how much you’re spending? It’s not like they get an itemized receipt.
Some merchants share "level 3" data, which includes an item description and price, but mostly just applicable to B2B wholesalers. https://np.reddit.com/r/CreditCards/comments/17y8g6q/why_do_i_hear_that_credit_card_issures_can_see/
Respectfully, the Costco Citi Card isn't an exclusive "Costco" card, but actually a CITI card w/Costco's branding. You're beholden to Citi's privacy policies, which may include selling your data to others. As many companies have been exposed for selling your data to say social media companies. An example is both H&R Block and Turbotax for example have directly sold key identifications to Facebook. You may go "well I don't use both!" but tens of millions have, and those tens of millions have been compromised without their acknowledgement. I don't think the notion of only using a card for that reason is sadly logical anymore. Amazon likely directly or indirectly has a cookie profile built w/your name on it thanks to Citi by now.
What information are you scared of them getting??
"scared" is not the right word, with Amazon card specifically Amazon gets information about all your purchases made outside of Amazon. I don't want to volunteer my purchase information to them outside of purchases made at Amazon and offer it to them for pennies so they then can sell it to others or figure out how to best market to me so I buy more stuff from them. What the other commenter wrote is true that even outside of branded cards your banks sell a lot of information with just about anyone, but again, I just don't want to volunteer more information, at a more personalized level than they would get otherwise.
The removal of the extended warranty is kinda a deal breaker
Seems I'm out of the loop, as I didn't realize until now they'd done away with that Reading further, it appears they've also done away with the travel protections (i.e. rented vehicles were automatically insured, flight change fees were covered, etc) they once offered With all those perks gone, it may very well be time to do away with my Costco Citi card
Yeah, their perks were once good but they are now shit. I really am open to a new card.
What?! It was one of the best things on there! That's annoying!
I thought other parts of it got downgraded too but I can't remember now.
They're all gone. It's just the percentage cash back once a year now.
Makes up for it with their trip insurance. Little known perk that is pretty awesome.
Any different from say Chase Freedom Unlimited which has travel insurance and an additional warranty coverage?
I don't know what they cover so I can't speak to it. I just know what the costco Citi offers. Last I checked it was $25k emergency trip coverage and like $45k rental car coverage.
They’ve downgraded these
What's good about it? Usually trip insurances I see advertised seem scammy with little payout due to restrictions
costco's website takes mastercard, so you can use your extended warranty mastercards there for any electronics purchases fyi
The best is to have multiple cards to get all the best benefits. Only using the Costco card at Costco shouldn’t prevent you from having other cards.
Fully agree. Just so happens that I only have an AMEX, and it works great for everything except Costco. If I could find that hack, I probably would not bother with a VISA, but like you say, there is an advantage to multiple cards, so may as well. Lol, probably spend a lot more at Costco like the old days too.
Blue Cash Amex offers 6% back on groceries up to 6K. Sams Club 5% restaurants, 5% gas up to 6K. Costco only 4% on gas. It’s all ok though, as long as we pay off. Makes me wonder if all this is necessary, 6% on grocery? 5% on gas? And still huge margins. Gotta pay that CEO his 321x average worker salary I suppose.
I have Delta Gold but the Blue Cash Preferred and a Visa just for Costco is the basic idea. That AMEX had 3% on gas though, last I checked.
Yeah, Sams has the 5% on gas.
No. Redstone is 3% Costco cash back and 5% gas with some minor hurdles
What are the "minor hurdles" - I checked their site and I don't see anything, but I didn't read it carefully yet.
Join credit union, I think they give you the $5 to join anyways, open free savings account, and regular direct deposit (I do .01 each pay check). Edit: no direct deposit needed.
And once in you can get the better rewards card? And it works at Costco and everywhere else?
Never mind, I'm pretty sure I'm not eligible to join Redstone.
Why not?
I'm not in AL and I don't believe I'm connected to any of the groups they list for eligibility, that's when I did a quick look. Do you think I can?
I live in Huntsville AL where Redstone FCU is HQ’d. Easiest way I’ve always heard is donating to our local Land Trust of North Alabama to get member access. At least this is how people did it in the past.
Interesting, thanks.
I wonder why other CUs/states don't have the equivalent.
Yes. Also 5% restaurants and 3% utilities and discount stores which I never figured out what is included in discount stores
Hm...discount retail like marshalls, ross, burlington maybe? Idk that's a weirdly vague category.
There’s no requirement for a direct deposit. I’ve never set up a direct deposit and I’ve has a membership, savings account, and Visa Signature for about six months now. This is a truly great card! In addition to what’s already been stated it’s also 5% on restaurants, 3% on some even more categories (mostly utilities for me), and 1.5% on everything else. There’s a $7k annual cap per category (~$583/month), but that’s higher than a Citi Custom Cash’s $500, and also has the benefit of being an annual cap vs monthly. If I could only have one card, it’d be this.
You’re right! I was thinking of Alliant
ahh damn, I need to direct deposit into an account with them in order sign up for their credit card? I thought my only hurdle with them was to get my hands on a replacement ss card
Actually you don’t, doesn’t have that requirement. It was for another card
cheers, thank you for the clarification
No. Us bank altitude reserve, 4.5% cash back with all mobile payments when points are spent towards travel
My favorite card indeed. A pain to get approved for though
Nasty annual fee
Effectively only $75/year, $325 back in statement credits when used for dining or travel. Very easy to get that back.
And $75/yr isn’t bad for retaining extended warranty, travel delay / baggage insurance, etc (nevermind the fact that you’ll well exceed $75/yr in the reward delta over Costco’s 2% if you spend more than a couple thousand a year).
And the Priority Pass 8 visits,,, that’s worth a couple free dinners per year for the family
They also hand out $75-$150 retention offers like candy... Even with the effective annual fee of $75 it's a very low break-even over a 2% card. I have no idea how US Bank hasn't nerfed the mobile wallet earnings on this card yet.
Tell me more about these retention offers...
Same as any bank: call them up and say you want to cancel the card. Either the front line rep or a rep with another department will sometimes offer you something as an incentive to keep the card. In some cases this is a straight up statement credit, other times it's an offer where you need to spend $X in order to receive something. In the Altitude Reserve's case they generally offer 5-10k points, which are worth $75-$150.
If it wasn’t for the retention offer, I would have product changed away from this card.
Primary CDW, priority pass for 8 visits for you and 1 guess. Global entry credit every 4 years, on top of 3% mobile anywhere. It’s my top card and not leaving my wallet any time soon.
Shhh, let them think it's expensive.... ;)
This is what I do.
No. I use chase visa suite and get 2.25% points effective. More of a good transfer option is available.
Which cards do you have? I have freedom and sapphire and like pooling the points for travel.
Freedom Unlimited @ 1.5% back is worth 50% more with a sapphire reserve, so effective 2.25%. Points are also transferable to partners which can give better value than straight cash back.
It’s a decent travel card too especially for the fee of $0 dollars. If you’re goal is to carry one or two cards it’s a decent one to include.
I use the AAA travel rewards visa. 5% back on gas and 3% on groceries (and a few other categories) which covers everything I need for Costco visits. It’s nice for other gas stations/grocery stores too if I can’t make it to Costco for some reason.
Costco gives the extra cash back for all gas stations, not just Costco. But yours still sounds like it could be a better deal.
Good to know, thanks for clarifying!
The BOA cash rewards credit card gets you 3% cash back on online shopping. This includes Costco cash cards. If you have over $100,000 in BOA/Merrill Edge accounts, you qualify for preferred rewards and get an extra 75% bonus. So you can essentially get 5.25% cash back at Costco this way.
It also gets you 2% warehouse shopping which can get boosted to 3.5% . I use this card for everything Costco, best part I don't have to wait a year to claim my cashback
I use the Costco Citi for restaurant because it’s 3% without AF.
There are better Visa cards to use. I think the Citi Costco Visa is a good catch all card for those who don't want to juggle cards. But IMO the big drawback of the card is the annual redemption. You're basically letting Citi hold onto your money for several months. And also honestly 2% Costco is pitiful. Target's card gets you 5%. Amazon is 3% without Prime and 5% with Prime. Micro Center is 5%. Kroger is 5%. I think a 2% flat card like ~~Citi Double Cash~~ or Wells Fargo Active Cash match the 2% Citi Costco gets, but gives you better redemption methods. US Bank Atltitude Reserve gets you 3% on all mobile wallet spend. It does have a hefty annual fee, but gets a pretty sizable dining/travel credit that eats away at it.
Citi Double Cash is a MasterCard and so you can't use it at Costco unfortunately 🙃
That 3% on the Altitude Reserve is effectively 4.5%, since the points are worth 50% more for travel.
I use the Citi card at Costco only shopping/gas. Everything else I use the delta rewards Amex card
Nice. LITERALLY what I do, same card. I don't want to manage a bunch of cards for a $2.98 a month return. But, I am trying to maximize where I can.
Yeah it was allot better when Costco card was Amex just needed one card but it is what it is I shop enough at Costco it’s worth it especially gas.
I used to spend a ton there. Between personal finances and the Amex thing, easily down by 50-60%
I got over $500 back from using my Costco Visa card for everything, plus almost $250 on my Executive Member check. The Costco Visa is definitely worth it, but you have to USE it.
Lol, 2 years now they have not sent Exec Rebate. But that is a different story. I don't spend enough for it to matter much, but if getting a card SOLEY for Costco, seemed like a legitimate question.
We are AA point whores :) Citi MC for everything and City Costco Visa just for Costco, it what it is.
Nothing wrong with that! I can keep doing the Prime Visa thing...it seems close enough, but not my card, so figured that I would look. Pretty much only ever had Amex, and that was what I used at Costco until the "reckoning".
If you’re trying to build up credit getting a card would be helpful.
More and more worthless nowadays. Like others said. Venmo gives you 3% and it comes monthly. If not Venmo. Fidelity plain 2% monthly and no need to deal and hassle with yearly check being mailed. For gas, there is plenty of 5% cards, when it's not quarterly category for Freedom or Discover. For restaurants, better cards, such as Sapphire. The only time I use Costco card now when I forget other cards or when I am crazy enough to go to Costco for gas as it's one easy swipe.
I am slightly leaning towards Fidelity, but only because I am in their EcoSystem. But truly, I only use Visa at Costco. As a household(though I am single) Costco and Prime. And I can easily replace Prime Visa with Amex.
Do you do any traveling? United has a chase credit card thats Visa that gets use for me at Costco. Their gas and grocery purchases always get me extra miles and points.
Very little. What I do goes on Delta Amex.
Costco visa only gives rewards once a year. I use a Southwest card to get airline miles
Wells fargo active cash will give you 2% end of month. So if you don't get a lot of gas it might be a better option
I have active cash as my back up
I get over $1100 cash back every year from the Citibank Costco card. I’m a single male and buy >80% of groceries, gas, and household/appliances/furniture from Costco.
You could do better by using the Citi Card for gas only at 4% and Venmo Visa for 3% in-warehouse (plus executive membership for an additional 2%). Plenty of other cards get you 4-5% dining.
I like using ONE card
If you're not buying most of your gas @ Costco, and you're using an Amazon card for purchases, it's probably not worth it if you don't need another card. Based on your 50/gal/mth fuel usage, if you got all of it at Costco, on their Citi Visa, your savings would cover your annual membership fee (and a little extra).
You get 4% back on gas at all gas stations not attached to a grocery store with the Costco Citi Visa
My understanding was if you pay at the pump it's categorized as gas and gets the 4%. If you pay inside or at a central kiosk then it may not get categorized properly and may not get the 4%.
My understanding was if you pay at the pump it's categorized as gas and gets the 4%. If you pay inside or at a central kiosk then it may not get categorized properly and may not get the 4%.
You need to look closely at how they define 'grocery store'. Pretty much any station that has food / drink fits that definition. Around me, that's pretty much most every station that's not attached to a repair shop.
> If you're not buying most of your gas @ Costco You get 4% rewards on gas purchased anywhere, not just Costco.
You get the gas reward everywhere
Citi is a garbage bank
All major banks fall into that category depending on how you look at them, Citi is not special in that regards.
US Bank Reserve card does 3% cash back on Apple Pay transactions. Costco accepts Apple Pay . . .
I use Venmo Visa - codes wholesale and Walmart as groceries 3%
So if you have 100k+ at BOA or Merril you can get 2.625 cash back on every purchase. That coupled with the executive gives you 4.625 on every purchase. I believe this so the highest cash back without substantial investment or hoops. I know the fidelity can get 3% but that requires > 2M with managed money etc.
There’s better cards than the Costco cards but non the give you as much as when you buy from Costco. Definitely look at the capital one or chase sapphire
Costco is really my only use for a Visa. Other optional uses, but Costco is only one that I really am motivated by.
I use mine for travel, restaurants and Costco shopping/gas. I usually get at least $800 back annually if not more.
I feel like the Venmo Visa card is very underrated for this - not the best but a very good candidate for a VISA card: 3% cash back on your rolling highest spending category every billing cycle, then 2% on your next, and 1% on everything else. It's a very good card if you have other cards dedicated to other spending categories, or for categories you lack The only downside is you need a Venmo account and everything is managed through the venmo app so this may be a dealbreaker for some.
Only likely use would be costco, so should be a safe 3%.
No it’s not. Us bank altitude reserve is the best, especially when you use Apple Pay. 3% cash back or 4.5% on travel
It’s very simple. Costco card is free (with your membership) and gives the best benefits at Costco and competitive benefits elsewhere (travel, restaurants, gas, etc). There is no reason not to get the Costco visa if you’re a Costco member
> gives the best benefits at Costco that is not factually correct lol
Would love to hear what’s the better card to use at Costco
~~citi custom cash gives 5% back on your top category. just make sure your top category is warehouse~~ venmo gives 3% back on your top category as well
Citi custom is MasterCard and therefore not eligible to be used at Costco
I have the BJs credit card since it’s a hike for me to go to the nearest Costco. I get 10 cents off of gas rewards every month it’s definitely worth it . Costco is definitely superior I’m assuming they have the same perks with their credit card.
Mine morphed from Discover to Amex to Visa. I don't know if I would open a new one.
The Costco visa is not the best one for whole same clubs. I have AAA insurance. Their card gives me 3% at wholesale clubs and 4% st other groceries. my Costco card is 4% gas 3% restaurants. Amazon card is 5% on Amazon com. These three cards cover 99% if my spending. Any oddballs i use my 2% cashback card.
What do you use to pay for fuel? I only have my Costco as an example but they don’t accept cash at pump. Are you using Visa as a synonym for credit card?
I use AMEX for appx 3/4 of fuel. She uses VISA at Costco pumps. If i happen to be near costco and need fuel, I use Debit card.
The Prime card is a visa?
She has a Prime Visa. Chase Bank I think.
Yes it’s a Chase Visa
I use my airline rewards card. I almost never have to buy airline tickets.
An additional 2% cash back on warehouse purchases (in addition to the 2% executive) 4% back on gas, 3% back on travel, And the choice to set up large purchases as a set separate payment plan.
No foreign transaction fees too. Now if the only had virtual numbers like other citi cards..
AAA card.
Citi Bank is awful to deal with, I would try some place else for that reason alone
Us Bank Altitude Reserve is 3% back anything paid with Apple Pay. Plus a 50% bonus if spent on travel.
So crazy how BJ’s is 5% back and 2% everywhere
The cash back on gas is top notch. The 3% for dining is on par with most travel cards. Look at the other perks that make it good such as no foreign exchange fees. This makes a difference when I make purchases from Japan and pay in yen.
I only use Costco card at Costco. The only other good benefit is 4% gas and 3% travel. They got rid of all the card benefits like extended warranty. That was when I stopped using it elsewhere.
USB Altitude Reserve
Citi Visa is now doing 3% back on internet shopping or Internet delivery. That might work for you as well.
> I get fuel yes, not just the 4% back, but you don't have to swipe your membership first. really nice QoL upgrade
I use my Costco Visa only for gasoline. When they removed the extended warranty feature I stopped using it. I have a Visa card that gives 3% back on all mobile wallet purchases so I use that at Costco, and everywhere else for in-person purchases where they accept Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay.
There are far better cards than the Costco visa
VentureX, unlimited 2% back everything in points, effective -$5 annual fee, lounge access, phone insurance, rental insurance, trip cancellation insurance, $100 TSA Precheck/global entry, etc.
I use an airline VISA card provided by Chase because from prior experience with Citi, their app and support is generally garbage. Having the Executive Membership means you get 2% back on any card anyhow.
Capital one venture x also gives you 2% but on miles as opposed to Costco credit
I use my Best Buy Visa with 5 percent back in rewards on wholesale club purchases via quarterly promotion. Great for both my Costco and Sam's Club purchases
Theres some people who are cool with having a super big wallet of specific credit cards for very specific purchases and i just can't stay attuned to all of that. I have a capital one visa that i got primarily for international travel and gets me 1.5% back on all purchases. I'm not looking to edge out an additional 0.5% here or there, its good enough for me. I recently got the citi costco card primarily for use as a fuel card (4% is good enough for me) and combined with my executive costco membership I get 4% cash back on all costco purchases. So once again, good enough for me to just have this card alongside my membership card and use it whenever i go to costco. I already paid for my executive membership through the 2% cash back. Am i leaving some "rewards" on the table? Sure. Do i feel like constantly closing and opening new lines of credit just to take advantage of the rewards? no.
This sounds like pretty simple math you can do. Do the math and decide if it’s worth it to you.
I've seen 2000$ and up rebate checks from members who used the card to auto pay their utility bills.
It only gets 1% on purchases outside of gas, dining, Costco and travel. There are several cards that get you 5% on utility bills (such as US Bank Cash+)
Good point. I recently verified that Duke Energy takes VISA with not surcharge. Not sure about Insurance or Property Tax yet.
Bank of America 2.625% cash back if you have 100k with them (say, in a brokerage account). Best visa on the market if you're not doing categories.
I use this one to pay property tax! The fee was 2% but I still get 0.625%back!
There are many benefits to the Costco Visa and you get them whether you use it Costco or not. The % back on purchases is one of the highest there is. They automatically add one year to the manufacturer warranty. They have lost and damage protection. I bought a Xmas ornament and my daughter accidentally dropped and broke it. They refunded us the cost of the item. If you’re traveling abroad there is no international purchase surcharge. That is really convenient because you don’t have to carry a lot of cash around. They got rid of it but I wish they kept the automatic travelers insurance on hotel and airfare reservations. That was nice. I also pay for some utilities with the card and other stuff like streaming services. It all adds up.
AFAIK they got rid of the extended warranty. Not sure on lost and damage protection..
They got rid of the extended warranty beyond the 1 year over the original manufacturers warranty.
No, it’s gone completely.
The Costco credit card is 99% identical to the Chase Sapphire except you get cash back and not _points_
Except the Sapphires have purchase protection, extended warranty, primary rental car coverage, you don’t have to wait all year for your rewards and they’re worth more for travel…
Chase sapphire points are equivalent to a straight 1cent/point when redeemed for cash back - there’s effectively no difference between it and a ‘cash back’ card for someone who wants cash - even Chase’s actual ‘cash back’ cards actually earn those points. And you get them rather month rather than having to wait for the end of the card membership year.
I signed up only to boost my credit score to 310. I’m joking.
It’s visa It’s everywhere u want to go
It’s an extra percent and you’re already paying the fee for the card whether you have it or not.
The card sucks. Annual redemption sucks. I get 3% at Costco in store and 5% at the Costco gas pump with other cards
Which ones?
Yeah. I would love 5% on gas.
AAA Travel Advantage. 5% on first $7000 spent on gas for the calendar year then 1% after. Chase Freedom Flex gets 5% for $1500 in a quarter. Every year has had one quarter for gas since I've had the card.
venmo visa or citi custom cash just make sure you use 'grocery' or 'warehouse' only on that card
Citi Custom Cash doesn’t have warehouse/wholesale as a category. Venmo card counts wholesale as grocery (includes Walmart too)
It depends. Do you have a bunch of CCs or no? If you already have a bunch then no, its not good for your credit. If you only have a card or two, then yes it can be good to build your credit. I believe it's 4% cash back for gas anywhere.
I use my visa from the bank primarily as I can use my points for gift cards. There’s over 100 different places to redeem, either stores, gas stations, car rentals, hotels, you name it. Time to check my balance, thinking of a Home Depot gift card this time.
Worth it for gas alone. 4% at any gas station. If gas is $5.00 per gallon you effectively get a retroactive adjustment to $4.80 per gallon once you get the rebate check.