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The heavily-promoted Costco Anywhere Visa® Card is great for gas and is a decent card for rewards on travel purchases, you might be surprised that other cards earn better rewards at Costco and on Costco.com. Here are the best cards to use for your Costco purchases in-store and online.
Best card for Costco in-store purchases and travel rewards: U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card
Rewards at Costco: 3x points, worth up to 4.5% toward travel when you use a mobile wallet to pay for Costco warehouse and Costco gas purchases.
This card also offers an extended warranty benefit.
The card earns excellent when you use your phone and tap-to-pay in-store, without having to set up a store-specific payment app. Read our review.
Annual fee: $400
Best rewards at Costco.com and for Preferred Rewards members: Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card
Rewards at Costco: 2% base cash back at warehouse clubs, including Costco. (Up to 3.5% with Preferred Rewards.)
Rewards at Costco.com: 3% base cash back in one category you select each quarter, including online shopping. (Up to 5.25% with Preferred Rewards.)
The 3% and 2% rewards on this card are capped at a combined $2,500 of spending each quarter.
Great choice for Costco.com purchases. Even better if you have Preferred Rewards with Platinum Honors with Bank of America, thanks to the program’s rewards multiplier. Read our review.
Annual fee: $0
Best for cash back rewards on gas: Costco Anywhere Visa® Card
Rewards at Costco gas: 4% cash back on the first $7,000 of purchases at gas stations each year.
Rewards at Costco and Costco.com: 2% cash back.
Cash back rewards are issued once a year as a rewards certificate after your February statement.
Disappointing for its lack of an extended warranty benefit and the quirky way it distributes rewards, but good cash back for gas purchases. Read our review.
Annual fee: $0. Requires paid Costco membership.
Best for cash back rewards on gas for business members: Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card
Rewards at Costco gas: 4% cash back on the first $7,000 of purchases at gas stations each year.
Rewards at Costco and Costco.com: 2% cash back.
Cash back rewards are issued once a year as a rewards certificate after your February statement.
Disappointing for its lack of an extended warranty benefit and the quirky way it distributes rewards, but good cash back for gas purchases. Read our review.
Annual fee: $0. Requires paid Costco membership.
Best for 2% rewards everywhere and extended warranty: TD Double Up℠ Credit Card
Rewards at Costco: 2% cash back on all eligible purchases.
We like the TD Double Up℠ for its 2% cash back rewards everywhere (not just at Costco) and its extended warranty benefit.
Annual fee: $0
Best for limited 3% cash back at Costco, Costco.com, and Costco gas: AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card from Bread Financial
Rewards at Costco: 3% cash back at wholesale clubs.
After earning $500 cash back in a year across all of the card’s 5% and 3% categories, you’ll earn 1% cash back on further purchases.
An interesting option from a lesser-known bank
Annual fee: $0
Our recommendations for the best cards to use at Costco
If we had to pick one best card to use at Costco, we’d probably pick the U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card. The card offers the most rewards of any card on Costco in-store purchases if you use Apply Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung pay to pay in-store. Plus if you use the card’s points for travel rewards, you’ll do better on gas than the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card. Importantly, the card’s extended warranty benefit provides additional warranty protection on our big-ticket Costco purchases.
Best card to use for Costco.com purchases
We do the majority of our Costco shopping in-store, but if the bulk of your Costco shopping is on Costco.com, take a look at these two cards:
- The AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card from Bread Financial offers 3% rewards for online shopping, making it a better choice than the Costco Visa to use on Costco.com purchases.
- If you have any status level in the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program, you can get more rewards our of the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card—up to 5.25% cash back online and 3.5% in-store with Platinum Honors status.
What to consider when choosing a card to use at Costco
If you have a Costco membership, chances are you spend a significant amount of money at the store. You likely buy a substantial amount of groceries there and it’s probably your first choice for household consumables. There’s a good chance that it’s your go-to store for electronics like computers and household appliances, and you probably fill your car with Costco gas.
Your needs and priorities will change based on what you are purchasing. If buying a new laptop, you likely value getting an extended warranty over a marginal half a percent cash back. But you don’t need that extended warranty on the gas you purchase—getting the most cash back at the pump is probably paramount.
Here’s what you should consider when selecting the card you use for your Costco purchases.
Extended warranties: Important for expensive purchases and you won’t get one with your Costco credit card.
If you’re buying expensive electronics or household appliances at Costco, using a credit card with an extended warranty is a smart move. Getting an additional year of warranty coverage from your credit card can be an incredibly valuable benefit that you’ll wish you had when your laptop fails a few days out of warranty.
Unfortunately, Costco-branded credit cards no longer offer an extended warranty. Perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions (that we’ve heard repeated by Costco employees!) is that the Costco-branded credit card offers an extended warranty. It doesn’t. Citi dropped the extended warranty benefit from most of its credit cards, including the Costco cards. If you want an extended warranty, you’ll need to use another card.
And don’t expect to simply return an item if it fails outside of warranty. Costco only accepts returns for most electronics and major appliances for 90 days.
Payment methods accepted by Costco and Costco.com
When it comes to credit cards, Costco accepts only Visa cards in-store. That means there’s no way to use your American Express, Mastercard, or Discover in-store. You can also use a Mastercard online—Costco used to allow you to use a Discover card online, but the company dropped that option from the website last year.
You’ll notice that the cards on our list are all Visa card for this reason. Even though some American Express and Discover cards offer better rewards than a 2% cash back card for online purchases or at warehouse clubs, you can’t use them at Costco, so they’re not considered on our list.
You earn your Executive Membership rewards, even if you pay with another card
If you have an Executive Membership, you’ll earn 2% rewards, up to $1,000 each year, on most purchases at Costco, Costco.com, and Costco Travel. These rewards get issued as a certificate that comes with your membership renewal notice and looks a lot like the reward certificate you receive if you use a Costco credit card.
But it’s important to remember that your credit card rewards and your Executive Membership rewards are separate. You will earn your 2% Executive Membership rewards even if you pay with a non-Costco credit card. That means you can feel free to use another card that offers better rewards or better benefits without losing out on the rewards you earn as an Executive member.
Costco is not a supermarket or grocery store.
If you have a card that earns bonus cash back on groceries or purchases at supermarkets, don’t expect that card to earn elevated rewards at Costco. Credit card transactions are processed with a Merchant Category Code that identifies the type of merchant and charges from Costco will likely be identified as charges made at a warehouse club, rather than a grocery store. Many grocery rewards cards explicitly exclude Costco by name in their reward terms.
More on the best cards to use at Costco
Here’s a bit more detail on the best credit cards to use at Costco.
U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card: 4.5% rewards toward travel when using mobile wallet tap-to-pay.
If you’re looking for total rewards, use the U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card gives you the most rewards at Costco when you pay in-store with your mobile wallet. Paying with Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay will get you 3 points per dollar at Costco.
While you can use your points in for cash back rewards at a penny per point, making the card an effective 3% cash back card, you’ll get more from the card if you use your points for travel. When you redeem your points for travel through U.S. Bank’s travel portal or through the bank’s Real Time Rewards, you’ll get 1.5 cents per point, an effective 4.5% rewards toward travel.
Not only does the card earn the most rewards at Costco, but it includes an extended warranty benefit that can give you an extra year of warranty coverage on the items you buy. The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card is by far the best card to use at Costco in-store.
Learn more in our review of the Altitude Reserve.
Annual fee: $400
This is a direct bank link. All information about the U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card sign-up bonus
Earn 50,000 bonus points worth $750 on travel. Just spend $4,500 in the first 90 days of account opening.
You can get a bigger welcome bonus with several other competing cards with similar annual fees.
More about this card
Benefit highlights:
$325 in annual statement credits for travel and dining purchases.
Primary auto rental collision damage waiver.
Trip cancellation and interruption insurance.
Trip delay reimbursement.
Lost luggage reimbursement.
Extended warranty.
Purchase security.
Return protection.
Rewards:
5x on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked with the Altitude Rewards Center.
3x on eligible travel purchases.
3x on mobile wallet purchases made with Apple Pay®, Google Pay™, and Samsung Pay.
1x on other eligible purchases.
Rewards are earned as points which can be redeemed for cash back at 1 cent apiece, or toward travel at 1.5 cents each.
Learn more:
Learn more about in our review of the Altitude Reserve.
Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card: 2% cash back at Costco, 3% at Costco.com, and more with Preferred Rewards
The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards card can earn you plenty of cash back at Costco. You’ll get a base 2% cash back rewards on warehouse club purchases, including Costco. And if you select online retail purchases as your choice category, you’ll get 3% base cash back at Costco.com.
Increased cash back rewards are limited to $2,500 in spending each quarter across the card’s 2% and 3% categories. After you spend $2,500, you’ll earn 1% on subsequent purchases through the end of the quarter.
The key to maximizing the card’s rewards is attaining Platinum Honors or higher status in the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program. This requires you to hold $100,000 or more in combined balances with bank of America and Merrill, but if you do, you’ll get a 1.75 multiplier on the rewards you earn.
This bonus multiplier can turn the card’s rewards at warehouse clubs into 3.5% cash back and the rewards and a whopping 5.25% cash back for your choice category (including online retail purchases.)
Learn more about the Bank of America Preferred Rewards or read our review of the Customized Cash card.
Annual fee: $0
This is a direct bank link. All information about the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card sign-up bonus
$200 Online Bonus after making at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.
The bonus is about average for a card with no annual fee.
More about this card
Benefit highlights:
Extended warranty.
Rewards:
3% cash back in a select category of your choice: gas and EV charging stations, online shopping/cable/streaming/internet/phone plan, dining, travel, drug store/pharmacy, or home improvement/furnishings.
2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs.
Bonus rewards in 2% and 3% categories are limited to the first $2,500 in spending each quarter. Additional purchases earn 1% cash back
1% cash back on all other purchases.
Rewards get multiplied by up to 1.75x depending on your Bank of America Preferred Rewards status.
Learn more:
Learn more about the card in our review of the Customized Cash.
Read more about the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program.
Costco Anywhere Visa® Card: 4% back on gas, including at Costco
Somewhat surprisingly, the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card does not offer great rewards at Costco and Costco.com. But it does offer 4% back on up to $7,000 of gas purchases each year, including at Costco.
This makes the card one of the best credit cards for gas purchases. But the card’s rewards come with a catch. Unlike other cards, which generally let you redeem your rewards whenever you want, the rewards you earn on the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card come once a year as a rewards certificate after your February statement closes. And the rewards certificate must be redeemed in-person at Costco.
The hoops you have to jump to redeem your rewards, plus the fact that the Costco Visa doesn’t offer an extended warranty, means that our other picks are better for your non-gas Costco purchases.
Read more in our review of the Costco Anywhere Visa card and learn about what extended warranty benefits you can expect from Costco.
Annual fee: $0
Requires a paid Costco membership.
This is a direct bank link. All information about the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi
The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi offers no welcome bonus for new cardmembers.
More about this card
Benefit highlights:
No notable benefits.
Rewards:
4% on up to $7,000 a year of gas and EV charging.
3% at restaurants.
3% on eligible travel.
2% at Costco and Costco.com.
1% on other purchases.
Rewards are earned as an annual credit card reward certificate, which is issued once a year after your February statement closes.
Learn more:
Learn more about the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi in our review of the card.
Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card: 4% back on gas, including at Costco
Like its personal card counterpart, the Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card offers only rewards that match a 2% cash back credit card at Costco and Costco.com. The bright spot in the card’s rewards scheme is that it offers 4% back on up to $7,000 of gas purchases each year, including at Costco.
For small business owners, this is an ideal card for gas purchases. But the card’s rewards come with a catch. Unlike other cards, which generally let you redeem your rewards whenever you want, the rewards you earn on the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card come once a year as a rewards certificate after your February statement closes. And the rewards certificate must be redeemed in-person at Costco.
The hoops you have to jump to redeem your rewards, plus the fact that the Costco Visa doesn’t offer an extended warranty, means that our other picks are better for your non-gas Costco purchases.
Read more in our review of the Costco Anywhere Visa Business card.
Annual fee: $0
Requires a paid Costco membership.
This is a direct bank link. All information about the Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.
Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi
The Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi offers no welcome bonus for new cardmembers.
More about this card
Benefit highlights:
No notable benefits.
Rewards:
4% on up to $7,000 a year of gas and EV charging.
3% at restaurants.
3% on eligible travel.
2% at Costco and Costco.com.
1% on other purchases.
Rewards are earned as an annual credit card reward certificate, which is issued once a year after your February statement closes.
Learn more:
Learn more about the Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi in our review of the card.
TD Double Up℠ Credit Card: 2% everywhere and an extended warranty
The TD Double Up℠ Credit Card is quickly becoming our favorite 2% cash back credit card because it offers 2% cash back rewards on all purchases with no annual fee and includes an extended warranty benefit.
Although the Costco cards earn 2% rewards on all purchases at Costco, we like the 2% rewards on the Double Up card better. Why? With the Costco cards, you have to wait for your February statement cycle to receive your paper rewards certificate in the mail. Once you receive the certificate, you need to visit a store to get your cash rewards. In contrast, you can redeem the cash back rewards on the TD Double Up card any time you like.
We plan to review the TD Double Up card in the coming weeks and will update this post once the review goes live.
TD Double Up℠ Credit Card welcome bonus:
Earn $150 cash back in the form of a statement credit when you spend $1,000 within the first 90 days after account opening.
Click here to learn more and apply.
Our take on the welcome bonus: In early 2024, this welcome bonus increased to $150 after spending $1,000. That’s better than it was—previously the card only offered a $100 incentive. The card makes our list of best 2% cash back credit cards, so it’s a decent card to pick up if you are into cash back.
The link above is a link directly to the bank’s website. We don’t make money when you use the above link, but we always show you the best offer.
TD Double Up℠ Credit Card at a glance:
Annual fee: $0
Rewards: 2% on all eligible purchases.
Benefits: Cell phone protection. Purchase security. Extended warranty.
AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card from Bread Financial: 3% cash back at wholesale clubs
Not too many people talk about the AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card, but it offers better cash back rewards than the Costco Visa on all Costco purchases other than gasoline.
The card earns 3% cash back on purchases made in a bunch of bonus categories, including warehouse clubs, plus 1% cash back on all other purchases. The catch is that the rewards you earn in bonus categories are capped at $500/year. After earning $500 in rewards in the card’s 3% and 5% bonus categories, you’ll earn 1% on all of your purchases for the remainder of the year.
If you use the card only for Costco purchases, you’ll be able to spend about $16,700 during the year before hitting the rewards cap.
We believe that the card comes with an extended warranty, but have been unable to independently confirm this. We’ll update this article in the near future with additional information on this card.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use an Amex at Costco?
No. You cannot use an Amex card online or in-store for Costco purchases. In 2016, the partnership between Amex and Costco ended. Today, Citibank issues the Costco cobranded card as a Visa.
Does Costco take Apple Pay?
Yes. Costco accepts Apple Pay in its warehouses and at Costco gas stations. Although Costco lists Apple Pay as an accepted payment method on its website, when we last tested this, we could not check out using Apple Pay at Costco.com or in the Costco app.
Advertiser disclosure: Cards and Points has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Cards and Points and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers. Compensation may affect how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies or all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to all credit card benefits.
