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Costco used to offer two years of warranty protection on pretty much everything that you bought when you used Costco’s credit card. But Costco quietly removed this benefit, much to the dismay of consumers who find that they, in fact, don’t get a second year of warranty coverage when using the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card.
But you still can get credit card warranty coverage when you use a different card to shop at Costco. Here’s what you need to know about Costco warranty coverage.
In this article…
Our recommendation: Use a card that offers free extended warranty coverage for Costco purchases
Since Costco’s own credit cards no longer offer an extended warranty benefit, you should use another Visa credit card that carries an extended warranty benefit for your purchases at Costco where you’d want extra warranty protection. Getting extended warranty coverage through your credit card comes at no cost to you and is as simple as charging the items to your card.
Here are our top choices of cards that are good to use at Costco and offer an extended warranty benefit:
- The Chase Freedom Unlimited® offers 1.5% cash back on general purchases, including at Costco. The card has no annual fee and extends eligible warranties of 3 years and under by an additional year. It’s a great card to use everywhere and one of the best no annual fee cards for getting an extended warranty at Costco.
- The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card offers an extra year of extended warranty protection on warranties of 3 years or less. The card also offers better cash back rewards than the Costco card: 3 points per dollar (worth 3% cash back or 4.5% travel rewards) when you pay with your mobile wallet.
Several other cards offer both better rewards and more benefits for Costco shoppers than the Costco credit cards. See our article on the best cards to use at Costco for more.
Chase Freedom Unlimited® offer: Extra 1.5% cash back on $20,000 spent in the first year. (Annual fee: $0)
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Better than the $200 after $500 bonus once you spend $13,334 in your first year. Rewards are earned as Chase Ultimate Rewards® points
5% on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠. 3% at drugstores and on dining. 1.5% on other purchases. (More in our card review.)
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Costco’s Citi credit cards no longer offer an extended warranty benefit
Costco used to heavily promote its co-branded credit cards as offering a total of two years of warranty coverage on most things you purchased at the store. The second year of warranty coverage on everything you purchased at the warehouse club used to be covered by American Express. When Citi became Costco’s credit card partner, Citi initially offered an extended warranty benefit on its Costco credit cards. This benefit was quietly removed from Costco’s Citi credit cards a few years ago. Unfortunately, many people still believe that you’ll get a second year of warranty coverage when using your Costco Citi credit card.
Today, the Citi-branded Costco cards do not offer an extended warranty benefit. This means that putting your Costco purchase on your Citi-branded Costco card won’t get you
What extended warranty coverage does Costco offer?
Costco offers two options for receiving warranty coverage. Some items receive additional warranty coverage for free through Costco Technical and Warranty services. And for some items, you can purchase additional warranty coverage through Allstate protection plans. Here are the details on both.
Costco Technical and Warranty Services: 2 year coverage for some items
Costco Technical and Warranty Services offers warranty coverage for up to 2 years on a limited selection of the things you might buy at Costco. For these items, you don’t need to purchase additional coverage or use the right credit card to get an extended warranty. Here’s what Costco Concierge Services covers:
- Televisions.
- Projectors.
- Computers (excluding touchscreen tablets.)
- Refrigerators (above 10 cubic feet.)
- Freezers.
- Ranges.
- Cooktops.
- Over-the-range microwaves.
- Dishwashers.
- Water heaters.
- Washers.
- Dryers.
This list includes most of the major household appliances Costco sells, but most other small appliances and other electronics receive no additional coverage from Costco. To receive warranty services from Costco Technical and Warranty Service, you can call their customer service call center at 1-866-861-0450.
Here’s the FAQ article where Costco outlines this coverage.
Allstate Protection Plans: Extra coverage available for purchase.
Costco has partnered with Allstate to offer additional insurance protection on items it sells. This is a paid insurance plan that comes at an additional cost. Prices vary, but you can expect to pay around 10% of your item’s purchase price for an Allstate protection plan. An Allstate plan provides coverage beyond what a manufacturer’s warranty covers and can also cover some cases where you accidentally break your item.
How much coverage you’ll get also varies by product, but Costco provides a few examples of what you can expect from purchased Allstate coverage.
- Cameras and tablets can get 2 total year of protection, including coverage against accidents and mechanical failures due to normal use.
- Computers can get 3 years of protection. Allstate also offers protection against accidents for computers.
- Televisions get 5 years of total protection—the first 2 through Costco and the last 3 through Allstate. Coverage includes on-site service.
- Appliances can get 5 years of protection, including the ability to choose your own service provider.
How to get a free credit card warranty on Costco purchases
Fortunately, you don’t need to purchase an expensive Allstate warranty through Costco to have your purchases protected by an extended warranty. Many of the best credit cards for Costco purchases offer an extended warranty and better rewards at Costco.
The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card offers both an extended warranty and better cash back rewards than the Costco-branded credit cards, but it carries an annual fee.
If you prefer an option with no annual fee, the Chase Freedom Unlimited® offers 1.5% cash back rewards that are almost as good as the Costco cards. For the 0.5% cash back rewards you’re giving up, you’re getting an extra year of warranty protection. If you consider the alternative of buying a warranty plan from Allstates, you’re effectively getting an extended warranty with a 95% discount.
For the best cards to use at Costco, see our article covering our favorite cards to use at Costco.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Costco credit card give an extra warranty?
No. Citi and Costco discontinued the extended warranty benefit on the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card and the Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card around January 2023. You won’t get an extended warranty from the Costco credit card.
Can I use the Costco guarantee to get a warranty?
Costco is known for having a very generous return policy, so you may be able to get your money back from Costco if an item you purchase fails and you return it. This might be a viable alternative to an extended warranty, but be aware that Costco’s return policy does not apply to all items.
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.
