The best credit cards for Costco shopping: You can do better than the Costco credit card!

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.

November 13, 2024: With the launch of the U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card that can get up to 4% cash back at Costco, we’ve updated our list.

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.

The best credit cards to use at Costco in November 2024

• Best no-annual-fee cash back in Costco warehouses: AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature Credit Card
  3% cash back at wholesale clubs (rewards cap applies). No annual fee.
• Best unlimited cash back rewards at Costco: U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card.
  2% base cash back rewards, but up to 4% cash back when you hold $100,000 or more in assets with U.S. Bank and meet other requirements. No annual fee.
• Best cash back at Costco.com: Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card.
  Up to 2% base cash back at wholesale clubs, but possible to get up to 3.5% cash back at Costco and 5.25% at Costco.com with $100,000 or more of assets held at Bank of America. Extended warranty. No annual fee.
• Best for Costco gas: Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi.
  4% on up to $7,000 of gas each year, then 1%, plus 2% rewards at Costco and Costco.com. No annual fee.
• Best for Costco gas for small business owners: Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi.
  4% on up to $7,000 of gas each year, then 1%, plus 2% rewards at Costco and Costco.com. No annual fee.
• Best for cash back on large purchases for small business: Ink Business Premier® Credit Card
  2.5% cash back on purchases of $5,000 or more and 2% on other purchases. Extended warranty. $195 annual fee.
• Best rewards at Costco in-store: U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card.
  3% cash back or 4.5% travel rewards. Purchase protection. Extended warranty. $400 annual fee.
  The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card is no longer available to new cardmembers.

Editor’s pick: AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature Credit Card for cash back

There are other cards that can offer more cash back rewards at Costco, but think that the AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature Credit Card is the best pick for most people. Here’s why:

• No annual fee. We like that the card offers
• Useful reward categories. In addition to increased rewards at wholesale clubs like Costco, you can get up to 5% cash back on grocery store purchases and 3% at gas stations. For most people, these are useful categories that are easy to maximize.
• No banking relationship required. We like that the card offers great rewards at Costco without requiring a banking relationship. Cards like the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card and U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card are the best options if you can move $100,000 of assets to their respective banks, but that’s not realistic for most people.
• High rewards cap. Sure, the card’s bonus rewards are capped at $500 in bonus rewards annually, but that translates into about $16,700 of spending at Costco. That’s probably enough rewards for most people.
• No AAA membership required. One would assume that you would need a AAA membership to get this card, but we checked—you don’t have to be a member to hold the card or redeem the rewards.

The biggest downside to the card is its lack of consumer insurance benefits like extended warranty and purchase protection. These are likely more valuable than cash back for large purchases like appliances and electronics.

How we picked: Our considerations and criteria

Choosing the best card to use at Costco comes down to whether you are using your card online, in a warehouse club, or at Costco Gas, and what types of purchases you are making. Some cards are better for consumables, others are better for durable goods, and others are better for large purchases. Here’s what we considered:

• Costco only accepts Visa credit cards in stores and at Costco.com doesn’t accept Discover or American Express. We don’t include cards that you can’t use at Costco. Learn more about the payment methods accepted at Costco.
• Cash back rewards. In most cases, Costco shoppers want cash back rewards. We feature cards that offer at least 2% cash back rewards, since that’s the baseline set by Costco’s branded cards.
• Extended warranty and purchase protection. Costco’s branded credit cards no longer offer an extra year of extended warranty. That may not matter for groceries, but it certainly matters if you purchase a refrigerator or laptop. For purchases where it matters, we want an extended warranty.
• Ease of using rewards. The Costco-branded credit cards issue their rewards as a paper certificate once a year that must be cashed in-store at Costco. All other things equal, we’d rather have cash back rewards that we can access at any time.

The best credit cards to use at Costco

Here’s a bit more about each of the best cards to use at Costco.

Best no-annual-fee cash back in Costco warehouses: AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature Credit Card

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.

Annual fee: $0
Foreign transaction fee: 0%

All information about the AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.

3% cash back at warehouse clubs (plus several other useful categories) makes the AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card a great pick for Costco. Just be aware of the $500/year cap on bonus rewards.

Welcome offer

Receive a $100 statement credit after you spend $1,000 on your card in the first 90 days of account opening. Learn how to apply.

Rewards

After earning $500 cash back in the following categories in a calendar year, you will earn 1% cash back in these categories for the remainder of the calendar year:

• 5% on grocery store purchases.
• 3% at gas stations.
• 3% at wholesale clubs.

These categories are not subject to reward caps:

• 3% on electric vehicle charging.
• 3% on pharmacy purchases.
• 3% on AAA purchases.
• 1% on other purchases.

Rewards are earned as cash back.

Benefits

As a Visa Signature® card, the AAA Daily Advantage Visa Signature® Credit Card is likely to include several useful benefits, but we have been unable to independently verify the benefits offered on this card.

Best unlimited cash back rewards at Costco: U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card

The U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card offers up to 4% cash back on every purchase. And since the card is issued as a Visa Signature card, you can use it at Costco, both online and in-store. The card has no annual fee, but before you get too excited about a card that can earn double what you’ll earn with the Costco card, you should be aware of the hoops you’ll need to jump through to access the card’s rewards.

You’ll need $100,000 held with U.S. Bank in order to access the 4% cash back rewards everywhere. Fortunately, balances in investment accounts and IRA accounts held with the bank also count—you won’t need to keep a six-figure amount of cash in a checking account.

If you have substantial assets you can move to U.S. Bank, the card could be a great choice to use pretty much everywhere.

Learn more in our guide to the U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card.

Annual fee: $0
Requires $100,000 of investments with U.S. Bank to earn the best rewards. Most investment accounts have a $50 annual account maintenance fee.

All information about the U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.

The U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card is a new offering that promises up to 4% cash back for customers who hold over $100,000 of assets with U.S. Bank.

Sign-up bonus

U.S. Bank is not offering a sign-up bonus on the Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card at this time.

Rewards

Unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase.

Up to an additional 2% cash back if you have a U.S. Bank Smartly® Savings account and hold a significant amount of deposits with U.S. Bank. Qualifying deposits include balances in U.S. Bank deposit, trust, and investment accounts.

• Earn a total of 2.5% with a qualifying balance between $5,000 and $49,999.
• Earn a total of 3% with a qualifying balance between $50,000 and $99,999.
• Earn a total of 4% with a qualifying balance of $100,000 or more.

Rewards are earned as points which must be redeemed as a credit into an eligible U.S. Bank deposit account if you want to get the full amount of cash back.

Benefits

The U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card does not advertise any significant benefits beyond its cash back. We are working on confirming with U.S. Bank whether the card offers any additional benefits like extended warranty or purchase protection.

Best cash back at Costco.com: Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card.

If you choose online shopping as your 3% category with the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards, you can earn 3% cash back at Costco.com. (And we have the data points to prove it!)

With the Customized Cash, you get a base 2% cash back rewards on warehouse club purchases, including Costco. Plus you’ll get 3% base cash back rewards in the category you choose. If you select online retail purchases as your choice category, that means 3% 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.

But you can earn even more with the card if you have Platinum Honors or higher status in the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program. The Preferred Rewards 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: annual_fees
Foreign transaction fee: foreign_transaction_fee

All information about the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.

The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card can offer up to 3% cash back rewards at Costco.com when you select online shopping as your choice category. And this gets boosted up to 5.25% cash back if you’re a Preferred Rewards member with Platinum or higher status.

Sign-up bonus

bonus_miles_full Learn how to apply.

Rewards

• 3% in the category of your choice.
• 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs.
• 1% on all other purchases.

You’ll earn 3% and 2% rewards on the first $2,500 in combined purchases each calendar quarter in the 3% and 2% bonus categories. Earn 1% cash back on these purchases thereafter.

Rewards are earned as cash back. If you have Bank of America Preferred Rewards, you’ll receive additional rewards based on your rewards multiplier of up to 1.75. Your rewards multiplier is based on your relationship with Bank of America and Merrill.

3% choice categories

Choose one of the following categories to earn 3% cash back:

• Gas and EV charging stations.
• Online shopping, including cable, internet, phone plans, and streaming.
• Dining.
• Travel.
• Drug stores and pharmacies.
• Home improvement and furnishings.

You can change your choice category once each calendar month. You’ll earn 3% and 2% rewards on the first $2,500 in combined purchases each calendar quarter in the 3% and 2% bonus categories. Earn 1% cash back on these purchases thereafter.

Benefits

Consumer insurance benefits

• Extended warranty protection.

Travel insurance benefits

• Travel and emergency assistance services.

Best for Costco gas: Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi

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
Foreign transaction fee: None

All information about the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.

The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi offers 2% rewards at Costco and Costco.com, plus 4% on eligible gas and EV charging, up to $7,000 per year, but it is far from the best card to use at Costco.

Sign-up bonus

Best sign-up bonus: Earn a $75 statement credit after spending $1,500 within the first 3 months of account opening. Offer valid 10/3/24 – 10/27/24.

Learn how to apply.

This bonus is earned as a statement credit.

Rewards

• 4% on eligible gas and EV charging for the first $7,000 per year. 1% thereafter.
• 3% at restaurants.
• 3% on eligible travel, including Costco travel.
• 2% on all other purchases at Costco and Costco.com.
• 1% on all other purchases.

Rewards are marketed as cash back, but you will only receive your rewards once a year as a paper rewards certificate.

In your February billing statement, you will receive a reward certificate for your accumulated rewards. This reward certificate is redeemable at U.S. Costco warehouses for cash or merchandise.

Benefits

Consumer insurance benefits

• Purchase protection.

Travel insurance benefits

• Worldwide car rental insurance.
• Travel accident insurance.
• Travel and emergency assistance services.

Best for Costco gas for small business owners: Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi

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
Foreign transaction fee: None

All information about the Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.

The Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi offers small business owners 2% rewards at Costco and Costco.com, plus 4% on eligible gas and EV charging, up to $7,000 per year. But there are several other cards that offer better rewards at Costco.

Sign-up bonus

Best sign-up bonus: Earn a $75 statement credit after spending $1,500 within the first 3 months of account opening. Offer valid 10/3/24 – 10/27/24.

Learn how to apply.

This bonus is earned as a statement credit.

Rewards

• 4% on eligible gas and EV charging for the first $7,000 per year. 1% thereafter.
• 3% at restaurants.
• 3% on eligible travel, including Costco travel.
• 2% on all other purchases at Costco and Costco.com.
• 1% on all other purchases.

Rewards are marketed as cash back, but you will only receive your rewards once a year as a paper rewards certificate.

In your February billing statement, you will receive a reward certificate for your accumulated rewards. This reward certificate is redeemable at U.S. Costco warehouses for cash or merchandise.

Benefits

Consumer insurance benefits

• Purchase protection.

Travel insurance benefits

• Worldwide car rental insurance.
• Travel accident insurance.
• Travel and emergency assistance services.

Best for cash back on large purchases for small business: Ink Business Premier® Credit Card

If you’re a small business owner buying in bulk—meaning you’re dropping $5,000 in single transaction—at Costco, then you can get maximum cash back rewards with the Ink Business Premier® Credit Card.

Yes, you could get more rewards in-store with the U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card, but you may prefer to put your business transactions on a small business card. Plus, you’ll get the 2.5% rewards on large purchases online where you can’t use your phone’s tap to pay feature.

The card also offers an extended warranty benefit to protect your business purchases.

Learn more in our overview of the Ink Premier® Credit Card.

Annual fee: annual_fees
Foreign transaction fee: foreign_transaction_fee

If you’re buying in bulk at Costco and making $5,000+ purchases, the Ink Business Premier® Credit Card can get you the most uncapped cash back rewards.

Sign-up bonus

Best bonus online: bonus_miles_full

Learn how to apply.

This bonus is earned as points which can be redeemed for cash back. These points cannot be transferred to other Chase cards or travel transfer partners.

Rewards

• 5% on Lyft rides through March 2025.
• 2.5% on large purchases of $5,000 or more.
• 2% on all other business purchases.

Rewards are earned cash back.

Benefits

Consumer insurance benefits

• Purchase protection.
• Extended warranty protection.
• Cell phone protection.

Travel insurance benefits

• Auto rental collision damage waiver.
• Travel and emergency assistance services.

Best rewards at Costco in-store: U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card.

By a wide margin, you’ll get the most rewards in Costco warehouses if you use the U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card and pay with a mobile wallet like Apple Pay or Google Pay. Unfortunately, the card has been recently discontinued, and is no longer available to new cardmembers.

The card earns 3x points, effectively 3% cash back or 4.5% toward travel, when you use it with your phone’s tap-to-pay feature at checkout. If you redeem your points for cash back, that’s 50% more rewards than you’ll get with the Costco credit cards, and if you redeem for travel, you’re getting 2.5 times the rewards you’d get with your Costco card.

Costco’s credit card won’t get you an extra year of warranty, but the Altitude Reserve offers both extended warranty and purchase protection benefits, making it a great choice to use for every Costco purchase in-store.

Learn more about the card in our review of the U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card.

Annual fee: $400
Foreign transaction fee: None

All information about the U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.

The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® offers the most rewards at Costco in-store, plus it gives you the extended warranty and purchase protection benefits that Costco stripped from its own store-branded cards several years ago.

Sign-up bonus

The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® card is no longer available to new cardmembers.

Rewards

• 5x points on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Altitude Rewards Center.
• 3x points on mobile wallet spending with Apple Pay®, Google Wallet, and Samsung Pay.
• 3x points on eligible travel purchases.
• 1x points on all other eligible purchases.

Rewards are earned as Altitude Rewards points.

Altitude Rewards points can be redeemed for cash back at 1 cent per point or used to book travel through the Altitude Rewards center at 1.5 cents per point. You can also redeem your points against travel purchases through Real Time Rewards at 1.5 cents per point.

Benefits

Consumer insurance benefits

• Extended warranty protection.
• Purchase security.
• Return protection.
• Personal identity theft protection.

Travel insurance benefits

• Auto rental collision damage waiver.
• Lost luggage reimbursement.
• Travel accident insurance.
• Emergency evacuation and transportation.
• Trip cancellation/interruption coverage.
• Trip delay reimbursement.
• Travel and emergency assistance services.

Travel benefits

• Airport lounge access. Complimentary Priority Pass™ Select membership with 8 free visits annually.
• TSA PreCheck or Global Entry statement credit.

Partner benefits and statement credits

• $325 annual statement credit for eligible travel and dining purchases.
• Free Shipt membership until 12/31/24 with enrollment. After free membership expires, you are automatically enrolled in an annual Shipt membership at then-current prices until you cancel.

A few more things to know about earning rewards at Costco

Costco Executive Membership rewards and your Costco credit 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 YouTube: How I use the best cards at Costco to get up to 7.25% total rewards at Costco

Frequently asked questions

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.