Costco Anywhere Visa® by Citi benefits: How to get the most out of your card

Woman and son shopping at Costco, making the most of the Costco credit card benefitsImage: Woman and son shopping at Costco, making the most of the Costco credit card benefits

In a Nutshell

The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi offers high cash back rewards rates on gas, along with cash back on travel, dining and purchases at Costco. And since Visa is the only credit card accepted in person at Costco, it’s worth a second look if you’re already a Costco shopper.
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What are the benefits of the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi?

The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi stands out by offering high cash back rewards rates on gas, plus bonus cash back for restaurants and travel — all with a $0 annual fee. If you already have a Costco membership and want to maximize credit card rewards on gas, restaurants and travel, this card might be a good option for you. Plus, this credit card also doubles as your Costco membership card.

From our partner

Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi

2.9 out of 5

From cardholders in the last year

See details, rates & fees


4% cash back on gas and EV charging purchases

What you’ll get: Cardholders earn 4% cash back in Costco Cash Rewards on eligible gas and electric vehicle charging purchases, including gas and EV charging at Costco, for the first $7,000 spent per year on gas. After you spend $7,000, the rewards rate drops to 1% for the rest of the year. But if you decide to fuel up at another superstore, a supermarket, convenience store or warehouse club, you’ll only earn 1% in rewards. The same is true for fuel purchases that aren’t gas for a car.

Purchases outside of bonus categories earn 1% cash back.

Our take: We list this card as one of the top options for gas reward cards as it has one of the highest cash back rates for gas purchases on the market, and it may be a great benefit to people who primarily fuel up their car at standard gas stations and Costco locations.

3% cash back on travel and dining purchases

What you’ll get: With this card, you’ll earn a strong 3% rewards rate for eligible travel and dining purchases. Eligible travel includes airfare, hotels, car rentals, travel agencies, cruise lines and Costco Travel.

Our take: Getting cash back bonus rewards for travel and dining purchases may be useful bonus rewards on top of the card’s 4% cash back gas rewards — especially if you’d already planned for travel or dining expenses.

Other travel perks, including no foreign transaction fees

What you’ll get: The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi has no foreign transaction fees. It also offers the following traveler protections:

  • Worldwide rental car insurance with coverage up to $50,000 for incidents meeting the coverage requirements. In the U.S. this coverage is secondary to your own insurance policy.
  • Emergency roadside assistance and dispatch service for certain vehicles in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. While this covers services such towing, flat tire changes, jump starts and fuel delivery, the cost of the service and dispatch will be billed to you at a prenegotiated rate.
  • Travel and emergency assistance to help plan emergency travel arrangements, legal and medical referrals along with other travel issues
  • Worldwide travel accident insurance with coverage up to $250,000. This travel insurance covers certain accidents that occur on eligible trips on “common carriers” like airlines, trains and ferries, but not taxis, car rentals or rideshare services.

Our take: While these perks aren’t rare, they might bring some peace of mind while traveling.

2% cash back on Costco purchases

What you get: The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi offers 2% cash back for purchases made in Costco stores and at Costco.com.    

Our take: Since Costco only accepts Visa for in-person credit card purchases, using the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi instead of another Visa card may make sense for Costco shoppers that want to pay with a credit card and get cash back on Costco shopping purchases they were already planning to make.

1% cash back everywhere else

What you’ll get: For all purchases made outside of the bonus categories of gas, travel, restaurant and Costco purchases, the card offers 1% cash back.    

Our take: 1% back on everything else isn’t a huge percentage to get excited about, but it’s nice to know you’ll get something for every purchase.

Redeem cash back rewards at Costco

What you’ll get: Your rewards for the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi accrue from January through December, and once a year you’ll receive a certificate after the February billing cycle closes. You can redeem the rewards certificate in store for merchandise and/or cash (subject to certain restrictions), but it expires at the end of the calendar year. It’s worth noting that if you close your card or your Costco membership, you’ll lose all of your accrued cash back rewards.    

Our take: While it’s not the most flexible or frequent redemption option around, being able to convert your certificate directly to dollars can be a nice perk.

From our partner

Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi

2.9 out of 5

From cardholders in the last year

See details, rates & fees

Purchase protection

What you get: The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi offers some purchase protections. The purchase protection covers damage and theft of eligible purchases for 90 to 120 days after purchase, up to $1,000 per item, and up to $50,000 per year.

Our take: The purchase protection may come in handy if you break something you just bought recently or the item gets stolen.

Are the benefits of the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi worth it?

This is a great credit card for existing Costco members or people thinking about joining Costco. It offers cash back rewards on gas, travel and restaurant purchases. And since Visa is the only credit card accepted at Costco, if you’re planning on using a credit card for Costco purchases anyway, you can take advantage of the 2% cash back. But keep in mind that you can only redeem your points once a year, so you’ll have to be comfortable waiting to get your rewards.

Not sure if this is the card for you? Read more to find out.

While the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi offers strong rewards across gas, travel and dining, it’s not a perfect match for everyone, especially if you’re not a Costco member or have no interest in joining. But if you’re still considering, here’s some further reading.


About the author: Sean McQuay is a long-time personal finance nerd. He’s passionate about budgets, credit cards, and earning useful rewards with minimal effort. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is a father to three rambunctious kids. Read more.