Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi review: A gas-centric wholesale clubcard

If you want a card that earns rewards at wholesale clubs, but offers more category flexibility, the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card is a strong pick. It earns 3 percent cash back in a choice category that you can change monthly — including travel, gas, electric vehicle charging, online shopping, cable, streaming, internet, phone services and dining — and 2 percent back at wholesale clubs and grocery stores (on up to $2,500 in combined 3 and 2 percent category purchases each quarter, then 1 percent). Not to mention that Bank of America can deposit your cash back directly to your bank account each month rather than make you wait a year for a glorified Costco gift card.

Granted, the Customized Cash card’s 3 percent rewards and quarterly spending caps might seem to dampen your rewards potential if you’re a big spender, but this card’s greatly improved versatility, intro APR periods, cash back welcome offer and Bank of America Preferred Rewards cash back boost may add up to more overall value for the average cardholder.

The Sam’s Club Mastercard is the closest equivalent to the Costco Anywhere Visa, even down its terrific rewards rate on gas purchases. It also suffers from similar drawbacks as the Costco Anywhere Visa does, offering poor Sam’s Club benefits and lacking much up-front value.

But the Sam’s Club Mastercard manages to inch ahead of the Costco Anywhere Visa in a few areas. It offers a 5 percent earning rate on gas (on up to $6,000 annually, then 1 percent) instead of 4 percent. Sam’s Club Plus members can also earn 5 percent back on eligible Sam’s Club purchases, which is a much higher rate than the 2 percent the Costco card offers. Still, both best serve as a gas rewards card given the plethora of stronger, more flexible shopping cash back cards available.

If you were hoping to earn big grocery rewards with the Costco Anywhere Visa but came away disappointed, consider pairing it with the Amex Blue Cash Preferred. The Amex Blue Cash Preferred is the leading cash back card for groceries, earning 6 percent cash back at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $6,000 per year, then 1 percent), 6 percent back on select U.S. streaming services and 3 percent back at U.S. gas stations and on transit. Cash Back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit or at Amazon.com checkout.

The Blue Cash Preferred notably doesn’t earn its grocery reward rate at wholesale stores. This means you’ll want to do much of your grocery shopping at eligible U.S. supermarkets with the Blue Cash Preferred, leaving the Costco Anywhere Visa to earn in its more potent gas, restaurant and travel categories. And while it charges a $95 annual fee ($0 intro annual fee for the first year), it’s easy to recoup the cost with the card’s most rewarding categories.

The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card earns unlimited 2 percent cash rewards on purchases, which matches the Costco Anywhere Visa card’s in-store rewards rate. Although the Costco card’s rewards potential may be higher for commuters and diners, Wells Fargo’s easy redemption process alone makes the Active Cash card’s rewards more valuable for people who don’t always shop at Costco or who may want the card purely for its cash back rate on gas.

The Costco Anywhere Visa’s cash back rate on gas is one of the highest on the market, second only to the Sam’s Club Mastercard’s rate. If you don’t mind redeeming your rewards on Costco purchases — and doing so just once a year — this card is a great way to reimburse your mileage.

Although it doesn’t have the strongest Costco and Costco.com purchase rewards rates, people who flock to Costco before opening every weekend for their shopping could benefit from this card. It doesn’t have an annual fee and its boosted rewards rates in specific categories make it an easy choice for earning cash back on those monthly Costco hauls.

The primary criteria for a rewards or cash back card’s rating is its rewards value. This includes the card’s average rewards rate, estimated annual rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value and reward redemption value.

To estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings, we first calculate its average rewards rate based on how much it earns in different bonus categories and how closely its categories align with the average person’s spending habits, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Based on this data, we determine a “chargeable” spend (which purchases are likely to be put on a credit card and earn rewards). This includes the following spending by category:

• Groceries: $5,200
• Dining out: $3,000
• Entertainment: $2,500
• Gas: $2,100
• Apparel and services: $1,700

Using this data, we assign a weighting to each of a card’s bonus categories. For example, a card’s grocery rewards rate receives a 23 percent weighting based on how much of the average person’s budget is spent on groceries. We also estimate the redemption value of points or miles from various issuer, airline and hotel rewards programs.

This weighting and rewards valuation allows us to estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings — how many points or miles you’d earn with a given card if your spending was about average and you used the card for all of your purchases, as well as what those points are worth. We also use point valuations to determine a card’s sign-up bonus value

With these calculations complete, we assign each card a score based on how its average rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value, rewards rate and redemption value stack up against other rewards cards.

We also rate cards based on how much it costs to keep them in your wallet or carry a balance. 

To start, each rewards or cash back card is scored based on whether it offers an intro APR and how its ongoing APR compares to the rates available on other rewards or cash back cards. 

We also score each card based on how its annual fee influences its overall value. 

We consider a card’s annual fee in two ways — how it ranks relative to the fees you’ll find on other cards in the category and how it impacts a card’s overall rewards value. Cards with an annual fee will always be at a slight disadvantage in our scoring system since annual fees inherently cut into your rewards value, but if a card offers terrific value via its ongoing rewards and perks, it can earn a high score even if it carries a high annual fee. 

With this in mind, we rate a card based primarily on how its ongoing rewards value and ongoing perk value (such as annual credits or bonuses) stack up against other cards in the category when you subtract its annual fee.

We rate each card’s flexibility based on the restrictions it imposes on earning and redeeming rewards and factor this rating into a card’s overall score. 

Flexibility factors include whether a card only allows you to earn a high rewards rate on a small amount of spending or requires you to meet a certain earning threshold before you can redeem rewards. We also examine whether your points are worth less when you redeem for some options versus others and whether a card gives you the flexibility to transfer rewards to airline and hotel partners. 

We also score each card’s set of features – its perks and benefits — against five tiers of features to provide a rating. 

We break down these tiers as follows:

• Tier 1 has less than standard card features (an ultra-streamlined card that offers basic utility and next to nothing in the way of ancillary benefits. 
• Tier 2 includes the benefits you’d expect on standard Visa or Mastercard credit cards, such as free access to your credit score, car rental insurance and $0 liability for fraudulent charges. 
• Tier 3 includes “prime card” or better-than-average card features like cellphone insurance, lost luggage insurance, concierge services and purchase protection. 
• Tier 4 includes luxury features such as airport lounge access, elite status with an airline or hotel and credits for expedited security screening membership programs. 
• Tier 5 includes the sort of exemplary benefits you’ll find on top-tier luxury cards, such as high-value travel credits, cardholder memberships and other unique and valuable perks.

We recommend an excellent credit score (a FICO score of 740 or higher, or a VantageScore of 781 or higher) for the best Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi approval odds.

Yes, since the Costco Anywhere Visa is a co-branded card on the Visa network, it can be used outside Costco wholesale clubs — unlike “closed-loop” retail cards isolated to its respective store. In fact, we’d recommend using the Costco Anywhere Visa for most of your gas purchases due to its stellar 4 percent on eligible gas and EV charging purchases (on up to $7,000 in purchases each year, then 1 percent back). Its 3 percent travel and restaurant cash back bonus categories also present welcome reward opportunities considering the card’s Costco purchases only earn 2 percent back. The Costco Anywhere Visa earns 1 percent cash back on all other purchases as well, but a different card is likely a better candidate for those moments if you have another.