Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi Review: A Cash-Back Card With Ample Bonus Opportunities

If you have a Costco membership, the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi can earn you cash back on all your spending at the warehouse giant. To make it even better, the card also earns bonus cash back on a variety of spending categories, giving you plenty of chances to rack up more rewards. This Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi review will provide you all the info you need to decide whether this card from Citi, which is an advertising partner with The Ascent, deserves a place in your wallet.

Up to 4% back: The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi earns the following cash-back rates:

• 4% on eligible gas purchases, including at Costco gas stations, for the first $7,000 spent per year
• 3% on restaurant and travel purchases (including purchases through Costco travel)
• 2% on all other purchases from Costco and Costco.com
• 1% on all other purchases

The great thing about this card is all the different bonus categories it has. It's one of the best credit cards for gas spending, and it's also an excellent travel credit card. If you want one credit card to use everywhere, the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi could work well in that role.

No annual fee: You don't need to pay an annual fee to use this card. You'll still need to pay your annual membership fee to Costco, but if you're considering a Costco credit card, then you likely already have a membership. And when you have this credit card, you won't need to carry your Costco membership card anymore.

No foreign transaction fee: The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi is a good card to bring along for international travel, because it doesn't have a foreign transaction fee.

Damage and theft purchase protection: If a purchase you make with your card is damaged or stolen, you may be eligible to get the cost of a repair or refund covered. This purchase protection lasts 120 days from the date of the sale, unless you're a New York resident, in which case it lasts 90 days.

Extended warranty coverage: When you buy an eligible product with a manufacturer's warranty using this card, you'll get extended warranty coverage of 24 months. Terms and conditions apply and are explained in the cardholder agreement.

Rewards on Costco purchases: The one flaw with this card's rewards structure is that it earns only 2% back on purchases at Costco (except Costco gas station spending) and Costco.com. That's not bad, but there are store cards that earn more back.

No sign-up bonus: Quite a few credit cards have attractive sign-up bonus offers. Unfortunately, the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi isn't one of them.

No 0% intro APR: This card doesn’t have a 0% intro APR for purchases or balance transfers. You'll want to look elsewhere for a 0% intro APR credit card, if avoiding interest is your primary need.

One cash-back distribution per year: Most cash-back cards let you redeem your cash back any time you want or whenever you've reached the redemption minimum. With this card, it works much differently:

• You'll receive a credit card reward certificate once per year after your February billing statement closes (Citi and Costco may choose an alternative method to send cash back if you earned more than $10,000).
• The certificate amount is all the cash back you earned from the January through December billing statements the year before.
• You can use your reward certificate for cash back or merchandise, and it's valid until Dec. 31 in the year that it's issued.
• If your card is closed before the certificate is sent, then your cash back is forfeited.

The fact that you'll get your cash back only once per year is inconvenient. It's also a hassle if you ever want to cancel your card, because you'll need to wait until you receive your reward certificate or you'll lose everything you earned that year.

The recommended credit score to apply for the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi is 720 or higher. This credit card is intended for shoppers with excellent credit. You will also need to be a Costco member, because the card application asks for your membership number.

The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi is a perfect fit if you do most of your shopping at Costco or if you drive often and spend a lot of money on gas. It can be especially valuable for those families who ring up big Costco bills and want to start getting some cash back. And if you have a Costco Gold Star Executive membership, you should absolutely get this card to boost your cash back.

If you shop at a variety of different retailers or if you want cash back you can redeem any time, then you're better off checking out these top cash-back cards.