Costco credit card swiping strategy | In addition to Citi Costco, they are more worthwhile

April 14, 2022

The once mythical combination of Costco x Amex Express card finally broke up in 2016 and fell to the altar. It is good news that Costco quickly fell into the arms of Visa and opened a new chapter of Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi with Citi. Membership cardholders are cheering that my Visa card is finally ready to use. Of course, in addition to Citi, other credit cards are necessary for shopping with Costco. Although you may not have these credit cards, you must know! Today, AJ will give you a look at these credit cards.

Costco membership card

The following are Costco membership prices. The first two are individual members, and the last two are commercial members. We mainly talk about the difference between white cards, black cards, and commercial cards. Black card members have 2% cashback on their purchases, which will be returned once a year. The cashback check will be mailed to you in the 11th month of opening the card. If you can spend more than $3000 a year at Costco, you are suitable for a black card. AJ For a family of three, the annual return for daily grocery shopping and daily necessities is $70+, so if you need to buy large household appliances, items, or many family members, the black card is still very suitable. For commercial cards, if it is a For resale product, it is tax-free, and you need to fill in a form and other procedures to go through it.

Tips: Refueling, travel products, tobacco, etc. do not receive 2% cashback.

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 The picture comes from @costco.com, the copyright belongs to the original author 

Now Costco has discounts for membership cards, don’t miss it if you want to apply for a card~

Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi

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 The picture comes from @citi.com, the copyright belongs to the original author 

annual fee

None (annual Costco membership fee is required)

sign-up bonus

none

consumption requirements

none

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 The picture comes from @citi.com, the copyright belongs to the original author 

Credit card benefits

Fuel Cash Back: 4% cashback, up to a $7000 annual limit, then 1%, covering the world, including Costco, and 1% for some substandard fuel

Restaurants + Travel: 3% cashback, worldwide

Costco and Costco.com: 2% cashback

All other purchases: 1% cashback

The method of return is to email or mail Costco’s credit card reward certificate in February every year. You can withdraw or spend at Costco. You need to pay attention to the validity period.

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 Image from @citi.com, copyright belongs to the original author 

Extended Warranty: Extends the manufacturer’s warranty (Warranty)

Damage Theft Protection: Damage and theft may be repaired or refunded within 120 days of purchase (90 days in New York)

Citi application rules

  • 1/8: Only one card can be applied for within 8 days
  • 2/65: Only two cards can be applied for within 65 days
  • 1/90: Only one business card can be applied for within 90 days
  • Commercial cards also need to be counted in the 1/8 and 2/65 rules
  • 6 hard pulls or less in 6 months
  • If the above rules are violated, the basic cup

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantage

Costco’s black card users can get 4% on gas and 4% on shopping with this credit card, plus there is no annual fee, so Costco regulars can still get one.

Just looking at the cashback ratio is still wrong. The 4% gas rebate and the 3% restaurant and travel rebate are very good.

No foreign transaction fee (FTF – Foreign Transaction Fee)

Shortcoming

You must be a Costco member to apply

And lack of sign-up motivation without a sign-up bonus

The annual cashback waiting time is too long

Citi card approval is also more strict, the credit score is not high enough, the time is short and the capacity is rejected, so the novice should consider carefully, otherwise it is not cost-effective to waste a hard pull.

Chase Freedom (CF)

A brief introduction to the Chase Ultimate Rewards point system, referred to as UR, is the point system of Chase Bank. Chase currently has 28 UR point credit cards, and the points between cards can be transferred to each other. UR points can be directly redeemed, or redeemed for hotels, air tickets, and other mid-to-high-end credit cards with a chase that can maximize the value of the points.

Annual fee

none

sign-up bonus

$200 (actually for 20K UR points)

  • You can only get one sign-up bonus within 24 months

consumption requirements

Spend $500 or more within three months of opening the card to get the rebate of the sign-up bonus

credit card cashback

Different 5X rebates every quarter (activation required)

The 5X rebate is only $1500 per quarter, and the excess is a 1X rebate

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 Image from @creditcards.chase.com, copyright belongs to the original author 

Chase Application Rules

5/24: If you open 5 or more new credit card accounts within 24 months, no matter whether you are a chaser or not, you will be rejected. Therefore, it is recommended that if you have a chase credit card you want to apply for, you should apply first. Otherwise, if you are stuck by the 5/24 rule, you will not be able to apply for a Chase home for a long time.

It is recommended that the credit length of more than half a year is relatively safe 

Advantages and disadvantages

advantage

Novice card, highly recommended, Chase’s credit card is very good in terms of benefits, after-sales, and user experience, and the threshold for low-end cards with no annual fee is relatively low.

The sign-up bonus of $200 is the highest in recent years, usually $150.

The 5X of each quarter is usually gas, restaurants, supermarkets, department stores, Wholesale, etc., remember to activate it to get it.

The quarterly 5X rebate + Costco’s 2% rebate can reach the peak of 7%. All in all, this card is still worth playing.

If Wholesale’s 5X cashback cannot be used up in the current quarter, it is recommended to go to a Costco store to buy a Costco gift card and use up the $1500 limit to get a 5% cashback, but it must be purchased in a physical store.

Shortcoming

The 5X rebate per quarter is only $1500

Usually wholesale has only one quarter per year, and the amount of $1500 is not enough for many people

Charge overseas fees

Chase Freedom Unlimited (CFU) 

It is a sister card with the CF above, I think that you can choose one of the two.

Annual fee

No annual fee

sign-up bonus

$200 UR credits

consumption requirements

Spend $500 or more within three months of opening the card to get the rebate of the sign-up bonus

credit card benefits

1.5X rebate on all purchases, no upper limit

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 Image from @creditcards.chase.com, copyright belongs to the original author 

application advice

The application rules are the same as CF, you can refer to the previous article

Advantage

The point is that there is no limit and no-limit, which is much better than CF’s weak $1500 limit per quarter. If the consumption amount is high enough, this card is still worth buying.

The sign-up bonus of $200 is the highest in recent years, usually $150.

With the 2% cashback of the Costco black card, you can achieve a 3.5% return.

Shortcoming

If Chase’s card is only going to accept this one, if the score cannot be used to the maximum, this card is a little mediocre. But if you decide to use it with Chase’s mid-to-high-end cards, it will be better.

If the CF purchase reaches 50% of the 5X reward, the CFU needs to spend $10,000 to be equal. Everyone has to decide which card to apply for according to their consumption level.

Charge overseas fees

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 Image from @creditcards.chase.com, copyright belongs to the original author 

Discover it Cash Back

Let me introduce you to a novice card. I highly recommend the first card after getting the SSN. Like chase freedom, the quarterly 5% cashback, and the first year’s double cashback policy can reach 10% cashback. . Although Costco does not accept Discover credit cards, you can purchase Costco gift cards on costco.com. If there is a quarterly 5% Wholesale, don’t miss it. In addition, those who do not have a membership card can also purchase gift cards through Costco.com. Those who hold a gift card do not need a membership card to spend at Costco, but there is an additional 5% fee for spending on Costco.com without a member. , but it is more suitable for some people who only buy and consume occasionally.

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 Image from @discover.com, copyright belongs to the original author 

Annual fee

No annual fee

Sign-up bonus

$75

Double cashback in the first year, unlimited

Consumption requirements

And use the credit card to complete the first purchase on amazon.com within three months

Credit card benefits

Different 5% cashback every quarter (requires activation)

The 5% cashback limit is only $1500 per quarter, and the excess is calculated as 1%

The first year’s cashback is doubled, with no upper limit. At the end of the first year of using the credit card, the cashback for the whole year will be returned. For example, the cashback obtained in the first year is $100. At the end of this calendar year, $100 will be returned for double cashback.

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