If you’re a Costco member, one of the perks is being eligible for a Citi Costco Anywhere Visa card. Besides being one of the only cards that offers a bonus category for Costco purchases (including online, in-club or gas station), it also has a good variety of bonus categories:
- 4% cashback on eligible gas worldwide, including gas at Costco, for the first $7,000 each year and then 1% thereafter.
- 3% cashback on restaurants and eligible travel purchases worldwide.
- 2% cashback on all other purchases from Costco and Costco.com
- 1% cashback on all other purchases.
The rewards are paid once yearly as a certificate that must be redeemed for merchandise or cash back at a Costco location.
Since Citi purchased the Costco credit card portfolio from AMEX in 2016, they’ve been removing the additional benefits of the Costco Anywhere card.
For example, they removed a bunch of benefits from all Citi cards, including the Costco card, in 2019:
- Worldwide Car Rental Insurance
- Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection
- Worldwide Travel Accident Insurance
- Trip Delay Protection
- Baggage Delay Protection
- Lost Baggage Protection
- Medical Evacuation
- Citi® Price Rewind
- 90 Day Return Protection
- Missed Event Ticket Protection
- Roadside Assistance Dispatch Service
- Travel & Emergency Assistance
Citi is now cutting the extended warranty coverage from the Costco Anywhere card, as of January 22, 2023. This was one of the last protections left on the card. Previously, you would get an additional 24 months on top of the manufacturer’s warranty when using the Costco Anywhere Visa. Now you will get nothing.
Citi is not adding benefits to replace this devaluation.
For most cards, this wouldn’t be a big deal. But now if you’re purchasing an expensive item from Costco (i.e. a washer/dryer, flat screen TV or computer) I’d suggest using a different Visa card that still includes extended warranty coverage. You can still use your Costco Anywhere Visa for your bulk purchases.
The Costco Visa still has great returns for a “no-annual-fee” card (you need to pay for a Costco membership, so it’s not really free), but you’ll want to think for a second about what you’re buying before pulling the card out of your wallet.
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7 comments
This card has never been a good value. You’re better off with a Venmo Visa, no annual fee and 3% back at Costco if that’s your highest category for the month. And since it’s all I use it for, it’s always 3%.
It’s become a worthless card. If they would change the Costco cash back so you could use it online instead of ONLY in the stores and also include the basic membership fee I’d use the card. I’m getting ready to cancel it and walk away from Costco entirely the way it stands.
Better watch out about this card because they just shut down my card and kept my $2k+ cash back just because of my past criminal history happened in 2017. I did my time for the crime, and this is Theft!
I have been thinking of dropping one of my cards and this will be the one I will get rid of. I also have Capitol One I will keep that one. I need to get my so called bonus money first.
Citi bank will lose alot of credit card customers. Don’t be surprised if costco goes to another card company
Great info about the Costco Citi Visa! I had no idea I’d lost all those benefits !!
Wouldn’t be surprised if Costco goes with Chase or maybe Amex again? Oh that would be awesome. Wishful thinking 🙂