What are eligible gas purchases for the Costco Visa?

The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi categories for bonus rewards are eligible gas, restaurant and travel purchases, as well as Costco and Costco.com purchases. Purchases that fall into the Costco Credit Card bonus categories get cardholders extra rewards compared to the card’s base earning rate.

Whether a purchase falls into a card’s bonus categories depends on “... read full answerMerchant Category Codes,” which are assigned by the major credit card networks to merchants based on what kind of business they conduct. So if a merchant has the MCC for “gas,” for example, purchases made at that merchant will earn bonus rewards on cards that include “gas” as a bonus category.

When choosing a rewards credit card, it’s a good idea to pick a card that offers the opportunity to earn bonus rewards in your most frequent purchase categories. So if you spend a lot in the categories offered on the Costco Credit Card, it may be a good card for you.

Purchases that qualify as travel-related purchases for the Costco Credit Card include airfare, hotel bookings, car rentals, and more.

Here’s what you should know about the Costco Credit Card travel-related purchases:

• Eligible travel-related purchases: airfare, hotel bookings, car rentals and cruise lines. Purchases at Costco Travel and other travel agencies also fall under the Costco credit card’s travel category.... read full answer
• What is not included: There are a number of other transactions that are not considered eligible travel for the Costco Credit Card rewards, such as train and commuter travel fares, bed and breakfasts, timeshares, campgrounds, and rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft. Those, and travel-related purchases not categorized with the appropriate merchant category code (MCC) for travel, will earn only 1% cash back.
• Rewards earned: Cardholders will get 3% cash back on all Costco Credit Card eligible travel purchases with no limits on earnings.

In addition to travel, qualifying dining purchases also earn 3% cash back. Rewards are awarded once a year as a reward certificate redeemable at U.S. Costco locations.

Yes, you can use a Costco Credit Card anywhere Visa is accepted, which is pretty much everywhere that takes credit cards. Because the Costco Credit Card works wherever Visa is accepted, you can use it at 10.7 million merchants’ locations in the U.S. alone, as well as in more than 200 other countries and territories. That’s why its official name is the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi.... read full answer

In other words, the Costco Credit Card is not a store-specific credit card that can only be used at Costco. Rather, it’s a co-branded card that rewards you at Costco as well as anywhere else you might shop.

More specifically, you will almost never find a place that accepts credit cards but doesn’t take Visa. Costco used to be one example, as it only accepted Discover cards prior to switching to Visa in 2016. But situations like that are very rare. You’re more likely to see places that take Visa and Mastercard but not American Express or Discover.

But while you can use Costco Credit Card anywhere in the world, you do have to be a Costco member to get it in the first place. That requires paying out at least $60 per year for membership. So, the card is best for people who frequently shop at Costco. There’s also a 0% foreign transaction fee, which means it’s not the best choice for international spending.