【2025.1 Update】According to Reddit reports, this card’s gas rewards are getting an update. Purchases at Costco’s own gas stations will increase to 5% cash back, while gas at other stations will remain at 4%. In addition, the card face will change from gray to black.
If you shop at Costco often and already have a membership, this card is still worth holding. After all, it offers solid cash back on gas and dining, and if you already have a Costco membership, there’s no extra annual fee. It’s a credit card that Costco fans can keep for the long term.
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Introduction to the Citi Costco Credit Card
4% cash back on gas, 3% back on dining and travel! No annual fee!
- Welcome bonus: N/A
- Rewards: 4% on gas, 3% on dining and travel, 2% at Costco and Costco.com, 1% on all other purchases
- Redemption: Rewards are issued as a Costco annual coupon, which can be redeemed for cash at the Costco service counter
- Annual fee: $0（Costco membership required）
- Apply now>>
Highlights
- Reasonable cash back structure: The bonus categories include gas, dining, travel, and Costco, so it covers many everyday spending needs.
- No Foreign Transaction Fee (FTF): Most cards with no foreign transaction fee have an annual fee, so it’s nice that this card has no annual fee. See: FTF introduction
Citi card benefits
- Price Rewind: If an item drops in price, you can ask Citi for a price adjustment
- Free FICO credit score: From Equifax, with historical data displayed on a chart
- Private Pass: They once gave out free movie tickets, but I missed that one
- Retention offers are fairly generous: If you’re about to pay the annual fee, threatening to close the card may get you some promotions
Drawbacks
- You must have a Costco membership to apply
My take
If you have a Costco membership, keeping this card and using it as an all-in-one spending card is pretty convenient. However, cards with no sign-up bonus are always hard to get excited about applying for. After all, to earn $500-$1,000 in cash back purely through spending, you’d need to put at least $10,000 or more on the card. At the moment, this card cannot be obtained through a product change, so it would otherwise make a decent backup Citi card.
As for Costco memberships, there are often deals that make them cheaper.
Also, Citi has a business card with exactly the same benefits
Citi Costco Business Credit Card
4% cash back on gas, 3% back on dining and travel! No annual fee!
- Welcome bonus: N/A
- Rewards: 4% on gas, 3% on dining and travel, 2% at Costco and Costco.com, 1% on everything else
- Redemption: Issued in the form of a Costco annual coupon, which can be redeemed for cash at the Costco customer service counter
- Annual fee: $0（Costco membership required）
- Apply now>>
Apply
- This card requires a Costco membership ($60 or $120)
- Citi application status link or call: 877-343-4118
- 8/65/95 rule: You can apply for only one personal card every 8 days, only two personal cards every 65 days, and only one business card every 95 days. This refers to application submission limits, regardless of whether you were approved or not.
- 24/48-month welcome bonus rule: If you have received a welcome bonus on a ThankYou Points card within the past 24 months, you will not be eligible to receive the bonus again. For AA products, the restriction is 48 months, but both rules apply only to the same card; there is no restriction across different card families.
- You can call the reconsideration line (800-763-9795) to speed up the credit card approval process or ask a representative to review a denied credit card application again.
- Having a Citi Checking/Gold relationship may help with your application.
- More about applying for Citi credit cards