Is The Capital One Costco Credit Card Worth It?

We Own Of A Canadian Costco Credit Card

We applied for our Costco Credit Card for three months, but I wanted to see the benefits before reviewing.

When Costco came to town, I was hesitant about even getting a Costco Membership right from the start.

I wasn’t sure if it was worth getting and whether our monthly budget could sustain purchases made in bulk.

Related: What Keto Foods To Buy In Bulk At Costco Canada

It turns out that we have managed to keep our grocery budget under control while buying in bulk.

Thankfully, we track our grocery expenses, knowing what we spend money on and how much.

Getting the Costco membership was only a stepping stone or a stone’s throw until we gave in to the Costco credit card.

It turns out that Costco rewards you with some of the best cashback features for a credit card in Canada.

Note: The Capital One Costco Credit Card is only for Costco Members.

Edit: Please See the Note Below about the changes to the Costco Credit Card as of March 4, 2022.

Executive Reward Coupon

After years of being a Costco member in Canada, I’m happy to report that I believe the membership is worth the money.

We started with an executive membership which allowed us to purchase gasoline and receive cashback each year.

It’s a fancy black membership card to make cardholders feel special and elite like gold or black credit cards would.

I don’t care what colour my credit card or membership card is as long as it works.

Once a year near the time of expiry that we need to renew our membership, Costco sends us a cashback cheque.

The cheque itself has a name, and it’s called the “Executive Reward Coupon.”

In essence, it’s not a cheque because you can’t cash it at your bank.

You can only use it towards purchases in the store or to put it towards your Costco membership renewal cost.

Only the primary member can redeem the reward, so if you are a husband and wife who both have a membership card on one account, only one of you can redeem it.

No big deal.

Related: The Ultimate Guide For Canadian Credit Card Applications

Executive Member Perks For Costco Canada Members

Costs Of A Costco Membership

If you lose the executive rewards coupon or it has been stolen, Costco will NOT reimburse you, which I think is terrible customer service, to be honest.

Indeed they track the executive rewards coupons and have the card members’ names on them, so they should know if it has been cashed.

Going to Costco is like shopping in lockdown with guards to ensure you don’t leave without paying for something.

Coincidentally, the Costco cashback cheque arrived yesterday for $78.86, including gas purchases.

Executive membership costs are $120 plus applicable taxes, which amounts to $138- $78.86 = $59.14 for our membership.

A Gold Star membership which is the basic membership, is $60 plus taxes costing $69.

So, we saved almost $10 on our membership for the year by using the Gold Star Executive card.

Updating To An Exectutive Costco Membership Perks

Right now, for example, if you upgrade to an executive membership, Costco will give you a $25 voucher.

As an executive member at Costco, you get an annual 2% Reward on most Costco purchases up to a maximum of $1000.

Although, you must remain an executive member to receive the annual 2% reward, which is no big deal since you already pay for it in advance.

You also get exclusive offers and coupons and the Costco Connect magazine in the mail.

The addition of a free spouse’s card comes with this membership, which we got it.

You’ll also get savings on services such as express courier, residential telecommunications, and credit card processing.

Honestly, we didn’t see a reason not to get the gold membership at Costco.

Monthly Qualifying Purchases

Below is a chart from the Costco Canada website that shows customers how much they must spend and the approximate reward.

This tells us that we spent approximately $3900 between 2019-2020 on gas, groceries, garden supplies, and household items to get our rewards coupon of $78.

Monthly qualifying purchases**	Yearly qualifying purchases**	Approximate Annual Reward
$250	$3,000	$60
$400	$4,800	$96
$600	$7,200	$144
$800	$9,600	$192

Related: How To Apply And Compare Canadian Credit Cards

Capital One Costco Credit Card

Note: Please see the update for the Costco Credit Card as of March 4, 2022, below.

I’m sure if you shop at Costco Canada, you have been asked whether you want to apply for the Capital One Costco Credit Card.

There’s no getting out of that since the cashier gets some bonus; they get you to sign up or have a quota to meet.

I’m not sure, but we are asked every time we cash out at Costco without fail.

We have thought about getting the Capital One Costco Credit Card in the past but decided to continue using our Canadian Tire Triangle MasterCard.

It turns out that we would get more with the Capital One Costco Credit Card instead of the Canadian Tire Mastercard in terms of rewards.

Why? We found out that we weren’t getting ANY rewards using our CT MasterCard.

It pays to read the terms and conditions on your credit card, even the fine print.

3% back in CT Money^® on purchases at grocery stores (on the first $12,000 per year; excludes Costco and Walmart)

So, not only did we not get any rewards points for shopping at Costco but not even at Walmart Canada.

Can You Use The PC MasterCard At Costco?

Our main credit card is the President’s Choice World Elite MasterCard, and if we use it at Costco, we do not get PC Points.

Update: I called PC MasterCard right after writing this post, and I was told Costco gave us incorrect information. The lady said they must have been uninformed.

So, with any PC MasterCard, if you use it at Costco, you get the base points which are 10 PC Points for every $1 you spend.

It would be worthwhile to use the PC World Elite MasterCard for groceries at Costco.

We would use the Capital One Credit Card for gas at Costco for 2% back and restaurants for 3% cashback.

Sorry about any confusion; it has been cleared up now, thankfully.

Related: How We’ve Earned Almost 6 million PC Points

Applying For The Capital One Cash Back Costco Credit Card

Since we weren’t earning any rewards for shopping at Costco using our other credit cards, we decided to apply for a Costco credit card.

The Costco credit card application was relatively straightforward and typical of all credit card applications.

You’ll earn Costco Credit Card Rewards in the form of cashback on everyday purchases

• 3% on restaurant purchases
• Gas purchases 2%
  
• Earn 0.5% on the first $3,000 you spend annually on all other purchases, and 1% after that

It took about 20 minutes to apply for the Costco Credit Card at the customer service desk inside Costco.

The Costco Credit Card also doubles as your Costco membership card, so I won’t have to carry two cards with me.

The day we applied for the Costco Credit Card, they had a promotion that offered $50 off your first purchase over $100.

Everyone knows how easy it is to spend $100, which we did that day.

Getting Approved For the Costco Credit Card

Once we filled out the application on the computer at Costco, we waited a few minutes to see if we were approved.

You need to provide them with government identification when applying for the Costco Credit Card.

Thankfully, I was approved; otherwise, I’d freak out just a little bit.

Another good reason to order your credit report yearly is to ensure no one is fraudulently using your identity.

I was given a $7000 credit card limit and a temporary card until my plastic Capital One Costco Credit Card came in the mail.

It took about two weeks to get the credit card in the mail, which was fine as we only shop once a month at Costco.

Capital One Cash Back Costco Credit Card Perks and Rewards

When writing this blog post, Costco has a special offer to receive a $20 statement credit when you go paperless by September 30, 2020.

Costco Credit Card Benefits

Annual Interest Rates

• Standard Rate for Purchases 19.75%
• Balance Transfers Standard Rate 19.75%
• Standard Rate for Cash Advances 19.75%
• Cash Back Up to 3%

Earn Virtually Everywhere You Shop With Your Costco Credit Card

What does virtually everywhere mean?

This is what I wanted to know because we had already found out that one of our credit cards wouldn’t allow us to earn points at Costco.

Whether you’re at the mall, dining out or on vacation, you’ll earn cash back on every purchase you make.

It turns out that yes we would get rewards points towards our cashback reward by shopping at places such as Walmart and Canadian Tire.

This made the card even more exclusive for us since we shop at both of those stores along with 43 million other locations worldwide.

The other perk is they don’t put a limit on how much cashback you can earn by using the Costco Credit Card.

Some credit card companies will put a cap on how much you can earn just so they aren’t paying out a fortune.

Everyday Benefits Offered By The Costco Credit Card

• Price Protection Service
• Purchase Assurance
• Extended Warranty

Price Protection Service

Price Protection service is a major perk for cardholders because you always want to get the best prices when you shop.

There’s nothing worse than finding out that something you purchased goes on sale the next week.

Price protection is an often overlooked feature which is a free benefit that some credit card issuers offer.

I wrote a blog post about price adjustments many years ago because I found that Canadian shoppers were not aware of this.

When you use your Capital One card to buy a new item in Canada that is offered for sale at a lower price within 60 days of purchase, the Price Protection Service pays you the difference up to $100 per item and $500 per calendar year.

Extended Warranty

The other cool perk is the extended warranty which again is also an overlooked feature by credit cardholders.

The extended warranty is for items you purchase using your credit card that come with a warranty.

Your credit card often will add two years of warranty on top of that to extend your warranty.

When you use your Capital One card to purchase most personal items (and the full cost of the item is charged to your card), Extended Warranty coverage automatically doubles the original manufacturer’s warranty for up to two years.

Purchase Assurance

Purchase Assurance means that Capital One will add insurance to what you purchase on your credit card up to 120 days if someone was to steal the item.

Also, if the item was lost or damaged whether in transit or from something that you’ve done they will replace or repair the product.

Most personal items purchased are automatically insured against theft, loss or damage anywhere in the world for 120 days from the date of purchase when the full cost of the item is charged to your Capital One card. Covered items will be replaced or repaired or the purchase price will be reimbursed at the insurance company’s discretion.

Travel Benefits

• Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance

Charge your fare to your Capital One credit card and you, your spouse and dependent children are insured against accidental loss of life or dismemberment for up to $250,000 while travelling on a common carrier (for example, a bus, cruise ship, plane or train).

This is another great perk next to owning life insurance and travel insurance and it’s free just by owning your Costco Credit Card.

Car Rental Collision/Loss Damage Waiver

Charge the full cost of your car rental to your Capital One card and decline the collision damage waiver insurance offered by the rental agency (you could save $20-$30 per day) and you’ll be insured if your rental car is damaged or stolen when you rent the car for a period of up to 31 days.

So there is no need to pay for insurance on a rental car since your credit card will take care of that for you.

Baggage Delay

If your checked baggage is delayed for more than four hours at your away-from-home destination, you may be eligible for reimbursement of up to $100 per day for up to three days to purchase essential items. Simply charge the full cost of your tickets to your Capital One card.

This is a great perk to have with your credit card especially if it’s better than what you get from your travel insurance.

Travel Assistance

Provides 24/7 assistance for medical referrals, emergency cash transfers, lost documents and ticket replacements, lost luggage assistance and legal referrals when travelling outside of your province of residence. Any costs incurred in connection with these services are charged to your Capital One card.

Although purchasing travel insurance will help with any problems it’s always nice to know that you have a back-up with your credit card company.

MasterCard Benefits

I hope this review of the Costco Credit Card will help anyone on the fence about applying for one.

The Capital One Costco Credit Card works for us, and we’ll continue to use it for the rewards and perks it offers us.

Even though we will only use the Capital One Credit Card for Costco gas and restaurants, it’s still worth owning this card.

Keep in mind that you have to apply the perks and rewards to your lifestyle to see if they fit.

This credit card is not the right choice for someone who likes to travel as there are many travel rewards credit cards available.

Related: The Top Canadian Credit Cards To Apply For With Bad Debt

However, if you want to get maximum cashback while shopping at Costco and filling up at their gas bar along with 43 million other stores, this is a great credit card to own.

Discussion: Do you own the Costco Capital One MasterCard? Do you like it?

Leave your comments below.

Costco Credit Card Moved To CIBC From Capital One

On March 4, 2022, CIBC became the exclusive issuer of Costco credit cards in Canada and acquired the existing Canadian Capital One Costco Mastercard® portfolio.

Please read the following information for more details on these changes. If you have further questions about your new credit card or the transfer of your account to CIBC, please visit cibc.com/costcobenefits.

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