Reward Programs

Costco Cash Back Rewards: What You Need To Know

Two important things happen to me in February. First, it’s the month in which I receive my Costco membership renewal notification, which means I also receive my Executive Membership Costco cashback rewards check. Second, it’s the month I receive the annual cashback rewards from my Costco Anywhere Visa® by Citi. While both of these may be described as cashback rewards, they are two separate rebates from very different programs available to Costco members.

Let’s examine, compare, and contrast both programs.

Executive Membership Costco Cash Back Rewards

The standard $60 Gold Star membership gets you in the door to shop at Costco but executive members earn 2% cashback, up to $1,000, for qualifying Costco, Costco.com and Costco travel purchases.  The executive membership costs an extra $60 for a total of $120.

Two months before your membership renewal date, Costco sends out a renewal notification along with a rebate check for the cashback earned the previous year. This rebate check can be used at Costco registers for the purchase of merchandise. It cannot be used for the purchase of alcohol, tobacco, stamps, gas, or at their food court. Also if you cancel your executive membership, you lose the cash back rewards. 

An interesting fact some people don’t know is while the Costco Executive Membership rebate check can’t be cashed at your bank, it CAN be cashed at the Costco customer service counter. 

Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi

Costco members who have a Costco Anywhere Visa® Card can earn cashback throughout the year by purchasing goods and services using the card. The breakdown of the cashback rewards cardholders can earn is as follows:

• 4% cashback on gasoline purchases (for the first $7000 per year, 1% thereafter)
• 3% cashback at eligible restaurant and travel purchases
• 2% cashback on purchases made at Costco, or Costco.com
• 1% cashback on other purchases

The rewards come in the form of a voucher with the February statement.  As with the executive membership Costco cash back rewards, you can use the voucher at the register to pay for a purchase or you can exchange it for cash at the customer service desk.

Get The Most Cash Back From Your Costco Membership

• Recoup Your Executive Membership Fee: To recoup the $60 fee to upgrade to the executive membership, you’ll have to spend $3,000 annually at Costco.  If your rewards check doesn’t exceed $60, you can go to customer service and receive the difference.  This makes upgrading to the executive membership a can’t lose proposition.
• Use Your Costco Anywhere Visa®: You earn cashback using your Costco Anywhere Visa®. Use it for every purchase possible, earn cash back, and pay the bill as soon as you get home.
• Double Up Rewards By Shopping At Costco: Purchase as much of your necessities as possible at Costco using the Costco Anywhere Visa®. You’ll earn the 2% Executive Membership rewards AND the 2% cashback from the credit card cashback program.  That’s a total of 4% cashback for everyday items you buy anyway!
• Know What Costco Sells:  Consider Costco when you’re looking for computers, small appliances, water heaters, indoor and outdoor furniture, mattresses, and even carpeting!
• Don’t Forget Costco.com: Costco warehouses are huge, but they don’t contain everything Costco sells.  You may be surprised at what else you can find at Costco.com that can help boost your rewards checks.

Last year I earned an Executive Membership rebate of $64, barely exceeding the $60 membership upgrade cost. It’s just too convenient to stop at the much closer Walmart to pick up necessities.  I was much more successful with the Costco Anywhere Visa By Citi cash back, earning $364.

Joining the Costco club may make you feel special, like you’re part of an exclusive group. This is due to the ingroup bias, which psychologists say is an evolutionary advantage to help our communities thrive. In fact, you can even find Costco memes being shared among groups who share the membership.

These two programs provide an opportunity to earn Costco cash back rewards simply by changing where I buy my day-to-day necessities.  I’m looking forward to earning as much cashback as possible using my Costco membership next year!

Read More

Learn more about how you can use your Costco rewards with these additional articles about Costco:

• Save Big At Costco Liquor Stores
• Save Money On Lawn Fertilizer At Costco NOW
• Costco Seafood Roadshow: Great Seafood, Great Value

Here is some of our best stuff from a consumer perspective:

• Review: National Consumer Panel – Pure Awesomeness or Waste of Time?
• Meal Delivery Service: Blue Apron Review
• Which is Cheaper: Keg or Canned Beer?
• Save Money on Water if You have a Pool (Utilities)

And if you’re reading this because you’re a Costco member, here are a couple of handy articles to read from around the web: 

Yes, Costco Gas Stations Are Open Surprisingly Early

Jim Wang’s Ways To Get Paid Shopping at Costco, You’ve Never Heard Of

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Brock Kernin

Brock is a software engineer by day and personal finance blogger at night. He is a fitness junkie and enjoys grilling and smoking meat. Married with two children,  Brock strives to improve his skills as a husband and father, and is always on the lookout to stretch his family’s budget as far as he can.