This is an excerpt of a feature that appears on the main Rewards Canada site which has been updated to incorporate new cards and cards that have changed since the original feature was posted in 2015:
Now that we are in 2015, American Express is gone from Costco Canada
stores and Mastercard is in. While Capital One® took the
co-branded card away from American Express with essentially the same
offering on their Capital
One® Platinum Mastercard® it does not mean you have to have
that card to shop at Costco. In fact any Mastercard card is accepted at
Costco locations across Canada and with so many Mastercard cards to
choose from here in the Great White North we thought it would be best to
pass along our picks for the five best cards to use at Costco.
1. mbna Rewards World Elite Mastercard – 2% return on Costco purchases
A very popular card right now on Rewards
Canada thanks to some other Mastercards becoming weaker, the mbna
Rewards World Elite Mastercard is the best card to use at Costco thanks
to its 2% return. Doesn’t matter if you redeem it for travel or for cash
back, which the card offers without dilution like most other programs.
And you can choose to get that cash back in any month – not just once
per year like the majority of cash back cards in Canada. Sure the card
may not have as big of sign up bonus or as good of insurance package as
most of the cards below but it also comes with a lower annual fee and if
you do spend lots that extra 0.5% can easily make up the difference on
the benefits side, that is if you even need them.
2. WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard – 1.5% return on Costco Purchases
The earn ratio goes down as we get through
this list, the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard earns 1.5% WestJet
Dollars for every dollar spent which means it is a 1.5% cash back card
and that is the return you’ll get on your Costco purchases. Add in the
$99 to $399 annual companion fares, the $250 sign up bonus, first bag
free on WestJet flights and you have yourself not only a good return at
Costco but lots of other benefits!
3. BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard – 1.5% return on Costco purchases
This card isn’t travel rewards related but it offers up a
good cash back return of 1.5% on all purchases at Costco and everywhere
else. Add the limited time offer of 4% back on all purchases in the
first four months (up to a total of $250 cash back) and you can see why
this card would be good to use at Costco. The card also offers one of
the better insurance packages out there for a cash back card.
4. BMO Rewards World Elite Mastercard – ~1.43% return on Costco purchases
This card used to be our number one card to use at
Costco but that all changed on January 15, 2018. The rewards structure
changed, so while the card still earns 2 points per dollar spent at
Costco it now takes 140 points to get $1 worth of travel versus the 100
points prior to the middle of January. That drops the earn rate at
Costco down to 1.43%. That’s a significant drop hence the drop from
first to third. The card does however come with a great insurance
package, limited time first year free offers (no annual fee) and access
to airport business class lounges.
5. National
Bank of Canada World Elite Mastercard – 1.36% to 1.68% return on Costco purchases
This card comes in with an overall slightly lower earn ratio
than the cards before it. Sure the card can get you a 2% return but
that is for your spending between $40,001 and $80,000 on the card and
when redeeming at higher levels. Prior to that the rate is lower and
above that the rate lowers again so your average return will be below
2%. And you only get the best return if you redeem 50,000 or more points
at a time. Kind of a convoluted program if you ask me but the card has
other benefits like reimbursements for travel expenses like airport
parking and airline baggage fees that try to make up for the lower earn
rate compared to other cards.