Best credit cards to use at Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale

Warehouse clubs like Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s have become staples in the lives of many folks around the world, from families to small business owners. We use them to buy everything from groceries, tires, household goods, electronics, and jewelry. In fact, Costco is now one of the largest retailers for both wine and gold bullion in the US.

However, even though we’re loading up on food at warehouse clubs, most credit cards either don’t count them as grocery stores or specifically exclude them from the category. That leaves many unfortunate souls earning the dreaded 1x on what is usually a significant amount of spend.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. In this post, we’ll cover the best ways to squeeze every juicy drop of rewards we can from purchases at warehouse stores.

Best Credit Cards to use at Warehouse Clubs

Any card that has a welcome offer

Credit card welcome offers are by far the quickest and easiest way to earn copious amounts of points & miles in rapid fashion. For most people who have limited amounts of annual spend, working on a regular series of credit card bonuses will almost always be the best strategy for maximizing rewards.

Costco presents a problem, however: it only accepts Visa or debit cards for in-store payments. What if you want to apply for a Mastercard or American Express and use Costco purchases to reach the required minimum spend?

First, although Costco only accepts Visa in-store, it accepts Mastercard for online purchases…including for Costco cash cards. By buying Costco cash cards online, then using those gift cards for in-store purchases, you can effectively use a Mastercard in-store.

Amex is a little trickier, as you can’t use it directly at Costco online. However, there are many services that allow you to create virtual Mastercard (or Visa) debit cards that are backed by your Amex card.

Kasheesh is one well-known company that does this. You can sign up for a Kasheesh account, add your Amex card(s) as a payment method, then use it to back a virtual Mastercard debit card. You can then use that card online for Costco cash. Note that there is usually some fee involved to use these services. For instance, depending on how much you spend quarterly, Kasheesh will charge you a net 0.5 – 1% of the total transaction amount for the privilege.

• Pros: Possible to regularly earn 10x+ on Costco purchases. Able to easily diversify points-earning by applying for credit cards whose rewards you want to add.
• Cons: Cumbersome to constantly rotate through new cards. Most credit card companies have “anti-churning” rules that limit the velocity with which you can apply for new cards. Somewhat tedious to use Mastercard, Discover and Amex cards at Costco.

US Bank Altitude Reserve Visa (no longer available new)

Annual Fee Ongoing	1st Year Value Sortable	CARD NAME	welcome bonus min spend or expected spend	Bank	Consumer or Business Card	Base	Card Offer and Details
$400	9989600	U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card		USB	Consumer	Base: 1X (1.5%)	U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card ⓘ $-400 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates Not accepting applications This card is not currently available. $400 Annual Fee Learn more Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. FM Mini Review: With points worth 1.5 cents each towards travel, this card offers an excellent signup bonus. For ongoing use, this card is a winner for those who spend a lot on mobile payments (at 3X, rewards are worth 4.5%) Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: 5x prepaid hotel & car rental through Altitude Rewards Center ✦ 3X travel and mobile wallet payments Base: 1X (1.5%) Travel: 3X (4.5%) Shop: 3X (4.5%) Other: 5X (7.5%) Card Info: Visa Infinite issued by USB. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: $325 in travel/dining credits per membership year ✦ Points worth 1.5 cents each towards travel ✦ Real Time Mobile Rewards (redeem points at full value at time of purchase) ✦ Priority Pass Select airport lounge access (8 per year) ✦ Primary car rental coverage ✦ No foreign transaction fees ✦ Free authorized user cards

The US Bank Altitude Reserve card deserves mention as being a special kind of everyday spending hero. Even though it’s no longer available new, it’s still possible to product-change to it from other US Bank cards.

The Altitude Reserve offers two 3X categories and awards just 1 point per dollar everywhere else. However, one of its 3X categories is “mobile wallet payments,” which includes all payments made with Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay.

Within the US, you can use mobile wallet payments at most big-box stores, supermarkets, and warehouse stores. Points are worth 1.5 cents each towards travel so, by using them this way, you’re getting ~4.5% back on your spend.

• Pros: Earning 4.5% anywhere that takes mobile wallets is tough to beat. US Bank’s Real Time Mobile Rewards system is quick and easy to use.
• Cons: Only available via product change. In order to get full 4.5%, rewards have to be used for travel.

Synchrony Venmo Visa

Annual Fee Ongoing	1st Year Value Sortable	CARD NAME	welcome bonus min spend or expected spend	Bank	Consumer or Business Card	Base	Card Offer and Details
$0	9990000	Venmo Credit Card	$0	Other	Consumer	Base: 1%	Venmo Credit Card ⓘ $0 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates None Non-AffiliateThis is NOT an affiliate offer. We always present the best offer even when it means less revenue for Frequent Miler None No Annual Fee Learn more Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Earning rate: 3% on your eligible top spend category ✦ 2% on your second top category ✦ 1% everywhere else ✦ Eligible cateories include Dining & Nightlift, Travel, Bills & Utilities, Health & Beauty, Grocery / Warehouse Stores, Gas, Transportation, Entertainment Base: 1% Card Info: Visa issued by Synchrony. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees.

This card is an unsung hero when it comes to warehouse stores. The card has no annual fee, no real perks of any kind, and only earns cashback. You get 3% back on your top spending category each month, 2% back on your second and 1% everywhere else. Categories include: dining & nightlife, travel, bills & utilities, health & beauty, grocery, gas, transportation, entertainment. Nothing terribly exciting, right?

Where this gets interesting is that it’s one of the rare cards that counts warehouse stores as grocery. I’ve seen people who thought that this only worked online, or that it was an accident of coding, but it’s explicitly stated in the terms and conditions:

Grocery: Stores that sell food merchandise for home consumption, convenience, bakery and delicatessen stores, and wholesale clubs that sell a full range of goods (often in bulk) and services in warehouse-style stores. The specific MCCs defined as Grocery and Wholesale will be referenced as Grocery in your Venmo app.

I have this card, and get 3% cashback at Costco on everything from tires to gold bars…and not only does it earn 3% at warehouse stores, it still earns 3% at grocery stores as well, because it’s all considered the same category. In addition, Synchrony is one of the few issuers that allows you to pay your bill by debit card (over the phone).

• Pros: No annual fee card that can earn 3% at both warehouse clubs AND grocery stores.
• Cons: Possible to do much better than 3% by working on cards with welcome offers. Not a great return outside of the top 3% category each month. Often has no welcome bonus.

Robinhood Gold Visa

Annual Fee Ongoing	1st Year Value Sortable	CARD NAME	welcome bonus min spend or expected spend	Bank	Consumer or Business Card	Base	Card Offer and Details
$0	9990000	Robinhood Gold Card	$0	Other	Consumer	Base: 3%	Robinhood Gold Card ⓘ $0 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates Waitlist only Non-AffiliateThis is NOT an affiliate offer. We always present the best offer even when it means less revenue for Frequent Miler This card is currently available by waitlist only No Annual Fee Learn more Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. FM Mini Review: 3% cashback everywhere? What's not to like? Earning rate: 5% on travel booked through Robinhood portal Base: 3% Travel: 5% Card Info: Visa Signature issued by Coastal. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: 90 day purchase protection against theft or damage ✦ Up to 1 year extended warranty ✦ $250 return protection ✦ Trip protection

The online brokerage Robinhood has been slow-releasing its “Robinhood Gold Card” over the past several months. The card is currently waitlist-only, and they grab some unspecified number of waitlisters at unpublished time intervals to be new cardholders.

In order to get the card, you’ll have to subscribe to Robinhood Gold, which costs $5 per month or $50 per year and gives you an increased APY on cash held in your brokerage account along with a 3% IRA match. Why mess with all that? Because, currently the card earns 3% cash back on all purchases with no limits…including warehouse stores.

• Pros: Currently earns 3% everywhere with no limit.
• Cons: Only available after a non-specified amount of time on the waitlist. Must subscribe to Robinhood Gold at $5/month or $50 per year. There’s healthy skepticism as to how long Robinhood will be able to sustain 3% everywhere.

Bank of America cards with Platinum Honors

Bank of America offers banking relationship elite programs for both consumer and business customers. Both require $100K in deposits to earn top tier Platinum Preferred status. Merrill Edge retirement accounts apply towards that $100K in deposits, and if you have a retirement account that is managed by a different institution, you can move control of the funds to Merrill Edge and usually earn a bonus.

You need to earn Platinum Honors status in the consumer program in order to get a 75% bonus on eligible consumer cards, but once you do, it turns the Unlimited Cash Rewards and Premium Rewards’ 1.5% everywhere cashback rate to 2.625%.

• Pros: Easy card to give to someone not into points, since they can use it everywhere and get a good return.
• Cons: The $100K barrier to entry will be a non-starter for many.

US Bank Smartly Visa

Annual Fee Ongoing	1st Year Value Sortable	CARD NAME	welcome bonus min spend or expected spend	Bank	Consumer or Business Card	Base	Card Offer and Details
$0	9990000	U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card	$0	USB	Consumer	Base: 2%	U.S. Bank Smartly™ Visa Signature® Card ⓘ $0 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates None Non-AffiliateThis is NOT an affiliate offer. We always present the best offer even when it means less revenue for Frequent Miler Currently no welcome offer No Annual Fee Learn more Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. FM Mini Review: US Bank changed this card on 4/14/25 which removed much of its value proposition. You're now capped on 4% total earnings each billing cycle and eligible accounts for your $10,000+ qualifying balances earn a low rate of interest. Earning rate: Up to an additional 2% cash back on your first $10,000 in eligible Net Purchases each billing cycle when paired with a U.S. Bank Smartly Savings account plus qualifying balances in a U.S. Bank Smartly Checking and/or Safe Debit account. Base: 2% Card Info: Visa Signature issued by USB. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. Noteworthy perks: Earn better cashback rates when you hold a balance in an eligible US Bank account: $10,000-$49,999 = 2.5% total cashback; $50,000-$99,999 = 3% bonus cashback; $100,000+ = 4% cashback

This card might be the top option, IF you got it before April of 2025. The original version of the Bank Smartly card (which lasted a total of about six months) gave cardholders 4% cashback everywhere, provided that you held $100,000 in deposit accounts with US Bank. Like Bank of America’s preferred bank program (see above), it included IRA and other investments accounts. By moving $100K+ of retirement funds and getting approved for the card, you had 4% everywhere with no cap.

Unfortunately, US Bank had no idea how deep the water was before it jumped into the pool. The rewards it was paying out were far beyond what it was expecting and soon cardholders were getting declines on large purchases, warning letters about using the card for “business” purchases and some new applicants were being approved with credit limits as low as $500.

Soon afterwards, US Bank completely nerfed the card by capping the 4% to a total of $400 in rewards per billing cycle (ie, $10,000 spend) and, even worse, limiting the eligible deposit vehicles to low-interest checking accounts. Effectively, the interest that you’d lose by keeping $100K in those accounts would almost completely wipe out the rewards that you’d receive from your $10K maximum monthly spend.

If you have the old version of the card, it’s perfect for warehouse clubs (and everywhere else). Don’t even both with the new one.

• Pros: If you were approved before 4/14/25 and had the investments to move over, 4% everywhere is whack, jack.
• Cons: The card in its current state.

A card that earns 2x transferable points everywhere

There’s a fair amount of cards that either earn 2% cashback everywhere, or 2x transferable points. In general, we always prefer transferable points, because there’s potential for much greater than 1 cent per point value when using points with travel partners for high value rewards.

Examples include:

• Amex Blue Business Plus
• Capital One Venture X Business
• Capital One Venture Rewards
• Capital One Venture X
• Citi Double Cash* (needs to be paired with a premium card for full transfer options)
• Wells Fargo Active Cash* (needs to be paired with Autograph card for transfer options)

While 2x isn’t necessarily hitting the rewards stratosphere, it’s twice as good as using a 1x everywhere card…and for folks who only want a one card wallet it can be a satisfying option.

• Pros: You can earn 2x, not only at warehouse stores, but everywhere you shop. Appealing option for folks who only want to use one card.
• Cons No options to earn Chase points. 2 is better than 1, but there’s other options available with better earnings.

Honorable Mention: Cards that earn rewards at office supply stores

This is one of the best options for warehouse stores, but it’s a little unwieldy and time-consuming. Both Staples and Office Depot have regular sales on fee-free $200 Visa and Mastercard debit cards. In the case of Office Depot, those sales can actually turn a small profit.

You can use a card that earns rewards at office supply stores to buy debit gift cards during one of these sales, then use those $200 cards to pay at the warehouse club. If your purchases are more than $200, you can simply swipe multiple cards, each one will completely auto-drain and then you can move onto the next one.

• Pros: You can earn up to 5x on warehouse club spending.
• Cons: Time-consuming, since you have to make in-person visits to Staples or Office Depot during the sales to buy cards. Some folks will find it tedious to keep track of multiple gift cards, especially when there’s partial balances. Losing just one can wipe out a lot of rewards.

What are we missing?

Are there other cards that turn Sam’s Club and Costco visits into copious rewards, but that we don’t have listed above? Let us know in the comments and we’ll add it!

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