Top 5 MasterCard Cards to use at Costco

(This feature is a duplicate from the main the Rewards Canada site)

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. BMO Rewards World Elite MasterCard

Ranked the #2 Travel Points Credit Card with an annual fee on Rewards Canada for the past two, its no wonder this card is our top pick for travellers who shop a lot at Costco. The card awards two BMO Rewads Points for every dollar spent at Costco and everywhere else. The card also comes with a great insurance package, first year free (no annual fee) and access to airport business class lounges.

2. Diners Club Club Rewards MasterCard

If you have knowledge of the travel rewards credit card industry in Canada you may wonder why we rank this card number two for use at Costco. The simply fact is that even though the card is not available for new applications there are thousands of Canadians who do hold the card and continue to use it. For years BMO has hinted at bringing it back for Canadians and we believe that will be sooner than later since they relaunched the cards south of the border in 2014.

Why does the card rank so high. Pretty simple. It offers the ecquivelant of a 1.7% cashback return on any travel that you book yourself. Called a Tailored Travel credit you can go to any travel provider, book the travel and once the charge shows up on your account you call up Diners Club and redeem your points against the charge. Over and above that you can also convert Club Rewards points to over 20 airline, hotel and rail loyalty programs plus it comes with access to over 450 business class lounges Worldwide. We here at Rewards Canada love this card in our wallet and hopefully those of you who don't have it will have a chance to get it sometime soon!

3. BMO World Air Miles MasterCard

This card ranks pretty high more so for its popularity than its true earning potential. Granted 1 Air Miles Reward Miles for every $15 spent is a great earn ratio for the Air Miles program it somewhat weaker than the other cards in this ranking. However add in the 25% discount on Air Miles reward flights the card offers and you further enhance the earn ratio the card has.

Finally, Air Miles is a mainstay in Canada and because of that this card can makes sense for lots of Costco purchases as you can pool all the Air Miles you earn from so many partners into one account and achieve travel or other rewards quicker.

4. mbna Rewards World Elite MasterCard / CUETS Choice Rewards World Elite MasterCard

These two cards are featured together as they have the same earn rates and very similiar benefits packages. Why are they good for Costco purchases? Both are essentially 2% cash back cards in the form of travel rewards. This is the same earn ratio as the BMO Rewards World Elite MasterCard but they fall a bit short in certain aspects when compared to the number one card. They don't have lounge access and the CUETS card doesn't waive the first year annual fee. That doesn't make them bad cards however! They wouldn't be on this list if they were. For some of you one of these two cards would be the best option of the bunch.

5. WestJet RBC World Elite MasterCard

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 annual companion fare, the $250 sign bonus, first bag free on WestJet flights is why this card makes this list. The main drawback of this card is that you are limited in your travel reward redemption options. You can only redeem for WestJet flights or vacation packages which means you won't use these rewards for flights to Australia yet. Nonetheless this is still a great MasterCard option and we know lots of you will choose this card for your Costco purchases to boost up your WestJet Rewards balance.

What about the Capital One® Platinum MasterCard® - Exclusively for Costco members

Although it isn't travel rewards related, the new Capital One® Platinum MasterCard® - Exclusively for Costco members is a essentially a cash back card that replaced the True Earnings Card from Costco and American Express. While it has some great cash back earnings for non Costco purchases, you will in fact only earn 0.5% to 1% back on your actual spending at Costco which is less than other cash back or travel rewards credit cards so that is why this card doesn't factor in as one of the best MasterCard cards to use at Costco.


Even if you have a MasterCard card that is not on this list but it earns rewards you are ahead of the game, it doesn't mean that your card is bad. It could very well be the right card for you or perhaps it is just OK and one of these will work better for you especially if you spend a lot at Costco stores. You should also take into account all your other purchasing and loyalty program miles/points accumulation before applying for a new card or jumping ship from the card you currently have.

What do you think of this list? Are any of these cards in your wallet? If not are you apt to choose one of them or will you go with another MasterCard card?


Care to comment on the Top 5 MasterCard Cards to use at Costco? Which of these cards do you use yourself? Do you have any other tips for our readers? Share you views and experiences below or on Facebook and Twitter!

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