On April 1st I bought a $25 Costco Cash card on Costco.com with one of my 3 Freedom Visa cards. The charge finally posted to my account and I can confirm that it earned 5 points per dollar:
While you can use any card type to shop on Costco.com, you won’t be able to use a Visa in Costco stores until 6/20 when Costco switches from AMEX only to Visa only. But you can buy cash cards online with free shipping and use those in Costco stores.
Be sure not to wait until the end of June to try this, as it took a week for Costco to actually make the charge.
You can click here to activate this quarter’s Chase Freedom 5% categories.
Chase Freedom is an excellent no annual fee card thanks to its quarterly 5% categories. While they call it 5% cash back, you’ll really get 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent which can be worth much more than 5% cash. For $1,500 in spending per quarter you will earn at least 30,000 Ultimate Rewards points over the course of a year (7,500 points per quarter at 5 points per dollar spent).
While Chase Freedom is a great card for the bonus categories, it’s not a great card for everyday spending. However the brand new Chase Freedom Unlimited® card is excellent for everyday spending.
2016 Chase Freedom bonus categories:
Q1: Gas stations and local commuter transportation
Q2: Grocery stores and wholesale clubs like BJs and Sams Club. Effective 6/20 Costco will also start accepting Visa cards and should qualify as a wholesale club.
Q3: Restaurants and more to be announced.
Q4: Holiday shopping (Likely Amazon.com and more to be announced)
Freedom alone can’t transfer points into much more lucrative airline or hotel miles, but if you or your spouse has a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Ink Plus card then you can transfer points from Freedom to one of those cards and from there to your favorite travel currency. You can read at the end of this post which currencies they can transfer to and why those points are much more valuable than just taking cash back. The Freedom card can also keep your points alive for free if you do close one of those cards.
The value of the points will be based on where you use them, but if you use those points for a trip worth where they are worth 2 cents each then you’ll have effectively earned 10% back on those “5 point categories.” The sky is the limit of the value of airline miles as they aren’t tied to the cost of a ticket. That’s good for people in the know and bad for those who are not. 1 mile can be worth 0.25 cents or it can be worth 25 cents, it all just depends on how you use them!
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22 Comments On "Confirmed: Freedom Q2 Bonus Works At Costco"
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Lol. We have a lurking redditor among us. 😛
Do they sell any GC’s?
Is the $1500 quarterly spending max total per account, or is it an additional $1500 per authorized user?
Is costco cash only valid in costco clubs?
Will the US cards work in Canada?
Yes, I made a legitimate order on Costco.com and got 5 points per dollar, was wondering what about cash cards, and you gave me the answer!
@L:
?
@Moshe:
Yes.
@Avi:
Per account.
@Rubu:
Either online or in-store.
@abraham:
Yes.
I wish I had a problem figuring out a way to spend $1,500 on groceries over the course of THREE MONTHS.
Just the basic Pesach shopping at the local kosher supermarket will earn me the maximum bonus 🙂
@Zack:
Better off using Everyday Preferred for groceries and Freedom for Costco.
Besides, I still have SBS credits at my kosher grocery store.
U forgot to right that only a member would be able to make a purchase to buy costco cards, ur posts seems to be anyone can buy and get free shipping! (u mean to write someone can purchase it for you)
Will there be an exchange though? Or is a $25 card worth 25 Canadian?
If there is an exchange, will that change daily as the exchange rates change or will it be stuck at what the exchange was on the day I made the purchase?
@member:
Any member can use your credit card and then you can shop in a Costco store with that card even without a membership.
@abraham:
I’d assume there’s a daily exchange rate, but call your local Costco store in Canada and ask exactly how it works.
should i do a PC from slate (as i dont think i will get thru the 5/24)? if i do will i be able to apply and get the bonus after a while?
is there a way to see on freedom how much points you’ve amassed so far for the quarter?
Since when does costco take visa credit cards?
I actually just called my local Costco and they said it cannot be used at all.
I protested saying that a man who “knows his stuff” said it CAN be used. Was then transferred to a manager who confirmed it can indeed be used and that the exchange is calculated every day.
@yid: yes
https://ultimaterewardspoints.chase.com/home?AI=440208267&jp_ltg=URtextlink
You can actually buy online using Visa on Cosctos website
@Dan:
Does a meat order from Kol Foods and wine order from onlinekosherwine count as groceries?
Just an FYI for executive members: Costco cash cards are not eligible for 2% cash back rewards.
@Y Y Shraga:
Costco.com, always.
In stores effective 6/20.
@abraham:
😀
@natig:
Test it for a small purchase to find out.
@Josh:
You get the 2% when you use the cash cards to buy other items.
Can I buy GC’s from Bj’s to get the %5 and then use the gc’s at bj’s gas station(- gas at %5 is more useful for me)?