Originally Posted by
garykung
PenFed is a CU. Not everyone is qualified to get a card. I can't comment on US Bank because I don't know the exact conversion rate for cashback.
PenFed allows you to join without any other eligibility criteria via a one-time (not recurring) donation to the National Military Family Association ($20 donation) or a one-time donation to Voice's for America's troops ($15 donation).
USBank Altitude Go is 1cpp regardless of redemption method (travel, statement credit, etc.) which makes the 4pts/$ on restaurant/bar spend equivalent to 4% cashback.
5% gas cashback at Penfed > 4% on Costco, and 4% restaurant/bar cashback on Altitude Go > 3% on Costco.
Originally Posted by
garykung
Your premise fails because you focus entirely on Costco purchases only. If you spend wisely, for example, if your family has multiple cars and you use Costco Visa for fuel only, it has a 4% cashback that can easily to make even with the $60 membership fee (Note - the card does not have an annual fee. It is Costco charging the membership fee.)
Either way if you don't visit a Costco, it costs you $60 to hold this card. The moment your costco membership lapses, the account terminates. If you have no use to shop at a Costco in real life, it costs an effective $60/yr (plus sales tax on the membership as applicable) to continue holding the card.
Per point
#1 - if you're not looking to shop at Costco, there are cards that offer superior gas/dining cashback with no annual fee as well (and without requiring you to buy a membership that you wouldn't ostensibly use in any way in this hypothetical).
Originally Posted by
garykung
I was told there is a way to cash out the cashback without going Costco.
The terms of the certificate is:
Originally Posted by Citi terms for Costco visa
Credit card reward certificates may be redeemed for merchandise or cash back at any U.S. Costco warehouse, including Puerto Rico. Requests to redeem the certificate for cash may be fulfilled in an alternative form (e.g., a check or electronic transfer), at Costco’s discretion.
The underlined part is key because normally these cut with the Feb statement and Costco expects you to come in to redeem them. With COVID this year, Costco generally chose to allow any member who requested a check be mailed instead to have that done, but historically (from what I have heard) this is not something they generally honor.