Costco Gas? Real Savings?

[FriscoTXJoe]

Do the math.

If it's a 5 cents a gallon savings and you use 12 gallons a week, you saved $32. That pays for half your card. I guarantee you will save the other half inside Costco. The gas station is just a service to the members, just like the food court and a few other areas.

Wait till you see what's inside.

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[brnpttmn]

Do the math.

If it's a 5 cents a gallon savings and you use 12 gallons a week, you saved $32. That pays for half your card. I guarantee you will save the other half inside Costco. The gas station is just a service to the members, just like the food court and a few other areas.

Wait till you see what's inside.

Minus the amount of gas / time you spend getting there if it's out of the way. It's 20 mile round trip for me, so about a half gallon in my Hybrid Mav. @ $3/gallon I'm losing $0.20 on a 13 gallon fill up to make the trip. Costco's about an every 6 week trip for me. If I'm under half a tank and there's no more than a one car line I'll fill up when I'm there.

 

[pxpaulx]

You have to be a member to buy gift cards from Costco... Not to redeem them. You can buy discounted gift cards from Amy of the gift card exchanges like gift card granny, etc.

Yes the totally above board money laundering, ahem, gift card exchanges.

 

[DonaldD]

For those who are Costco members & buy gas there, what are you finding as the average savings per gallon compared to your local stations? (interested in all grades of gas)

They just opened a new Costco close to me, and I'm considering a membership just to access their gas pumps, as I've heard they are consistently cheaper than regular gas stations. Just wondering if others have found this beneficial?

in Central California it’s about 20-25 cents less and if you have the Costco Visa, you get up to 4% cash back. I don’t gas anywhere else unless I have to.

 

[FriscoTXJoe]

Minus the amount of gas / time you spend getting there if it's out of the way. It's 20 mile round trip for me, so about a half gallon in my Hybrid Mav. @ $3/gallon I'm losing $0.20 on a 13 gallon fill up to make the trip. Costco's about an every 6 week trip for me. If I'm under half a tank and there's no more than a one car line I'll fill up when I'm there.

I live 1 mile away. Even if it were 20 miles, Costco without the gas station pays for itself. That's why it's an international sensation. Truly the only membership program I know of that works so well.

 

[dalola]

Well, according to Gas Buddy (Thanks JAS! ), this new Costco is 11 cents cheaper for 87, and 45 cents cheaper for 93, compared to my local Kroger today. I'll watch it for a couple weeks, to see if the savings is pretty consistent. If so, I'll most likely join.

Thanks to all who have shared experiences so far!

 

[bgn]

Premium near me at Costco is $4.09.

At the nearest Shell, it's $4.57 and Arco $4.27.

I got a membership mostly for the gas.

 

[C J Cox]

Been a Costco member since July 1987. I would not recommend purchasing a membership strictly to buy gas.

Friday I bought gas $3.289 there and the Marathon station less than 1 mile from my home advertised unleaded reg $3.479 cash/credit.

Only buy gas when I shop at the store and after I buy a hot dog and Pepsi from the Food Court for $1.50.

The Costcos in my area only accept credit/debit Cards for payment on gas purchases.

Another consideration is a Costco Visa that provides 4% of gas purchases (and different % for other purchases) toward an annual reward certificate. I redeemed mine Friday and it covered the cost of a whole beef tenderloin. I use the card to pay annual property tax, car insurance, homeowner insurance, etc.

Check out Costco Travel for rental car rates from 4 different companies. Never been able to beat the rates anywhere else.

If you drink and your Costco sells alcohol, savings on Kirkland Signature adult beverages is significant. Me, I have to drive to the tax-free Costco in Christiania DE once or twice per year for Kirkland wine and Vodka. No hot dog and a Pepsi there because on the return trip, slight detour to Capriotti’s in Elkton MD for a Bobby sandwich.

Edited to add: Return policy is best of all retail stores.

 

[NJ Pinelands]

Anyone know where Costco gets their gas ? Is it from Exxon, ConocoPhillips, Gulf, etc. or is from Joes refinery? I never noticed a difference in a car, but when I would use Wawa gas in my motorcycle it would sputter once in a while. Didn’t do it with brands.

 

[Chris_G]

How do you get a Costco FOB to pay for gas? I think it's called Costco pay?

 

[Rob Daman]

I hit costco gas off hours so I don't wait 20 minutes to pump so that's when it's worth it.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Emmmm, Costco chicken. *drool*

How can something so cheap be so good?

https://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/22311-costcos-rotisserie-chicken-plant-proof-of-concept

 

[Watchman]

Because they inject it with their secret Juice

Yeah, that's why you'll need more toilet paper!

 

[Watchman]

In Los Angeles, the average Costco's regular gas price is $4.30-$4.40. Everywhere else, it's almost $5/gallon if not like $5.05/gallon.

If you fill up 13 gallons every 2 weeks, that's about $15 in savings per month. Double that if you fill up once a week.

$180 in savings per year if you fill up once every 2 weeks, $360 in savings yearly for 1 week fill ups.

Another cool benefit of Costco is free nitrogen tire fill stations outside of the tire center. Most locations have them now. (No, you can't park, completely drain your tires and fill them with nitrogen, the machines wont turn on unless they detect at least 20psi of pressure.)

Also, Costco gas was recently listed as a Top Tier gasoline, they were not previously.

FYI - not all Top Tier gas is the same. For me, it has nothing to due with octane, it's about detergent for all my engines.

 

[mla_anderson]

Right now most stations near me are $3.39, Costco is $3.14. That's $0.25 cheaper. If the average American drives 14K miles a year then that's a savings of $134.61 per year for Ecoboost and $94.59 per year for Hybrid. Costco memberships cost $60 a year.

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