Is Using Costco Travel Worth It For Booking Your Next Getaway?

Many Costco members know that an annual membership unlocks cheaper gas, eye exams, and game-changing travel equipment like this affordable camping essential. One lesser-known perk of your membership, though, is the Costco Travel booking platform. If you're a member, you may have seen Costco Travel in-store brochures advertising trips and vacations to beautiful resorts with a splash of vitamin sea; however, Costco Travel is more than a discount on your getaway or vacation package. The full site helps members build key parts of their travel itinerary, whether they are booking a rental car or hotel, searching for that perfect cruise, or planning a package tour to Orlando, the Caribbean, Europe, or Fiji, to name a few. Additionally, members with an Executive Membership or Costco Citi credit card can earn up to 5% in rewards and cash back on their Costco Travel purchases.

Costco Travel states its products and services are backed and chosen by Costco Travel experts and carry the same quality and savings that are found in store. Costco includes the full price up front, doesn't charge any additional booking fees, and, on some bookings or itineraries, includes additional extras such as free nights, resort or parking fees that would normally cost hundreds of dollars, or a digital Costco shop card (store credit) worth as much as $2,000. And if you need a quick dose of sun, Costco also sells last-minute travel getaways to the Caribbean, Florida, and Hawaii, to name just some of the options (with much of the legwork done for you). Some packages also include the option to book flights through Costco Travel, though Costco Travel does not sell flights alone.

Outside of package trips, Costco Travel can unlock excellent value for travelers who are looking to go it alone and book a rental car or hotel (or a hotel and flight package). If you're booking a car, it doesn't hurt to take a minute and check the rates through Costco Travel, which, from our experience (and according to several Redditors), can save you a ton of money and is generally cheaper than advertised prices on major online travel agencies. Cars booked on Costco Travel are provided through Alamo, Budget, Avis, and Enterprise and include a second driver, as well as a discount on insurance for the vehicle, if it's not included through your car insurance policy or credit card. Even after you've reserved your wheels, there is generally no cancellation fee on cars booked through Costco Travel, meaning that you can cancel and take advantage of the savings if you happen to find a lower price.

If you're looking to save on hotel bookings, check Costco Travel before booking; you may save hundreds of dollars on accommodation compared to major online travel agencies. For example, if you are planning to visit Las Vegas over New Year's, a week-long booking from December 26 through January 3 at the ARIA Resort on Expedia showed a total price of $3,168. However, when booked through Costco Travel, the total comes out to approximately $2,695, including all fees. Further, Costco Travel includes a $150 food credit at the resort. If you'd like to book a tour on top of the hotel, Costco offers discounted options as well. A Gray Line Hoover Dam coach tour, for example, is a few dollars cheaper through Costco and bookable when making your reservation.

Like shopping in store, Costco's overall brand selection is relatively limited to a handful of companies in the travel industry. While many of them, such as Hyatt, Accor, and Disney, are name brands, each company's full product or service catalog may have limited availability or not be available in all markets, and only World of Hyatt members will be able to earn points toward loyalty status on bookings from the Costco Travel platform. Even if you try to "Build Your Own Trip" through the Costco Travel platform, you can tailor the order and length of stay to some degree but are limited to available hotels and cities. Along the same lines, cruises and fully guided tours to exotic destinations, including Italy, Japan, China, Botswana, and Spain, are somewhat limited in access from all available itineraries from Contiki, Trafalgar, Lion World Travel, and Insight Vacations, though they do come with members-only pricing.

While Costco Travel is transparent about the full price, it normally does not give you a total breakdown of how much each part of your trip package costs. If you are adding a flight to your package, it may be hard to judge whether you are getting the cheapest flights for your trip (though you do gain the convenience of having everything booked in one place). Travelers who are looking for the cheapest flights should try this affordable flight finding hack, especially if you're not fully ready to book. Should something come up between your booking date and departure time, Costco Travel provides a clear timeline for canceling your booking, in some cases up to one hour before departure, though you'll have to work with its agents to make certain changes to your booking.