Costco Membership - Over $50 in Savings - New Members Only

The rotisserie chicken is disgusting.

Quote from xNico : Friend bought over a seasoned rotisserie chicken from costco today and I loved it. For the price and health benefits(besides the high sodium?) I could eat this almost every day! May bite on this deal just for the chicken alone, and a few other stuff.

Looking forward to trying the seasoned chicken.

Quote from JennyQ : Not sure how it works, but my husband gets about 10 cents off a gallon of gas at Ralphs and the gas lines at either Costco around here are horrendous. (He does all the grocery shopping so I'll have to ask). Just two of us but we buy lots of stuff at Costco. We just had their orange chicken tonight - yummy stuff. Good thing I don't need to lose weight cause their cookies are beyond delicious. I finally told him not to buy them even if I plead since I can polish off a box of them in a week. I can't imagine how many calories are in each one. Damn, wish I had a choc chipper right now. And the muffins are insane. Crap, now I need to go see whats up in the kitchen when I really should be going to bed!

There is a coupon for $3 off the chocolate Chunk cookies. The expiration date for those is ALWAYS within 5 days. Like a fool I bought a 24 pack with my first set of coupons from Costco. I found out that these things are HABIT FORMING! I learned to keep them in the freezer and thaw out ONE AT A TIME in a ziploc bag, or I would be Precious like . They will keep for MONTHS in the freezer, but the original package takes up a lot of space.

I use a Penfed Visa which discounts 5% For Gasoline, I have yet to get an American Express card, because I have always had something better. I hav not seen Costco Gasoline cheap enough to beat my 5% on Sam's Club or other brands of gasoline.

Quote from bgammill : I use a Penfed Visa which discounts 5% For Gasoline, I have yet to get an American Express card, because I have always had something better. I hav not seen Costco Gasoline cheap enough to beat my 5% on Sam's Club or other brands of gasoline.

I have the same issue, I use the same Penfed Visa for gas. I can't believe Costco won't take a Visa at the pump. With that 5% cash back Costco can't touch the price when I fill up at Sam's. Heck anywhere is cheaper with that 5% (gas currently at $2.95 so with 5% I am only paying $2.80).

Good news is if I don't think I'll shop here too much I can always cancel my membership in December for a full refund.

Quote from BitterYouth : I've always wondered whether a Costco membership is worth it for a single, young grad student. Thoughts?

You can probably get the membership fee back just on the alchohol purchases!

Quote from unikorn : I have been a costco member for 7+ years. Thinking of upgrading to Executive since I probably spend $2500 in-store and $1200 on gas. I get some cashback from Amex BlueCard but it might just be 1%. Any other advantages of executive membership besides the 2% cashback? Is it worth the upgrade?

Just as a heads up, gas purchases don't count towards your Executive rebates.

"In the U.S., Reward is not calculated: (i) on purchases of cigarettes or tobacco-related products, gasoline, Costco Cash Cards, postage stamps, alcoholic beverages in certain states (including Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan), and at food courts; (ii) on membership fees; (iii) on purchases not recorded through Costco's front-end registers...."

Description by OP is incredibly confusing. Do we sign up for the Executive or Gold or what?

Quote from BitterYouth : I've always wondered whether a Costco membership is worth it for a single, young grad student. Thoughts?

If costco sells beer where you live, the savings might be worth it!

Quote from niceshoes : Where I live (soCal), it's worth it for the gas savings alone. Not sure if that applies to you or not.

Worth checking out, many states require costco to allow anyone to buy gas from them.

Also something to note. If you know someone with a costco membership, you can have them buy costco gift cards online. Costco allows anyone with gift card to shop, though a friend of mine said that they require you to forfeit your GC when you check out and they give you the change. Might be a reasonable CC points churning opportunities. Though, if you are a costco member, this might make returns difficult if you don't hold onto the receipts, like me, since it won't be included in your account history.


AND during a recent costco trip during the holidays, they were pushing the executive membership advertising that if you don't earn more than $55 from the 2% CB, you can go to member services and ask for a refund for the difference making the executive membership "risk free". Worth asking about.

Quote from greenjelly01 : If costco sells beer where you live, the savings might be worth it!

Like.

Quote from unikorn : I have been a costco member for 7+ years. Thinking of upgrading to Executive since I probably spend $2500 in-store and $1200 on gas. I get some cashback from Amex BlueCard but it might just be 1%. Any other advantages of executive membership besides the 2% cashback? Is it worth the upgrade?

You should consider getting the costco amex card. free with exec membership, and much better rewards esp @ costco (plus 3% cb on gas).

For those who don't have a membership, jump on it. Costco is the ultimate slickdeal: free samples and $1.50 hot dog/soda combos. Enough said.

Quote from greenjelly01 : You should consider getting the costco amex card. free with exec membership, and much better rewards esp @ costco (plus 3% cb on gas).

I thought it was still just 1% CB at Costco for the card.

Quote from unikorn : I have been a costco member for 7+ years. Thinking of upgrading to Executive since I probably spend $2500 in-store and $1200 on gas. I get some cashback from Amex BlueCard but it might just be 1%. Any other advantages of executive membership besides the 2% cashback? Is it worth the upgrade?

The most obvious benefit for you would be the $74 cashback rebate ($3700*2%) which would make the annual fee $36 ($110-$74) instead of the basic $55 fee. I'm an executive member and spend enough to pay for my annual fee with my rebate so it was a no-brainer for me too. Also, as an exceutive member you can receive special discounts and/or Costco gift cards for some larger purchases (travel, cars, etc) and services (insurance, refinancing, loans, etc.). Hope that helps.

Quote from joedaark : For those who don't have a membership, jump on it. Costco is the ultimate slickdeal: free samples and $1.50 hot dog/soda combos. Enough said.

LOL - BTW, you don't have to be a member to take advantage of either of those things.

Quote from joedaark : For those who don't have a membership, jump on it. Costco is the ultimate slickdeal: free samples and $1.50 hot dog/soda combos. Enough said.

Meh.. Costco isn't the deal it used to be... I was a member back in the Price Club Days (Price Club WAS the Slickest of Deals). Costco lives off the fact people don't shop. Many times you'll find better deals if you look around. Also Costco sells stuff "made to Costco standards". Basically Stripped Down...

It's REALLY annoying how they push the Executive Membership, and tell you that you'll get the money back if you don't save it... (except there are exceptions... which they'll use when you try to ask about it... I calculated that I only saved $20 with it once, and they basically fired back that I "saved" money using their gas... Which as someone else stated isn't any cheaper than Arco/Safeway, etc...

Anyhow, I didn't renew last year... I do have Sams... it's cheaper, the pricing is basically the same or better. Sams is more of a stock-up store... Costco sells a lot of the designer (of course made to Costco specs) one-time buy store.

Basically... If I see something at Costco, I'll just have a friend get me in... in 18 months without... I havent found anything I couldn't find at Sams or Amazon, or elsewhere for less.