In September, Costco raised the cost of its membership fees after keeping them steady for more than seven years. That took the cost of a Gold Star membership from $60 a year to $65, while the cost of an Executive membership rose from $120 to $130.
If you weren’t happy with that fee hike, you may have canceled your Costco membership. But here are a few reasons to reconsider — and pay the higher price to rejoin.
1. The savings on gas alone might pay for your membership fee
Canceling your Costco membership is the right move when you’re not going to use it. So if you’ve decided it doesn’t make sense for you to buy groceries in bulk, then you might assume there’s no sense in paying for Costco access.
But if you drive a car and live near a Costco, you can easily justify the cost of a membership with the savings you get on gas. Not only does Costco sell some of the cheapest gas in town, but its fuel is TOP TIER certified, which means it’s designed to clean your engine and lead to better performance.
Let’s say you put 12 gallons of gas in your car each week, and that filling up at Costco saves you $0.20 per gallon. That’s $2.40 in savings per week. And if you snag that savings for 52 weeks during the year, it’s a total of $130.
That covers the entire cost of an Executive membership. And it easily justifies a $65 Gold Star membership.
2. You can score discounted gift cards right in time for the holidays
If you’re scratching your head trying to figure out what gifts to give out this holiday season, you may want to turn to gift cards for simplicity. But if you’re going to hand out gift cards, you might as well spend less on them. And that’s where Costco comes in.
Costco carries a wide range of gift cards that are discounted below their face value. Some of the deals you’ll find now include:
- Four $25 Domino’s gift cards for $74.99
- Five $15 Subway gift cards for $59.99
- Four $15 Krispy Kreme gift cards for $44.99
If you have Costco’s Executive membership, gift card purchases score you 2% cash back on top of the savings you get from their discounted value.
And if you don’t want to pay for an Executive membership, you can still earn plenty of cash back at Costco by using the right credit card when you shop there. If you like the sound of that, check out this list of the best credit cards for Costco.
3. You can snag a great deal on your next vacation
You may not associate shopping at Costco with going on vacation. But did you know that Costco Travel offers a wide range of vacation packages at competitive prices?
When you book a Costco vacation, you get the benefit of seasoned travel professionals who can help you choose the right itinerary. And booking through Costco often means not just saving money on your travels but scoring extra perks, like free resort credits. If you’re able to save $200 on a vacation by booking it through Costco, that alone makes the case to pay the membership fee.
Nobody likes to see their expenses go up. So if your reaction to Costco’s September fee hike was to cancel your membership, that’s understandable. But given the benefits a Costco membership offers, you may want to reconsider and pay a slightly higher fee to avoid losing out on numerous perks like these.
