I shop at Costco almost every week. This makes sense for me because I have a family of five, and we therefore tend to go through a lot of food.
Since Costco tends to have the cheapest gas in my area, I’ll often make a point to time my shopping to when my tank is getting low. See, it doesn’t necessarily make sense for me to drive miles out of my way to get to Costco for a cheaper fill-up — not in my gas-gulping minivan. But if I’m going to the store already, then filling up before my shopping run takes care of another errand and lets me benefit from Costco’s low fuel prices.
However, there’s one super disappointing thing I’ve discovered about buying gas at Costco. And it’s something you should know about so you can work around it.
A major Costco letdown
The lines at Costco’s gas stations tend to be long, so I find that it generally takes a few extra minutes to fill up my car there than at regular fuel stations in town. Even worse, that’s not the most disappointing thing about getting gas at Costco. Rather, it’s the lack of cash back for Executive members.
Costco sells two membership tiers. The basic (Gold Star) membership currently costs $60 per year, while the Executive membership costs $120 per year. Come Sept. 1, these fees are rising by $5 and $10, respectively, bringing the cost of a basic Costco membership up to $65 and an Executive membership up to $130.
Costco customers are often willing to pay double for an Executive membership because it offers 2% cash back on store purchases as well as those made online. But that cash back offer does not extend to gas at Costco fuel stations.
How to make your own cash back deal
It’s a bummer that Costco’s Executive membership doesn’t reward drivers at the pump, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get cash back in another way.
If you make a point to fill up your car using a credit card with great gas rewards, you might manage to score more than 2% back on your fill-ups. It pays to shop around for a new credit card if all of the ones you have don’t reward you beyond the 1% mark.
It’s also worth seeing if any fuel stations in your area offer a deep discount for paying in cash. Say you have a credit card that gives you 2% back at the pump. With a $40 fill-up, that’s $0.80 back in your pocket. But if that $40 represents 11 gallons of gas, and there’s a station that will give you $0.10 off per gallon by paying cash, then you stand to save $1.10, which is a better deal than getting $0.80 back.
All told, it bugs me that Costco doesn’t offer cash back at the pump for Executive members — namely, because I’d stand to collect a lot of it if that were the case. But that doesn’t mean you should stop filling up at Costco. Rather, do so with a credit card whose rewards include cash back. Also, don’t discount the idea of seeking out cash discounts that reward you financially even more.
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