Does Costco save you money on travel

[Tigger2ntinkerbell]

I'm trying decided if it's worth it to join.
Do you get good rates on hotel(packages or room only), airfare??, car rental?, All inclusive?.
We go to Orlando(dvc members), but looking at other places to go, maybe stay at Universal

We've been on the Disney Dream(Loved it), been on Carnival(9 years- bad experience-bad food, nasty pool area, smoking was everywhere).

Let me know how you like it or not. TIA

 

[tink89]

The only time i book with Costco is when traveling to Disneyland. It comes out to about the same as the Disney site but with extras. Like free premium dining.

 

[davper]

I use Costco for my rental car. I find the bets rates here and get a free 2nd driver and easy cancel if I find a better deal.

Without the rental, I would cancel my membership because it is too far out of the way and close early on weekends.

 

[ADisneyFamilyof5]

We used Costco to book our Disneyland trip in May. We stayed onsite and it was the same price Disney offered but with premium dining vouchers included (over $200 value for us). We would definitely use them again when booking a package.

 

[havaneselover]

I'm getting $680 in a Costco cash card back for our Alaska cruise (granted it's for two staterooms and Alaska cruises on Disney are expensive). No other TA gives this much back to my knowledge. I'm also getting an additional 2% back as an Executive Member. So another $160. Also, they usually have very good car rental rates.

But I belong because of their chickens

 

[Tigger2ntinkerbell]

I'm getting $680 in a Costco cash card back for our Alaska cruise (granted it's for two staterooms and Alaska cruises on Disney are expensive). No other TA gives this much back to my knowledge. I'm also getting an additional 2% back as an Executive Member. So another $160. Also, they usually have very good car rental rates.

But I belong because of their chickens

What is Costco cash card??

 

[havaneselover]

What is Costco cash card??

It's a card they give you after travel (instead of an onboard credit). So for Disney Cruise, it's generally 8% of the cruise fare. Even if you are transferring an onboard booking.

 

[pearlieq]

I find they're usually the best deal for cruises. We usually get a better fare than via booking direct, plus more onboard credit or Costco cash card (gift card for Costco you get as a travel reward for booking with them). Their rental car rates are usually among the lowest as well. We've found them very friendly and easy to work with too!

 

[cvjw]

And if you book your Disney Cruise with them and pay with their credit card, you get another 3% back. Add that to the 2% back for being an executive member and 8% back in a Costco gift card - it really adds up. We got over $1200 back on our last disney Cruise.

We have also booked an all inclusive vacation thru them. We got a very competitive rate using them.

I think they only book airfare as an add on to other travel booked thru them.

 

[havaneselover]

And if you book your Disney Cruise with them and pay with their credit card, you get another 3% back. Add that to the 2% back for being an executive member and 8% back in a Costco gift card - it really adds up. We got over $1200 back on our last disney Cruise.

We have also booked an all inclusive vacation thru them. We got a very competitive rate using them.

I think they only book airfare as an add on to other travel booked thru them.

Just my opinion but I’d pay with gift card (if you don’t mind the hassle) or my chase sapphire reserve before my Costco visa. I saved about $2,000 paying for Alaska with gift cards.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Yes. It saves!

 

[platamama]

I'm getting $680 in a Costco cash card back for our Alaska cruise (granted it's for two staterooms and Alaska cruises on Disney are expensive). No other TA gives this much back to my knowledge. I'm also getting an additional 2% back as an Executive Member. So another $160. Also, they usually have very good car rental rates.

But I belong because of their chickens

Just my opinion but I’d pay with gift card (if you don’t mind the hassle) or my chase sapphire reserve before my Costco visa. I saved about $2,000 paying for Alaska with gift cards.

Do you get either the Costco Cash card or the 1.5x UR redemption through CSR? I assume you can't get both since either Costco Travel or Chase/Expedia is your travel agency. Basically, what I'm asking is can you book through Costco and get the cash card and then transfer to UR to use UR points for the rest? Nice job with the gift cards!

 

[AlohaNow]

A big yes to cost savings with Costco Travel! They are my go-to for car rentals. Something to note is that even though there is not a spot to input a frequent flier affiliation when reserving a car, if you give your FF number at the desk when you are picking up the car, you can typically get the miles. (This is true for at least SW.) We used them for our last DLR package as well. We each thoroughly enjoyed our $50 a head dinner at Blue Bayou, compliments of Costco Travel! You do not have to use the character meal vouchers for character meals, any meal res will do, you just cannot receive any change back. Work that benefit!

I always said that for our next cruise I would use Costco, but I ended up going with Expedia through UPromise for the college cash back, as it beat the Costco cash card. But this being our first Royal cruise, I did not realize all the add-ons and specialty dining that costs extra, some of which would have been included through Costco. Now I believe that Costco may have been the better deal *if* just adults were cruising. We got kids sail free through Royal/Expedia, which I have never seen Costco offer.

 

[havaneselover]

Do you get either the Costco Cash card or the 1.5x UR redemption through CSR? I assume you can't get both since either Costco Travel or Chase/Expedia is your travel agency. Basically, what I'm asking is can you book through Costco and get the cash card and then transfer to UR to use UR points for the rest? Nice job with the gift cards!

Right. If you use Costco you cannot book through the UR portal. But if you pay with csr, you get 3% back (worth 4.5% when redeemed for travel) plus decent trip insurance.

 

[bigmama67]

I haven't used them for travel much, but we are about to go to Orlando for 11 days and the total car rental will be $500 for a midsize. I'm happy with that!

 

[cvjw]

Just my opinion but I’d pay with gift card (if you don’t mind the hassle) or my chase sapphire reserve before my Costco visa. I saved about $2,000 paying for Alaska with gift cards.

I have considered doing this. But in the end, I have decided that the hassle of using $9500 worth of gift cards isn’t worth it to us to save 2%. Just in case we had to cancel, I would not want to be stuck with all those gift cards!

I do however go to the trouble of buying Disney gift cards to save a little money when paying for our dvc dues

 

[PatMcDuck]

Great savings on car rentals.

 

[havaneselover]

I have considered doing this. But in the end, I have decided that the hassle of using $9500 worth of gift cards isn’t worth it to us to save 2%. Just in case we had to cancel, I would not want to be stuck with all those gift cards!

I do however go to the trouble of buying Disney gift cards to save a little money when paying for our dvc dues

I agree. I’ve bought over $10,000 for Alaska—averaging over 20% not 5% discount.

 

[platamama]

I agree. I’ve bought over $10,000 for Alaska—averaging over 20% not 5% discount.

Do you combine all your Disney gcs onto one card, then use that card to pay down your account with Disney after you've made your initial deposit?

 

[DizneyLizzy]

Do all Costco’s have Disney gift cards? I’ve never seen them at mine.