Confession time: until February of 2018, I had never set foot in a Costco. I also had no idea that Costco had a travel agency. I shared my review of our Hawaii resort here, and I mentioned that we booked this trip through Costco Travel. So why Costco?
Costco gave us the best bang for our buck. Costco Travel’s website looks like a lot of other travel sites: you pick your destination, you can sort by flights or combo packages like flights and hotels, and you can filter your results by price, ranking, etc. Costco Travel included the best perks for the trip packages that we looked at (the waived resort fee, an included rental car, and resort credits).
I compared the price of Costco membership to different travel agencies, and it made sense to pay to save several hundred dollars. Costco offers the standard $60 membership or the $120 executive membership. We opted for the $120 executive membership because that membership includes 2% cash back on all of your purchases during the year. If you don’t earn $60 in cash back over the year, they refund it. We knew we would probably earn that $60 differential on this trip alone, so we bought the more expensive membership. Costco Travel does offer travel agents via chat with if you have questions about their services and packages.
Booking the trip was super easy. When you search for trip dates, your results include default rooms at each resort and flights options. You can change those and add on any other services your resort may offer (like pre-paying for on-property breakfast). Most of the rooms tend to be more expensive upgrades. You can find cheaper or more expensive flights depending on the itinerary you want.
Definitely check out the resort’s website and review sites like TripAdvisor before booking any add-ons to look for better deals. From there, you verify the room information, your flights, and any other items included in your package. You do have to create a Costco Travel account to finish booking, so be sure to have your membership number handy. You enter your traveler information and your credit card, and your next vacation is booked! I appreciated how easy this process was.
One final note: you can’t earn frequent flier miles or hotel rewards with Costco Travel. After I booked the trip, I received the itinerary which listed confirmation numbers for our flights and the rental car. I synced this trip with my Delta account to access seat upgrades and boarding passes, but I didn’t receive frequent flier miles for it.
Have you booked a vacation through Costco Travel?
*This is not a sponsored post. We paid for this trip out-of-pocket, and all opinions are my own.*
Catch up on our trip to Hawaii: Our Oahu eats | Honolulu Zoo and the Waikiki Aquarium | The Dole Plantation | Pearl Harbor | Cruising with Hawaii Duck Tours | Iolani Palace | Hiking through Waimea Valley | Kayaking with Turtles in Kawela Bay | The Polynesian Cultural Center
