Costco’s best kept secret is saving travelers thousands — but most members walk right past it
Costco's image among consumers is that of a retail chain that offers deals on groceries and food items along with generous return policies. It offers the $1.50 hot dog and soda combo as well as the $4.99 rotisserie chicken, which are the most popular among members. However, not many people are aware that the retailer also sells affordable travel packages. Unfortunately, these deals are not advertised all that well.
Around 25 years ago, Costco Travel was born, and today it has more than 800 in-house agents, 13 buyers, and five call centres. The retailer comes out with a travel brochure three times a year, which runs close to 80 pages today. But the travel deals that the retailer offers are usually found near store exits, as per a report in The Wall Street Journal. But that doesn’t mean Costco Travel is not doing well.
The report also states that U.S. Costco members booked more than $100 million in travel in the five days after Thanksgiving, up 12% from a year ago. It also claims that annual gross bookings run in billions of dollars. These services cannot be compared to those offered by travel agencies, but the company is working on expanding its roster of flights, hotels, and tour packages.
At the moment, Costco only sells airline tickets as part of a package, and not every airline is available. Rental car services are only offered through four providers, which are Alamo, Avis, Budget, and Enterprise. Customers can book vacation packages in Hawaii, the Caribbean, Mexico, Florida, Las Vegas, and other destinations, but only at select resorts. The pre-existing condition to avail these deals is that one has to be a Costco member.
The retailer offers travel packages to European destinations as well as some great prices. The good thing is that even though the services are not too vast, the retailer knows exactly what it is good at and focuses on improving that experience for customers. “We know who we are. We know what we do well,” said Chris Hendrix, assistant vice president and general merchandise manager of Costco Travel.
The retailer has received glowing reviews from many clients who were pleasantly surprised at the services they got for the price they paid. One of them was a woman named Sandy Georgitsis, who had booked a 10-day anniversary and milestone birthday trip to Hawaii in 2024. She only had to pay $4,300 for two, including flights from Chicago, a rental car, a beachfront hotel, and all taxes and fees.
“The price was jaw-dropping. I honestly couldn’t believe it,” she said. The customer also revealed that she was weighing up her Costco Travel options for a trip to Europe.
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