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Just buying gasoline at Costco is more than enough to pay back the membership fee in California. It’s about 50¢/gallon cheaper than other fuel in the same city.

gnicholas 4y ago
I used to think this. The Costco in Redwood City is a good deal compared to most stations, but the cheap station on Woodside Rd. (< 2 miles away) is basically the same price. It also never has long lines, which I often find at Costco.
- labster 4y ago
  I used to think it was false, and that the price drop wouldn’t pay for the extra distance to Costco, but times have changed since the invasion of Ukraine. It’s probably location dependent. I’m in Ventura County.
  - gnicholas 4y ago
    Good to know! I'm sure it varies by location, and it's also possible the quality that I'm getting at the no-name station is not as good.
lotsofpulp 4y ago
Costco gas is also Top Tier branded, and I trust Costco to maintain their equipment and tanks and source better quality gas than other independently owned stations.
- sammalloy 4y ago
  This is the primary reason I use Costco gas. I’ve had nothing but problems with bad gas from other companies in my area.
merlyn 4y ago
In Minnesota it is about $0.20 cheaper than the discount gas places. I'd definately pay $2.60 more to avoid the crazy people jamming Costco's parking lots trying to get that 20 cents off. I've narrowly avoided many people going anywhere they could at ramming speed while I was visiting a neighboring business. I now avoid their neighboring businesses on every weekend as I value my life and car to avoid that whole scene.
- sammalloy 4y ago
  > I'd definately pay $2.60 more to avoid the crazy people jamming Costco's parking lots trying to get that 20 cents off. It might have something to do with the age of their pumps. My Costco just put in new pumps and the long lines go really fast. I don’t know for sure what changed, but more people are tapping to pay now (or using the Costco keychain chip) and the pumps flow twice as fast than before. It has really made a noticeable difference. Before, I would spend 5-10 minutes in the line as well as pumping, and now it’s less than five minutes total when it’s busy.

gnicholas 4y ago

I used to think this. The Costco in Redwood City is a good deal compared to most stations, but the cheap station on Woodside Rd. (< 2 miles away) is basically the same price. It also never has long lines, which I often find at Costco.

labster 4y ago
I used to think it was false, and that the price drop wouldn’t pay for the extra distance to Costco, but times have changed since the invasion of Ukraine. It’s probably location dependent. I’m in Ventura County.
- gnicholas 4y ago
  Good to know! I'm sure it varies by location, and it's also possible the quality that I'm getting at the no-name station is not as good.

lotsofpulp 4y ago

Costco gas is also Top Tier branded, and I trust Costco to maintain their equipment and tanks and source better quality gas than other independently owned stations.

sammalloy 4y ago
This is the primary reason I use Costco gas. I’ve had nothing but problems with bad gas from other companies in my area.

merlyn 4y ago

In Minnesota it is about $0.20 cheaper than the discount gas places. I'd definately pay $2.60 more to avoid the crazy people jamming Costco's parking lots trying to get that 20 cents off. I've narrowly avoided many people going anywhere they could at ramming speed while I was visiting a neighboring business. I now avoid their neighboring businesses on every weekend as I value my life and car to avoid that whole scene.

sammalloy 4y ago
> I'd definately pay $2.60 more to avoid the crazy people jamming Costco's parking lots trying to get that 20 cents off. It might have something to do with the age of their pumps. My Costco just put in new pumps and the long lines go really fast. I don’t know for sure what changed, but more people are tapping to pay now (or using the Costco keychain chip) and the pumps flow twice as fast than before. It has really made a noticeable difference. Before, I would spend 5-10 minutes in the line as well as pumping, and now it’s less than five minutes total when it’s busy.