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It's too bad there's no API to find the current wait time at the Costco gas station. I'm not going to spend an extra hour of my day to save $5.

by jerlam 1mo ago

lafond 1mo ago
If only they exposed this data!! Would have been so fun adding the display to the site
deleted 1mo ago
[deleted]
dominotw 1mo ago
i go befoe costoco opens at 7am . they have different timings.
- caminante 1mo ago
  Or don't go at 9AM with the Executive rush. Wait 30m.
  - phil21 1mo ago
    Doesn’t matter at all for my local Costco. It’s busy open to close with very little variance. The only times I’ve seen it relatively empty were during bad storms. That said, it’s not an hour wait. Around 20 minutes is average, but I rarely fill up there since I value my time much more than that.
    - jerlam 1mo ago
      I don't live at Costco so it's going to be 30 minutes just back and forth. My Costco does have quieter times, but then I have to plan around it. It never made the slightest bit of sense to make a separate trip for $5.
Sohcahtoa82 1mo ago
[dead]
ButlerianJihad 1mo ago
Just wait until you have an EV! Then you will get to wait in line for an outlet, and then wait while the electrons trickle into your tank! Good times.
- jerlam 1mo ago
  There's no line in my garage. Also most of the public chargers are networked, so you know when they are busy.
- 1970-01-01 1mo ago
  Let's nevermind this nonsense about waiting in lines.. I want to know more about what is happening to electrons after they trickle into your tank. Where do they end up when you go for a drive? Are we pumping them back into the air?
- powerbroker 1mo ago
  90% of my EV sessions are at home, at a personal time commitment of 5 seconds to open the charging hatch and plug-in. Maybe 5% of my EV charges take 30 minutes while I'm enjoying a meal or ... wasting time waiting in the car for it to complete at a fast 200 kW charge rate.
plandis 1mo ago
Does it routinely take an hour to get gas at Costco near you? Even when the lines are at capacity the Costco I go to (north of Seattle in Shoreline), I never wait more than like five minutes.
BeetleB 1mo ago
There was a blog post around 10 years ago where someone did the math and found the extra wait wasn't worth the savings if you value your time. For me, locally, there's a grocery store chain that also has gas stations. If you are a member (which is free), you get a discounted rate on gas - usually only 3-5 cents more per gallon than Costco. And if you do enough groceries in a 3 month period, you occasionally get an additional 10-20 cents off your next filling, which makes it cheaper than Costco. They're also open a lot more hours than Costco gas. And their lines are shorter. I don't see the point of going to Costco to get gas.
- kyleee 1mo ago
  Costco seems to be a rare responsible organization, treat people decently, don’t gouge customers (they aim for a pretty standard not too high margin), etc. So I know that is definitely a factor for some in terms of choosing Costco as much as possible
  - BeetleB 1mo ago
    Oh, I'm happy to do my shopping there. Just not gas and tires.
    - insaneirish 1mo ago
      I understand your argument on gas. But I find the comment about tires to be curious. I literally will not buy tires anywhere else. Costco: - Often has a lower price on tires than other stores (particularly when they run a brand specific sale) - Includes free installation - Properly torques lug nuts/bolts - Includes road hazard warranty - Properly patches tires when you do have a service issue Those are the highlights...
      - BeetleB 1mo ago
        I've heard Discount Tire prices are almost comparable. The main issue is scheduling and tire rotation. From every person I know who's used it, it's typically a 2 hour wait. The notion of "leave car, do shopping, pick it up" doesn't work. All other places do rotation really, really fast.
Suzuran 1mo ago
On days when I need gas I just leave for work about 10 minutes earlier than usual and drive to Costco, which means I turn up at the station about 15 minutes after the fuel pumps open and several hours before the actual store opens. I've never had to wait; I don't think I've ever seen more than 4 cars there. Then I just drive from the Costco to work. This only adds about one mile to the trip. The Costco is always packed in the afternoon though, both the store and the pumps. I think everyone waits for the store to open, or they wait for their lunch break on the assumption that it will be worse during the evening commute.

It's too bad there's no API to find the current wait time at the Costco gas station. I'm not going to spend an extra hour of my day to save $5.

by jerlam 1mo ago

It's too bad there's no API to find the current wait time at the Costco gas station. I'm not going to spend an extra hour of my day to save $5.

lafond 1mo ago

If only they exposed this data!! Would have been so fun adding the display to the site

deleted 1mo ago

[deleted]

dominotw 1mo ago

i go befoe costoco opens at 7am . they have different timings.

caminante 1mo ago
Or don't go at 9AM with the Executive rush. Wait 30m.
- phil21 1mo ago
  Doesn’t matter at all for my local Costco. It’s busy open to close with very little variance. The only times I’ve seen it relatively empty were during bad storms. That said, it’s not an hour wait. Around 20 minutes is average, but I rarely fill up there since I value my time much more than that.
  - jerlam 1mo ago
    I don't live at Costco so it's going to be 30 minutes just back and forth. My Costco does have quieter times, but then I have to plan around it. It never made the slightest bit of sense to make a separate trip for $5.

Sohcahtoa82 1mo ago

[dead]

ButlerianJihad 1mo ago

Just wait until you have an EV! Then you will get to wait in line for an outlet, and then wait while the electrons trickle into your tank! Good times.

jerlam 1mo ago
There's no line in my garage. Also most of the public chargers are networked, so you know when they are busy.
1970-01-01 1mo ago
Let's nevermind this nonsense about waiting in lines.. I want to know more about what is happening to electrons after they trickle into your tank. Where do they end up when you go for a drive? Are we pumping them back into the air?
powerbroker 1mo ago
90% of my EV sessions are at home, at a personal time commitment of 5 seconds to open the charging hatch and plug-in. Maybe 5% of my EV charges take 30 minutes while I'm enjoying a meal or ... wasting time waiting in the car for it to complete at a fast 200 kW charge rate.

plandis 1mo ago

Does it routinely take an hour to get gas at Costco near you? Even when the lines are at capacity the Costco I go to (north of Seattle in Shoreline), I never wait more than like five minutes.

BeetleB 1mo ago

There was a blog post around 10 years ago where someone did the math and found the extra wait wasn't worth the savings if you value your time. For me, locally, there's a grocery store chain that also has gas stations. If you are a member (which is free), you get a discounted rate on gas - usually only 3-5 cents more per gallon than Costco. And if you do enough groceries in a 3 month period, you occasionally get an additional 10-20 cents off your next filling, which makes it cheaper than Costco. They're also open a lot more hours than Costco gas. And their lines are shorter. I don't see the point of going to Costco to get gas.

kyleee 1mo ago
Costco seems to be a rare responsible organization, treat people decently, don’t gouge customers (they aim for a pretty standard not too high margin), etc. So I know that is definitely a factor for some in terms of choosing Costco as much as possible
- BeetleB 1mo ago
  Oh, I'm happy to do my shopping there. Just not gas and tires.
  - insaneirish 1mo ago
    I understand your argument on gas. But I find the comment about tires to be curious. I literally will not buy tires anywhere else. Costco: - Often has a lower price on tires than other stores (particularly when they run a brand specific sale) - Includes free installation - Properly torques lug nuts/bolts - Includes road hazard warranty - Properly patches tires when you do have a service issue Those are the highlights...
    - BeetleB 1mo ago
      I've heard Discount Tire prices are almost comparable. The main issue is scheduling and tire rotation. From every person I know who's used it, it's typically a 2 hour wait. The notion of "leave car, do shopping, pick it up" doesn't work. All other places do rotation really, really fast.

Suzuran 1mo ago

On days when I need gas I just leave for work about 10 minutes earlier than usual and drive to Costco, which means I turn up at the station about 15 minutes after the fuel pumps open and several hours before the actual store opens. I've never had to wait; I don't think I've ever seen more than 4 cars there. Then I just drive from the Costco to work. This only adds about one mile to the trip. The Costco is always packed in the afternoon though, both the store and the pumps. I think everyone waits for the store to open, or they wait for their lunch break on the assumption that it will be worse during the evening commute.