Costco Travel has evolved from a quirky side perk to a serious player in the vacation business, moving billions of dollars in cruises, resort packages, theme park trips and car rentals each year. For some travelers, it can quietly shave hundreds or even thousands of dollars off a trip through bundled extras and member rewards.

For others, the platform’s limitations, rigid packages and lack of ultra-flexible options can make it a poor fit. Understanding who really benefits from Costco Travel, and who is better off booking elsewhere, starts with one key question: how you like to travel.

For a broader explanation of how Costco Travel works overall, including pricing, rewards and booking mechanics, see our complete Costco Travel guide for travelers.

How Costco Travel Works Today

Costco Travel is the in-house travel agency for Costco members in the United States and several other markets. It focuses on four main products: vacation packages, cruises, rental cars and theme park vacations. Members book online or by phone, and pricing is generally pre-negotiated at scale rather than dynamically customized one traveler at a time.

All Costco members, including basic Gold Star and Business members, have access to Costco Travel and see the same base travel prices. Executive members, who pay a higher annual fee, do not get lower sticker prices but do receive added value on many trips, such as food and beverage credits, resort credits, shipboard credits and digital Costco Shop Cards on select packages. Executive members also earn an annual 2 percent reward on eligible Costco Travel purchases once travel is completed, capped at $1,250 per year.

Costco Travel is positioned around value and simplicity. You will not find every hotel or every small cruise line, and you will not see an infinite list of fare classes and promo codes. Instead, Costco curates a narrower set of mainstream options and negotiates extras that individual travelers usually cannot command on their own. The trade-off is that you give up some flexibility and some choice in exchange for bundled savings and a relatively straightforward booking experience.

This model can be terrific for certain travel styles, particularly families and value-focused vacationers who appreciate “good enough” customization at a competitive price. It can be frustrating or limiting for others, especially independent planners, miles-and-points hobbyists or ultra-luxury travelers who want bespoke arrangements on their own terms.

The Travelers Who Tend to Win With Costco Travel

Costco Travel is not built for everyone, but when it aligns with your habits it can be a powerful money-saving tool. The strongest fits are travelers who like packages, do not mind mainstream brands and already get solid value from a Costco membership in their everyday life.

Families booking classic resort or theme park vacations are often the biggest winners. A week in Hawaii at a major resort, an all-inclusive stay in Mexico or the Dominican Republic, or a multi-day theme park package in Orlando are exactly the kinds of trips where Costco Travel’s bundled perks and negotiated rates can shine. On many packages, the inclusion of daily breakfast, resort credits and waived resort fees, plus a digital Costco Shop Card and Executive 2 percent reward, can quietly cut the effective cost well below what you would pay piecing things together yourself.

Cruise travelers with mainstream tastes are another ideal match. Costco sells sailings with popular cruise lines and frequently tacks on generous shipboard credits and Costco Shop Cards that arrive after the trip. For travelers who primarily care about the itinerary and a comfortable cabin rather than custom shore excursions or boutique luxury lines, those extras can easily outweigh the value of alternative loyalty points or credit card portal deals.

Drivers who regularly rent cars at airports or resort destinations also do well. Costco Travel’s rental car search is widely regarded as one of the better values available to U.S. consumers, often undercutting direct rates and other online travel agencies while including an additional authorized driver on many bookings. The fact that you pay at the counter in most cases adds flexibility: you can reserve now, watch rates and rebook if prices drop without prepayment penalties.

When an Executive Membership Makes Sense for Costco Travelers

Costco’s Executive membership costs more than the basic Gold Star membership, but it is central to getting maximum value from Costco Travel. As of late 2025, Executive members pay an annual fee of $130 in the United States, compared with $65 for standard memberships, and in return they receive a 2 percent annual reward on eligible Costco purchases, including qualifying Costco Travel bookings, up to a maximum of $1,250 per year.

For frequent travelers who already shop regularly at Costco, the incremental fee between a basic and Executive membership can be recouped relatively quickly through a combination of warehouse spending and travel rewards. Consider a family that spends a few thousand dollars a year on cruises or vacation packages booked through Costco Travel. At 2 percent back, a $5,000 year of eligible travel would generate $100 in rewards on its own, close to covering the Executive membership’s incremental cost. When combined with routine grocery and household spending in the warehouses, many such households end up well ahead by year’s end.

Executive members also receive additional travel-specific perks that may not be obvious on the price grid. On some resort and cruise packages, Executive-only benefits can include extra resort or shipboard credits, complimentary upgrades or higher-value Costco Shop Cards presented after travel. These extras do not lower the up-front price but materially improve the value of the trip once you factor them in.

Travelers who hold the co-branded Costco Anywhere Visa card by Citi can stack rewards. That card currently offers elevated cash back on travel and dining, including Costco Travel purchases, alongside rewards on Costco spending and gas. For a household that runs day-to-day expenses through the card and also books big-ticket vacations via Costco Travel, the combined effect of card rewards plus the Executive 2 percent rebate can be substantial. If you prefer a single ecosystem for shopping, travel and rewards, and you reliably book at least one sizeable Costco Travel trip a year, the Executive tier is usually the better fit.

Travel Styles That Benefit Most From Costco Travel

Certain travel patterns line up with Costco Travel’s strengths so consistently that using the platform becomes almost a default choice rather than a special-case decision. These typically involve well-trodden destinations, standard resort or cruise products and travelers who prioritize value and convenience over bespoke flexibility.

The first group is resort vacationers who favor popular sun-and-sand destinations. A couple planning an anniversary trip to Maui, a family eyeing an all-inclusive in Cancun or a group heading to a beachfront resort in the Caribbean will often find Costco Travel packages that combine flights, transfers, hotel stays and extras such as daily breakfast, resort credits or waived fees. Because Costco negotiates at scale with major chains, these packages can undercut or at least match separate bookings and add perks that wallets notice once you arrive.

A second strong fit is mainstream cruisers. If you enjoy sailing with large cruise brands, are flexible on exact cabin location within a category and care most about the itinerary and onboard experience, Costco Travel’s offers are hard to ignore. Shipboard credits and post-cruise Costco Shop Cards stretch your onboard budget and future shopping, and Executive members collect their 2 percent reward on top. For a seven-night cruise for a family of four, those extras can translate into hundreds of dollars in effective value.

Theme park travelers, especially those visiting Orlando, Southern California or Hawaii, round out the list of clear beneficiaries. Costco Travel bundles park tickets, nearby hotels and sometimes rental cars or transfers into simplified packages, occasionally tossing in meal plans or separable Costco Shop Cards. For families who might otherwise feel overwhelmed by the intricate pricing structures of major theme parks, Costco’s approach trading some fine-tuning options for simple value can be a relief.

Who Should Think Twice Before Using Costco Travel

While Costco Travel has an enthusiastic following, it is not ideal for everyone. Certain travel styles and priorities clash with the platform’s structure, meaning you may give up more than you gain by forcing your plans into its framework.

Independent, highly flexible travelers often fall into this category. If you enjoy mixing boutique guesthouses with short-term rentals, taking overnight trains, hopping budget airlines and changing plans on the fly, Costco Travel will feel too rigid and too limited. Its inventory centers on mainstream hotels and large cruise lines and it does not cover every destination or every type of lodging. For trips through lesser-visited regions, backpacking routes or slow multi-country journeys, direct booking with local operators or using a mix of specialized sites and mileage redemptions tends to work better.

Frequent flyer and points enthusiasts are another group that may want to avoid Costco Travel for flights in particular. The platform’s packages typically use standard paid fares and do not give you the same control over fare classes, routings and stopovers that a dedicated award-booking strategy might require. If your primary goal is to maximize credit card bonus categories, elite status earning and intricate mileage redemptions, you are likely to do better booking flights independently, then perhaps pairing them with a Costco hotel or cruise if the numbers work.

Ultra-luxury travelers seeking highly customized, top-tier experiences may also find Costco Travel underwhelming. While Costco can and does sell expensive trips including very high-end cruises and upscale resorts, the offerings remain mass-market products prepackaged for scale. If you want a tailor-made safari with handpicked lodges, a private villa staffed to your specifications or a complex multi-country itinerary with private transfers and curated experiences, a luxury travel advisor or boutique tour operator will better match your expectations and provide the elevated service level that such trips merit.

Cost, Flexibility and Service: Pros and Cons by Travel Style

Evaluating whether Costco Travel suits you comes down to more than just headline prices. Cost, flexibility and service expectations vary widely by traveler, and Costco’s strengths in one area can become a weakness in another depending on how you like to travel.

On cost, Costco Travel tends to be strongest where it has high volume: resort destinations, cruises and car rentals. The company can negotiate competitive base rates and add extras that effectively lower your net cost. However, “cheapest” is not guaranteed. Sometimes discount codes, flash sales, loyalty programs or niche agencies can beat Costco’s prices, particularly in shoulder seasons or on less popular itineraries. Travelers who are willing to chase multiple promo stacks and monitor prices closely may still find better one-off deals elsewhere.

Flexibility is the area where Costco Travel is most clearly limited. Packages are constructed with specific hotels, room categories and policies, and while you can often customize basics such as travel dates or room type, you will not see the full breadth of options available on multi-supplier search engines or by booking across different platforms. Cancelation and change rules can also be stricter than when you book fully refundable components directly with airlines and hotels. If you prize the ability to tweak every element of your trip right up to departure, Costco’s structure can feel constraining.

Service expectations are also important. Costco Travel offers phone support and has a reputation for being relatively straightforward in honoring the company’s satisfaction guarantee on the membership side. Still, it is not a full-service travel agency in the sense of proactively managing your trip minute by minute or designing custom itineraries from scratch. If you are comfortable self-managing your plans and mainly need help at the booking and problem-resolution stages, Costco will generally satisfy. If you want a dedicated advisor to monitor fare drops, rebook flights during irregular operations and propose daily touring plans, you are looking for a different model.

Making Costco Travel Work With Other Travel Tools

Costco Travel does not have to be an all-or-nothing choice. Many experienced travelers use it as one tool among several, pulling it out when its strengths align with a particular trip and booking elsewhere when they need more control or niche options.

One effective strategy is to reserve cars and simple resort stays through Costco Travel while handling flights and more complex itineraries independently. This approach leverages Costco’s strong rental car pricing and resort packages while allowing you to keep maximum flexibility with airlines, especially if you rely on specific carriers for elite status and mileage redemptions. It can be as simple as checking Costco’s package price for a resort stay and then comparing a hotel-only rate, perhaps booked directly, to see where the math lands after factoring in loyalty benefits and rewards.

Another practical use case is for “known quantity” cruises. If you are sailing on a popular line from a major port and you care more about value than experimenting with lesser-known options, Costco’s cruise deals can be treated as a baseline. Once you find your preferred itinerary and sailing date, compare the Costco price and onboard credit offer to booking direct through the cruise line or via a specialist cruise agency that may offer its own perks. Quite often, Costco’s combination of shipboard credit and post-cruise Shop Card will be among the most attractive packages for mainstream sailings.

Even for travelers who usually prefer boutique or non-chain options, Costco Travel can be a convenient backup when a trip calls for something more straightforward. A family reunion at a large resort, a last-minute rental car on a busy holiday weekend or a cruise with extended family members seeking a one-stop booking process can be ideal occasions to let Costco Travel shoulder some of the planning burden.

The Takeaway

Costco Travel is best seen as a value-focused, curated travel service built for mainstream vacationers rather than a universal solution for every trip and traveler. It excels at packaging together cruises, resort stays, rental cars and theme park vacations in popular destinations, especially for Costco Executive members who can stack additional rewards and perks on top of already competitive pricing.

If your travel style leans toward family beach vacations, classic cruises, theme park getaways or straightforward car rentals, and you prefer convenience and reliable value over granular fine-tuning, Costco Travel deserves a prominent spot in your planning toolkit. The more you already benefit from a Costco membership and the more you like consolidating shopping, travel and rewards under one roof, the more compelling it becomes.

If you are an independent, ultra-flexible or highly specialized traveler who thrives on bespoke itineraries, boutique properties, intricate mileage strategies or last-minute changes, Costco Travel’s limitations in inventory and flexibility are likely to frustrate you. In that case, treat it as an occasional resource rather than a default. Like any powerful membership perk, its real value emerges when you match it carefully to the right kind of trip.

FAQ

Q1. Do I need a Costco Executive membership to use Costco Travel?
Any active Costco member can use Costco Travel, including basic Gold Star and Business members. Executive membership is not required, but Executive members receive an annual 2 percent reward on eligible Costco Travel purchases and may get extra perks such as resort credits or Costco Shop Cards on select packages.

Q2. Are Costco Travel prices always the cheapest?
Costco Travel often offers very competitive pricing, particularly on cruises, rental cars and resort packages where it negotiates at scale. However, it is not guaranteed to be the absolute lowest price every time. Flash sales, promo codes, loyalty member rates or niche agencies can sometimes beat Costco, so it is wise to compare.

Q3. Can I earn airline miles and hotel points when I book through Costco Travel?
In many cases you can still earn airline miles on flights included in Costco Travel packages, as long as you add your frequent flyer number, and you may earn cruise line loyalty points on eligible sailings. Hotel loyalty benefits are less consistent, because many packages treat the hotel portion as a wholesale or third-party booking, which some chains do not reward. If elite benefits at a particular hotel brand are very important to you, confirm policies before booking.

Q4. How flexible are Costco Travel bookings if my plans change?
Flexibility varies by product and provider. Rental car reservations often allow changes or cancelation without penalty since you usually pay at pickup. Vacation packages and cruises can carry stricter change and cancelation rules, including deadlines and fees. Before you book, review the specific terms shown for your trip and consider travel insurance if your plans are uncertain.

Q5. Is Costco Travel a good option for solo travelers?
Costco Travel can work for solo travelers, but some packages are priced based on double occupancy, which means you may pay a higher per-person cost than couples or families. Rental cars and certain hotel-only deals can still be good value, but if you travel alone frequently and prefer budget hostels, guesthouses or very small hotels, independent booking through other platforms may give you more options.

Q6. What kinds of trips are not a good fit for Costco Travel?
Trips built around boutique lodgings, remote destinations, complex overland routes or extensive use of miles and points are usually not Costco Travel’s strength. Multi-country backpacking, highly customized safaris, private villa stays and itineraries that require constant adjustments are better handled through specialized agents, local operators or a mix of direct bookings and mileage redemptions.

Q7. Can non-U.S. residents use Costco Travel?
Costco Travel operates in specific markets, including the United States, and access depends on where your membership is issued and which regional travel site you use. Some international Costco members have their own localized travel offerings. If you live outside the United States, check the travel section of your regional Costco site or contact customer service to see what is available to you.

Q8. How does Costco Travel compare to booking directly with a cruise line?
When you book directly with a cruise line, you may gain access to that line’s promotions and loyalty program offers. Costco Travel typically sells the same sailings at the same base fares but adds shipboard credits or Costco Shop Cards as extra value. For many mainstream cruises, those Costco-specific perks can outweigh any direct booking advantages, but it is worth comparing both options on your specific sailing.

Q9. Do I get the same travel prices whether I am a basic or Executive member?
Yes, base travel prices are generally the same for all Costco members. The difference is that Executive members earn a 2 percent reward on eligible Costco Travel purchases and may receive enhanced extras on some trips. The sticker price does not change, but the net value can be higher for Executive members once rewards and perks are factored in.

Q10. How should I decide whether to book through Costco Travel or another site?
Start by clarifying your priorities for a given trip: overall price, loyalty earnings, flexibility, destination and type of lodging or cruise. Check Costco Travel’s options and total effective value, including rewards and credits, then compare against at least one other source, such as booking direct or using a major online travel site. If Costco offers similar or better value for a trip that fits its strengths, it is a solid choice. If you need more flexibility, niche properties or complex routing, another approach may serve you better.